Inde, Avril 99 modifié type épreuve 2005, STT STI STL SMS
LUCKY BRAKE
Heroes: A driver collapses, and a 10-year-old saves a bus full of schoolkids.
Just after lunch on oct. 3, Dawn Little found a message on her office answering-machine. It was from Ken Russell, principal of
her kids' school. "Call as soon as you can," Russel told her. "I want to tell you something good that Larry has done."
Little was still unprepared for Russell's report: Larry had singlehandedly stopped a runaway school bus and very possibly
saved the lives of 19 children. "l've never, never in my life had a surprise like this", she says.
It all began at 7:15 a.m. in St. Louis, Missouri, when Little, 30, waved goodbye to her two youngest children - Larry
Champagne and his brother Jerrick, 9, both of whom participate in the city's voluntary school-desegregation program. Thirty-five
minutes into their 20-mile bus trip, the routine ride suddenly became anything but routine. Driver Ernestine Blackman, 42, who
doctors say suffered a major stroke, abruptly fell to the floor. Bus three, with 19 children ages 6 to 11 aboard, went careening 1
across three crowded westbound lanes of U.S. Highway 40. Some of the kids started sobbing. "I thought we were going to die",
says Larry. "The bus started swaying2 side to side and hit the guardrail twice. That made everyone fall and hit the window. I
thought we were going to crash."
Not if Larry could help it. Seeing Blackman lying helpless in the stairwell, the intrepid fifth grader sprang from his seat and
grabbed the steering wheel. "I ran up and just stomped on the brake," says Larry. The bus came to a halt, and Larry called to three
of his friends - Angelo McKnight, 11, Angelo's brother Gregory, 9, and Imani Butler, 9 - to tend to Blackman. "I needed help from
some of the big kids," he says. A truck rear-ended the bus, but did no real damage.
Alerted by a motorist with a cellular phone, ambulances soon arrived. The children were teary but not hysterical. Five who had
suffered minor injuries were taken to three St. Louis hospitals, and a replacement bus carried the rest to Bellerive school. The lods
arrived rattled but extremely grateful. "When we got off, everybody said `Thank you, Larry, for saving our lives'," says Gregory
McKnight.
Champagne wasn't in the mood to play hero. "I asked him, `Do you want to talk about what happened?"' says fifth-grade
teacher Judy Hetterscheidt, who describes Larry as "a student who wants to do his best" and who's "really well-liked" in class. "I
want to chill out,"3 said Larry.
Adapted from People, 10/23/95.
1. To careen: tanguer. 2. To sway: zigzaguer. 3. To chill out: to relax and forgez.
COMPREHENSION
1. Chose the right statement and justify with two elements taken from the text.
The action takes places in…
Canada
Great Britain
The U.S.A.
2. Who is who? Match the figure corresponding to the character's name with the letter corresponding to his/her role in the text.
1. Larry Champagne
A. The hero's mother
2. Jerrick
B. The hero's little brother
3. Dawn Little
C. The hero's friends
4. Ernestine Blackman
D. The hero
5. Angelo Mc Knight ; Gregory Me Knight ; Imani Butler
E. The bus driver
6. Ken Russell
F. The principal of the school
7. Judy Hetterscheidt
G. A teacher
3. Another suitable title for the article can be found among the following:
a- Death on the highway
c- All's well that ends well
b- Bus driver kidnapped by schoolkids
d- Children caught in a snowstorm
4. True or false ? Justify by quoting precisely from the text.
a. Mrs Little got the news as soon as the accident took place.
b. Ken Russell phoned her to complain about Larry.
c. The bus driver was unable to stop the bus before collapsing.
d. Fortunately at that time there was little traffic on the road.
e. Larry was standing at the back of the bus when the driver collapsed.
f. Fortunately none of the children was hurt.
5. Put the following events (§ 3 and 4) in chronological order (the order in which they happened).
a. Larry sprang from his seat
e. Larry stomped on the brake
b. The bus came to a halt
f. Larry grabbed the steering wheel
c. The driver fell to the floor
g. The bus hit the guardrail
d. A truck bumped into the bus
h. Larry's friends looked after the driver
6. Complete the following sentences with words taken from the text (one letter = one word).
1. The doctor said: "as the children suffered ________a __________b we didn't have to keep them in hospital for too long".
