Englishmrsloukam: If, by Rudyard Kipling (1895)

test

La semaine prochaine est votre semaine d'examen. (14 décembre au 17 décembre).

- Vous avez reçu un courriel à ce sujet.

-L'examen aura lieu au moment de votre cours habituel et durera donc 90 minutes.(une heure et demie)

- 5 minutes avant votre cours, je vous enverrai SUR VOTRE BOITE PARIS 2 votre examen format WORD de manière à ce que vous puissiez le modifier et y écrire vos réponses. Vous n'avez donc pas à changer le format du document.

-Vous aurez 90 minutes donc, dès réception du document pour faire votre travail, directement sur le document.

-Notez votre nom et prénom et enregistrez votre travail. Renvoyez-le moi sur ma boite GMAIL: mrsloukam@gmail.com

- vous aurez 5 mn pour renvoyer votre travail (après les 90 minutes).

- Des points seront enlevés si vous dépassez 10 minutes de retard et si vous avez 30 minutes de retard, votre note sera divisée par deux. (rappelez-vous qu'en classe les copies sont ramassées à la fin du cours et que vous n'êtes pas autorisés à continuer à écrire après le temps imparti)

- Je serai à même de répondre à vos questions en direct via zoom (lien habituel de votre cours).

-Il s'agit d'un examen, donc toute absence entraînera un zéro. Seul un certificat médical pourra vous permettre de refaire votre examen (le format sera le même mais pas le test bien sûr) dans le courant de la semaine.

- Je mets les trois diapositives visibles sur le blog sous ce texte pour vous permettre de lire de nouveaux toutes les instructions.

Trois points méthodologiques:

1) pour la compréhension écrite, pas de copier -coller du texte. Répondez aux questions comme nous l'avons fait pendant le semestre. Montrez que vous avez compris en répondant aux questions avec vos mots.

2) Pour l'"essay", j'ai décidé de vous donner une marge de 200 à 300 mots . Vous pourrez choisir entre deux sujets. Ne copiez pas verbatim les phrases de la brochure ou de mes documents car elles ne seront pas prises en compte. C'est un travail d'expression écrite, pas de recopiage.

3) Pour la grammaire, conformément aux instructions de nos coordinateurs, vous aurez un seul exercice portant sur les points de grammaire suivants: mots de liaison, articles, prétérit, present perfect, présent simple et en ing, quantifieurs et la voix passive (voir l'exercice du blog)

Vous pouvez par contre utiliser les phrases « types » qui vous permettront de mieux vous exprimer lors de la rédaction de votre « essay » (voir les diapos ci-dessous).

arguments

Pro or con arguments ?

1. Being killed by lethal injection or being electrocuted sometimes causes a painful death.

2. Giving a killer the death sentence will stop them - and others - doing it again. It has a deterrent effect.

3. If someone murders someone else, they have given up their human rights, including the one to stay alive themselves.

4. Mistakes are sometimes made in the law - what if someone is killed who is actually innocent?

5. No-one has ever proven with numbers that killing murderers stops other people committing similar crimes.

6. The death penalty goes against our most basic human right - the right to life.

7. The punishment should 'fit the crime' - if you have killed someone, you should be killed too. Retribution: « victims of murders cannot avenge themselves, only the law can and those closest to the victim(s) can do that »

8. The very small chance of executing the wrong person is balanced by the benefits to society of putting off other murderers.

9. Some economic studies have proved that 5 lives are saved by each executions or that 5 to 18 murders are prevented.

10. The slowness of the system does not give rise to effective retributive punishment.

11. The death penalty, both in the U.S. and around the world, is discriminatory and is used disproportionately against the poor, minorities and members of racial, ethnic and religious communities. Since humans are fallible, the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated.

12. The threat of execution at some future date is unlikely to enter the minds of those acting under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, those who are in the grip of fear or rage, those who are panicking while committing another crime (such as a robbery), or those who suffer from mental illness or mental retardation and do not fully understand the gravity of their crime.

13. The death penalty is one of the cornerstones of the American judicial system.

14. “Lifers are expensive. There are more of them than inmates on death row and some of them live the most comfortable lives with the best sources of contraband, while petty criminals live miserably and are preyed upon »

15. Life imprisonment changes and more and more criminals are released on parole. The death penalty would then prevent reoffending.

16.The Bible allows the Death Penalty « an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth » (Exodus 21:23-25)

17. In April 2012, The National Research Council concluded that studies claiming that the death penalty affects murder rates were "fundamentally flawed" because they did not consider the effects of noncapital punishments and used "incomplete or implausible models." A 2009 survey of criminologists revealed that over 88% believed the death penalty was NOT a deterrent to murder.

Which argument is the most convincing to you? And the least convincing?

immigration

Université Panthéon Assas mrsloukam@gmail.com

Immigration

-40.5 million foreign-born people are living in the United States. They represent about 14 % of the population.

u The salad bowl concept suggests that the integration of the many different cultures of United States residents combine like a salad. New York City is an example of the "salad bowl". In Canada this concept is more commonly known as the cultural mosaic.

u In the salad bowl model, various American cultures are juxtaposed — like salad ingredients — but do not merge into a single homogeneous culture. Each culture keeps its own distinct qualities.

In the salad bowl model, various American cultures are juxtaposed — like salad ingredients — but do not merge into a single homogeneous culture. Each culture keeps its own distinct qualities.

AGAINST

u Prevents the full integration of immigrant groups into host societies.

u America needs to have a common culture in order to preserve a common "American" identity

u Samuel P. Huntington (Who Are We ?, 2005) : foresaw the destruction of American identity by immigrants and mainly by immigrants from Latin America.

FOR

u Being American is not inherently tied to a single culture, but rather to citizenship and loyalty to the United States. Thus, one does not need to abandon one's own cultural heritage in order to be considered "American". Being an “hyphenated American” is being American. (Cuban American, Chinese American, Mexican American…)

u Amy Chua (Yale University) calls for a coexistence of different race, ethnic groups, and cultures with their own unique forms, like in a salad bowl, rather than requiring them to assimilate into the one created by the dominating majority. (Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance and Why They Fall, 2007)

u The “salad bowl” has always been the first step before gradual integration and acculturation. philosopher Horace Kallen called for “cultural pluralism” and berated “anglo-conformity” right from 1915(!) He advanced the ideal that cultural diversity and national pride were compatible with each other and that ethnic and racial diversity strengthened America

religion in the US

Université Panthéon-Assas mrsloukam@gmail.com

Englishmrsloukam.blogspot.com

RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES

Some key facts.

89 % of Americans claim to believe in GOD.

75.2% claim to be Christian. (Gallup) , 71% according to the PEW research center. 53.5% of them are Protestant.

Common wisdom has it that (on s’accorde généralement à dire que…) the U.S is one of the most religious-minded of all Western democracies. This widespread belief in God and in faith distiguishes America from other Western countries/ America is an outlier when it comes to religion (to be an outlier : faire figure d’exception)

Given the nature and historical importance of religion in America, the extent to which Americans hold religious beliefs is perhaps not surprising. It is a widely held view that the Puritan religion of many of the early settlers has helped promote the idea that material success is not shameful but a sign of God’s blessing, therefore taking part in shaping the American work ethic (see the video from the blog on Max Weber’s « The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of Capitalism »)

Religion seems to be part and parcel of American culture and history, some would add identity. (to be part and parcel of : être partie intégrante de)

The diversity of religious faiths and denominations is another striking feature of religion in the U.S. Because of the country’s multicultural heritage, many faiths have flourished in the U.S.

Catholics represent the largest single group of believers (23%)

The Mormons represent 2% of the population (about 6 million people). Utah is considered as « The Mormon State. »

The second largest religious community after the Christians are the Jews (1.6- 1.9%)

Then come the Muslims (1.5%), the Buddhists (1%) and the Hindus (0.6%)

There are more than 1,500 known sects or cults in the United States.

1.6% claim to be adamantly atheists (adamantly : catégoriquement)

The non religious/ non-affiliated group now represents 22.8 % of the population and is now the fastest-growing group in the United States.

The fastest-growing major religion is Islam (+ 0.7% in 7 years) before Buddhism (+ 0.4%)

The fastest-growing among the « minor » « non mainstream » religions is Satanism/Witchcraft (!)

Christians.

The Protestants are mainly divided into two main types of « churches » (the mainline or mainstream churches and the evangelical churches) and more than 200 denominations.

The mainline churches : Presbyterian (the Scottish/Northern Irish church), Episcopal (the Anglican church in America), the Lutheran, Congretionalist, the Disciples of Christ, the Baptists and the Methodist church. They have long been deep-rooted (profondément enracinées) in America. Socially speaking, the Presbyterian, Episcopal and Methodist Christians are mainly wealthy and from the elite. They tend to be more liberal in terms of theology and social issues. Their heartland is the East Coast, mainly New England.

The Evangelical denominations on the other hand include numerous denominations. They have been growing since the 1960’s and more importantly since the 1980’s and the apparition of televangelism and megachurches. They castigate the evils of today’s disoriented society (pornography, homosexuality, prostitution, abortion…) . They believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible as the Word of God and therefore defend creationism or « Intelligent design» ,as opposed to the Darwinian theory of evolution. They advocate the return to core moral values and spiritual conversion known as a second, or new birth, hence the adjective « born-again » Christian. Mr George Bush Jr is a born-again Christian for example. He converted to Evangelical Christianity in the 1980s (his family is Methodist except for Jeb Bush who converted to Catholicism when he married his Catholic wife).

Religion and politics.

The First Amendment of the Constitution denies the government any authority in religion and guarantees the free exercise of any religion. The decision was mainly influenced by some pragmatic concerns shared by minority religious groups. They indeed refused the idea of a national religion that would fail to represent them and would eventually lead to religious persecution.

However, the first amendment should not be interpreted as a rejection of religion in public life but rather as a refusal to officially favor any church at the expense of others. (See George Washington’s introduction to the Constitutional Convention : it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will… » - which hardly qualifies for a secularist comment)

Despite a long tradition of officially separating church from state, there are multiple instances of the country’s inclination to mix religion and politics.

-« In God We trust » has been engraved on American currency since 1957.

-Congressional sessions open with the pledge of allegiance » which refers to « a Nation under God »

-During the inauguration ceremony, each American president swears his oath on the Bible although it is not in the Constitution. George Washington ushered in the tradition. (usher in: introduire)

-More often than not, wearing their faith on their sleeves (évoquer ouvertement sa foi) helps politicians build up a successful career. They tend to politicize religion to gain even more votes, especially in the Bible-belt.

-Until 1962, it was common to open school days with a prayer and some Bible reading.

In the two landmark decisions, Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), the Supreme Court established what is now the current prohibition on state-sponsored prayer in US schools. Analysis of multiple polls since the 1970s by sociologist Philip Schwadel showed support for school prayer dipped slightly but remains popular with the majority of Americans, with a recent poll showing 65 percent support.

Comments/Discussions :

(overt) religious signs should/shouldn’t be confined to the public sphere. / One should show his/her belief/creed overtly.

Atheists seem to be frowned upon (mal vus) or even shunned (to shun : to refuse or reject socially) on the ground that they lack moral grounding. Or their moral grounding seems void since it is not religious. They are seen as lawless (« sans foi ni loi »). Godliness (la piété) is thus associated with morality.

According to a significant number of polls and surveys, the overwhelming majority of Americans set great store by/ set a high premium on religion and faith in God. Hence their rejection of atheists whom they see as untrustworthy and insensitive even if more and more Americans would be ready to vote for an atheist presidential candidate.

Thomas Paine, one of the Founding Fathers, was an avowed (déclaré)/ overt atheist.

Lincoln was unaffiliated. He did not officially belong to any church or religious group but imbued his speeches with references to God.

