Document A
From the first day he could walk Simon had always wanted to outdistance his rivals. The
Americans would have described him as ‘an achiever’, while many of his contemporaries thought of
him as pushy, or even arrogant, according to their aptitude for jealousy. During his last term at
5 Lancing Simon was passed over for head of school and he still found himself unable to forgive the
headmaster his lack of foresight. Later that year, some weeks after he had completed his S-levels1 and
been interviewed by Magdalen2, a circular letter informed him that he would not be offered a place at
Oxford; it was a decision Simon was unwilling to accept.
In the same mail DurhamUniversity offered him a scholarship, which he rejected by return of
10 post. “Future Prime Ministers aren’t educated at Durham,” he informed his mother.
“How about Cambridge?” she enquired continuing to wipe the dishes.
“No political tradition,” replied Simon.
“But if there is no chance of being offered a place at Oxford, surely–?”
“That’s not what I said, Mother,” replied the young man. “I shall be an undergraduate at
15Oxford by the first day of term.”
After eighteen years of forty-yard goals Mrs Kerslake had learned to stop asking her son.
“How will you manage that?”
Some fourteen days before the start of the Michaelmas3 Term at Oxford Simon booked himself into a
small guest house just off the Iffley Road. On a trestle table in the corner of lodgings he intended to
20 make permanent he wrote out a list of all the colleges, then divided them into five columns, planning
to visit three each morning and three each afternoon until his question had been answered positively
by a resident Tutor for Admissions: “Have you accepted any freshmen for this year who are now
unable to take up their places?”
It was on the fourth afternoon, just as doubt was beginning to set in and Simon was wondering
25 if after all he would have to travel to Cambridge the following week, that he received the first
affirmative reply.
The Tutor for Admissions at Worcester College4 removed the glasses from the end of his nose
and stared at the tall young man with a mop of dark hair falling over his forehead. Alan Brown was the twenty-second don Kerslake had visited in four days.
30 “Yes”, he replied. “It so happens that a young man from NottinghamHigh School, who had
been offered a place here, was tragically killed in a motor cycle accident last month.”
“What course – what subject was he going to read?” Simon’s words were unusually faltering.
He prayed it wasn’t Chemistry, Anthropology or Classics. Allan Brown flicked through a rotary index
on his desk, obviously enjoying the little cross-examination. He peered at the card in front of him.
35 “History,” he announced.
Simon’s heartbeat reached 120. “I just missed a place at Magdalen to read Politics, Philosophy
and Economics,” he said. “Would you consider me for the vacancy?”
The older man was unable to hide a smile. He had never in twenty-four years come across
such a request.
40 [. . .]
Mrs Kerslake was not surprised when her son went on to be President of the Oxford Union.
After all, she teased, wasn’t it just another stepping stone on the path to Prime Minister?
Jeffrey Archer, First Among Equals (1984)
1 S-levels: an exam similar to A-levels for students hoping to get into the most prestigious universities
2 Magdalen College: a college that is part of OxfordUniversity
3 Michaelmas Term: name given to first term at OxfordUniversity
4 Worcester College : a college that is part of OxfordUniversity
Document B
What happened to me?
The eighties happened. The nineties happened. Death and sickness and getting fat and going
bald happened. I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never realized I was doing
it.
5 Yet here was Morrie talking with the wonder of our college years, as if I’d simply been on along vacation.
“Have you found someone to share your heart with?” he asked.
“Are you giving to your community?
“Are you at peace with yourself?
10 “Are you trying to be as human as you can be?”
I squirmed, wanting to show I had been grappling deeply with such questions. What
happened to me? I once promised myself I would never work for money, that I would join the
Peace Corps, that I would live in beautiful, inspirational places.
Instead, I had been in Detroit for ten years now, at the same workplace, using the same bank,
15 visiting the same barber. I was thirty-seven, more efficient than in college, tied to computers
and modems and cell phones. I wrote articles about rich athletes who, for the most part, could
not care less about rich people like me. I was no longer young for my peer group, nor did I
walk around in gray sweatshirts with unlit cigarettes in my mouth. I did not have long
discussions over egg salad sandwiches about the meaning of life.
20 My days were full, yet I remained, much of the time, unsatisfied.
What happened to me?
“Coach,” I said suddenly, remembering the nick-name.
Morrie beamed. “That’s me. I’m still your coach.”
Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie (1997)
COMPRÉHENSIONDocument A
Lines 1 to 17
A. Which statement best corresponds to the situation here?
1. Simon has just finished high school. His dream is to go either to CambridgeUniversity or to OxfordUniversity.
2. Simon is a university student at Oxford. He has rejected an offer from DurhamUniversity as his only dream was to go to Oxford.
3. Simon is at high school. He is determined to go to OxfordUniversity and so herejects offers from all other universities.
B. Explain what determines his choice of university? Justify with a quote.
Lines 17 to the end
C. Copy out the text and fill in the blanks (one blank = one word).
Simon is in ______(name of the city). He intends to visit all the______to see if they have a ______for him. He intends to visit sixevery day until he is ______.
D. Which adjective best describes Simon as he goes about his visits? Give two quotationsto justify your choice.
HESITANT – DETERMINED – CONFUSED – IMPATIENT
E. Does he succeed in getting a place at university? Justify with an element from thetext.
Document B
F. Who are the characters present in the extract and how do they know each other?
G. The passage refers to two periods in the narrator’s life. Which ones?
H. Are the following statements Right or Wrong? Quote from the text to justify.
1. The narrator earns a lot of money.
2. The two characters haven’t seen each other for quite a long time.
3. As a student the narrator had a lot of ideals.
4. The visit makes him realize he is content with his current life.
I.“What happened to me?” (ll. 1, 11 and 21). What did happen to him? Explain in afew sentences what he has just realized.
J. What do we realize about the narrator’s state of mind when meeting his friend?
Documents A and B
K. 1. In your opinion what is the theme common to both documents?
a. Absence of ambition b. Failure c. Success in life d. Pride
2. Explain your choice of answer in a few sentences.
EXPRESSION
Les candidats traiteront au choix UN des deux sujets n° 1 et UN des deux sujets n° 2.
(150 mots au moins pour chaque sujet).
Sujets 1
a) After meeting Alan Brown, Simon writes to his mother in order to keep her informed.Write his letter. ou
b) Simon has decided to run for President of the University’s Student Union. Write hisfirst campaign speech.
Sujets 2
a) Is it possible to reconcile your dreams with a professional life? ou
b) “I once promised myself I would never work for money,” (Document B, l.12). Howeasy is it to stick to such a decision?
Help:
To take/sit an exam passer
To pass an examréussir
To failéchouer
‘how did you fare?’
A public school (the sacred nine: eton, Winchester, rugby, harrow etc)
A state school école publiq
A collegeune fac
Oxbridge= Oxford and Cambridge (the most prestigious universities in the UK, compared to red-brick universities)
A courseun cursus
A professor= a donun professeur à la fac
A freshmanétudiant de 1ere année à la fac
A sophomore…2e année
A junior…3e année
A senior…4e année
Ces termes sont valables pour des élèves de high school aux USA
A freshman, élève de 1ere année dans un high school , 3e
A sophomore, 2de
A junior, un 1ere
A senior, un terminale
A graduateun diplomé
To graduate (from college)être diplomé (de…)
An undergraduateun étudiant
PROPOSITION DE CORRIGÉ
COMPRÉHENSION
Document A
Lines 1 to 17
A. Which statement best corresponds to the situation here?
A3 Simon is at high school. He is determined to go to OxfordUniversity and so he rejects offers from all other universities.
2 pts
B. Explain what determines his choice of university? Justify with a quote.
Il faut une réponse qui montre son ambition politique et pas juste une bonne université. Il faut université ET carrière.
Oxford is the only university that he believes will enable him to become Prime Minister / have a political career.
Soit : “Future Prime Ministers aren’t educated at Durham,” he informed his mother(l.10)
Soit : “How about Cambridge?” “No political tradition, replied Simon (l. 11 – 12)
2 pts (1 pt + 1 pt)
Line 17 to the end
C. Copy out the text and fill in the blanks (one blank = one word)
Simon is in OXFORD(name of the city). He intends to visit all the COLLEGES /TUTORS
to see if they have a PLACE/ VACANCY /SOLUTION /POSSIBILITY for him. He intends to visit six every day until he is ACCEPTED/ ADMITTED/ADMIT/ENROLLED/TAKEN.
