Here are texts and tests some colleagues have already sent.
 

Text 1: AIDS: who should be tested? Hardly anyone disputes the notion that testing should be readily available on a voluntary basis. After that, however, the issue can quickly become enormously difficult. Should only those in high-risk groups be tested? Does it make any sense to test tourists visiting a country? How about those applying for permanent-residence visas? How should the result be handled? Is it ethical to require doctors and clinics to report the names of those who test positive to health authorities, when such information can lead to social and professional ostracism? Does a doctor have a right to tell or wife of an AIDS patient about the spouse's condition? In February 1987, authorities in the West German State of Bavaria announced what may be the most draconian testing regulations anywhere in the world. The plan managed to appear spotty* and sweeping* at the same time. It ordered mandatory testing for all prostitutes and drug addicts and gave the power to arrest anyone who refuse to cooperate. In an effort to curb the spread of the disease, the regulation also stipulated that all non-EC* nationals seeking to stay in Bavara more than three months on permanent-residence visas must pass an AIDS test. The announcement of the steps trigged a wave of angry demonstrations and denunciations. What point was there, critics asked, in screening non-EC immigrants when infected EC nationals would theoretically still be able to spread the disease; and weren't the measures, they added, a little like shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted, since AIDS had already spread to Bavara. Opponents also argued that the new testing regulations for addicts and prostitutes raised disturbing civil-liberties questions, and in any event would serve only to discourage many likely carriers from coming forward to receive counseling on how to guard against infecting others. People will also think the state is tracking them. In most countries, the push for testing has come from extreme conservatives and religious fundamentalists. In France, Jean-Marie Lepen, leader of the ultra-right National Front, has called for all French citizens to be tested twice a year. And some right-wingers in Britain have demanded that all immigrants be screened, a move that the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's conservative government has staunchly resisted. In the future, though, it may become harder to adhere to that restraint. One reason is the American government's decision in 1987 to institute mandatory testing for all those applying for permanent-residence visas in the United States. Some public health officials fear that Washington's policy may eventually force other governments to follow suit, even if it is against their better judgement. "look, after the Americans have taken this sort of step, how do you explain it is not useful to your own population?"ask one France-based health official for a European agency. "In time Europe will also create this sort of barrier. I can see it coming". From "Who should be tested?" Newsweek, August 10,1987  (PP. 13-16) VOCABULARY *Spotty: local *Sweeping: global *EC: European Community I/ GUIDED COMMENTARY (14 points) 1) What is the political dilemma around the world, as far as AIDS is concerned? (2pts) 2)  What can be the consequences of imposing AIDS testing on high-risk groups and immigrants? (3pts) 3) What do you think of mandatory, AIDS testing? (3pts) 4) Does AIDS represent a menace to our society? (6pts) II/ TRANSLATION (06points) Translate from "In most countries".....to "in the United States".         Go Top Text 2: AIDS        There is no such an awful disease people fear so much as AIDS nowadays. On the one hand, they are right because AIDS is really terrible and horrible and until now, man has no efficient means to combat it. It is said that when it attacks a person it leaves him defenceless and doomed to death after having destroyed all the natural defences of his body. Yet, on the other hand can't we find two good aspects of that disease? First AIDS has come to brush up some disorder aside. Prostitution, one of the greatest evils in society today will decrease considerably since AIDS is usually caught through sexual intercourses. Secondly, science will benefit from AIDS a lot because these days the scientists are at work to produce the right and efficient medicines and vaccine. When they have found them our world will have progressed. VOCABULARY: Doomed: condemned to QUESTIONS 1. What is the meaning of AIDS? 2. For what reasons do people fear AIDS? 3. What are the advantages of AIDS according to the text? For you, does AIDS really have advantages? Explain how. 4. How is AIDS transmitted? Give other ways of transmission. 5. How can we avoid this disease? 6. What is the effect of the AIDS virus on the organism? What consequences can this have? 7. Does AIDS have any consequences on the development of a country? Explain. TRANSLATION ( points) Translate into French all the text.    Go Top   Text 3: AN AFRICAN'S ADVENTURE IN AMERICA             Go Top Since my arrival in this country to study, I have met over fifty African students during my vacations. In exchanging views with them, I have found that most of our impressions after arriving on American soil are almost identical. Everything about him is new, the student finds out. He is mobbed by a group of inquiring reporters who ask: "Where do you come from? What is your impression of America? What is your name? How many wives does your father have? Are you married? Is it true that you buy women in Africa? Are you a prince? Is your father a king or a gold miner?" The flashing of cameras adds to the confusion. This is an indication of what the student is to experience as he moves from one part of the United States to another. One of my most exciting experiences happened when I arrived in New York City. On that day it had one of its great snowfalls. And what's more, I had never seen snow in my life before. That day my heavy overcoat was no solution to my problem. As I stepped out of the