UNIVERSIDAD ARCIS // DEPARTAMENTO DE INGLÉS TTIV TEST 2 1

Name: /50 pts

1. Match these key words from the text with their definitions. 8 pts
1. violent
2. riot
3. suburbs
4. immigrant
5. vermin
6. voter
7. scum
8. tense

a. someone who votes in an election

b. an area near a large town or city (but not in the centre) where many people live
c. small animals that cause diseases (if you call someone this, it is a very bad word)
d. nervous and not relaxed
e. involving the use of physical force / the opposite of peaceful
f. someone who comes from another country to live in a country
g. a dirty substance on the surface of a liquid (if you call someone this, it is a very bad word)
h. a violent protest by a crowd of people

2. Look in the text and find this information as quickly as possible. 12 pts
1. When were the riots in Lyon?
2. Where did the latest riots begin?
3. What is the unemployment rate in Clichy-sous-Bois?
4. What is Amnesty International?
5. Who is Nicolas Sarkozy?
6. Who is Dominique de Villepin?

3. Decide if these sentences are TRUE or FALSE. If FALSE, give the correct answer. 12 pts

1. Police stop young men regularly in Clichy-sous-Bois.

2. The riots began after police fired teargas into a mosque.

3. The French government has apologized to the Muslim community.

4. Unemployment is very high in Clichy-sous-Bois.

5. The French Prime Minister called the rioters “vermin” and “scum”.

6. Some young people in France do not feel they are full and equal citizens of the republic.

4. Match the words to make collocations. 6 pts

1. tear a. bomb
 UNIVERSIDAD ARCIS // DEPARTAMENTO DE INGLÉS TTIV TEST 2 2
2. immigrant b. gas

3. time c. rights

4. presidential d. rate

5. unemployment e. communities

6. human f. elections

5. Complete the table. 6 pts

verb noun
1. predict

2. employ

3. die

4. act

5. apologize

6. offer

6. Fill the gaps using prepositions. 6 pts

1. The police fired teargas ________________ a mosque.

2. There was a badly parked car _____________________ the mosque.

3. Four days ___________________ the deaths, the situation was calming down.

4. The two men were __________________________ African origin.

5. ________________ the past few weeks there have been many nights of violence.

6. The government has not offered any apology _______________ the Muslim community.

The riots in France are the result of years of racism, poverty and police brutality.
By Naima Bouteldja
In 1991 there was violence between young men and police in the suburbs of the French city
of Lyon. Alain Touraine, the French sociologist, said, "In a few years we will have the same
kind of problems the Americans have in their big cities." In the past few weeks there have
been many nights of violence in the suburbs of French cities. Perhaps Touraine’s pessimistic
prediction is now becoming reality. The violence followed the deaths of two young Muslim
 UNIVERSIDAD ARCIS // DEPARTAMENTO DE INGLÉS TTIV TEST 2 3
men of African origin in a Paris suburb. The two men lived in Clichysous- Bois, a poor
northeastern suburb of Paris, and this was where the violent riots began. Clichy-sous-Bois
was like a timebomb waiting to explode. Half its inhabitants are under 20, the unemployment
rate is more than 40% and police check the identity of young men regularly.
Young French citizens born into first- and second-generation immigrant communities from
France's former colonies in North Africa usually lead the riots. The cause is almost always the
deaths of young black men at the hands of the police. The reaction of the French government
usually makes things worse. Four days after the deaths in Clichy-sous- Bois, the situation
was beginning to calm down when the police fired teargas into a mosque. The official reason
for the police action was that there was a badly parked car in front of the mosque. The
government has not offered any apology to the Muslim community. But riots have now started
in other poor suburbs across France and this is something new.
Laurent Levy, an anti-racist campaigner, is not surprised by the situation. "When you do not
give any respect to large sections of the population, and when they do not have the right to
work and the right to proper accommodation, what is surprising is not that the cars are
burning but that it doesn’t happen more often," he says. Police violence and racism are major
factors in the riots.
In April a report by the human rights group Amnesty International criticized the way in which
the French police treated young men of African origin during identity checks. But the actions
of the interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, have also caused a lot of anger. He called the rioters
"vermin” and "scum" and said it was necessary to clean the suburbs with industrial cleaner.
Sarkozy's will probably be a candidate in the French presidential elections in 2007 where his
opponent will be the current Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin. Sarkozy’s words might
gain him votes from right-wing voters.
What can France do to stop the violence? It would obviously help if ministers stopped talking
about "scum" and if Sarkozy lost his job. A simple “sorry” could help to make the situation less
tense. The morning after the gassing of the mosque, a young Muslim woman expressed what
many people feel, "We just want them to stop lying and to apologize." Then some of these
young people might feel they were full and equal citizens of the French republic. Naima
Bouteldja is a French journalist and researcher for the Transnational Institute.

KEY
1 Key vocabulary
1. e; 2. h; 3. b; 4. f; 5. c; 6. a; 7. g; 8. d
2 Find the information
1. 1991
2. Clichy-sous-Bois
3. More than 40%
4. A human rights organization
5. The French interior minister
6. The French Prime Minister
3 Comprehension check
1. T; 2. F; 3. F; 4. T; 5. F; 6. T
4 Vocabulary - Collocations
 UNIVERSIDAD ARCIS // DEPARTAMENTO DE INGLÉS TTIV TEST 2 4
1. b; 2. e; 3. a; 4. f; 5. d; 6. c
5 Word building
1. prediction
2. (un)employment
3. death
4. action
5. apology
6. offer
6 Prepositions
1. into
2. in front of
3. after
4. of
5. in
6. to