4 x 0,5pts = 2 pts
½ points si juste les mots sans le texte
D. Which adjective BESTdescribes Simon as he goes about his visits? Give two quotations tojustify your choice.
2 adj + 1 citation= 0
1 adj + 0 citation= 1 pt (car barême séparé pour l’adjectif et la citation)
DETERMINED
1 pt
Quotes:
(l. 21/22): “until his question had been answered positively by a resident Tutor for Admissions”
(l. 19/20): “On a trestle table in the corner of lodgings he intended to make permanent”
(l.28-29): “Alan Brownwas the twenty-second don Kerslake had visited in four days.”
(IMPATIENT accepté si citation : “Simon’s words were unusually faltering .» Mais on demande 2 citations…Et ‘BEST describes’…)
1 pt + 1 pt = 2 pts
E. Does he succeed in getting a place at university? Justify with an element from the text.
Yes,( he does.)
(l. 41) : “becomes “President of the OxfordUnion”
1 pt + 1 pt = 2 pts
Document B
F. Who are the characters present in the extract and how do they know each other?
Morrie and the narrator / The narrator and his coach / 2 old friends
1 pt + 1 pt = 2 pts
1 seule personne= 1 pt
They met when the narrator was at university / Morrie was the narrator’s coach./ They were at college.
2 pts si référence au contexte universitaire.
G. The passage refers to two periods in the narrator’s life. Which ones?
‐When he was at university / was young/ During his college years. (past and present =1 pt car pas assez précis)
‐nowadays / now / when he’s 37/ his life in Detroit.
1 pt + 1 pt = 2 pts
H. Are the following statements Right or Wrong? Quote from the text to justify.
Ne pas attribuer de points si la citation est impropre ou n’a pas été mentionnée.
1. The narrator earns a lot of money.
Right: (l.17) : “rich people like me”
( l.12 “I once promised myself I would never work for money” et “paycheck” pas acceptables car ne signifient pas qu’il gagne beaucoup d’argent.)
2 pts
2. The two characters haven’t seen each other for quite a long time.
Right:
(l.22) “Remembering the nick-name”
Ou: (l.5-7): “yet here was Morrie talking … vacation”
Ou : (l.2-4): “The eighties happened. The nineties happened …( doing it)”
Ou: (l.7): “Have you found someone to share your heart with?” (s’il ne sait pas c’est qu’il ne l’a pas vu depuis longtemps)
2 pts
3. As a student the narrator had a lot of ideals.
Right:
‐(l. 12): “… I would never work for money”
‐(l.12/13): “ I would join the Peace Corps”
‐(l.13): “I would live in beautiful, inspirational places”
-(l.3): “I traded lots of dreams…paycheck”
1 justification= 3.5 pts
4. The visit makes him realize he is content with his current life.
Wrong :
- (l. 20): “unsatisfied”
- (l.14/15): “Instead … same workplace, same bank, same barber”
-(l.11, 12, 21): “What happened to me?”
1,5 pts
I.“What happened to me?” What did happen to him? Explain in a few sentences what he has just realized.
‐he got older and disillusioned
‐during the eighties and the nineties money was more important to him than he thought it would be
‐he sacrificed his ideals/dreams for more money / a pay check
3 idées: - vieillissement
- perte de valeurs de jeunesse
- sacrifice des rêves
3 pts
J. What do we realize about the narrator’s state of mind when meeting his friend?
uncomfortable with the way that his life has turned out. / He feels he has failed his life /Unsatisfied / nostalgic / Disappointed si justifié car il est déçu de sa vie à lui et non par son ami. / Unhappy si justifié / Frustrated si justifié /Ill-at-ease / Ashamed
(Il faut une phrase)
(Bonus de 1 point si élève parle de la répétition de la question et des italiques)
2 pts
Documents A & B
K. 1. In your opinion what is the theme common to both documents?
3. Success in life (Pride / failure acceptés si bien démontrés (l.5)
3 pts
2. Explain your choice of answer in a few sentences.
Simon:
‐concerned with future success
‐wants to succeed in politics
‐wants to become Prime Minister
the narrator in text B:
‐seems to have succeeded (job, money)
‐but wonders if he has really succeeded
‐neglected his past ideals
Failure : l.5 doc A “He was passed over”
Idée qu’il n’a pas été reconnu à sa juste valeur.
Doc B: ses rêves des 70s n’ont pas tenu face au matérialisme des 80s.
6 pts (3 pts Simon, 3 pts 2e personne)