airplane, I was baptized with the unusual biting cold. I was shaken to the bones and all my limbs were trembling. The woman in me subdud the man, and my eyes were shedding tears, like an Arabian gum tree. That night I slept in my overcoat, suit and all. The temperature I had ever seen in Nigeria was 60 degrees°. Till I landed in New York, I had never met an American Negro. My impression was that since the Negro had been living there for the past three hundred years, or more, he ought to have intermarried with the whites so that his colour should be at least lighter than my own (by the way, I am ebony black, and I'd like to be twice as dark). But when I landed, I saw a Negro darker than myself. I thought he was an African who had come a little earlier than me. I rushed to him, with all the happiness and joy of finding a kinsman in this great metropolis. I said, "Hello, my dear friend, when did you come?" He looked at me with cold surprise. I later found that he must have been here three hundred years, for his speech was as entirely strange to me as mine to him. Babs FAFUNWA VOCABULARY 1. To mob: to gather around someone in large numbers 2. To inquire: to ask for information 3. A miner: a person who works in a mine 4. To flash: to give sudden light 5. To subdue: to overcome, to bring under control 6. To shed tears: to cry 7. Ebony: a very black wood 8. Kinsman: man of the same family/clan COMPREHENSION 1. Why did the fifty Africans go to Amereica? ( 3 points) 2. How had the writer imagined a black American to be? (3 points) 3. Where does the Black American Community come from? Tell briefly about their story. (4points) 4. Is the colour of the skin important in the world? Would you change your skin complexion? (8 to 10 lines) (5 points) TRANSLATION Translate into French this passage: "But when I landed,.......to me as mine to him." (Paragraph 3) (5 points) NB: Avoid copying the text in your answers. Try to build your own sentences   Go Top Text 4: WOMEN'S RIGHTS Ought women to have the same rights as men? A hundred years ago, the answer in every country in the world would have been " No ". If you asked, "Why not?", you would have been told, scornfully and pityingly, that women were weaker and less clever than men, and had worse characters. Even now, in the twentieth century, there are many countries where women are still treated almost like servants, or even slaves. It is certainly true that the average woman has weaker muscles than the average man. Thousands of years ago, when men lived in caves and hunted animals for food, strength of body was the most important thing, but now in the twentieth century, brains are more important. Strength of body is still needed for a few kinds of work, but the fact that such kinds of work are not well paid shows that the twentieth century does not think that muscles are of very great importance. What about women's brains? Of course, in countries where girls are not given so good an education as boys, they know less. But in countries where there is the same education for both, it has been clearly shown that there is no difference at all between the brain of the average woman and that of the average man. There have been women judges in Turkey, women ambassadors in America, women ministers in the British government and women university professors in many countries. And among the greatest and strongest rulers of England were Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. But women can do one thing that men cannot: they can produce children. Because they, and not men, do this, they usually love their children more, and are better able to look after them, since they are more patient and understanding with small children. For this reason, many women are happier if they can stay at home and look after their house and family than if they go out and do the same work as men. It is their own choice, and not the result of being less clever than men. VOCABULARY - Scorn: feeling that someone or something deserves no respect. - Scornfully: with scorn. - Pity: feeling of sorrow for the troubles of another person, sympathy. - Pityingly: with pity (often in sarcastic way) - Weak: opposite of strong. - Average: ordinary, usual standard. - Cave: hole in the rock of a cliff or a hill in which it is possible to live. - To hunt: to chase animals in order to catch and kill them. - Brain: mass of soft grey matter in the head, centre of the nervous system, intelligence. QUESTIONS 1. What was the general opinion about women's rights all over the world a century ago ? 2. How did people justify this opinion ? 3. Has this opinion changed ? 4. Are women weaker than men ? 5. Why was body strength important in primitive times ? 6. Is it still important nowadays ? 7. What, if anything, has taken its place ? 8. Are women less intelligent than men ? 9. In what countries are they thought to know less ? 10. What shows that there is no difference between men and women as far as intelligence is concerned ? 11. What can women do that can't be done by men ? 12. What else can they do ? 13. Whyare women happier when they stay at home ? 14. Are women forced to stay at home ? 15. If they choose to stay at home, is this because they are less inteligent ? EXERCISES A Complete the following sentences with a little or a few 1. Paul's got .....................time. 2. He needed .....................help. 3. He drank.....................whisky. 4. He wrote .....................letters. 5. He's got .....................friends. 6. He took ......................photographs. 7. There were ......................customers at the bar. 8. He madeâ€......................mistakes in his homework. 9. He lived.......................years in France. 10. I have to work ......................harder, he says. B Use a little or a few in the following sentences. Example : Paul's got a lot plans, but John's got only a few. 1. He knows a lot of music, but she...................... 2. Paul drank a lot of beer, but Ali..................... 3. She bought a lot of money, but she..................... 4. They made a lot of money, but we..................... 5. His parents invited a lot of friends to the wedding, but hers..................... C Put the adverbs in brackets in the correct positions in the following sentences. 