Sujet 6 | Énoncé
Document B
Together they focused on the film.
Pembe watched The Kid with wide-open eyes, the look of surprise on her countenance deepening with each scene. When Chaplin found an abandoned baby in a rubbish bin, and raised him like his own son, she smiled with appreciation. When the child flung stones at the neighbours’ windows so that the tramp-disguised as a glazier-could fix them and earn
5
some money, she chuckled. When social services took the boy away, her eyes welled up with tears. And, finally, as father and son were reunited, her face lit up with contentment, and a trace of something that Elias took to be melancholy. So absorbed did she seem in the film that he felt a twinge of resentment. What a funny thing it was to be jealous of Charlie Chaplin.
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Elias observed her as she unpinned her hair, and then pinned it back. He caught a whiff of jasmine and rose, a heady, charming mixture. Only minutes before the film came to an end, he found the nerve to reach out for her fingers, feeling like a teenager on his first date. To his relief, she didn’t move her hand away. They sat still-two sculptures carved out of the dark, both scared of making a move that would disrupt the tenderness of the
15
moment.
When the lights came back on, it took them a few seconds to grow accustomed to real life. Quickly, he took out a notepad and wrote down the name of another cinema in another part of the town. ”Next week, same day, same time, will you come?”
”Yes”, she faltered.
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Before he’d found a chance to say anything else, Pembe leaped to her feet and headed towards the exit, running away from him and everything that had taken place between them, or would have taken place, had they been different people. She held in her palm the name of the place they were to meet next time, grasping it tightly, as if it were the key to a magic world, a key she would use right now were it in her power to decide.
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And so it began. They started to meet every Friday at the same time, and occasionally on other afternoons. They frequented the Phoenix more than any other place, but they also met at several other cinemas, all far-away from their home, all unpopular. [...] In time he found out more things about her, pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that he would complete only long after she had gone. [...]
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Slowly he was beginning to make sense of the situation. This unfathomable, almost enig- matic attraction that he felt for her, a woman so alien to the life he had led, was like a childhood memory coming back.
Sujet 6 | Énoncé
I. Compréhension du texte
Questions on document A
1 Pick out three of Mr Fonseka’s activities during the voyage. Say what they have in common.
Justify with at least three quotations.
Vous devez relever trois activités entreprises par M. Fonseka pendant le voyage et expli- citer le lien entre les trois.
2 Which four adjectives best correspond to Mr Fonseka’s personality? Justify each with a quotation from the text.
kind – selfish – captivating – pedantic – serene – knowledgeable – boring – self-centred
Il s’agit de déterminer les quatre adjectifs qui correspondent à la personnalité de M. Fon- seka. Vous devez citer le texte pour illustrer chaque adjectif.
3 Why does the narrator visit Mr Fonseka? Choose the two statements that are correct and justify with a quotation for each.
a)They know the same authors.
b)Mr Fonseka is teaching him to read.
c)Mr Fonseka’s stories fascinate him.
d)Mr Fonseka is interested in the narrator’s life.
On vous demande de choisir les deux affirmations qui expliquent les raisons pour les- quelles le narrateur rend visite à M. Fonseka. Chaque affirmation doit être illustrée d’une citation du texte.
4 Say whether the following statement is right or wrong: Mr Fonseka’s goal is likely to have a prestigious career. Justify your answer with two quotations.
Vous devez indiquer si l’affirmation est vraie ou fausse et justifier à l’aide de deux cita- tions. Le sens de l’affirmation est « L’objectif de M. Fonseka est probablement de mener une carrière prestigieuse. »
Questions on document B
5 What do the two characters do together? Why? Give three reasons using your own words.
On vous demande d’indiquer ce que les deux personnages font ensemble et en donner trois raisons dans vos propres termes.
Sujet 6 | Énoncé
6 ”Together they focused on the film.” (l. 1):
Explain briefly why this sentence is not equally true for both characters.