3 branches

Université Panthéon-Assas mrsloukam@gmail.com

English -L1, Semester 1. Englishmrsloukam.blogspot.com

The 3 branches of government

The Legislative

Article 1

Congress: Members of the Senate and House of Representatives

The U.S Capitol

1. 100 ……………….and 435 …………………………..

2. …………………………………… is considered as the head of the Senate.

3. The head of the House of Representatives is ……………………………………

4. The most important duty of the legislative branch is:

- To make ………

- To write bills.

- To vote whether or not bills should become laws.

5. It collects and spends money from …………

6. It declares ……….

The Executive

Article 2, section 2,3 and 4

Members: The President, Vice president and …………………………

The White House

The president:

- Signs bills into ……….

- Vetoes or rejects …………

- Appoints (nominates) ……………………..and senior officials.

- Meets with foreign leaders and ……………….. treaties.

- Is the …………………………….. of the U.S armed forces.

- The Cabinet gives advice to the president about important matters.

The Judiciary

Article 3.

Members : …….. Supreme Court Justices.

The Supreme Court

- Serve life-long …………..

- Is the head of the judicial branch and is the ………………. court in the country.

- Its decisions are …………… and no other court can overrule those decisions.

- Decides if laws agree with ………………….

- The Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional.

In contrast to the ill-defined powers of the British PM, his are defined in a document: Article II of the US Constitution (signed in 1787) which says that he is “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed” . Yet the powers thus assigned do not sound that impressive.

Washington, elected in 1789, was conscious of his role in shaping the office ("If I may use the expression, I walk on untrodden ground"). Sensitive to public fears of an over-mighty executive, he enshrined many self-limiting customs - an egalitarian term of address ('Mr President'), cabinet meetings and term limits that only later became law. His minimal activism, and that of the next five presidents, reassured the public. Only when the seventh president - Andrew Jackson, a firm believer in a strong presidency - took on both Congress and the Supreme Court in the 1830s, were the constraints on presidential power put to serious test.

As the chief of the Executive, the president of the United States is the head of 2.7 million employees (2 per cent of the US labour force) and commander-in-chief of the mightiest army on earth. At all times he is accompanied by the so-called 'football', a briefcase containing America's nuclear launch codes. He can negotiate treaties, pardon criminals and appoint around 4,000 senior officials (though many require the Senate's consent) including ambassadors, judges, generals and cabinet ministers.

The 3 branches : an invitation to struggle.

The structure of American government is often said to "an invitation to struggle": power is divided between executive and legislature, while authority to interpret the Constitution rests with the Supreme Court.

The president's cabinet, unlike the British PM's, cannot contain sitting members of the legislature; and Potus (« the president of the United States ») can never be sure of a legislative majority.

However, since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president has certainly become the largest source of new legislation.

And though he may not vote in Congress, if he doesn't like a bill he can veto it. His veto can only be overridden by a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which has only happened 107 times (4 per cent of attempts) in the history of the US. But then again, he too finds it hard to get his own way. Between 1953 and 1996, only 46 per cent of proposals submitted by presidents were passed into law.

Although the Constitution grants him some leeway to begin a sudden, defensive war, he still in theory depends on Congress to do so [...].

Congress's real power over the White House, however, lies in its control of the purse strings - "the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people", as 'father' of the Constitution James Madison put it. And so it has often proved. In the mid-1990s, the federal government shut down for 28 days when the Republican-controlled Congress refused to approve Bill Clinton's budget.

The House of Representatives, by a simple majority, can vote to impeach a president (i.e. subject him to trial by the Senate) for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors". But though three have faced impeachment proceedings - Clinton, Nixon and Andrew Johnson - none has been sacked. Nixon resigned before the House could vote; Clinton survived his trial. Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln after his assassination, was dubbed 'King Andy' for his resistance to Congress. In 1866, for instance, he vetoed the Civil Rights Bill giving freedom to the slaves. Desperately unpopular (Congress overrode his vetoes 15 times) he survived impeachment by a single vote.

The president's power to nominate judges gives him scope to shape the politics of the court. But it doesn't always work out that way. The Senate can reject appointments; and in any case, once installed, judges are hard to control. George Bush Senior's appointment, David Souter, ended up being one of four justices^{^[1]} to side against his son in the Florida recount of 2000.

Most great presidents have become so while acting outside their authority.

Jefferson carried out the Louisiana Purchase (buying the land of 15 states from Napoleon) despite having no constitutional right to spend $23m.

Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus during the American civil war.

In the 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt pioneered the use of Executive Orders, presidential decrees that have the force of law. They have since been used to desegregate the US Army (Truman), ban the use of federal funds for abortion (Reagan) and start an air war in Kosovo (Clinton) [...]

Vietnam, Iraq and the White House

"Congress shall have power to... declare War," reads Article I, section 8 of the Constitution. And so it has done five times in US history. That just leaves about 120 other occasions when the president has sent US troops into battle. Like the UK, the U.S has largely stopped declaring its wars. The president instead asks for an "authorization of force" from Congress, as in the case of the Vietnam war - in which 58,000 Americans and up to four million Vietnamese died; or in the case of the Korean war, no authorization at all. After the Vietnam war, Congress tried to re-assert its authority with the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which would force the president to consult Congress and regularly seek re-authorization for an ongoing conflict. But every president since Richard Nixon (who tried to veto it) has ignored it. The White House was still fighting in Iraq long after a simple authorization to remove Saddam Hussein had been given by Congress and long after Hussein’s death.

(adapted from “how powerful is the US president?” Newsweek.org, 2013)

[1] A justice is a Supreme Court Judge.

political parties

Université Panthéon-Assas mrsloukam@gmail.com

Englishmrsloukam.blogspot.com

Political parties

I) Vocabulary p 47 from your brochure from « right-wing /left-wing»

The Democrats / The DemocratIC party

The Republicans/ The Republican party a.k.a The GOP (Grand Old Party)

-Committed to individual liberties and free enterprise

- Progressive (socially liberal)

- state intervention

-« Big » government

- social welfare provided for by the state

- Raising taxes (for public services, social welfare)

-Committed to individual liberties and free enterprise

- Conservative (socially conservative)

-economically liberal (the party of maximum economic freedom –GOP’s website) /

- Limited/ « small » government

- The private sector (insurance companies) should provide welfare/healthcare protection (individual responsibility and investment)

- Believe in lowering taxes as much as possible.

II) The two-party system.

Even though smaller parties have always existed on the margins, the American political life has long been structured by two major parties : the Democratic party and the Republican party.

History : a split appeared between the framers of the American Constitution. Some like Alexander Hamilton, being in favor of a strong federal government (they became the federalist party, which disappeared in 1812), others, like Thomas Jefferson, argued for more autonomous states. The latter group formed the Democratic-Republicans, which later spilt into two parties.

The westward expansion of the country and the development of agriculture and slavery in the South and of industry in the north, led to diverging trends : the only remaining party spintered (voler en éclat) into the National Republican Party of John Quincy Adams (also called « the Whigs ») and the Democratic-Republican party victorious in 1828 and 1832 with Andrew Jackson. (Andrew Jackson is the first Democratic president).

The Whigs soon disbanded over the issue of slavery (the « Whigs » from the South wanted to maintain slavery, the « Whigs » from the North wanted to abolish it, among them was Abraham Lincoln.)

Meanwhile, a lot of Democrats also left the Democratic party which favored slavery.

All these abolitionists then joined the newly-created « Republican party » (1854). The first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln.

Since the mid-nineteenth century, the two-party system has prevailed.

However, over 50 other parties form the third-party movement (the Green Party, the Constitution party, the socialist party…) but they do not get enough support to win nationwide elections. They mainly run candidates at the local or regional level.

________________________________

To European eyes used to fierce battles between « the right » and « the left”, both parties might not seem to differ much on fundamental ideology . In France , the Democratic party would be considered as a centrist party rather than as a left-wing party.

The Democratic party, the emblem of which is the donkey, advocates civil liberties, equal opportunity and a free enterprise system tempered by limited government intervention.

« Big » Government : The party believes that the government should play a role in alleviating poverty (alleviate : soulager, réduire) and social injustice, even if it means larger federal intervention and progressive taxation to pay for social services.

« Socially liberal » : The party is more inclined to espouse socially liberal attitudes when it comes to ethical debates such as cultural pluralism, access to abortion, secularism, same-sex marriage, stem-cell research (la recherche sur les cellules souches) . They are also known to be closer to the minorities.

Foreign policy : Democrats mostly oppose the doctrine of unilateralism. They believe the US should act in the international arena in concert with other nations.

The environment : They uphold energy independence and do not reject « Global warming ».

The Republican party, whose emblem is the elephant, is also referred to as the GOP. Since its inception (= creation), it has been at the forefront of the fight for individuals’ rights in opposition to a large government.

Socially conservative : They uphold key traditional values or concepts such as faith (Christianity), Family, hard work, individualism, patriotism.

Economically liberal/ « small government » : They support market self-regulation, maximum economic freedom, lower taxes and as little federal intervention as possible. They pride themselves for defending the rights of individuals against too powerful a central government.

Foreign policy : The party’s history shows a tendency for isolationism but since George W. Bush, the neoconservatives have favoured direct, unilateral military intervention .

The environment : They believe prosperity should come first (GOP website). They question or even reject « Global warming » since part of the Republicans claim it has not been scientifically proven.

Interesting fact:

The Democratic Party was first the party of farmers and slave owners (mainly the South). By the end of the 19^th century, it became known as “The White Man’s Party”. Everything changed after the Second World War. The Democratic Party started its outreach to minorities, and especially to African Americans.

Conversely, the Republican Party was founded over the issue of slavery and by those who opposed it. Its voting base was in the North. Nowadays, it is mainly in the South and in the Mid-West.

your oral presentation. Tips and guidelines

Impératifs méthodologiques : - Exposé intégralement en anglais.

- Utilisation d’un diaporama (sur le diaporama, des images, quelques mots et dates clés, des titres par exemple). Ne pas y faire figurer le texte de votre exposé ! (vous serez alors tentés de lire ces phrases et votre note sera divisée par deux).

- 1 page de notes (recto uniquement)/ pas de phrases complètes sauf pour les citations (sinon je prends votre fiche de notes)

- 3 à 5 minutes de présentation (je vous demanderai de conclure après 5 mn)

- Présentez vos sources (minimum 4) à la fin ou au début de votre exposé sur votre diaporama. 3 doivent être impérativement des sources anglophones.

- Terminez votre exposé par une question à la classe (question-quiz, question-débat, question-opinion)

- Si vous êtes absent le jour de l’exposé, vous devez justifier votre absence par un certificat médical. Dans ce cas, je vous redonnerai une date d’exposé.

- NOTEZ BIEN LA DATE DE VOTRE EXPOSE !

- Choisissez un sujet qui vous plaît et qui vous permet d’apprendre et de partager vos connaissances. (Vous pouvez choisir votre propre sujet tant que celui-ci a un rapport avec le programme du semestre. Merci de m’en informer)

- Pensez à vos auditeurs ! Tâchez d’être simples et clairs : KISS (Keep It Simple and Straighforward). Parlez suffisamment fort et pas trop vite (entrainez-vous à la maison !)

- Relisez bien toutes ces instructions avant de vous lancer dans la préparation de votre exposé oral.

homwork for week 10 / Exam week

Homework for week 10 : EXAM WEEK. (TUESDAY 18th TO FRIDAY 21st) .

PREPARE YOUR CORPUS OF IDEAS ON RELIGION (see the handout and your notes). See the slides on the right handside for those who were not there and for those who did not get the handout.

