THEME 1 : Childhood

1. Match them up

Match each verb with one having a similar meaning:

rear – misbehave – make believe – scold – assemble – take care (of) – disassemble – strike to the ground

a) Take apart disassemble

b) Tell off scold
c) Bring up rear
d) Play up misbehave
e) Put together assemble
f) Knock down strike to the ground
g) Pretend make believe
h) Look after take care (of)

2. What is what ?

Match the words to the definitions:

A playpen – a plaything – horseplay – a playboy – foul play – child’s play – a playmate – a playground

a) An extremely simple task or act child’s play

b) An area for children to play a playground
c) A portable enclosure in which a baby may play safely a playpen
d) A person treated as lightly and as carelessly as a toy a plaything
e) A companion in play a playmate
f) A usually rich man whose life is devoted to pleasure a playboy
g) Unfair treatment foul play
h) Rough, noisy fun or play horseplay

3. Reader’s corner

Place the following back where they belong in the text:

a) I answer
b) point a bread knife at my heart?
c) and still I say no?
d) I would refuse to eat,
 e) I don’t even want the food from my plate
f) and such idiocy
g) a man or a mouse?
h) and made fun of,

Then there are the nights I will not eat. My sister, who is four years my senior, assures me that what I
remember is fact: I would refuse to eat, and my mother would find herself unable to submit to such
willfullness - and such idiocy. And unable to for my own good. She is only asking me to do something for
my own good - and still I say no. Wouldn’t she give me the food out of her own mouth, don’t I know that by
now?

But I don’t want the food from her mouth. I don’t even want the food from my plate - that’s the point.

Please! A child with my potential! My accomplishments! My future […]

Do I want people to look down on a skinny little boy all my life, or to look up to a man?

Do I want to be pushed around and made fun of […] or do I want to command respect?

Which do I want be when I grow up, weak or strong, a success or a failure, a man or a mouse?

I just don’t want to eat, I answer .

So my mother sits down in a chair beside me with a long bread knife in her hand […].

Which do I want to be, weak or strong, a man or a mouse?

Doctor, why, why oh why oh why oh why does a mother pull a knife on her own son?[…]

How can she (play with me) during those dusky beautiful hours after school, and then at night, because I
will not eat some string beans and a baked potato, point a bread knife at my heart.

From Portnoy’s Complaint, by Philip Roth (1967)

THEME 2 : Education

1. Word-formation

Using the following prefixes: un- , il- , dis-, non- , give the opposite of the adjectives listed below.

a) literate illiterate
b) educated uneducated
c) respectful disrespectful
d) academic non-academic
e) logical illogical
f) forgettable unforgettable
g) able unable
 2. Beware of false friends

Translate the following sentences.

a) That was a very exciting lecture. Cette conférence était passionnante!

b) David will go to college next year. David ira à l’université l’année prochaine.
c) British public schools are renowned for their academic results. Les écoles privées britanniques
sont renommées pour leurs résultats scolaires.
d) Here, students’ achievement is a priority. Ici, la réussite des élèves est une priorité.
e) Degrees and prizes will be awarded in June. Diplômes et prix seront remis en juin.
f) The facilities have been modernized. Les équipements ont été modernisés.
3. Reader’s corner

Put this story back into the right order. c) – f) – b) – e) – a) – d)

a) “They are moved by a story I have been telling them. We are having a history lesson”, said Miss
Brodie, catching a falling leaf neatly in her hand as she spoke.
b) The story of Miss Brodie’s felled fiancé was well on its way when the headmistress, Miss Mackay,
was seen to approach across the lawn. Tears had already started to drop from Sandy’s little pig-
like eyes and Sandy’s tears now affected ger friend and Jenny. […]
c) “If anyone comes along,” said Miss Brodie, “in the course of the following lesson, remember that it
is the hour for English grammar. Meantime I will tell you a little of my life when I was younger than
I am now.” […]
She leaned against the elm. […]
d) “Cryiong over a story at ten years of age!” said Miss Mackay […]. “I am only come to see you and I
must be off. Well, girls, the new term has begun. I hope you all had a splendid summer holiday and
I look forward to seeing your splendid essays on how you spent them. You shouldn’t be cruing over
history at the age of ten. My word!”
e) “I am come to see you and I have to be off,” (sais Miss Mackay). “What are you little girls crying
for?”
f) “I was engaged to a young man at the beginning of the Wari but he fell on Flanders’ Fieldii,” said
Miss Brodie. […] “He fell the week before Armistice was declared. […] He was poor. He came from
Ayrshire, a countryman, but a hard-working and clever scholar. “ […]

from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, BY Muriel Spark (1961)

THEME 3 : Politics and citizenship

1. Do you know your politics?

a. Classify the following words in three categories: legislative / executive / judiciary power.

a court – a regulation – a minister – a judge – a law – a Secretary of State – an acquittal – a bill – a

policeman – a sentence – an investigation
Legislative power: a regulation / a law / a bill

Executive power: a minister / a Secretary of State / a policeman / an investigation

Judiciary power: a court / a judge / an acquittal / a sentence

b. Do you know the name of the (French) writer who defined these three types of power?

It’s Montesqieu.

2. The short story of a case

Classify the following actions by chronological order. d) – e) – j) -b) – f) – h) – c) – a) – i) – g)

a) He was sent to jail.

b) He appeared before a court.
c) He was condemned to two years’ imprisonment.
d) He was caught in the act of beating up his girlfriend.
e) He was charged with assault and battery.
f) The Court heard a witness give evidence.
g) When he was released, he found out that his girlfriend was happily married to a nice man.
h) The Court returned the verdict: the defendant was found guilty.
i) He served a 2-year sentence.
j) The case was taken to court.
3. Test your speaking-English culture.

Give the British and American equivalents of the following institutions whenever it is possible.

a) “Matignon” 10 Downing Street Ø

b) Le ministère des Affaires étrangères the Foreign Affairs the State Department
c) Le minister des Finances the Chancellor of the Exchequer the Secretary of Treasury
d) Le minister de la Justice the Lord Chancellor the Attorney General
e) “L’Elysée” Ø the White House
 i
The War : World War One
ii
Flanders’ Field : La Bataille des Flandres

A little bit of help :