Il s’agit d’expliquer pourquoi cette affirmation n’est pas valable pour les deux person- nages. Le sens de l’affirmation est « Tous les deux se focalisaient sur le film. »
7 ”[...] to his relief, she didn’t move her hand away.” (l. 14);
”Pembe leaped to her feet and headed towards the exit running from him [...]” (l. 21): Explain in a few words the change in the woman’s attitude.
Vous devez expliquer le changement dans l’attitude de la femme. Les deux citations vous indique qu’au départ la femme ne retirait pas sa main de celle du narrateur, mais qu’en- suite elle se mit brusquement debout et le fuit. Qu’est-ce qui provoque ce changement ?
8 What does Elias like about Pembe? Choose the two statements that are correct and justify your choice with quotations from the text.
a)She is attractive.
b)She is assertive.
c)She is different from him.
d)She is funny.
9 ”[...] they also met at several other cinemas, all far-away from their homes, all unpo- pular.” (l. 27):
Why do you think they choose places that are distant from their homes? Answer briefly in your own words.
On vous demande pourquoi les personnages choisissent des endroits éloignés de leurs domiciles.
Questions on documents A and B
Tous les candidats traiteront la question suivante.
10 What do the characters’ relationships have in common in both documents? Give three elements.
Vous devez identifier trois points de convergence dans les rapports entre les personnages des deux documents.
Seuls les candidats des séries S et ES et ceux de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront la question suivante.
11 Show how in both documents each of the characters has something to offer to the other(s).
On vous demande de démontrer de quelle manière chacun des personnages dans les deux documents a quelque chose à offrir à l’autre.
Sujet 6 | Énoncé
Seuls les candidats composant au titre de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront la question suivante.
12 a)In each document what differences or obstacles could keep the characters apart?
b)What do the activities they share allow them to do?
Il s’agit d’identifier les différences ou obstacles qui pourraient écarter les personnages, puis d’expliciter ce que les activités entreprises ensemble leur permettent de réaliser.
II. Expression écrite
Tous les candidats traiteront la sujet suivant.
1 Pembe writes in her diary about her special relationship with Elias. (150 mots au moins)
Il s’agit de rédiger la page que Pembe écrit dans son journal intime au sujet de son rapport particulier avec Elias.
Il convient d’adopter un ton confessionnel, en se focalisant sur les sentiments et l’état d’esprit de cette femme, mais aussi sur l’intérêt qu’elle porte sur le cinéma.
Seuls les candidats des séries ES et S et ceux de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront le sujet suivant.
2 How can differences between people enrich their relationships? (150 mots au moins)
On vous demande de disserter sur la façon dont les différences entre les gens peuvent enrichir leurs rapports.
Comme dans tout essai argumentatif, vous veillerez à structurer votre réponse en orga- nisant vos idées et en illustrant vos arguments avec des exemples. Pensez à utiliser des mots de liaison pour articuler votre discours ainsi que des expressions d’opinion.
Seuls les candidats composant au titre de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront le sujet suivant.
3 Art brings people together. Discuss. (150 mots au moins)
Il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif. Vous devez exprimer votre idée sur la capacité de l’art à réunir les gens.
Sujet 6 | Corrigé
I. Compréhension du texte
Questions on document A
1 Three of Mr Fonseka’s activities during the voyage are reciting from memory, reading stories and singing. Their common point is literature, books.
The elements from the text that justify this answer are:
”recite by heart” (l. 2), ”unusual and interesting stories” (l. 5), ”reading to me” (l. 13), ”quoting something” (l. 15), ”he’d sing a song [...] or recite lines from an Irish play” (l. 18).