Your exam will consist of:
1) a READING COMPREHENSION activity : A text to read, a short summary of the text, and two questions on the text.
2) GRAMMAR: please revise all the grammar exercises from week 2 - CONFUSABLE WORDS- to week 9- RELATIVE PRONOUNS. I have added exercises and their correction on for you to work on them.
3) ESSAY WRITING: TOPICS: FROM BRITISHNESS to RELIGION IN THE UK.

Please, do check the methodology pages from your brochure (56-58) . Support your claims with clear and precise facts (use your corpuses of ideas and the handouts I have given you all through the semester).

HAVE GREAT HOLIDAYS!

Homework for week 8

Homework for week 8.

Prepare a corpus of key facts, ideas, quotes on the UK and Europe.

1) We will finish discussing the Commonwealth and multiculturalism. Please, read the text p 63 and answer both questions if you haven't done it (see last week's homework). For further knowledge, please read the text I gave you on the Commonwealth. Do not pay attention to the instructions on the back of the second page since we did not have time to read the text in class. Just write a short summary if you want or a short comment.

We will also correct the exercises from your brochure (A and D p 68). Once again, you can work on all the exercises from the brochure, their correction is on the right hand side.

2) RELIGION in the UK.

A) P. 70. Prepare a short comment on document 1 and 2 and complete exercise b) - Vocabulary, facts and figures.
B) THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Exercise 3 , p 71. Fill in the blanks.
C) Read one of the texts from the chapter doc 4 , doc 5 or document 6 or all of them, and prepare a short summary or/and comment.

GRAMMAR. Relative pronouns (L'anglais de A à Z, units 329 to 336)

Exercise IV p 76 of your brochure.

week 7

Homework for week 7. THE COMMONWEALTH AND MULTICULTURALISM. PP 59-69.

1° Read the handout on Europe and prepare a corpus of ideas, quotes and key facts for you to be able to write an essay on the relationships between the UK and Europe.

2° WE WILL FINISH WITH "THE UK AND EUROPE" AND CORRECT YOUR EXERCISE ON COMPARATIVES (n° 1 p 50.

3° Chapter 6. P 60. THE COMMONWEALTH.
Exercise 1. ¨Place at least 6 Commonwealth countries on the map;
Exercise 2: what do they have in common?
Exercise 3: Complete the paragraph p 60 - definition of the Commonwealth.
MULTICULTURALISM.
Read the text p 63 and answer question 1 and 2.

Grammar : MODAL VERBS. L'anglais de A à Z, unit 238, 230, 73, 75, 278, 244, 148 and 102) .

exercises A , C and D will be corrected in class but please work on all the exercises. The corrections will be posted soon.

Vocabulary. Exercise A and B p 67. The correction will be posted on the blog if time is at a premium.

OPTIONAL. exercise "INTRODUCTION" p 59 . The correction is on the right hand side.

Watch the videos on the story of recent immigration in the UK and the one on " White people choosing to live apart."

Please, the correction of your grammar exercise on "articles" is also on the right hand side.

Correction of the exercise on tenses (simple past/ present perfect)

Complete the following exercise with present perfect or simple past tense.

1. He lived (live) in London for two years and then went (go) to Edinburgh.

2. Did you wear (wear) your hair long when you were at school?
Yes, my mother insisted (insist) on it.

3. But when I left (leave) school I cut (cut) my hair and have worn (wear) it short ever since.

4. Shakespeare wrote (write) a lot of plays.

5. My brother has written (write) several plays. He has just finished (just/finish) his second tragedy.

6. I flew (fly) over Loch Ness last week.
Did you see (you/see) the Loch Ness monster?

7. I haven't seen (not see) him for three years. I wonder where he is.

8. He hasn't smoked (not smoke) for two weeks. He is trying to give it up.

9. Chopin composed (compose) some of his music in Majorca.

10. When did he arrive (arrive)?
He arrived (arrive) at 2.00.

11. Did you lock (you/lock) the door before you left the house?

12. I read (read) his books when I was at school. I enjoyed (enjoy) them very much.

13. I can't go out because I haven't finished (not finish) my work.

14. I have never drunk (never/drink) whiskey.

15. I have written (write) the letter but I can't find a stamp.

16. The clock is slow.
It isn't slow, it has stopped (stop).

17. Here are your shoes; I have just cleaned (just/clean) them.

Correction of the grammar and vocabulary exercises p 67, 68 and 69

VOCABULARY
I) Complete the sentences with the right verbs in the right form. Assimilate into/ call into/ discriminate against/ cut off from/ mingle with/
1. Recent immigrants often have difficulty assimilating into the society of their adoptive country. 2. They are cut off from the rest of the society. 3. But their children mingle with other children from other communities much more easily than they do. 4. Sometimes they are sometimes discriminated against . 5. The government’s move to deal with unwanted immigrants is called into question by the opposition.

II) Find the missing words
a) A host country : Un pays d’accueil b) A lily-white suburb : un banlieue entièrement blanche c) A second- class citizen. Un citoyen de seconde zone d) A two- tier society : une société à deux vitesses e) To fuel hatred : nourrir, entretenir la haine f) A glass ceiling : un plafond de verre. g) To be mixed-race : être métis. h) To have a dual heritage : avoir une double culture.
GRAMMAR / modal verbs. (L’anglais de A à Z , unit 238, 230, 73, 75, 278, 244, 148, 102)

A) CAN /COULD/ BE ABLE TO : spot the possible mistakes and correct them.
1) She was able to be murdered by a spurned lover, who knows ? She could have been murdered 2) Immigrants from the Commonwealth countries used to can speak English well. Immigrants used to be able to speak English well. 3) Thanks to his courage and steadfastness, Paul Stephenson could lead a successful bus boycott. Paul Stephenson was able to lead… 4) The police got suspicious when they found I had a criminal record, but I can convince them it was all above board. I was able to convince them 5) Countries like Yemen, Sudan and Madagascar won’t be able to join the Commonwealth if they don’t bring about drastic economic, political and social reforms. Right 6) I wish they could stop keeping themselves to themselves. Right
B) COULD/COULD HAVE. Circle the letter of the correct answer.
1) Tu pourrais te blesser. a) You could have been hurt. b) You could get hurt. 2) Tu aurais pu te blesser. a) You could have got hurt b) You could hurt. 3) Comment pouvait-il savoir ? a) How could he know ? b) How could he have known ?
C) MAY/MIGHT. Spot the possible mistakes and correct them. 1) Nadyia may have thought she was dreaming when she won the Great British Bake Off, but I’m not really certain. Right 2) Because of the migrant crisis, Britain may be forced to open its borders. Right. 3) A peace treaty might have been sign next month. Might be signed 4) Some believe that the government’s policies on multiculturalism might pit one group against another. Right. 5) Some have even suggested that Ireland maybe will rejoin the Commonwealth. May rejoin the Commonwealth.
D) MUST/ MUSTN’T / NEEDN’T Put the verbs in the past tense.
1) They needn’t apologize for their colonial past. They didn’t have to … 2) Guyana doesn’t need the Commonwealth to protect its forest. All they need is a good deal with Norway. Guyana didn’t need 3) The Gambia must leave the Commonwealth, but Pakistan needn’t. The Gambia had to leave …but Pakistan didn’t have to.
E) SHOULD, OUGHT TO, HAD BETTER. Spot the possible mistakes and correct them.
1) We’d better to go now. I’m tired. We’d better stop now. 2) Most people think that access to certain Internet sites ought to be restricted. Right. 3) Labour should win. They had the best candidate. They should have won/ or they have the best candidate. 4) You’d better leave now, or you’re going to be late. Right. 5) Running for president if no easy task. You have better have an army of volunteers, loads of cash and plenty of guts. You’d better have…
F) Probability/Possibility
1) The UK can’t leave Europe. 2) The Prime Minister may make a speech. 3) The UK Prime Minister shouldn’t encourage anti-EU feelings. 4) You mustn’t listen to that politician. 5) The Labour leader will have to deal with anti-EU feelings. 6) The poll results must be published before his speech. 7) The EU commissioners needn’t meet the German Chancellor. 8) You should have known that the Tories would organize a referendum.

week 6

Homework for week 6 : Monday, March 6th to Friday, March 10th.

1) Read the handout on political parties and highlight the main points. You can also watch the Greens' astonishing campaign ad.
2) We will finish discussing the British policital parties and correct the exercise on articles" ( p 44)
3) THE UK AND EUROPE.

Read the text p 46 "Britain and the EU: the Story of a very rocky marriage" and answer question 1 and 2 p 48.

4) Grammar. The comparatives/ superlatives. (L'anglais de A à Z units 80 to 90)

Exercise 1 p 50 and I will have you work on another exercise in class .
You can still work on exercises 2 and 3. They won't be corrected in class but the correction will be posted soon.

Homework for week 5:

1) Prepare your little corpus of ideas, key facts (polls, dates...) and quotations on the Monarchy.

2) Work on the assignment that you will have to hand in - work on the text OR write the essay on the monarchy.

3) We will correct the exercise on tenses (see the slides on the right hand side for your revisions )

4) POLITICAL PARTIES You will then watch and comment upon documents related to the main British political parties.

5) VOCABULARY P. 45 (fill in the text)

6) GRAMMAR: exercise p 44. (see l'anglais de A à Z units 39 to 43)

V. Grammar : The articles
Task 1: Fill the gaps in this paragraph with articles: (a, an, the, ø)
The "Brexit" referendum has plunged the main British political parties into ø turmoil, with both main parties Conservative and Labour being divided about Britain's relationship with the European Union. The Conservative party has been split down the middle by opposition between ø pro- and ø anti-Europeans. The Labour Party is riven by ø dissention between an obvious militant party membership, and the party's generally moderate MPs. ø/the Labour MPs have overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence in leader Jeremy Corbyn, who says he will not stand down as he was elected overwhelmingly by ø/the party members. Of the three main traditional parties, only the Liberal-Democrat party has emerged intact from the chaos: the Lib-Dems always have been, and remain, firmly pro-European. If a general election is held in the UK in 2016 or 2017, the result will be totally unpredictable, based on the current states of the main parties.

Homework for week 4: Methodology + debate (February 20th-24th)

1. Read the handout : "the monarchy in question" and find whether the statements are for or against the monarchy.
2. Read the methodology pages p 14-18 on debating. Highlight the sentences or clauses that you think you will be able to remember and use (5-7 should be enough and make a point at using them during the debate)
3. Have a look at the slides on the monarchy for more content (scroll down the blog, please) and watch the video "jeremy Paxman on the British monarchy".

ASSIGNMENT FOR WEEK 5. We will discuss it in details.

homewor for week 3

Homework for week 3: (The Royal family)

1. Read the handout on "Britishness" and prepare your corpus of ideas/ notions/ words, phrases and quotes as well as key sentences for your exam.
2. Watch the video on the different British accents (scroll down the blog)
3. The Royal family: we will work on the handouts I have prepared for you.
4. Grammar: Tense review. L'anglais de A à Z (tense review) + the passive + conditional ( unit 283-287 (the passive), unit 319, unit 297 (plu perfect), unit 309-313 (present), unit 315 (present perfect) , 147-155 (future) , 91-93 (conditional)
EXERCISE "GRAMMAR" p 37 of your brochure.
OPTIONAL: task 2 p 37 (the correction in on the right hand side)

WELCOME BACK and BEST WISHES TO YOU ALL!

THE CLASSES RESUME ON MONDAY JANUARY 30th. Here is the curriculum as well as the list of presentation topics. You can take your pick from now on if you wish!

English – Assas - Semester 2 . mrsloukam@gmail.com

Englishmrsloukam.blogspot.com

Oral presentation topics

Your presentation should be 3 to 5 minutes long. / A few notes are allowed (dates, a few words, your plan, but no complete sentences. Your notes should not be more than half a page long)

Use different sources (not only Wikipedia). Be selective and analytical. Give structure to your work: introduction, body and conclusion. For your powerpoint : no complete sentences, only bullet points, pictures and names . Wind up your presentation with a question to your audience in order to trigger a short discussion.