1. I have been working (all day, in this room). 2. I returned (with my wife, at 11, to the hotel). 3. We are going (for the weekend, to our parents). 4. He's been living (in Bobo, quietly, since May). 5. He said goodbye to her (yeaterday, at home).    Go Top Text 5: WHO SMOKES? Go Top Until the twentieth century cigarettes were not an important threat to public health. Men used tobacco mainly in the form of cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff. Most women did not use tobacco at all. The cigarette industry began in the 1870's with the development of the cigarette-manufacturing machine. This made it possible to produce great numbers of cigarettes very quickly, and it reduced the price. Today cigarette smoking is a widespread habit. About forty-three per cent of the adult men and thirty-one per cent of the adult women in the United States smoke cigarettes regularly. It is encouraging to note, however, that millions of people have given up the smoking habit. Seventy-five per cent of the women have stopped smoking. The number of persons who have given up smoking is increasing. The age group with the highest proportion of smokers is the age group 24-44. Also, income, education and occupation play a part in determining a person's smoking habits. City people smoke more than people living on farms. Men as a group smoke more than women. Well-educated men with high incomes are less likely to smoke cigarettes than men with fewer years of schooling and lower incomes. On the other hand, if a well-educated man with a high income smokes at all, he is likely to smoke more packets of cigarettes per day. The situation is somewhat different for women. There are slightly more smokers among women with high family incomes and higher education than among the lower income and lower educational groups. There, more highly educated women tend to smoke more heavily. Among teenagers the picture is similar. There are fewer teenage smokers from upper-income, well-educated families, and fewer from families living in farming areas. High school pupils who are preparing for college are less likely to smoke than those who do not plan to continue their education after high school. Children are most likely to start smoking if one or more of their parents smoke. VOCABULARY - Snuff: tobacco in the form of powder. We take snuff through the nose. - Income: the money that a person earns, including salary. - To increase: to become greater, to make greater. - Likely: probably. QUESTIONS 1. When did tobacco become a danger to public health? 2. What are the factors that make people smoke? 3. Which categories of women smoke cigarettes in the USA? 4. Should cigarette advertising be forbidden? 5. When was the cigarette-manufacturing machine invented? 6. What was the consequence of the development of the cigarette-manufacturing machine?   TEXT 6: THE CLUBHOUSE        Go Top There was in the neighbourhood a clubhouse, and Frankie was not a member. The members of the club were girls who were thirteen and fourteen and even fifteen years old. They had parties with boys on Saturday night. Frankie knew all the club members, and until this summer she had been like a younger member of their crowd, but now they had this club and she was not a member. They had said she was too young and mean. On Saturday night she could hear the terrible music and see from far away their light. Sometimes she went around to the alley behind the clubhouse and stood near a honeysuckle fence. She stood in the alley and watched and listened. They were very long, those parties. "Maybe they will change their mind and invite you", John HENRY said. "The son-of-a-bitches." Frankie sniffled and wiped her nose in the crook of her arm. She sat down on the edge of the bed, her shoulders slumped and her elbows resting on her knees. "I think they have been spreading it all over town that I smell bad," she said. "When I had those boils and that black bitter smelling ointment, old Helen Fletcher asked what was that funny smell I had. Oh, I could shoot every one of them with a pistol." Carson Mac CULLERS The Member of the Wedding. 1946 by C. Mac Cullers, renewed by F.V. Lasky QUESTIONS 1. Is Frankie a girl or a boy? How do you know? 2. Is Frankie a) under thirteen? b)thirteen? c) fourteen? d) fifteen? 3) What is Frankie's problem? a) She would like to be a boy. b) She is not a member of the club c) She is ill and staying in bed d) She needs a pistol. e) We don't know 4) True or false or we don't know. Quote from the text to justify your choice. a) The parties took place every Friday night. b) The members of the club were between thirteen and fifteen. c) Frankie did not know any members of the club. d) Frankie did not like the music at the club. e) Frankie stood behind the clubhouse every Saturday night. f) The girls at the club sometimes invited Frankie but she refused to go. 5. Is Frankie talking to a) John Henry? b) Helen Fletcher? c) Herself? 6. Does Frankie feel excited/happy and relaxed/furious/depressed/or tired? Justify your choice. 7. Why does she think the girls rejected her. 8. Put the following words in the right order to express in one sentence what Frankie would like to do: /like / all / would / the / members / a gun / with / to / kill / the club / she / of.      Go Top Text 7: Society's right to kill Men of good will recognize it to be incontestably true that we are our brother's keepers, and one man cannot be abandoned and sacrificed upon the altar of society's sometimes unreasonable demands without disturbing all mankind. There was a time when society thought that criminals should be beheaded, burned, boiled or buried alive; when men were strangled, stoned or starved to death; when they were forced to drink poison, crucified, or drowned; when they were eaten alive by snakes or lions, all of this in the name of justice and all because it was "the law of the state". As odious and savage as these practices sound us today, let's face the fact that electrocution will be listed as another barbarous, cruel uncivilized punishment. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, 19,000 Englishmen were executed but the crime rate continued to rise. During the reign of Henry VIII, 72,000 Englishmen were executed; this however did not seem to deter Englishmen from committing crimes. Peter I, tsar of Russia, in 1728 put to death 8,000 Russians, because they were wearing beards, and yet today we can hardly think of a Russian without a beard. To me, one of the most compelling arguments against capital punishment is the possibility of mistake. So many times have the innocent been mistakenly convicted or wrongly convicted. Now I am going to give you a full descrption of how the state kills a man: at about 5:30 in the afternoon of the eve of the execution, the prisoner is shaved, bathed. He must be clean so that it is unecessary to bathe his body after the electrocution. Then they give him a new shirt and a new pair of pants, without a belt and shoes without laces. Next a priest of his choice visits him to offer whatever words of assurance. Then the condemned man is given an opportunity to eat some good meal of his choice. Then his family is permitted to visit him until midnight. And in the morning he is placed in the electric chair and killed. Adapted from Joe W. Henry, Jr. Vocabulary To behead: to cut the head To deter: to prevent The eve: the day before Altar: autel Comprehension 1. What is the apparent difference that exists between how people were put to death in the past and now? 2. Can we say, according to the text that the tradition of capital punishment through the centuries had really an impact on people? 3. What element causes the author to be against capital punishment? 4. Why isn't the prisoner given any belt or laces among the clothes he receives before the execution? 5. Do you personally think that capital punishment should be suppressed? Justify your answer.       Go Top Text 8: EDUCATION IN AFRICA    (From N°8 to N°18: sent by Emile KAHOUN, Lycee Yadega, Ouahigouya nekemile@hotmail.com ) Formal education in a school or adult classes system is no substitute for the informal education provided by life experience. Nor can a formal system operate effectively in opposition to the social practice. Yet, Africa needs change ; and change has to start somewhere. Without venturing into wider debate, it is quite clear that in Africa at any rate the problem of integrating education with the society cannot be solved abandoning a formal education structure. We cannot go back to an exclusive dependence on the traditional system of what I previously called 'learning by living and doing '. We cannot go back because modern knowledge is not dispersed in our societies. Even the social values of operation have in many places been undermined by the effects of imported capitalism. And the techniques of modern production, and of organization, were unknown in traditional Africa. There are still unknown by the majority of our adults. Thus we have a position where a formal school system ,devised and operated without reference to the society in which its graduates will live, is of little use as an instrument of liberation for the people of Africa. And at the same time, learning just by living and doing in the existing society would leave us so backward socially, and technologically, that human liberation in the foreseeable future is out of the question. Somehow we have to combine the two systems. We have to integrate formal education with the society. And we have to use education as a catalyst for change in that society. That is the task. It is one which various African nations, or groups within nations, have been trying to fulfil over the last decade. Interesting work has been done ; and valuable experience gained. We need to examine this carefully, and to implement the things which it teaches. Julius NYERERE QUESTIONS 1) Do you think that Education in Africa really needs a change ? Give your reasons focusing in the case of your own country. 2) Technical schools in Burkina Faso are getting more crowded now than before. Can you explain why ? 3) Is there any relationship between what you are learning now and what you will do in the future ? Justify your answer. 4) Translate into English the second paragraph : " Without venturing " .......down to ............the majority of our adults " .Go Top Text 9: BUSINESS IN AFRICA There are only a handful of them , and there are all Togolese women. Together they control the most powerful and successful business in West Africa. Their fortunes are immense. They own bakery shops, supermarkets and restaurants. They buy property, villas and sometimes whole buildings. They have investment in the fishing and building industries. They own taxi and mini-cab companies.They make enormous amounts of money per day. They belong to a group known as Nana Benz-the Boubou Billionaires. Until 1970, Ghanaian women controlled the Boubou market. Around that time the economic situation in Ghana became unstable. And many companies transferred their business to Lomé . Togolese women traders who had for some time been selling Ghanaian Boubous for high prices in Lomé decided on a quick action. They took over the Boubou trade and the Nana Benz were born. Over the next twenty years, the Nana Benz became incredibly rich although they have no formal training in business. Indeed some of the older Nana are illiterate and others had to take lessons to learn to count in French. They run their empires with great skills. These " Boubou queens " design all their own patterns. Factories in Europe and Africa then produce the cloth and sew the garments. The Nana do not need to advertise. Publicity is purely by words of mouth, and over the past years, the word has spread like wildfire. Thousands of their boubous are sold in markets throughout West Africa every day. In the mornings , retailers and stall-holders flock to the homes of Nana benz,waiting patiently to buy some of the boubous stocked high in the courtyard. There is no credit and cheques are never accepted. Buyers must pay for everything in cash. The richest retailers