CONTENIDOS POR UNIDADES
3. CRITERIOS DE EVALUACIÓN Y SUS CORRESPONDIENTES ESTÁNDARES DE APRENDIZAJE EVALUABLES
1. Male chauvinism 2. the left 3. Social inequalities 4. unemployed 5. riots 6. a trade union 7. provinces 8. a clique
3. General comprehension
1. f 2. h 3. e 4. g 5. a 6. b 7. c 8. d4. Vocabulary development 1
Find the word
1. brutally 2. poverty 3. suburbs 4. vines 5. vaguely 6. genetically modified
5. Vocabulary development 2
Political Anagrams
1. government 2. socialists 3. ministries 4. policies 5. diplomatic 6. society6. Prepositions practice
1. in 2. of 3. against 4. for 5. against 6. in 7. for 8. of.Level 1
lElementary
Level 2
lIntermediate
1
Pre-Reading 1
Have you heard of Ségolène Royal? What do you know about her?
2
Pre-Reading 2 Key Words
Fill the gaps using these words from the text.
an elite the left ageing a clique chauvinism run-down a trade union
1. Workers can join an organization called because they want to improve their pay or working conditions.
2. is a polite word for ‘old’.
3. A building or district that is in very bad condition is .
4. People whose political ideas are more socialist than conservative are known as . 5. is the belief that your own country, race or sex is better than any other.
6. is a small group of people with a lot of power or influence. 7. is a small group of people who seem very unfriendly to others.
Now read the article and see if you were right.
Madame La Présidente?
Could Ségolène Royal become France’s first female head of state, asks Angelique Chrisafis
1 In a sports hall in a small town outside Bordeaux, a crowd of more than 1,000 fans suddenly jumped up, arms in the air, and began stamping and clapping to the rhythm of a second world war Italian partisan song: “Bella, ciao! Bella, ciao! Bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!” From the back of the hall, smiling benevolently, waving to the beat, stepped La Bella, Ségolène Royal.
2 In less than a year, Royal, the 53-year-old mother of four and head of the regional government in Poitou-Charentes, has unexpectedly become very popular. She is now the only MP among the top 50 most-loved personalities in France, and appears in all France’s celebrity gossip magazines. They love her personal story of success out of difficulty: she was the shy teenage daughter of an ultra-Catholic, authoritarian army colonel who brutally punished his children and believed women should stay at home like his wife; now she is fighting against French male chauvinism.
•
3 Royal doesn’t accept that the French left should be ruled by men. Instead of just helping the ageing men who run the socialist party - “les éléphants” - she now has an army of devoted followers of her own movement, Désirs d’Avenir - “Wishes for the Future”. They support her totally, unpaid, and believe that she alone can save France from the depression and terrible social inequalities of 12 years under President Jacques Chirac. 4 France certainly has problems. Youth unemployment is high, violent crime is rising and many fear that last
year’s riots in the run-down, immigrant suburbs, where teenagers say racism ruins their lives, could rapidly start again. Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right interior minister who would also like to be president, is openly trying to attract the far-right with his strict immigration policies.
5Royal’s huge popular support makes her seem the only possible Socialist president. But the elephants will not go down without a fight. They say she is inexperienced, and her popularity cannot last. “It is going to be nasty,” admits one Royal supporter.
6 Like the last Socialist president, François Mitterrand, who she once worked for, Royal is focusing on the provinces, touring the country’s regions and promising to move power away from the Paris elite. In one village, more than 200 wine-makers who may lose their vines as Europe tries to reduce its wine-lake were so impressed that the old ladies lined up to kiss her and be photographed with her.
7 “It’s all about the people,” she smiled between meetings in Bordeaux. I asked her what kept her going: “My need to rise to the challenge of the trust that the people, the country, has given me.”
8 At the exclusive Ecole National d’Administration, where the French ruling class are trained, Royal was in the same class as the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin. There, too, she met her partner, François Hollande. Later, she worked in the ministries of education, environment, family and childhood, while he became Socialist party leader in 2002. They have four children but have never married.
9 For months, people criticized Royal for talking vaguely about family values and public morals and having no clear policies. Now she is clarifying her plans to modernise France, but, like Mitterrand, her opinions seem both right and left. She annoyed the left by suggesting a form of military service for difficult teenagers, and criticising the Socialists’ beloved 35-hour working week. However, she strongly supports trade unions, and has promised to ban genetically modified food. Unlike the rest of her party, she admires Tony Blair, but she is against the war in Iraq. “My diplomatic policy would not consist of going and kneeling in front of George Bush,” she has said.
10 “I don’t think she always wanted to be president. I think she stood up because she had another message to give,” says MEP Gilles Savary, part of Royal’s inner circle. “The Socialist party in France has been a clique of men, cut off from the population.” Royal is promising to speak for ordinary people in a society where those in power don’t listen to them.
11 Socialist rivals have attacked her for avoiding difficult subjects. “What is the first measure you’ll take if you’re elected?” she was asked in Bondy, but she didn’t really answer. Before she left, she promised the crowd, “Power won’t change me.” But many outside the Segosphere still wonder who Royal really is, and what won’t be changing.
© Guardian News & Media Ltd 2006
3
General comprehension
Are the following statements True or False? If they are false, say why.
1. Ségolène Royal was not always so popular. 2. She had a happy childhood.
3. She wants to save the elephants.
4. She doesn’t think Jacques Chirac’s government helped the French people. 5. All her own party members support her.
6. François Hollande is her husband. 7. Not all her policies are typically socialist. 8. She wants to help ordinary men and women.