Week 2 . From Monday February 6^th to Friday 10^th TOPIC: BRITISHNESS

The Scottish resistance against English rule and colonization

William Wallace aka Braveheart.

The Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights: two major constitutional documents.

The Conquest and colonization of Ireland

Richard the Lionheart: a national hero?

The English Defence League: How nationalists and far right activists define and defend “Englishness”

Week 3. From Monday 13^th to Friday 17^th TOPIC: THE MONARCHY/ THE ROYAL FAMILY.

Queen Victoria and the Victorian era.

Elizabeth I and the Elizabethan age.

Jane Austen’s time: the Regency period.

Oliver Cromwell: Britain’s greatest man or most notorious statesman?

Privacy, the press and the Royal family

Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder plot: causes and consequences.

The British Republican party and the story of anti-monarchist movements.

Week 4. From Monday 20^th to Friday 24^th.Methodology/ Debating / TOPICS : the monarchy and Britishness or other

Week 5. Monday 27^th to Friday March 3^rd. TOPIC: POLITICAL PARTIES.

Tony Blair: from New Labour to the war in Iraq.

The Conservative party

The Greens

The UKIP and Nigel Farage.

The Liberal Democrats.

The SNP (Scottish National Party)

The Labour Party

The British National Party and “Britain First” (see article p 40)

The Communist party of Great Britain (CPGB)

Week 6. Monday 6^th to Friday 10^th TOPIC: THE UK AND EUROPE.

Why did Britons choose to leave Europe?

De Gaulle and Britain.

Cartoons 4 and 5 p 52: description, analysis and viewpoint.

Week 7. Monday 13^TH to Friday 17^th. TOPIC: THE COMMONWEALTH AND MULTICULTURALISM.

William Wilberforce and the abolition of slavery.

The Empire Windrush and Jamaican immigration: a British Dream?

The Rise and fall of the British Empire. (Brochure p 59)

The Conquest and colonization of Ireland/ New Zealand/Australia/ Canada/ South Africa/ India. (choose one country!)

Asians in the UK. (! : Asians are people originally from the Indian subcontinent: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka)

The Afro-Caribbean community in the UK.

A Commonwealth country of your choice: colonization, fight for independence and relations with Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth.

Week 8. Monday 20^th to Friday 24th . TOPIC: RELIGION IN THE UK

Saint Augustine and the Christianization of England.

Henry VIII and the founding of the Church of England.

Catholics and Protestants in the UK: from Henry VIII to 2013.

The Puritans in England.

Is Britain a template of religious tolerance?

Religious minorities in the UK.

Week 9: Monday 27^th to Friday 31^st. Revisions and methodology. FREE CHOICE OF TOPICS

CCTV: is the UK turning into a surveillance state?

Privacy and the Media in Britain

WEEK 10: EXAM WEEK. MONDAY APRIL 17^th to FRIDAY APRIL 21^st.

Week 11. Monday April 24^th to Friday April 28^th CLASS CLASH or FREE CHOICE OF TOPICS

Socialism in Britain.

Marx and Britain.

Britain as the cradle of capitalism

The rise and fall of the nobility.

The working class and Unions in the UK.

WEEK 12. Monday May 1^st to Friday May 5^TH . The Welfare State or free choice of topics

Political parties and the welfare state.

Benefit streets: “poverty porn”?

THE IRA

The suffragettes and women’s fight for equality.

Gay rights in Britain.

Week 13. Monday May 8^th to Friday, May 12^th. Exam back and correction. FREE CHOICE OF TOPICS.

Is unarmed police bound to disappear in the UK?

Scotland Yard: between myth and reality.

The death penalty in the UK.

correction/ vocabulary p 37

Correction of the exercise "task 2, vocabulary", p 37
1. Realm = A kingdom
2. (royal) Venue = a place where events of a specific type are held
3. (to swear) an Oath of allegiance = a promise to be faithful 4. Commoner = A person who holds no title
5. Coronation = The ceremony of installing a new monarch
6. Courtier = one in attendance at a royal court
7. Duke = A British peer of the highest rank
8. Earl = A British peer ranking below a marquess and above a viscount
9. Viscount = A British peer who ranks below an earl and above a baron
9. Jubilee = A specially celebrated anniversary
10. Kingship = The government of a King
11. Pageant = an elaborate colourful parade /any magnificent or showy display, procession
12. Peer= A nobleman
13. Prince consort = the husband of a reigning female sovereign
14. Princess royal = the eldest daughter of a British sovereign 15. Queen consort = the wife of a reigning king
16. To stir (controversy) = To cause, create
17. To abdicate = to renounce (a throne, power, responsibility, rights)
18. To behead = to decapitate
19. To disband = to put an end to, to dissolve
20. To disown = to repudiate
21. To entitle = to give right to
22. To Oversee = To watch, to supervise
23. To overthrow = to effect the downfall or destruction of (a ruler, institution, etc.), esp. by force

Homework for week 11

WEEK 11 (revision week) and 12 (exam week)

Monday 5th to Friday 9th: Revisions for your EXAM which will take place in week 12 (from Monday 12th to Friday 16th)

We will finish discussing immigration. Please watch the video on how immigrants can save dying cities for more knowledge on the matter.

Revisions. We'll work on the following grammar points. (see the exercises from your brochure and l'Anglais de A à Z - the unit numbers are on the right hand side. They correspond to the grammar points seen during the different classes)

1. LINK WORDS p 24

2. Present tenses, simple and continuous p 30

3. Articles p 39

4. present and past perfect p 63

5. The passive voice p 90.

6. Conditionals p 97

7. Quantifiers p 107

TOPICS.

1.The media

2.The president

3.Religion

4.Manifest Destiny

5.Foreign Policy

6.Race Relations

7. Immigration

8.Political parties

See all your notes and handouts and prepare a little corpus of ideas, key facts, quotes and events for each topic. Remember that for your essay, you need to back up your claims with clear and precise examples.

If you have not handed me an essay in, please check the methodology pages on how to write an essay p 11 to 14 of your brochure.

Homework week 10.

Week 10 (November 28th to December 2nd)

We will finish discussing immigration and correct the exercises p 97.

There will be presentations on "Alternative America" but this chapter is not included in the list of chapters to revise for the exam.

Week 11 will be "revision week".

erratum: in the handout I gave you on foreign policy.

Between isolationism and interventionism , paragraph 3: " His interventionist approach to foreign policy IS KNOWN as the Roosevelt corollary".

Note that Therodore Roosevelt was also the one who first talked about the United States as "the policeman of the world" (Historians now also refer to the U.S as "the sheriff of the world").

Question to president OBAMA exercise 3 p 86.

Shane Smith: [The stats are staggering: One in 17 white men have the chance they will go to prison in their lifetime, compared with one in three black men.] Is the criminal justice system in America racist?

President Obama:

I think the criminal justice system interacts with BROADER PATTERNS of society in a way that results in injustice and unfairness. The system, every study has shown, is BIASED somewhere institutionally in such a way where an African American youth is more likely to be SUSPENDED FROM school than a white youth for engaging in the same DISRUPTIVE behavior. More likely to be arrested, more likely to be CHARGED (inculper: to charge with), more likely to be PROSECUTED aggressively, more likely to get a STIFFER sentence.

The system TILTS (pencher) in a direction that is unjust. And particularly when you think about nonviolent drug offenses. This is an area where the statistics are so SKEWED, you have to question whether we have become NUMB to the costs that it has on these communities, whether we think it's somehow normal for black youth or Latino youth to be going through the system in this way. It's not normal. And it has to be addressed FROM SOUP TO NUTS in order for us to get some better outcomes. (from soup to nuts: de A à Z)

homework chapter 8, week 9.

Homework for week 9 (chapter 8).

Considering you are taking mock exams and the fact that some students asked me not to give you too much homework, you will not have work on a text.

Do check the correction of exercise II p 75 + 3 p 86 (complete Mr Obama's answer to the question: "is the American judicial system racist?") to further your knowledge on Race relations.

Immigration.

Brainstorming p 91 : 1 and 2 OR 3/4.

Grammar : The conditional. L'anglais de A à Z, units 91 to 93 and then 155.

Exercise E p 97.

Phrasal verb : To boiled down to (se résumer à...)

" As always in foreign policy, everything boils down to a question of territory and military might"

EXPRESSION:

African Americans have made great strides since the Civil Rights era but the playing field is not level yet.

To make great/ substantial strides: progresser à grands pas

The playing field is not level yet: l'égalité de traitement n'est pas encore établie.

// To level out: stabiliser, planifier, résorber. There is a need to level out America's sharp social inequalities: Il est necessaire pour l'Amérique de résorber ses grandes/criantes inégalités sociales.

No more essay subjects to work on but you can always choose one the previous subjects.

You can still work on a summary, the analysis of cartoons or on Gast's painting.

This week is your last opportunity to hand me an assignment in.
Some students have emailed me to ask for one more assignment, so you can write a summary of the text p 81 (see the handout I gave you on how to write a short summary, or you can also sum up the text p 93 on immigration.

II) Key events in African-American history: match the dates and events (not in chronological order)

1787-8	The United States Constitution does not directly mention the institution of slavery, but it addresses it indirectly in three places: - A "person held to service or labor" in one state, who escapes to another state, "shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor shall be due." ¬ - It grants Congress the authority to prohibit the importation of slaves after twenty years. - The "three-fifths" clause : slaves counted as « three fifths of a person » for determining taxation and representation in Southern states.
1954	Brown v. Board decision declares segregation in public schools illegal.
1964	The Civil Rights Act prohibits employment and public access discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, or religion.
1833	Creation of the American Antislavery Society by William Lloyd Garrison in Philadelphia. For the next three decades, the Society campaigns that slavery is illegal under natural law, and sees the Constitution "a covenant with hell."
1857	Dred Scott Decision: The United States Supreme Court decides that blacks can never be citizens and that Congress has no authority to outlaw slavery in any territory.
1863	Emancipation Proclamation: President Abraham Lincoln decrees that all slaves in Rebel territory are free.
1965	Explosion in a Baptist Church in Birmingham kills four black girls attending Sunday school.
1662	Hereditary Slavery Virginia law decrees that children of black mothers “shall be bond or free according to the condition of the mother.”
1968	James Earl Ray assassinates Martin Luther King, while he is standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
¬ 1 1963	King's Letter from Birmingham Jail inspires a growing national civil rights movement. In Birmingham, the goal is to end the system of segregation completely in every aspect of public life (stores, no separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, etc.) and in job discrimination. This same year, he delivers his I Have a Dream Speech on the Washington Mall, which becomes an enduring symbol of King's legacy and influence.
1641	Massachusetts is the first colony to legalize slavery.
1820	Missouri is admitted to the Union as a slave state, Maine as a free state. Slavery is forbidden in any subsequent territories north of the state.
1739	Slaves in Stono, South Carolina rebel, stealing weapons, fleeing toward freedom in Florida and killing 20 whites. Crushed by the South Carolina militia, the revolt results in the deaths of 40 blacks.
1865	The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution outlaws slavery.
1619	The first Africans arrive in Virginia.
1955	The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins on December 5 after Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on the bus. This boycott lasts 381 days and ends with the desegregation of the Montgomery, Alabama bus system. As a pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Martin Luther King, Jr. leads this black bus boycott and becomes a national hero.
1808	The slave trade importing African slaves is outlawed by Congress, but the internal trade continues in states where the institution is legal.
1896	The Supreme Court establishes the 'separate but equal' doctrine with Plessy vs. Ferguson. This law enables the expansion of growing segregation or "Jim Crow" practices across America, with many states codifying segregation in state constitutions and local laws and ordinances.
1861-5	The Civil War
1777	Vermont is the first of the thirteen colonies to abolish slavery and enfranchise all adult males.