can choose what they want. The poorest have to accept the left-overs. And the Nana Benz do all the business themselves. They are too proud to deal with the man in the street. The Nana Benz have great political influence - not just because they are rich and the heads of powerful empires. It is true that the president of Togo knows and admires these ladies. And it is also probably true that if they wished, the Nana could start a strike that would paralyse the country. So the politicians depend on their advice and support. But more importantly, the Nana are admired by all levels of society for their loyalty and honesty. Through hard work, they have shown that it is possible for African people to be successful in international business.Go Top ............. Poem 10: THE ROAD NOT TAKEN Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller ,long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth. Then took the other ,as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black Oh ! I kept the first for another day ! Yet knowing how way leads on to way. I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and hence : Two roads diverged in a wood ,and I took the one less travelled by , And that has made all the difference. By ROBERT FROST Go Top Test 11: EXERCISES I-Complete with : For , During, or While 1) It rained................... three days without stopping. 2) Production in the factory was seriously affected ................. the strike. 3) Can you lay the table............I get the dinner ready ? 4) When we were at the theatre last night , we met Ann...............the interval. 5) I had been away for many years...............that time , many things had changed. 6) What did she say about me.............I was out of the room. 7) Many interesting suggestions were made.............the meeting. 8) There were so angry that none of them spoke to me............... a week. 9) He lives in India...........many years. 10) Please , don't interrupt me..............I'm speaking. II- Complete with : Like or As. 1) Do you think she looks .................her mother ? 2) He is 35 but he behaves.................a child. 3) Your English is very fluent, I wish I could speak ............you. 4) The news that he was getting married came.............a complete surprise to me. 5) He works in a bank...............most of his friends. 6) He decided to give up his job.............a journalist and become a teacher. III- Complete with :Some , Any , No , or its components. 1)Does ..............mind if I smoke. 2)I haven't read.................of these novels but my brother has read.............. of them. 3) Perhaps...................will ring the door bell . 4) The prisoner refused to eat ....................... 5) This boy is too boisterous..........................support him. 6) There is .......................In the kitchen while I feel very hungry. 7) You may meet........................of your friends at the party. 8) Can I have................milk in my coffee , please ? 9) He is very strong ; he needs....................help at all. 10) You can cash these travellers cheque ........................at the bank. IV- Complete with " TO " where necessary. 1) Mr Thomas doesn't let anyone................smoke in his office 2) His parents have always encouraged him..........work hard. 3) We were kept at the police station for an hour and then allowed............go. 4) I watched the children .............dance last week. 5) The guy has listened to me................speak for a long time. 6) I heard you.................insult me yesterday. 7) Can you let me ................go now ? 8) I really don't want....................miss this football match. V- Complete with : several , many , much , a few , few, a lot of. 1)Look !There are.................people waiting for the Queen. 2) ................people have been on the moon. 3) How.................these shoes , please ? 4) How................. pens can I have for 5oo cfa . 5) I like this book very................I've read it..................time. 6) ....................minutes left. Hurry up. VI- Check errors and correct them. 1) Much people have already visited Disneyland. 2) " How much do you need " ? " just a few . ". 3) The exercise was too difficult . Much students did it. VII- Complete with : enough , and too. 1)This skirt is 1000 fcfa. You've got only 300 fcfa. It isn't ...................1000f ! That 's ...............expensive. 2) I've had.....................enough of your music. I'm tired. I've worked.............much today. 3) ......................mistakes have been made. 4) You aren't old. You are................young. 5) If you work hard................you'll succeed. VIII- TRANS LATE INTO ENGLISH. 1) Il ne sait jouer ni de la flute ni de la guitare. 2) Tu n'as pas le droit de prendre les deux. 3) Tu peux prendre soit le livre rouge , soit le vert. 4) Je ne prendrai ni l'un ni l'autre. 5) Il avait deux livres dans chaque main. 6) Il n' a invité ni son père, ni sa mère. 7) Il n'a pas fait son travail , sa soeur non plus.Go Top Text 12: My point of view << South Africa is the richest country in Africa and could be one of the richest country in the world. But it is a land of extremes and remarkable contrast . The whites enjoy what may well be the highest standard of living in the world , whilst Africans liev in poverty and misery. Forty per cent of the Africans live in 5 - hopelessly over-crowded and , in some cases drought-striken reserves where soil erosion and the overworking of the soil make it impossible for them to live properly of the land . Thirty per cetn are labourers , labour tenants (1) and squatters ( 2) on white farms adn work and live under conditions similar of the serfs of the middle ages. The other thirty per cent live in towns where they have 10- developped economic and social habits which bring them closer in many respects to white standards . Yet most Africans , even in this group , are impovrished by low incomes and the high cost of living....Poverty goes hand in hand with malnutrition and disease...... There are two ways to break out of poverty. The first is by formal 15- education , adn