2.Mrs Me Knight said: "I'm extremely __________c to Larry for saving the children's lives".
3. Mrs Hetterscheidt said: "The __________d to the school usually takes forty-five minutes unless the highway is __________e."
EXPRESSION Le candidat traitera les deux sujets.
1. Imagine the conversation between Ernestine Blackman who is recovering in hospital and Larry Champagne who has come to
visit her. (80 words)
2. There are heroes who, unlike Larry, never make the headlines in the newspapers. Give examples and say why they can be
admired. (120 words)
CORRIGÉ
COMPRÉHENSION
1. The USA
"St Louis, Missouri" (1. 8)
"US highway 40" (1. 15)
2. 1D;2B;3A;4E;5C;6F;7G.
3. c- All's well that ends well.
4. a. False:
b. False:
c. True:
d. False:
e. False:
f. False:
5.
1:c;
"Just after lunch on October 3, Dawn Little found a message" (1. 1).
"I want to tell you something good Larry has done" (1. 3-4).
"The bus [...] went careening" (1. 14). <<The bus started swaying" (1. 16-17)
"across three crowded westbound lanes" (1. 14-15).
"seeing Blackman lying helpless ...] [he] sprang from his seat" (l. 19-20).
"Five who had suffered minor injuries were taken to three St Louis hospitals" (1. 27-28).
2:g;
3:a;
4:f;
5:e;
6:b;
7:h;
8:d.
6. a. Minor - injuries.
b. Grateful.
c. Trip - crowded.
Sujet 1
Aide méthodologique
Il s'agit d'un dialogue entre le chauffeur, victime d'un grave malaise, et le jeune héros qui a sauvé la situation.
Repérez quels éléments ou indices peuvent vous servir : au besoin, soulignez-les dans le texte de départ. Faites attention à
l'orthographe des noms propres, respectez les niveaux de langue de chaque personnage (l'enfant ne s'exprimera pas comme
l'adulte).
Si vous choisissez de rédiger un dialogue, attention aux règles de ponctuation, qui diffèrent sensiblement d'une langue à l'autre. En
français, on ouvre les guillemets une fois pour toutes, et chaque réplique est précédée d'un tiret. Les guillemets sont fermés à la fin
de l'échange. En anglais, en revanche, toute parole en style direct est encadrée par des guillemets.
Ex. : "Your son," he said, "is a hero."
"Yes," she answered. "I feel really proud today."
Aide lexicale
Substantifs: courage, panic, crash (accident).
Verbes : panic, manage, succeed, fail, save, congratulate on (féliciter pour).
Adjectifs : heroic courageous, fearless (sans peur), panic-stricken, proud, daring (téméraire).
Le lexique
Attention au faux-ami "injury" (1. 28) dont la présence de "hospital", dans la même phrase, doit vous permettre d'éclairer le sens.
"Halt" est transparent si vous pensez au français « halte ». En revanche, il faut déduire "brake" par l'effet produit sur le bus.
Décomposez "singlehandedly" pour un inférer le sens. - "single" = seul; "hand" = la main. - Le suffixe -ed, accolé à un nom,
transforme ce dernier en adjectif, et le suffixe -ly permet la formation de l'adverbe - "singlehandedly" = d'une seule main, et plutôt,
d'après le contexte, « sans aide extérieure ».
POLYNÉSIE, JUIN 1999
SÉRIES STT, STI, STL, SMS
Charlie
I do not think any of my family could be that certain of the exact day on which I was born, on account of the fact that
my old man had spent the night in jail and my mother had died even before I drew breath.
Grandpa thought it could well have been a Saturday, felt it most likely the month had been January, was confident the
year was 1900, and knew it was in the reign of Queen Victoria. So we settled on Saturday, 20 January 1900. My
father worked on the docks by day, lived in the pub at night and came home in the early morning. The head of the
family was Grandpa Charlie, who I was named after.