Homework chapter 7

Homework for week 8: November 14th to November 18th.

FIRST REMEMBER THAT YOUR IN-CLASS TEST WILL TAKE
PLACE IN WEE 12 (FROM MONDAY DECEMBER 12TH TO FRIDAY DECEMBER 16TH) . FOR
THE LATECOMERS, PLEASE READ THE METHODOLOGY PAGES FROM THE BROCHURE +
THE POSTS FROM THE BLOG DEDICATED TO THE FIRST CLASS ( CURRICULUM, EXAM,
CONTINUAL ASSESSMENT...)

1° WE WILL FINISH DISCUSSING FOREIGN POLICY WITH THE TEXT " THE MYTH OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM" . FOR THE TWO CLASSES I DID NOT HAVE TIME TO READ THE WHOLE TEXT WITH, PLEASE READ IT AND PREPARE A TWO, THREE-LINE SUMMARY FOR EACH MYTH.
2° THERE IS NO GRAMMAR EXERCISE IN THE BROCHURE ON PHRASAL VERBS AND FALSE FRIENDS. YOU WON'T BE TESTED ON THESE GRAMMAR POINTS IN YOUR EXAM, BUT I HAVE ADDED AN EXERCISE ON THE BLOG FOR YOU TO PRACTISE.

RACE RELATIONS

READ DOCUMENT 3 P 79. ANSWER QUESTIONS 1 TO 4.

GRAMMAR : THE PASSIVE VOICE. L'ANGLAIS DE A à Z, UNITS 283 TO 287 + 268.

EXERCISES I AND II AND III P 90.

YOU CAN ALSO WORK ON THE GRID P 75 ( KEY EVENTS IN AFICAN AMERICAN HISTORY) TO GAIN MORE KNOWLEDGE ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY. THE CORRECTION WILL BE POSTED ON THE BLOG.

ESSAY SUBJECT: FOREIGN POLICY: " IS ISOLATIONISM THE BEST OPTION FOR THE UNITED STATES?"

PHRASAL VERB OF THE WEEK. TO BALK AT (rechigner à)

"The Mexican president will certainly balk at paying for the wall"

EXPRESSIONS/WORD OF THE WEEK : TRUMP

"He was holding all the trumps" (il avait toutes les cartes en main)
"a trump card": une carte maîtresse, un atout.
"trumped-up charges" : des accusations forgées de toutes pièces.
To trump: prendre le dessus sur
"Profit should never trump people's safety" .

CORRECTION OF EXERCISE 3 P 63.
1° American Indians were forced to leave their land and live on reservations.
2° They have been fighting to be recognized ever since.
3° Indians/ Native Americans have been confronted/faced with numerous social problems/issues for decades.

EXERCISE FALSE FRIENDS

EXERCISE ON FALSE FRIENDS
1. She was appointed ____________ of my father´s inheritance executor/executioner
2.-He never listens to the teacher during the class, he is very _______________ chatterbox/talkative.
3.-Could you _________________this test? resume/summarize
4.-If you eat this plant you´ll
get ______________________ intoxicated/poisoned.
5.-He is so
_____________________that everybody pulls his leg. candid/innocent
6.-The _______________________was so good that
nobody realized anything.
deception /disappointment
7.-He ____________________one of
his lectures last year.
attended/assisted to
8.-The _________________was very
good but not very famous for his music.
compositor/composer
9.-They wanted the city to be olympic
but it didn´t have ___________________
commodities/facilities.
10.-Despite being so old he is
rather _________________________ unconscious/irresponsible.
11.-Albert Einstein was a
famous ______________________ physician/physicist.

EXERCISE FALSE FRIENDS

homework foreign policy

Homework for week 6/ chapter 5: foreign Policy.

1) We will finish discussing Manifest Destiny thanks to your comments on the videos from the blog (Watch at least one of them, please!)
2) Correction of exercise E(1,2) p 63.

3) American foreign Policy.
Read the handout "the language of debate" and underline some of the expressions you think you might use during the discussions we'll have next week and the weeks after... + THE HANDOUT " COMMENTING ON A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE" WHICH WAS GIVEN TO YOU IN WEEK 1 AND 2.

Grammar

a) PHRASAL VERBS : L'anglais de A à Z unit 403.

b) FALSE FRIENDS : Unit 138. Work on the exercises from the book, there isn't any in the brochure but I will have you work on both grammar points.

ASSIGNMENT TO BE HANDED IN:

Painting p 54 (try to see it online and in color) . Describe and analyze John Gast's painting : to what extend does it illustrate Manifest Destiny? Conclude by giving your viewpoint on the work.

OR/AND

Essay subject: "Manifest Destiny is nothing but the American version of the European colonization of Asia and Africa" Do you agree with this statement?

Remember you need to hand me at least one essay ( for you to practise essay writing before your exam) or one cartoon/painting analysis or summary during the semester.

EXPRESSION OF THE WEEK

"to sound/toll the knell" : sonner le glas.
"Manifest destiny sounded the knell for the Native Americans."

cAN WE ELECT AN ATHEIST PRESIDENT?

•To
vote for/against someone on the basis of their private life is an act of poor
citizenship on part of such voters.
•Truly, honestly, completely
•I
mean why not, it might do this country some good not to
have a
president with clouded judgement because of some old book written thousands of
years ago. The world is changing and people in America need to be more open-minded
about
the people that may run our country.
•Yes-vast swaths of the electorate and
unaffiliated.
•25%
of people today are unaffiliated. 35% of millennials are
unaffiliated. By 2035, about a third of the electorate will be unaffiliated. By
2050, half of our country will be unaffiliated. And
as much as I hate to say it, many of those people will vote for an atheist.
America is going to hell.
•Why wouldn't we?
•The
constitution states that the government and religions should be kept separate.
So that right there provides the reasoning why it could happen. And, contrary
to popular belief, atheists have morals. Just not religious ones.

•It is physically possible, yes.
Should we have an atheist president? No. Atheists do not believe in God, God is
the cause of morality. Therefore, atheists don't believe in morality. Morality
is important if you are, you know, the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. No one
would vote for an atheist in office. Posted by:
themightyindividual
•No way, man!
•Sure,
maybe an atheist wouldn't let religious beliefs cloud his decisions, but
most atheists have low moral codes. If we want to keep this country on the
straight and narrow, we probably shouldn't allow atheists to run for president.
Just saying. My opinion doesn't matter, but I just feel that way.
•Follow the money.
•If
religious people are funding Presidential candidates, it is only reasonable to
assume they will strengthen candidates who share their beliefs.

homework foreign policy

Homework for week 6/ chapter 5: foreign Policy.

1) We will finish discussing Manifest Destiny thanks to your comments on the videos from the blog (Watch at least one of them, please!)
2) Correction of exercise E(1,2) p 63.

3) American foreign Policy.
Read the handout "the language of debate" and underline some the expressions that you think you might use during the discussions we'll next week and the weeks after...

Grammar

a) PHRASAL VERBS : L'anglais de A à Z unit 403.

b) FALSE FRIENDS : Unit 138. Work on the exercises from the book, there isn't any in the brochure but I will have you work on both grammar points.

ASSIGNMENT TO BE HANDED IN:

Painting p 54 (try to see it online and in color) . Describe and analyze John Gast's painting : to what extend does it illustrate Manifest Destiny? Conclude by giving your viewpoint on the work.

OR/AND

Essay subject: "Manifest Destiny is nothing but the American version of the European colonization of Asia and Africa" Do you agree with this statement?

Remember you need to hand me at least one essay ( for you to practise essay writing before your exam) or one cartoon/painting analysis or summary during the semester.

EXPRESSION OF THE WEEK

"to sound/toll the knell" : sonner le glas.
"Manifest destiny sounded the knell for the Native Americans."

homework week 6

Homework for week 5 : Manifest Destiny.

I) End of religion
1) P 103: Will the U.S elect an atheist president?
For the groups I did not have time to discuss the questions with: Finish reading the text and answer question 1 to 3./for the other groups, we will start the class with a short discussion on religion and US politics.
2) We will then correct the grammar exercise p 106.
Have a look at one of the videos for more information on the topic!

II) Manifest Destiny: chapter 5.
1) Read document 2, p 53: "Gap's 'manifest destiny' TShirt"

a) What is manifest destiny?
b) What was wrong with the "manifest destiny" Tshirt?

Grammar. Simple past / present perfect /plu perfect.
L'anglais de A à Z, units 281, 282, 318, 297, 315, 316, 319 and 320.

Exercise 1 and 2 p 63 of your brochure.

Writing:

Short summary of the text p 53 (Tshirt) in 5 to 10 lines (See handout: "how to write a short summary")
OR/AND
Essay. Here is the subject: Do you consider the United States as a secular country?

Phrasal verb of the week:
TO AMOUNT TO (revenir à, équivaloir à...)
"Many drivers complained that the new fees amounted to an assault on the middle class" (Washington Post)
Expression of the week:
TO BANK ON SOMETHING (compter sur quelquechose)
"Life might be easier if we had a big-bang crisis which would give everybody a new start. But this sort of moment is rare, so I would not bank on it. "
BARK AT THE WRONG TREE. (faire le mauvais choix, demander à la mauvaise personne, choisir la mauvaise cible, perder son temps et son energie...)
"I think the police are barking at the wrong tree by suspecting John. He has a cast-iron alibi". (Je pense que la police fait erreur en soupçonnant John. Il a un alibi en béton. )

MAKE UP CLASS (cours de rattrapage) for November 1st.

Saturday 5th of November 10.10 (room Domat) and Saturday November 5th at 11.50 (room Domat) .

Feel free to attend one of my Thursday classes if it is more convenient to you (I teach there in room Hemingway - at 3.30 and 5.10).

homework week 5

HOMEWORK FOR WEEK 5 - RELIGION ( P 99 TO 107)

1° WE WILL CORRECT EXERCISE 1 AND 2 P 39.
TO COMPLETE your work ON " THE PRESIDENT" YOU CAN ANALYSE AND HAND ME OVER THE ANALYSIS OF CARTOON 5 P 40 OR 7 P 41.

2° RELIGION. WE WILL START THE CLASS WITH PRESENTATIONS, A LITTLE CULTURAL/HISTORICAL/LEGAL BACKGROUND AND WE WILL FINALLY READ A TEXT AND HAVE A DISCUSSION/debate.
3° GRAMMAR : quantifiers (some, many, a few/ many/much) L'anglais de A à Z units 221, 243, 370, 372. Read the explanations, work on the exercises . + EXERCISE P 106 OF YOUR BROCHURE.

Writing: Structured analysis of document 5 p 40 or 7 p 41 of your brochure.

Phrasal verb of the week: To adhere TO (se conformer à )
Throughout the ups and downs, Sir Alan Sugar adhered to his basic rules of business life: "I don't like liars, I don't like cheats" (The Daily Telegraph)

Expressions of the week:
1) "To advance by leaps and bounds" (avancer à pas de géant)
"New ideas were put into practice and the business Advanced by leaps and bounds" (de nouvelles idées ont été mises en pratique et notre affaire a avancé à pas de géant)
2) "To be ahead of one's time" : etre en avance sur son temps.
Kennedy was definitely ahead of his time when he launched the Moon program (1961) and decided to send a man to the moon.