2 The four adjectives that best correspond to Mr Fonseka’s personality are: – kind (”he welcomed me” (l. 4));
– captivating (”it was the anonymity of the stories and the poems that went deepest into me” (l. 13), ”he beguiled them” (l. 20));
– knowledgeable (”he had this wide-ranging knowledge of books” (l. 17), ”he knew pas- sages from all kinds of books” (l. 2));
– serene (”to draw forth an assurance” (l. 21), ”a serenity that came with the choice of life he wanted to live” (l. 24), ”and this serenity and certainty” (l. 25)).
3 c)Mr Fonseka’s stories fascinate him:
”I’d attempt to add to the bare bones of an adventure Mr Fonseka had left unfinished” (l. 8), ”it was the anonymity of the stories and the poems that went deepest into me” (l. 13).
d)Mr Fonseka is interested in the narrator’s life:
”he made me tell him of our adventures on the ship” (l. 20).
4 This statement is wrong: ”Mr Fonseka would not be a wealthy man”, ”it would be a spare life”, ”a schoolteacher in some urban location” (l. 23).
Questions on document B
5 They go to the cinema together because they enjoy watching films and spending time together. It enables them to meet without being seen.
6 While Pembe is totally absorbed in the film, Elias seems more interested in watching her and her reactions.
7 Pembe seems happy to engage in physical contact with Elias until the lights come on. She clearly does not want to be seen in public with Elias and perhaps she is also shy or self conscious.
8 a)She is attractive:
”He caught a whiff of jasmine and rose, a heady, charming mixture” (l. 11), ”Elias observed her as she unpinned her hair and then pinned it back again” (l. 11).
Sujet 6 | Corrigé
c)She is different from him:
”This unfathomable, almost enigmatic attraction he felt for her, a woman so alien to the life he had led” (l. 31).
9 Clearly it was essential for these two people to meet in secret and not to be seen together. For some reason, their relationship is forbidden.
Questions on documents A and B
10 In both documents it is art that brings the characters together. They participate in an activity together despite clear differences between them.
11 In document A, the teacher enables the child to discover stories and the world of books, while the child entertains the teacher with the tales of his adventures on the ship. In document B, Elias introduces Pembe to the world of cinema, while she stimulates his senses and makes him feel alive.
12 a)In document A, it is the difference in age, the level of education and the choice of activities that could keep them apart. In document B, it must be a social or racial barrier that keeps them from seeing each other in public.
b)Their shared activities allow them to overcome their differences (document A) and the social barriers (document B).
II. Expression écrite
Dans le cadre du corrigé, nous avons choisi de ne traiter que les deux premiers sujets.
1 Dear Diary,
I feel more and more confused about my relationship with Elias, and more and more guilty about our secret meetings! At first, I was probably more interested in the films he took me to see than in the man himself, but the more we meet, the more I want to know about him, and the less I want to leave him at the end of the show.
I’m so scared that somebody who knows us sees us together and that the subsequent scandal will prevent us from ever meeting up again. I don’t think I could stand that now. I wish we could just run away together and live on a desert island where the only laws would be our own laws and not stupid laws that are centuries old and that nobody dares to question.
Why can’t a man and woman who love each other simply be together?
Love! It’s the first time I’ve used this word, but if I’m honest, that is what I feel today!
2 This question asks us to examine whether difference can be a source of enrichment for individuals and for society. I would have thought that the tolerance of differences is the basis of republican and democratic societies.
Sujet 6 | Corrigé
The greatness of the human race comes from our ability to share and to build on our mutual knowledge. Individually, we are weak and rather limited, but together we have an enormous force and extensive knowledge.
To increase our knowledge, we must constantly make new encounters which can be direct, in a face to face relationship, or indirect through media including the internet.
We can even go one step further: I would say that in our enrichment both as individuals and as a civilisation, we can learn from our differences with other life forms. The organi- sation of an ants’ nest or a bee hive may seem far from human preoccupations, but in fact scientists have found it most enriching.
In conclusion, it seems to me that learning from differences is an essential step in the evolution of both individuals and civilisations.
Sujet 7, langue vivante 1