the second is by the wroker acquiring a greater skill at his work and thus higher wages . As far as Africans are concerned , both those avenues of advancement are deliberatly curtailed by elgislation. The government often answers its critics by saying that Africans in South Africa are economically better off than teh inhabitants of the other countries of 20- Africa. I do not know whether this statement is true and doubt whether any comparison without having regard to the cost of living index in ,such countries. But even if it is true , as far as the African people are concerned , it is irrelevant. Our complaint is not that we are poor by comparison with people in other countries , but that we are poor by comparison with the white people living in 25- our own country , and that we are prevented by legislation from altering this imbalance. The lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of the policy of white suprmacy . White supremacy implies black inferiority....White tend tonregard Africans as a separate breed. They do not 30- look upon them as people with families of their own . They do not realise that they have emotions - that they fall in love like white people do ; that they want to be with their wives and children like white people want to be with theirs ; that they want to get enough money to support their families properly , to feed and clothe them and send them to school. And what " house boy " or " garden boy " 35- or labourer can ever hope to do this ? >>Go Top Text 13: EDUCATION Education produces knowledge , skills , values , and attitudes. It's essential for civic order and citizenship and for sustained economic growth and the reduction of poverty. Education is also about culture ; it's the main instrument for disseminating the accomplishment of human civilization. These multiple purposes make education a key area of public policy in all countries . Its importance is recognized in several international conventions and in, many national constitutions. In 1990 , it was the subject of a landmark international meeting .The world conference on Education for all , held in Jomtien , Thailand, under the joint sponsorship of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational , Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) ,the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF ) and the World Bank The civic purpose of education - the sharing of values throughout society -is becoming more salient in light of the wildspread political liberalization of the past decade. This trend , which is most notable in Eastern Europe and central Asia , also includes the consolidation of civilian democratic rule in latin America.The introduction of multiparty systems in Africa , and the devotion of political power to subnational levels of government in many regions of the world. Research and experience have also led to a deeper understanding of how education contributes to economic growth , the reduction of poverty , and the good governance essential for implementing sound ecoinomic and social policies. In line with these changing circumstances and perceptions , the world Bank's financing of education has grown rapidly in the past fifteen years and the Bank is now the single largest source of external finance for education in low and middle income countries.The expansion of world Bank lending fo eduaction has been accompanied by a series of studues on education policy inn under-developped and develping countries. It also draws heavily on UNESCO's World Education Report .The Report oulienes policy options that low and middle income countries can adopt to meet educational challenge as they move toward the twenty first centry. It is designed to assist policymakers in these countries , especially those cnocerned with the education systems and with the allocation of public ressources to education. It's also intended for world Bank staff who work with client countries to support education poilcies and projects. In sum , what the report does is to treat the mainstream formal education sector as a whole. It focuses on the contribution of formal edcation to sustained economic growth and the reduction of poverty. It emphasizes approaches and ways of determining priorities and strategies recognizing that policies must be tailored to each country according to its stage of educational and economic development and its historical and political context. Go Top Armean M. Choksi Vice president of Human Capital Development and Opertions Policy of the World Bank Q U E S T I O N S 1° What are the objectives of Eduction ? ( 4 marks) 2° Do you think the educational policies adopted by the authorities in charge of education in our country meet the expectations of the Burkinabe ? ( 6 marks) 3° Hwo can Education ensure the development of a country ? ( 6 marks) 4° Translate the 2nd paragraph of the text into French ( 4 marks)Go Top Text 14 In developping countries , poor people have relatively simple needs and it is primarily with regard to their basic requirements and activities that they want assistance. If they were not capable of self-help and self-reliance : they would not survive today. But their own methods are all too frequently too primitive , too ineffective , these methods require up-grading by the input of new knowledge , new to them, ,but not altogether new to everybody. It is quite wrong to assume that poor people are generally unwilling to change. But the proposed change must stand in some organic relationship to what there are doing already , and they are rightly suspicious of , and resistant to , radical change proposed by town-based and office-bound innovators who approach them in the spirit : 'you just get out of my way and I shall show you how useless you are and how splendidly the job can be done with a lot of foreign money and outlanding equipment '. Because the need of poor people are relatively simple , the range of studies to be undertaken is fairly limited. It is a perfectly manageable task to tackle systematically , but it requires a different roganizational set up from what we have at present ( a set up primarily geared