Grandpa - who was a costermonger by trade - worked the pitch' on the corner of Whitechapel Road. Once I was able
to escape from my orange box near grandpa's barrow2 I quickly discovered that he was reckoned by the locals to be
the finest trader in the East End. My dad, who could sometimes earn as much as a pound a week, spent it on pint
after pint of ale in the Black Bull.
In fact, if it had not been for Grandpa, I would not even have been made to attend the local elementary school, and
"attend" was the right word, because I did not do a lot once I had got there, other than bang the lid of my little desk
and occasionally pull the pigtails of "Posh Porky", the girl who sat in front of me. Her real name was Rebecca Salmon
and she was the daughter of Dan Salmon who owned the baker's shop of the corner of Brick Lane. Class would end at
four p.m. and I could bang my lid for the last time before running all the way down the Whitechapel Road to help out
on the barrow.
Although I couldn't wait to leave school once and for all so that I could join Grandpa permanently, if I ever played
truant for as much as an hour, Grandpa would stop me selling on the barrow in the morning.
Jeffrey ARCHER, from As the Crow flies, Harper & Collins, 1991. 1. Worked the pitch: avait sa place attitrée.
2. Barrow: handcart.
COMPRÉHENSION
General comprehension
Tick the right statement(s).
a.
The narrator tells his grandfather's story.
b. 0 The narrator and his family lived in the U.S.A.
c. El The boy's grandfather sold fruit and vegetables. d. 0 The narrator was brought up by his grandfather. e. El The young boy
didn't enjoy school.
Detailed comprehension
1. True or False? (Quote only the relevant expressions or sentences from
the text.)
True False
a. Charlie's grandfather knew for certain that the young
boy was born on Saturday, 20 January 1900.
b. The narrator's father was at his wife's bedside when their
baby was born.
El
c. The young boy was the first Charlie in the family.
El
d. His father had a sense of responsibility.
0
e. Rebecca Salmon was his best friend at school.
0
f. The narrator's grandfather was strict with his grandchild
when he stayed away from school without permission.
F-1
0
0
0
0
2. a. What country and what city did the narrator and his grandfather live in?
b. Justify your answer by quoting two names from the text.
3. In the fourth paragraph, why is Rebecca Salmon nicknamed "Posh Porky"? Tick the right answer(s).
1:1 because she acts like a pig, because her parents are multimillionaires. because her parents sell pork and run a profitable shop.
0 because she is fat and because her parents' bakery is profitable.
4. How are the following characters referred to?
- his father: ................................... - his grandfather:
5. Find in the text words that correspond to the following definitions:
a. A person who sells fruit and vegetables from a barrow in the street
(§ 3) ..............................................................................................................
b. A person who buys and sells goods (§ 3) ..........................................
6. Find in the text equivalents for:
a. he was considered to be: ........... b. I was anxious to:
EXPRESSION
Les deux sujets doivent être traités.
1. Imagine a conversation between the grandfather and the grandson in which Charlie explains why he wants to leave school once
and for all. (100 words)
2. Charlie was motherless and his father did not look after him. Yet he was not unhappy as a child. Why? (100 words)
CORRIGÉ
COMPRÉHENSION
Le lexique
Attention à l'expression idiomatique "if it had not been for [grandpa]"
(1. 16), qui signifie « sans l'aide de [grand-père] ».
"play truant" (1. 26) veut dire « faire l'école buissonnière ».
I. General comprehension
b; c; d.
Il. Detailed comprehension
1. a. False: "I do not think any of my family could be certain of the exact day on which I was born" (1. 1-2)
b. False: "my old man had spent the night in jail" (1. 2-3)
c. False: "The head of the family was grandpa Charlie" (1. 8-9)
d. False: "my father [...] lived in the pub at night" (1. 7)
e. False: "... pull the pigtails of `Posh Porky"' (1. 19)
f. True: "Grandpa would stop me selling on the barrow in the morning" (l. 27)
2. England
East End (1. 13)
Whitechapel Road (1. 11)
3. d.