Homework for week 4 (Chapter 3: The president)

1) We will finish discussing political parties (please watch one of the videos from the blog - or all of them !- on both political parties). Take notes and be ready to express yourselves.
2) We will correct the exercise 1 p 29 (the correction of the second exercise in on the right hand side).
3) The president: Read B. Reading texts and complete the paragraphs p 31-33 up to picture/paragraph number 10.
4) We will then discuss Mr Obama's assessment (Cartoons + your viewpoints)
GRAMMAR: ARTICLES Look at units 39-43 in your grammar book "L'anglais de A à Z" for full grammar explanations and exercises. Then work on Exercise 1 and 2 p 39 "from your brochure.

Phrasal verb: To aim AT something. (avoir pour objectif de faire qqch)
Mr maliki's visit is aimed at improving cooperation on stabilizing Iraq. (The Washington Post)
Expression: As an aside (en aparté, entre parenthèses)
The court suggested as an aside that the employee's argument had some force.

Essay subject: remember that I give you essay subjects to work on and practice before your exam. Write at least one essay during the semester and draft it in 45 minutes.

"The two-party system is the best system possible for the United States" Do you agree with this statement?

homework for week 3 political parties

Homework for week 3 (political parties) October 10-14
1) We will finish discussing the media and freedom of expression by referring to the videos and documents from the blog (Sanders, astroturfing, the first amendment and John Stuart Mill...) So please have a look at at least one of these posts. + finish reading the text p 19 (document 4) and explain why the US was downgraded.
2) We will watch videos and campaign ads in order to determine and discuss the Republicans' and the Democrats' history, stances and platforms.
3) Grammar: Simple present and progressive present (be+ing)
see units 309-314 l'anglais de A à Z
EXERCISE 1 p 29 of your brochure.

For the students who asked me for a reference book for the vocabulary, see "The Big Picture" Jean Max Thomson (ellipse).

Phrasal verb of the week: account for (expliquer, rendre compte de, représenter)

Latinos account for 25% of the population.

Poor sanitation accounts for the recent outbreaks of disease.

You need to account for your shocking behaviour yesterday.

Expressions of the week:

There is no accounting for tastes! (les goûts et les couleurs de se discutent pas!)/ chacun ses goûts!

Add fuel to the fire/to the flame (jeter de l'huile sur le feu)
To add fuel to the fire, they revealed that Wikipedia had been paid by this corporation to give a favorable account of its activities.

ESSAY SUBJECT ON THE MEDIA: Comment on the following statement:

"Media manipulation in the US is more efficient than it was in Nazi Germany, because here we have the pretense that we are getting all the information we want. That misconception prevents people from even looking for the truth."
Mark Crispin Miller (journalist and media critic. Professor of media studies at New York University)

Correction of exercise 2 p 29 on the simple present and the continuous present.
a. Bien que le parti républicain et le parti démocrate dominent la scène politique américaine, il existe
d'autres mouvements idéologiques qui mettent en avant des positions alternatives et qui déterminent
le résultat d’élections en influençant l'opinion publique.
Although the Republican Party and the Democratic Party dominate/control the American political scene/politics, other ideological movements - that take alternative positions and shape the results of elections by influencing public opinion - exist.
b. Allume la télévision, c'est le dernier discours de son mandat ! Il annonce qu'il ne se représente pas.
Switch the TV on, it's / the last speech of his mandate / his last speech as incumbent! He's announcing that he's not running again!
c. Le pays traverse une crise économique sans précédent et cela explique pourquoi le président adapte certaines mesures de son programme à la situation.
The country is going through an unprecedented crisis which explains why the president is adapting some of the measures of his program to the current situation.
d. Aux États-Unis, le Congrès légifère actuellement sur une réforme du système de sécurité social.
In the U.S., Congress is currently legislating on / a reform of / reforming / the social security system.
e. Ils plaident contre toute forme d’interventionnisme de l'état fédéral dans l'économie du pays, dans
l'éducation et dans la santé ainsi que contre la mise en place d'une loi visant à contrôler l'achat et
l'utilisation d'armes à feu. Et toi, tu es d'accord avec eux !
They ADVOCATE against any form of interventionism of the federal government in the
economy, in education and in health and against implementing legislation aiming at checking
the purchase and the use of guns. And you agree with them

WELCOME ABOARD!

Welcome to you all!

For week 2 (Monday, October 4th to Friday 7th)
1) Please for next week, try to get l'Anglais de A à Z, Michael Swan et Françoise Houdart, Hatier, 2011. This book will be our reference for grammar.
The grammar point for our second week is "link words" , please check unit 240 and work on the exercise p 23 of your brochure.

2) If you have not chosen your presentation topic yet, check the list I gave you, and be ready to communicate your presentation topic.
3) Read p 7/8 of your brochure on how to analyse a picture and finish reading the tips on how to write an essay ( p 10 to 14)

4) For your presentation, please also read the handout "commenting on a newspaper article" and highlight/underline the sentences you feel suit you best.

PHRASAL VERB OF THE WEEK: to abide by (respecter, se soumettre à) - abide, abode/abided
"you must abide by the rules the know! Otherwise you may get into trouble!"
"They agreed to abide by the terms of the contract"
"I abide by what I said" (je maintiens ce que j'ai dit)
EXPRESSION OF THE WEEK. According to Hoyle (selon le plan, dans les règles de l'art, comme prévu)
"Everything went according to Hoyle, exactly as it should have, just as envisioned by the Founding Fathers" (Tout s'est déroulé exactement comme prévu...)

Homework 11.

Homework for week 11- exam week.

For your exam, please read the methodology pages from your first brochure .
ESSAY: Remember to prepare a little corpus of ideas, quotations, facts, figures that will help you support your claims in your essay. Please read the methodology pages from your first brochure, especially the page with an essay template "what does an essay look like?"
The topics will go from "Britishness" to "religion".

GRAMMAR:
-Revise from "confusable words" to "relative pronouns" . You can work on the exercises from l'anglais de A à Z (all the references are on the blog - see the homework for each week- or just check the book's table of content to know where to find the units related to the grammar points you want to revise).
- You can rework on the exercises from the brochure as well! The one on confusable words is an excellent one since it is more comprehensive than the one you have in l'anglais de A à Z.
I've also added some exercises on the blog (right hand-side).

READING COMPREHENSION:
-You will have a short text to read with 3 or 4 questions related to it. The document will deal with a topic seen in class. Please remember that the point is to test your understanding of written English so get straight to the point and read the questions carefully.
-Do not overinterpret. Use the context to understand unknown words. Remember that you are supposed to know at least 80 % of the words so there is no reason why you should not understand the document since you already know about the topic it is related to.
-You can also answer the questions in 3 or 4 lines. Your answers do not need to be complex nor lengthy.

ALL THE BEST !

Homework week 10

Homework for week 10. End of religion / class clash

We'll finish discussing religion.
We'll start with class clash except for the groups that will choose to spend more time working on exercises. I do not give you a text to read, in order for you to prepare your exam but if you haven't worked on the exercise p 83, please do so.

Advice for your exam:
Revise from chapter 1 (Britishness) to Religion (grammar included: relative pronouns).
Prepare a corpus of ideas / facts / figures / historical dates and quotations for your essay .

should/ had better/ought to

SHOULD, OUGHT TO, HAD BETTER. Spot the possible mistakes and correct them.
1) We’d better to go now. I’m tired. We’d better stop now.
2) Most people think that access to certain Internet sites ought to be restricted.Right.
3) Labour should win. They had the best candidate. They should have won/ or they have the
best candidate.
4) You’d better leave now, or you’re going to be late. Right.
5) Running for president if no easy task. You have better have an army of volunteers, loads of
cash and plenty of guts. You’d better have…

correction (might, may, must...)

MAY/MIGHT. Spot the possible mistakes and correct them.
1) Nadyia may have thought she was dreaming when she won the Great British Bake Off, but
I’m not really certain. Right
2) Because of the migrant crisis, Britain may be forced to open its borders. Right.
3) A peace treaty might have been sign next month. Might be signed
4) Some believe that the government’s policies on multiculturalism might pit one group against
another. Right.
5) Some have even suggested that Ireland maybe will rejoin the Commonwealth. May rejoin the
Commonwealth.
IV) MUST/ MUSTN’T / NEEDN’T Put the verbs in the past tense.
1) They needn’t apologize for their colonial past. They didn’t have to …
2) Guyana doesn’t need the Commonwealth to protect its forest. All they need is a good deal
with Norway. Guyana didn’t need
3) The Gambia must leave the Commonwealth, but Pakistan needn’t. The Gambia had to leave
…but Pakistan didn’t have to.

correction (might, may, must...)

correction (could/be able to...)

CAN /COULD/ BE ABLE TO : spot the possible mistakes and correct them.
1) She was able to be murdered by a spurned lover, who knows ? She could have been
murdered
2) Immigrants from the Commonwealth countries used to can speak English well.
Immigrants used to be able to speak English well.
3) Thanks to his courage and steadfastness, Paul Stephenson could lead a successful bus
boycott. Paul Stephenson was able to lead…
4) The police got suspicious when they found I had a criminal record, but I can convince them it
was all above board. I was able to convince them
5) Countries like Yemen, Sudan and Madagascar won’t be able to join the Commonwealth if
they don’t bring about drastic economic, political and social reforms. Right.
6) I wish they could stop keeping themselves to themselves. Right
II) COULD/COULD HAVE. Circle the letter of the correct answer.
1) Tu pourrais te blesser.
b) You could get hurt.
2) Tu aurais pu te blesser.
a) You could have got hurt
3) Comment pouvait-il savoir ?
b) How could he know ?

Correction of the exercise p 70-71

VOCABULARY.
I) Complete the sentences with the right verbs in the right form. Assimilate into/ call
into/ discriminate against/ cut off from/ mingle with/
1. Recent immigrants often have difficulty assimilating into the society of their adoptive country.
2. They are cut off from the rest of the society.
3. But their children mingle with other children from other communities much more easily than
they do.
4. Sometimes they are sometimes discriminated against .
5. The government’s move to deal with unwanted immigrants is called into question by the
opposition.
II) Find the missing words
a) A host country : Un pays d’acceuil
b) A lily-white suburb : un banlieue entièrement blanche
c) A second- class citizen. Un citoyen de seconde zone
d) A two- tier society : une société à deux vitesses
e) To fuel hatred : nourrir , entretenir la haine
f) A glass ceiling : un plafond de verre.
g) To be mixed-race : être métis.
h) To have a dual heritage : avoir une double culture.

homework week 9

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT MONDAY MARCH 28TH IS A BANK HOLIDAY (jour férié)
Here are the make up classes but just as usual you can attend any of my classes.
Monday 7.45 group: Friday April 1st at 2.05 in room 34
Monday 9.20 group: Tuesday , March 29th at 10.55 in room 41
Monday 10.55 group: Friday, April 1st at 3.40 in room 41.

HOMEWORK FOR WEEK 9 (end of chapter 6/ chapter 7)

I) We will finish discussing multiculturalism. Please feel free to read the text on immigration and to watch the videos on Britain becoming a colour-coded society and on the Empire Windrush (arrival of the first Jamaicans in 1948).
We will correct some of the exercises you had to work on (p 70-71)
II) We will discuss the Anglican Church as the Established Church.
Exercise A p 72.
Grammar: relative pronouns (l'anglais de A à Z, units 329 to 336) -explanations + exercises + exercise p 83.

Essay subjects:
1) “We paid for our own oppression. It’s a bit rich to impress, kill, torture and repress, and then celebrate democracy…Britain’s industrial revolution was actually premised on the de-industrialisation of India… Britain should make reparations for its colonial rule.”
Shashi Tharoor, Indian MP. Comment on this statement.