to the disbursement of funds.) At present , the development effort is mainly carried on by government officials ,both in the donor and in recipient country ; in other words, by administrators (who know nothing about the basic needs of rural areas populations ). In the rich countries , there are thousands of able people who would like to be involved and make a contribution to the fight against world poverty , a contribution that goes beyond forking out a bit of money, btu there are not many outlets for them . And in the poor countries , the educated people , a high priviledged minority , all too often follow the fashions set by the rich societies and attend to any problem except those directly concerned with the poverty of their fellow countrymen . They need to be given strong guidance and inspiration to deal with the urgent problems of their own societies. The mobilisation of relevant knowledge to help the poor to help themselves, through the mobilisation of willing helpers who exist everywhere , both here and ovreseas is a task that requires some money, but not very much (...) . There is therefore no question of returning the aid programmes upside down or inside out . It is the thinking that has to be changed and also the method of operating. Extract from 'Small is beautiful ' by : E.F Shumacher QUESTIONS 1) In poor countries , most of the developing projects fail. What in the text can explain this failure. (4 marks) 2) To be successful , how must be projects ? (how must be = the right sort help for poor countries) (4 marks) 3) Does the development of poor countries necessarily depend on foreign aid ? (10-15 lines) (6marks) 4) Translate the last paragraph into French. The mobilisation......................................own societies (6marks)Go Top Text 15 : Money and human relationship " The rich have no neighbours in the sense that the poor have neighbours. When my mother had to go out ,Mrs Gradock from next door on the right kept an eye on us children. And my mother did the same for Mrs Gradock when it was her turn to go out. And when somebody had broken a leg ,or lost his job , people helped with some money and food. And how well I remember , as a child , being sent running round the village after the nurse because young Mrs Foster from next door on the left had suddenly been taken ill with birth-pains before she expected ! When you live on less than four pounds a week , you've damned well got to behave like a Christian and love your neighbours. To begin with , you can't get away from them. He is practically in your backyard. There can be no ignoring of their existence . You must either love or hate , because you need their help in emergencies and they may need yours so urgently ,very often , that there can be no question of refusing to give it. And since you must give , if you are a human being, you can't help giving , it's better to make an effort to like the person you've got to give to. " Walter nodded : " obviously " " But you rich " ,the other went on , " you have no real neighbours .You never perform a neighbourly action or expect your neighbours to do you a kindness in return. It's unnecessary . You can pay pupils to look after you. You can hire servants to simulate kindness for three pound s a month. Mrs Gradock from next door doesn't have to put an eye to your babies when you go out. You have nurses (1) and governess (2) doing it for money. No you're generally not even aware of your neighbours. You live at a distance from them. Each of you is boxed up in his own secret house. There may be tragedies going on behind the shutters : but the people next door don't know anything about it " VOCABULARY (1) a nurse : une nourrice (2) governess : une gouvernante GUIDED COMMENTARY 1- Basing yourself on the text and using your own ideas and words, say why poor people value more neighbourhood than rich people do. (3 marks) 2- How did the author view the relationship between poor neighbours ?. (3marks) 3- Explain this sentence of the text : 'When you live on less than four pounds a week , you've damned well got to behave like a Christian and love your neighbours ' (4marks) 4- Do you think that human relationships should be based on money ? Defend your opinion (4marks) TRANSLATION (6marks) Translate the second paragraph of the text into French.Go Top TEXT 16: STOP THAT TRAIN Mother Africa's sons are still in tears. Their situation is getting worse and worse because what they inherited from their mummy is now disappearing day after day . Later or never ,every African country , every African has the responsibility to understand and absorb this disappointing course of things. In order to solve this problem ,a few months ago , under the umbrella of the Minister in charge of the culture and the National Art Council , hundreds of our fellow countrymen tribal , religious , and state consciousness and gathered. During the two-days meeting , it was quite necessary and high time we drafted precautions to stop the shameful processes eating our cultural identity and traditional values away . It came to the participants like a day-break that, besides the periodic cultural demonstration and festivals such us The National Week of Culture , the Panafrican Festival of Cinema of Ouagadougou ... already existing in the country , a new goal is to be persued. We must refuse o go blindly towards development of any kind without any looking behind. We must revive our dying values , among others old folklore , choral songs , traditional music and dances as well as arts and crafts which could be of a great importance. While appreciating the usefulness of such displays for the revival and development of our cultural heritage , we may also believe that the contribution of our museums to this renaissance could be very important. A 'museum at some extent , is a graveyard of the past and the present '. They allow people to learn about their past through the art objects exposed there. Undoubtedly , many people have lost touch with their cultural heritage because of the intermixture with western civilisation. The young child native of Burkina , for instance, may know little