4. His father: "my old man" (1. 2); "my dad" (1. 13)
His grandfather: "grandpa" (1. 8)
5. a. a costermonger (1. 10) b. a trader (1. 13) 6. a. he was reckoned to be b. I couldn't wait.
EXPRESSION
Coup de pouce Sujet 1
Aide méthodologique
Vous devez rédiger un dialogue, attention aux règles de ponctuation, qui diffèrent sensiblement d'une langue à l'autre. En français,
on ouvre les guillemets une fois pour toutes, et chaque réplique est précédée d'un tiret. Les guillemets sont fermés à la fin de
l'échange. En anglais, en revanche, toute parole en style direct est encadrée par des guillemets. Ex. : "Grandpa," he said, "I want to
leave school."
"No," he answered. "You have to get an education."
Rédaction proposée
Le lexique important est indiqué en gras.
Sujet 2
Aide méthodologique
Il s'agit d'imaginer pourquoi un orphelin peut être heureux. Certains éléments sont donnés dans le texte, mais il vous appartient
d'en proposer d'autres.
Aide lexicale
Substantifs : an orphan (un orphelin), freedom, love, pleasure, happiness, a game, surrogate father (père de substitution).
Verbes : play, enjoy oneself, look after (s'occuper de), compensate. Adjectifs : free, pleased, happy, carefree (insouciant),
enthusiastic.
NATIONAL, SEPTEMBRE 1998
SÉRIES STT, STI, STL, SMS
Japan Tries School Uniform for Teachers
Kevin Sullivan in Habikino
The mayor of this small city has one-upped' President Clinton, who favours uniforms for public school students: the
mayor wants teachers to wear them, too.
"I am trying to improve the educational environment in our public
s schools," said Mayor Gozo Fukitani. He said teachers are setting a bad example and losing respect by dressing
sloppily. But, reflecting a growing individualism in Japanese society, angry teachers have marched against the
proposai in the streets of this quiet suburb of Osaka in central Japan.
What we wear does not determine what we think", said Hiroyuki Nishi
mura, director of the teachers' union. "Teachers wearing uniforms would
not improve the quality of education."
"When Clinton supported uniforms for American public-school students in his State of the Union address in January,
he was praised by people across the political spectrum who see them as a way to restore
order and discipline and reduce violence in schools.
The Japanese educational system, where students have worn uniforms for decades, has the opposite problem. Critics
say excessive order and Draconian discipline have led to problems with bullying or extreme hazing, suicides, and
graduates who Jack creativity and individualism. Students in
Japanese schools tan be punished for the most minor infractions of dress code. Thousands of schoolgirls buy "sock
glue" to keep their white ankle socks at a uniform height, feeling the pressure to be exactly like everyone else.
The two countries' problems have resulted in an ironic twist: The United States, land of free expression and
individuality, is embracing school uni
forms, while Japan, famous for conformity and devotion to group beha
viour, is beginning to question its affection for uniforms.
The Habikino teachers say that is exactly why they should not be required to wear them. "There is a big trend in
Japanese society of people being fed up with uniforms"; said Nishimura, who teaches elementary school.
"Uniforms kilt personality. They kill spontaneity."
Uniforms, and the sense of belonging to a group that they represent, are still rooted deep in the Japanese psyche. As
an experiment last year, the Habikino public schools decided to let junior high-school students choose whether to
wear uniforms or their own clothes during the summer
3s session. On the first day, 80% showed up in uniform. Within about a week,
everyone was wearing the uniform, and the ides of an option eventually died.
Sujet 1. "Grandpa, I want to leave school; it is really boring to have to sit there ail day long, and listen to a teacher who forces you
to read and write."
"Charlie, corne on. Try harder. Nowadays, you cannot afford to go about the streets like this, you've got to get an education".
"I want to be with you on the streets, grandpa. I can't take it any more at school. All I do is bang the lid of my desk. I dont tare
about the three Rs (les connaissances de bases, c'est-à-dire Reading, Writing and Arithmetics). Let me stay with you, please."
(101 words)
Uniforms will be around for quite a while in Habikino. At the urging of Fukutani, city officials have given preliminary approval to
a budget that includes $100,000 for uniforms for 600 teachers in the city's 20 elementary and junior high schools.