2) Comment on the following statement: “[The Commonwealth] is a British foreign policy success
story that has come to encompass every region, religion and race on the planet, something no other organization apart from the UN can boast.”
Daniel Howden in “The Big Question: What is the Commonwealth?”, The Independent, 2009.

homework for week 8

Homework for week 8 (March 21st/ March 24th)

1) We'll finish discussing the UK and Europe. Please work on the handout "Chapter 5: the UK and Europe" and do the activities A and B. We'll have a debate/ discussion on Brexit/Brimain after that.
2) Please find the correction of questions 2/3 and 4 of the text "Britain and the EU: a long and rocky relationship" on the right hand side of this blog. I will check your understanding of my correction next week (except for the groups I've already corrected the questions with).
3) The Commonwealth/ Multiculturalism (chapter 6)
a) Read the text on the Commonwealth from the handout I gave you and answer the question related to it (arguments for and against the Commonwealth)
b) Please read the text "Multiculturalism: what does it mean?" p 65 and answer both questions p 66.

Grammar. Modals
L'anglais de A à Z unit 238, 230, 73, 75, 278, 244, 148 and 102.

Work on the exercises A to E p 70 and 71.
You can also work on the vocabulary p 70.
Some exercises will be corrected in class, others won't but you'll find the corrections on the blog.

homework for week 7

Correction of the exercise B p 48

B. Make sentences with the following elements: successful, old, united, important, declining,
favorable, good, late, popular, small, independent.
(légende : - = moins de / + = plus de / ++ = le plus / -- = le moins)
1. The three main party leaders are collectively the least popular in the history of polling. (--)
2. England has the oldest parliament in the world (++)
3. Initially, the Whigs were the party of the liberal and reforming aristocracy. In contrast to the Tories,
the Whig Party attracted people more favorable to constitutional reforms
4. In the 1850's, the Whig Party became the most successful element of a union of Whigs and
Radicals who took the name "Liberal Party". (++)
5. Very weak following the recession of the 1970s, the Labour party was largely reformed later by
Tony Blair, who transformed it into a modern social democratic party. (+)
6. Opposition to the government comes from the parties that sit on the Opposition benches in
Parliament. They have to remain as united as possible if they are to maintain an effective opposition
to the government in power. (=)
7. The simple majority system of election tends to under-represent less important political parties and
to maximise the chance of the most popular political party winning a majority of seats nationwide. (-)
8. The three parties have smaller memberships than they did, since voters are much less inclined to
join a political party. (-)
9. It has been argued that democracy would be better served and parties could be more independent
if there was public funding of political parties with the actual level of funding depending of some
combination of candidates and votes. (+)
10. The Conservative party has taken over the role of Britain’s most declining institution. (++)

Correction of the exercise above

Have you ever seen ANY members of THE Royal Family? Unfortunately no, and there’s NO/LITTLE
chance I will. Can I give you SOME advice? SOME paparazzi sometimes manage to track them
during THE summer on Ø dream beaches. You might have A chance there! But actually, FEW
people have really managed to get A photograph. There is too MUCH protection around them. If you’d
like to get SOME crispy news, you’d better read it on THE Internet! You can see Harry wearing A
uniform with A nazi cross or Ø Queen Elizabeth at SOME/AN inauguration ceremony!

homework week 6

Homework for week 6.

1) We will finish or start our debate on the monarchy. (please read the handout "the language of debate" + the handout "the monarchy" with the arguments for/against and get ready to stand your ground!
2) We'll correct the exercise on articles p 40.
3) We will discuss political parties (we'll watch campaign ads) . As an introduction, please work on the exercise p 49.
4) GRAMMAR /COMPARATIVES/ SUPERLATIVES (ex A p 48) / see l'anglais de A à Z unit 82 to 90.

Essay subject
"the monarchy is finished. It was finished a while ago, but they are still making the corpses dance" Sue Townsend (was a British writer and humorist) Comment on this statement by focusing on the British monarchy.

homework week 4

Homework for week 4. End of chapter 2: Privacy and the media

1) We will correct or finish correcting the questions on the video "UK addiction to surveillance" (see last week's homework)/ we'll discuss the idea of the UK as a surveillance state and the origin of it.
2) Please, read the text "Are celebrities gagging the media...?" and answer both questions.
Read " The Holland affair rankles British press" and summarize the text in a few lines OR explain what the difference is between the French press and the British one when it comes to privacy and politicians.

Essays on Britishness: Choose one of these subjects.

DO NOT SPEND MORE THAN 45 MINUTES ON THE ESSAY, PLEASE.

Can citizenship tests define nationhood? (focus on the UK)

Is the UK a nation?

"Define Britishness? It's like painting wind!" Mark Easton, home editor for BBC online.

For my THURSDAY 7.45 group. Since you did not get the texts, the first text is displayed on the right hand side . The questions are there as well.

Anti-Terorism acts and civil liberties

1974: First anti-terror act meant to stop or prevent attacks from the IRA.
2001 anti-terrorism , Crime and Security Act: gave the police powers to search and arrest people on mere suspicions that they might be terrorists. Part 4 provided that the Home Secretary should detain suspected foreign terrorists indefinitely, pending deportation.
The 2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act: creations of "control orders" dubbed "prisons without bars"
The 2006 Terrorism act defines the offence of "glorifying terrorism" and revises the pre-charge detention of suspected terrorists, up to 28 days.
Britain has the largest DNA database with the samples of 7 % of the population, sicne the police are allowed to keep your DNA sample for six months when you were not convicted. (Protection of freedoms act, 2012

correction of the excercise on tenses p 23

1) are flying ("look!)
2) would have won
3) have been trying/ have tried
4) will be found (passive in the future: will be + past participle/ être reconnu coupable: to be found guilty)
5) was created
6) Nigel Farage / stands for
7) raised
8) will always benefit/ have always benefited from
9) would have to find if the government cut/ would find
10) Tony Blair had tried ( before TB became PM he.../ /before becoming PM. First action in the past - 1997- which refers to another action further back in time - past perfect)

For my Thursday 7.45 group

Assas- L1, English, semester 2. mrsloukam@gmail.com

Englishmrsloukam.blogspot.com

WEEK The media and PRIVACY READING COMPREHENSION

Document 1

Are celebrities gagging the media more than ever?

BBC News, 20 April 2013 Last updated at 17:19 GMT.

Gagging the media, or properly protecting private lives? We're hearing about injunctions and so-called super-injunctions more than ever, but are they changing the way celebrities are reported? The BBC's legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman has been finding out...

Are the rich and powerful increasingly using injunctions and so-called super-injunctions to gag the press from publishing stories about their private lives? No one really knows, especially in the case of 'super-injunctions', where the media is prevented from revealing even the fact that an injunction has been granted. The media, and in particular the tabloid press, are extremely worked up about the issue of injunctions. They see these protective court orders as a bar to free speech. To understand why the debate is so heated at the moment, we need to trace some of the history of the UK's current privacy law.

Battle lines were drawn between the rich and powerful who wanted to protect their privacy on the one hand, and a hungry media which wanted to write about it on the other.” In the late 1980s, tabloid journalists used long-lens cameras to photograph the television presenter Russell Harty in his hospital bed as he lay dying. In 1990 a team from the Sunday Sport, disguised as medical staff, managed to photograph and speak to the 'Allo 'Allo star Gorden Kaye as he lay in his hospital bed after brain surgery following a car crash.

There was great public concern. Kaye tried to sue the Sunday Sport. He got as far as the Court of Appeal, which lamented the fact that the UK didn't have a law of privacy, and expressed the hope that parliament might legislate to create one. His legal action failed.

Parliament never did legislate. But in 2000 the Labour government passed the Human Rights Act, which wrote into UK law the European Convention on Human Rights. It established two very powerful, but contradictory rights.

Commentators debate whether privacy or freedom of speech should take priority. In the Guardian John Kampfner urges politicians to review libel reform, privacy and media standards. Mr Kampfner argues the review should question why the UK has "some of the most restrictive libel laws in the developed world".

The right to private and family life under Article 8 - the right to privacy. And the right to Freedom of Expression under Article 10 - the right that allows the press to publish. The battle lines were drawn between the rich and powerful who wanted to protect their privacy on the one hand, and a hungry media - and in particular the tabloid press - which wanted to write about it on the other. The law was developed by judges through cases involving the supermodel Naomi Campbell and the former motorsport boss, Max Mosley. It established that if a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in a particular activity, eg undergoing drug treatment or having an affair, the press can only publish the story of them engaging in that activity, if there is a genuine public interest in doing so.

Running alongside the developing law was the injunction - and its big brother, the super-injunction, whereby celebrities and public figures could get an interim injunction to stop a story before it is published. The injunction will generally last until any trial for breach of privacy. However, in order to get one, the celebrity has to provide enough evidence to satisfy a judge that they would be likely to win at trial and obtain a full injunction.

It isn't surprising that, as these injunctions have been increasingly used by the rich and powerful to prevent publication of stories about their private lives, they have proved unpopular with the press.

Super-injunctions have been around for many years. Their purpose is to protect a person or organisation when, if they were not granted, the whole purpose of the injunction would be frustrated.

They are especially effective in privacy cases where simply allowing the public to know that a particular celebrity has obtained an injunction, might lead to mass speculation (especially online) about the facts, identification of the activity the celebrity has been engaging in and thus full revelation of the story. A super-injunction is the closest a celebrity can get to a total lockdown.

However, in recent cases involving Chelsea and England footballer John Terry and Take That singer Howard Donald, the courts have reaffirmed that super-injunctions are to be used extremely rarely, and they have underlined the importance of open justice. That has not placated the print media though, who continue to oppose the use of injunctions which they feel gag them from publishing.

Vocabulary :

To gag : museler, bâillonner. / To libel : - diffamer (par écrit) « to sue for libel » : poursuivre en justice pour diffamation. - Médire, calomnier (en général)

Questions :

1. What is an injunction ? And a super-injunction ?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. On what grounds do celebrities and the media oppose regarding privacy?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Homework for week 3

Homework for week 3 (feb 15th to Friday 19th)

1) We will have a discussion on "britishness" .
Please read document 5, p 17 and document 6 p 19 (" St George's flag is a racist symbol...) / What more did you learn about the Conservatives' test and the reactions to it? What more did you learn about the "Britishness" debate? Can you understand why the English flag is seen as a racist symbol?
2) We'll finish correcting the exercise on confusable words (see last week's homework)
3) The Media and privacy in the UK .
Watch the video on the blog "UK addiction to surveillance: the Big Brother Society" and answer the questions p 28 of your brochure.
4) Grammar (tenses) exercise p 29 of your brochure.

Homework for week 2 (chapter 1)

Homework for week 2, chapter 1 (Britishness p 9 to 21)

WELCOME BACK!

Remember: If you haven't bought "l'anglais de A de Z" do so, since it is our reference book on grammar!

1) Answer the questions on general knowledge (activity A, p 9) except question 9 (we'll discuss the role of the monarch of the UK with the chapter on the Royal family).
2) Answer the question related to activity B : what is britishness to you? (we'll compare your thoughts and ideas with your classmates')
3) Do the exercise on "confusable words" p 20 . See l'anglais de A à Z unit 241, p 227.

Do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you have questions on your average grades or on your presentation. My email address is: mrsloukam@gmail.com

semester 2, week 1

Happy new year to you all!

The second semester will resume on Monday, February 1st.

THE TUESDAY GROUPS WILL ATTEND THE CLASS IN ROOM 43 INSTEAD OF ROOM 44, from Tuesday 2nd on.
All the other groups won't change classrooms.

I will hand your exam papers in. We will then correct them.
I will also give you your average grades for semester 1.

The second part of the class will be dedicated to discovering the new brochure, the curriculum and to giving you some advice on reading, writing, speaking and on your presentation.

You will get a new list of topics for your oral presentation and your presentation week as well.

See you on the 1st, 2nd and 4th then! In the meantime, all the best for your exams!