of his artistic traditions and next to nothing about his cultural traditions. This is sad indeed . In order to solve this regrettable state of affairs , the government had undertaken perspectives and policies to invigorate our values in order to reduce this deadly moving force that is distorting us progressively. Alienation seems inevitable, of course but leaving our heritage die out is out of question. A well known African saying states that 'butter does not spoil a sauce .By so doing , why not put together tradition and modernity to develop in our way ? That we know little about where we are going is a pity ; but that we know nothing about where we departed is a collective suicide. .../............. VOCABULARY A display : a precaution , a disposition A museum : a place where we gather art objects A graveyard : a place where dead people are buried. To distort : to destroy - to damage I ) QUESTIONS 1 ) What was the aim of the meeting ? (5 lines- 2 marks) 2 )How do the government intend to rehabilitate the traditional values ? (6 lines - 3 marks ) 3) How is the museum a graveyard of the past and present ? ( 8 lines- 4 marks) 4) " Alienation is inevitable , of course , but too much passivity from Africans will be a collective suicide " . Explain this idea in not than 10 lines. ( 5marks) II ) TRANSLATE INTO FRENCH. From ' while appreciating.................' down to 'displayed there '. ( 3rd paragraph ) (6 marks)Go Top TEXT 17: NO WEALTH WITHOUT WORK Before can be any wealth to divide up , there must be labour at work. There can be no loaves without farmers and bakers. There are a few little islands , thousands of miles away, where men and women can lie enjoying the sun and live on the cocoa-nuts the monkeys thrown down to them. But for us there is no such possibility. Without incessant work , daily labour , we would starve. If anyone is idle , someone must also be working for both or there would be nothing for either of them to eat. .......the burden of labour is imposed on us by nature , and has to be divided up as the wealth it produces. But the two divisions need not correspond to one another.One person can produce much more than enough to feed himself .Otherwise the young children could not be fed , and the old people who are past working age would starve. Many women with nothing to help them but their two hands have brought up a family on their own earnings , and kept their aged parents well-fed as well as paid their rent. And with the help of water -power , steam power , electric power , and modern machinery , labour can be so organised that one hundred and fifty years ago. This saving of labour by substituting machines to natural forces , like wind and water and the heat latent in coal , produces leisure time which also has to be divided up. If one person's labour for ten hours can support ten people for a day , the ten people can arrange themselves in several different ways. They can put the ten hours work on one person and let the other nine have all the leisure time as well as free rations . Or they can each do one hour's work a day and have nine hours of leisure. G.B Shaw, The intelligent woman's guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism, fascism . Vocabulary Idle = lazy To turn out = to produce Wealth = richesse Labour = le travail Pre-requisite = qui precede ou qui vient avant QUESTIONS As much as possible use your own words and thoughts 1° Show how labour is a pre-requisite to wealth. Use examples from the text . ( 5lines -- 4 marks ) 2° Can everyone survive from his own labour ? Justify your answer. ( 5 lines -- 3 marks ) 3° What improved human's production of food nowadays . ( 5 lines - 3 marks ) 4° Basing yourself on the text , how can labour be organised to allow spare time for leisure ? ( 5 lines - 4 marks ) 5° " There is no wealth without labour, and only work liberates man " . Explain and comment on this idea. (10 lines - 6 marks ) . Go Top Text 18: We don't know whether corruption is getting worse, but we do know it is no longer tolerated as it was. These words of a public official reflect growing international concern over bribes and corrupt practises, following a rising tide of scandals and mounting evidence in many countries of popular disgust with corrupt indiviiduals and institutions. In fact, no one knows how much corruption there is in the business world or to what extent it may be increasing. Many analysts say it is probably growing with the world economy, the interplay of economic and political factors and increased global competition. Bribery and kickbacks have become common practice in former communist countries as a consequence of their embracing free enterprise without being historically prepared for it by a relevant political and legal framework. The spread of democracy may itself create new incentives for corruption, given the need to find political parties and election compaigns . If Third World countries are often blamed for the spread of corruption, developed nations must take their share of responsibility and blame, as the corruptors are also corporations fighting for contracts in military supplies, aircraft, civil works and communications. Today, international bodies are beginning to take steps to curb corruption, and the World Bank has instituted rules that empower it to investigate corruption complaints and to blacklist companies and governments guilty of large scale corruption. English for Business Economic by Michel Marcheteau et al... QUESTIONS 1) According to the author, the spread of democracy my bring corruption. Do you agree ? If yes, explain. If no, explain. (4 Points) 2) According to the text, the developed nations should take their share of responsibility and blame. Why ? (2 Points) 3) There is too much corruption in the business world according to the author. Why, explain. (5 Points) 4) What solutions will you propose in order to reduce corruption in Africa ? (5points) TRANSLATE INTO ENGLISH (4 Points) 1) Pourront-ils eradiquer la corruption ? 2) S'l n y avait pas de corruption, la vie serait meilleure. 3) Je viens juste de rencontrer ton ami ; 4) As-tu vu Fatim hier ? Go Top