SUJET d'Anglais
France Métropolitaine - Section S - Juin 2004
I.
TEXTE
The lorry’s open back held mattresses, an orange
sofa, a chair covered with a bright flower print,
all jumbled together, all blistering in the hot
August sun.
The driver's door opened and a man climbed out
and stood gazing up at the house. He wore a white
shirt and a dark tie, and his skin was the deep
color of the bittersweet chocolate her mother used
for baking.
A woman slid from the passenger side, her pumps
clicking against the pavement as she touched the
ground. Like her husband, she was smartly dressed,
her shirtwaist dress crisply pressed, and as she
stood beside him she looked up at the house with an
expression of dismay. He smiled and touched her arm,
then turned towards the bed of the lorry and called
out something.
From amid the boxes and bundles emerged a girl of
about her own age with thin, bare, brown legs and a
pink ruffled dress. Next came a boy, a year or two
older, tall and gangly. It seemed to her that the
family had blown in on the hot wind from somewhere
infinitely more exotic than this dingy
When it became apparent that they were not going
to reappear right away, she hugged herself in
frustration. She would tell someone, then, but who?
Her mother wouldn't be back for an hour or two, but
her father would be at the café, his usual custom
after a good morning’s trading at his jewelry stall.
Leaping from the steps, she ran. Down
She coughed involuntarily and her father looked up,
frowning. "What are you doing here, little one? Is
something wrong? "
He always thought something was wrong. She
supposed he worried so because of his time in the
war, although he never talked about that. In 1946,
newly demobbed, her father had arrived in
In spite of her precipitous arrival nine months
later, he had done well. Better than some of the
other men in the café, she knew, but still he clung
to the things that reminded him of the old country:
the smell of borscht and pierogi, the dark paneling
hung with Polish folk art, and the company of buxom
waitresses with hennaed hair.
"No, nothing's
wrong,” she answered, sliding onto the banquette
beside him. "And I'm not little. I wish you wouldn't
call me that, Poppy.”
"So, why does my very grown-up daughter come rushing
through the door like a dervish?"
"We have new neighbors in the house next door. "
"And what's so special about that? " he asked, still
teasing.
"They're West Indian," she whispered, aware of the
turning of heads. "A father and mother and two
children, a boy and a girl, about my age."
Her father considered her news for a moment in his
deliberate way, then shook his head. "Trouble, it
will mean trouble."
"But they look very nice—"
"It doesn't matter. Now you go home and wait for
your mother, and stay away from these people. I
don't want you getting hurt. Promise me.”
Hanging her head, she muttered, "Yes, Poppy," but
she did not meet his eyes.
Deborah Crombie, And Justice There Is None, 2002
II. COMPREHENSION
1.
a) Which of the following titles best suits
the whole passage?
a) Moving in
b) Moving out
c) Making new friends
d) Going to the market
b) Justify your choice by a quotation. Give
the number of the line.
2.
What country and city is the passage set in?
3.
Which characters do the underlined words
designate?
l.11 “From amid the boxes and bundles emerged
a girl of about her own age ”
l.17 “they were not going to reappear
right away”
l 23 “Yes, there he was”
l 38 “I wish you wouldn't call me that, Poppy”
4.
a) The reader is made to view these scenes
through the eyes of one of the characters.
Which one? Justify your answer by quoting
from the text.
b) What part of the world does that character come from? Is it …
The
Justify your answer by quoting the text. Give the
number of the line.
5.
Where do you think the main character is at
the beginning of the passage?
6.
a) What is this character’s state of mind?
b) Pick out elements from the text to justify
your answer. Give the numbers of the lines.
7. What does this
character decide to do next? What for?
8.
How does the man react to this sudden
arrival? What does it reveal about his personality?
Answer in your own words, then justify by a
quotation. Give the number of the line.
9.
Right or wrong? Justify each time by a
quotation. Give the number of the line.
|
a. |
|
Poppy has forgotten all about his roots. |
|
b. |
|
He was a child when he arrived in |
|
c. |
|
He wanted to forget the war and its hardships. |
|
d. |
|
His life in |
10.
l. 42. “They’re West Indian," she whispered,
aware of the turning of heads.
Explain why ‘she’ suddenly spoke in a
lower voice. (20 words)
11. l.45.
"Trouble, it will mean trouble." Analyse the
man’s reaction to the news. (20 words)
l. 46. "But
they look very nice—" Using elements taken from
the passage from line 1 to line 16, analyse the
girl’s vision of the newcomers.
12.
What
may the last four lines suggest as to her feelings
and intentions? (30 words)
III.
EXPRESSION
Choose subject 1 or subject 2.
1.
“He clung to the things that reminded him
of the old country”. Comment on this attitude (300 words)
2.
a) What do you think of today’s growing need
to communicate?
(150 words)
b) l.8 “she
looked up at the house with an expression of dismay.
He smiled and touched her arm …”
The mother is obviously disappointed with her new environment. Imagine the conversation she has with her husband. (150 words)