While the teachers' union still hopes to stop the uniform measure, Fukutani expects the teachers to be wearing the same outfits
soon, perhaps as early as September.
The Washington Post, March 1996.
1. To one-up: aller plus loin que...
COMPRÉHENSION
General comprehension 1. Tick the correct answer:
1. The text deals with...
0 a new interest in uniforms among parents in Japanese schools.
0 a new measure aiming at making Japanese teachers wear uniforms.
0 a general rebellion against school uniforms in Japan.
0 a new measure aiming at suppressing school uniforms in Japan.
2. As regards uniforms, Japanese schools... follow the same evolution as American schools. follow a different evolution from
American schools.
0 are confronted to the same problems as American schools.
0 have always been an example for American schools.
3. Japanese teachers
El are ready to wear uniforms.
are totally opposed to school uniforms.
want to choose their uniforms.
0 are not sure school uniforms would be useful.
Detailed comprehension
1. Right or wrong? Justify by quoting from the text.
Right
Wrong
0
0
0
0
1. The mayor of Habikino thinks teachers do not care
about their appearance.
2. For Japanese teachers, uniforms have nothing to do
with how well they teach.
3. In the U.S.A., President Clinton provoked mixed
reactions when he gave his opinion about uniforms.
0
4. Wearing uniforms in Japanese schools is an extremely
recent trend.
0
0
5. In Japan, school uniforms are usually recommended,
not imposed.
6. For the Japanese, uniforms allow people to feel part
of a community.
7. Last year's experiment in Habikino showed how
difficult it is for Japanese students to change their habits.
8. The mayor of Habikino's project has nearly been voted. 0
ll. Find in the text equivalents of these expressions:
1. make something better (§ 1): ................................................................
2. demonstrate (§ 1): .................................................................................
3. well-known (§ 2): .................................................................................
0
El
0
0
0
4. collective attitude (§ 2): ........................................................................
5. arrive (§ 3): ...........................................................................................
6. finally (§ 3): ..........................................................................................
111. Find in the text opposites to the following words:
1. decreasing (§ 1): ..................................................................................
2. oppose (§ 2): .......................................................................................
3. criticize (§ 2): ......................................................................................
EXPRESSION
Les deux sujets doivent être traités.
1. Would you agree to wear a school uniform? Why or why not? (80 words)
2. Do you think the way teachers dress is important? (100 words)
CORRIGÉ
COMPRÉHENSION
Le lexique
Attention aux faux-amis : "march" (1. 7) doit être compris dans le contexte du mécontentement des enseignants face à la mesure
du maire.
Le contexte vous indique clairement que "embracing" (1. 24) est un faux-ami (embracing = choosing).
En revanche, "glue" devient transparent, si vous pensez au français « glu » (1. 21) : essayez d'imaginer de quelle façon les
écolières parviennent à maintenir leurs chaussettes (socks) à une hauteur (height) raisonnable !
General comprehension
1. A new measure aiming at making Japanese teachers wear uniforms. 2. Follow a different evolution from American Schools. 3.
Are totally opposed to school uniforms.
Detailed comprehension
1. 1. Right: "dressing sloppily" (1. 6).
2. Right: "teachers wearing uniforms would not improve the quality of education" (1. 10-11).
3. Wrong: "He was praised by people across the political spectrum"
(1.13-14)
4. Wrong: "Students have worn uniforms for decades" (1. 16-17).
5. Wrong: "Students in Japanese schools can be punished..." (1. 20).
6. Right: "Uniforms, and a sense of belonging to a group they represent..." (1. 31).
7. Right: "... everyone was wearing the uniform, and the idea of an option..." (1. 36).
8. Wrong: "... have given preliminary approval to a budget..." (1. 38).
11.
2. march (1. 7)
3. famous (l. 25)
111. 1. growing (1. 6)
2. support (1. 12)
3. praised (1. 13)
1. improve (1. 4)
5. show up (l. 35)
6. eventually (1. 36)
4. group behaviour (1. 25-26)