Homework for week 12

Week 12 is exam week.
It is an in-class exam that will last 1hour and a half. Come to your usual classroom in due time.
The exam consists in:

-a reading comprehension (30 pts)
- some grammar exercises (20 pts)
- An essay (50 pts)

Please read the first pages of your brochure for more information -especially from page 13 to 16
Have a look at the slides on linguistic tips and revision tips on the right hand sides .
I have also added extra exercises for you to work on.

All the best, and do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you have a question.

Homework for week 11

Homework for week 11.

Class content: End of religion in the US + revisions for the exam which will take place in week 12 (from Monday 14th to Thursday 17th)

Please start preparing a corpus a ideas, facts, phrases, quotations on the topics broached in class (from "the media" to "religion") for the writing of your essay.
Work on your grammar exercises from week 2 to week 9 (from link words to the quantifiers) in your brochure and in "l'anglais de A à Z".

WRITTEN HOMEWORK (optional)

Read one of the texts on "alternative America" (chapter 10) or watch the video on "occupy wall street" and answer the questions from your brochure - only the comprehension questions - and hand me your work over in week 11.
You will get a homework grade for that as well as a good training for your exam.

Homework for week 10

Homework for week 10.

We will finish our chapter on "Immigration" with the groups I did not have the time to broach the topic with.
Please read the text "Is America a melting pot or a beautiful mosaic" if you haven't read it.
DO WATCH THE VIDEO ON HOW IMMIGRANTS HELP REVIVE SOME CITIES! YOU CAN ALSO TAKE THE "IMMIGRATION TEST" BELOW!

We will finish discussing and for some group start discussing "religion in the US".

Week 10:grammar: infinitve -to/ gerund -ing/ simple verb base.

See l'anglais de A a Z units 15, 200, 201, 202, 355, 375, 396.

Exercise p 106 of your brochure .

I will hand your essays over.

YOU WILL TAKE YOUR EXAM IN WEEK 12. (From December 14th to Thursday 17th of December)

WEEK 11 WILL BE DEDICATED TO REVISIONS.

For the exam, you will have to revise the chapters 2 to 9. Do not include chapter 10 in your revisions.

homework for week 8: topic immigration

HOMEWORK FOR WEEK 8

We'll finish correcting the text on the Afro-Americans' achievements and plight and discussing "race relations". We will then correct the exercises on the passive.

IMMIGRATION. (brochure p 82-91)
1) Activity A: brainstorming QUESTIONS 1 TO 4.
As some students have asked me to give you less homework since some of you are already cramming for their exams, we will read the text p 82 together and answer the questions in class. If you feel like prepapring them anyway, feel free to do it!
2) GRAMMAR. FUTURE / CONDITIONAL.
l'anglais de A à Z 147-155, 91, 410.
Exercises A and B p 91.

Correction of the exercises III and IV p 81 (the passive voice)

III. Fill in the blanks with the verbs in the passive or active voice
1. In 1865 slavery was abolished (abolish).
2. Yet, black people in the South were segregated
(segregate) and couldn’t use (cannot use) transportation, schools, restaurants and other public
facilities.
3. During the so-called Jim-Crow period between 1890 and 1940 they experienced
(experience) a new wave of hatred and unfair treatment.
4. A lot of blacks were murdered (murder)
without the police taking any interest and were prevented (prevent) from taking part in the elections.
IV. Translate using the passive voice
1. Cela fait des années que les Noirs Américains sont discriminés > Black Americans have been discriminated against for years.
2. On ne permettait pas aux Noirs de fréquenter les mêmes restaurants que les Blancs > Blacks were not allowed to spend time in the same restaurants as White people.

wealth gap between ethnicities

The numbers say it all.

The typical white family had accumulated more than $134,200 in wealth in 2013, while black families scraped together a little more than $11,000 and Hispanic families $13,700, according to a new Urban Institute report.

It's yet another example of how financial inequality is pervading this country and it's is only getting worse. Whites now have 12 times the wealth of blacks and nearly 10 times more than Hispanics. But in 1995, the spread was only 7 times for blacks and 6 times for Hispanics.

"The American Dream remains out of reach for many African-American and Hispanic families," said Signe -Mary McKernan, co- director of the Opportunity and Ownership Initiative at the Urban Institute. "Families of color , who will be the future majority population of this country , are not on a firm wealth- building path."

There are three main reasons for the widening gap, according to McKernan. Blacks and Hispanics are less likely to be homeowners or participate in retirement accounts , which build wealth.

Federal government programs aimed at helping Americans buy homes and save for retirement rely on tax breaks and aren 't as available to blacks and Hispanics, who typically have lower incomes. The bottom 20% of taxpayers, in terms of income, received less than 1% of federal subsidies for homeownership or retirement.

And the earnings gap between the races makes it harder for blacks and Hispanics to save.

The wealth gap, in dollar terms, only increases over time because of all these factors. The typical white family in their 60s has $285,000 more in wealth than their black counterpart . (The Hispanic sample size was too small.)

That means whites are better able to enjoy a comfortable retirement and pass along wealth to the next generation to help children buy homes or grandchildren go to college . Whites are 5 times more likely to receive large gifts or inheritances, said McKernan.

Blacks and Hispanics have also socked away a lot less for retirement in 401(k)s and IRAs. And as these voluntary retirement plans replace pensions , black and Hispanic families are left on shakier ground in what should be their Golden Years.

Access is an issue . Some 47% of whites are covered by an employer retirement plan , while only 40% of blacks and 28% of Hispanics are. The latter two are also likely to contribute less when they do have access.

When it comes to building wealth, debt levels also matter.

In recent years, blacks have taken on more student loan debt than whites. Some 42% of blacks age 25 to 55 have college loans, compared to 28% of whites. This may be because black families have less wealth so they have to borrow to go to college.

But blacks also have lower graduation rates, which leaves them saddled with the loans but without the benefits of a college degree . This hurts their climb up the economic ladder, McKernan said.

Related: Hispanics' massive wealth gap

CNNMoney (New York) February 18, 2015: 3:57 AM ET

The protests in Ferguson , Missouri, have laid bare America 's ongoing racial divide.

One source of that tension is the large financial gap between black and white Americans.

The figures are staggering.

A typical black household has accumulated less than one-tenth of the wealth of a typical white one. And it's only getting worse.

Over the past 25 years, the wealth gap between blacks and whites has nearly tripled, according to research by Brandeis University.

That's in large part because home ownership among blacks is so much lower. Housing is often Americans' greatest asset and a major component of their overall wealth.

Blacks also typically have lower incomes than whites, which also makes it harder for them to save and build wealth. The median income for black households is less than 60% that of white ones.

Unemployment is also a major problem . The jobless rate for blacks is twice that of whites. The gap has been at least that large for years.

All of these factors combine to push many blacks into poverty. America's 15% poverty rate masks the underlying racial differences. More than one in four blacks live in poverty, while fewer than one in 10 whites do.

The economic situation in Ferguson mirrors the national picture , with poverty, unemployment and low income pervasive among its black residents.

CNNMoney (New York) August 21, 2014: 10:49 AM ET

Homework for week 7.

Please remember that if you cannot see all the slides and videos, you can scroll down the blog and click on the word "articles", a new page will open with all the videos and slides.

End of the chapter on America's foreign policy.
1) According to you, what has been the greatest success/victory of American foreign policy so far ? And the greatest failure/scandal?
2) Read the text page 65-67 of your brochure. Considering the world context, what do you think is the best option?: Independent America? Money ball America (using management analytics to implement policies) or "Indispensable America"?
THE CORRECTION OF THE GRAMMAR EXERCISE ON PHRASAL VERBS IS ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE.
So is the correction of exercise 2 and 3 p 58 for my Thursday groups.

CHAPTER 7. RACE RELATIONS. (72-81)

1) Complete the chart p 73 . WATCH OUT: ONE DATE IS MISSING : 1964. (the correction is on the right hand side)
2) Read the text p 77, doc 51 " From Ferguson to Charleston and beyond, Anguish About Race Keeps Building"
Answer the following questions:
A) How well do African Americans fare in the US? (comment se porte la communauté Afro-Américaine?)
B) Who are the following persons: Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Walter Scott and Tamir Rice and what events are they related to?
C) According to Bryan Stevenson why are the Charleston shooting and the McKinney events linked? (see the video below to understand what happened in Mc Kinney, Texas).

GRAMMAR:
The passive . L'anglais de A à Z, units 283 to 287.
Exercise I, II, III p 81.

ESSAY SUBJECTS: (choose one of these essay subjects). 200 TO 300 WORDS.
- Is America exceptionally exceptional?
- "America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests." (John Kissinger, American diplomat, consultant and political scientist.) Comment on this statement.
- Does America have a "manifest destiny" to fulfil?
- "American civilization has originated in theft and murder". Bill Adler and Jay David in "The American Indian: the first victim" (1972). Comment on this statement.
- Can American democracy be promoted through war?
- Is war in America's DNA?
- Is Obama "the worst president since World War II"?
- Is the "two-party system" truly democratic?

correction of the exercise p 73. Chapter "Race Relations"

ONE DATE WAS MISSING! : 1964.

1787-8/ CONSTITUTION
1954. BROWN VS BOARD
1964. THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT IS SIGNED
1833. CREATION OF THE AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY
1857. DRED SCOTT DECISION
1863. EMANCIPATION DECLARATION
1965. EXPLOSION IN A BAPTIST CHURCH
1662. HEREDITARY SLAVERY VIRGINIA LAW
1968. MARTIN LUTHER KING IS ASSASSINATED
1963. MARCH TO WASHINGTON/ "I HAVE A DREAM"
1641. MASSACHUSETTS IS THE FIRST COLONY TO LEGALIZE SLAVERY.
1820. MISSOURI IS ADMITTED AS A SLAVE STATE...
1739. SLAVES REBEL IN STONO.
1865. THE 13TH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OUTLAWS SLAVERY.
1619. THE FIRST AFRICAN SLAVES ARRIVE IN VIRGINIA.
1955. THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT.
1808. THE SLAVE TRADE IMPORTINT SLAVES IS OUTLAWED BUT THE INTERNAL TRADE CONTINUES.
1896. THE SUPREME COURT ESTABLISHES 3SEPERATE BUT EQUAL" DOCTRINE WITH PLESSY VS. FERGUSON. ENABLES THE EXPANSION OF THE JIM CROW LAWS IN THE SOUTH.
1861-5: CIVIL WAR
1777. VERMONT IS THE FIRST OF THE 13 COLONIES TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AND ENFRANCHISE ALL ADULT MALES.

Homework for week 6

Homework for week 6.
please remember that if you cannot see all the slides and videos, you can scroll down the blog and click on the word "articles", a new page will open with all the videos and slides.
1) We'll finish talking about the Indians' plight and the link between their extermination and manifest destiny. Please watch the videos below to better understand what they have actually gone through.
2) Manifest destiny and American foreign policy. Read the text which was handed to you "Where has the greatness gone?" - the Tuesday 7.45 group did not get it but you can read it below. Answer question 1, 2 and 3.
GRAMMAR/ FALSE FRIENDS L'ANGLAIS DE A à Z, UNIT 138 + exercise p 135.
Phrasal verbs unit 403 + brochure p 69.
Please work on the exercise on the right hand side.

correction of the exercises p 58

1. Conjugate the verbs in brackets : use the past or the present perfect.

a. The National Congress of American Indians WAS FOUNDED in 1944.

b. So far more than 550 tribes HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED.

c. The 1830 Indian Removal Act MOVED the Indians farther west.

d. The French and Indian War WAS FOUGHT between 1754 and 1763.

2. Fill in the blanks with the correct verb form (past or present perfect).

The term American Indians is defined by the indigenous peoples of the area that is now known as the United States. This means the people were living here for thousands, even millions of years, long before it WAS CONQUERED and SETTLED Over the last many hundred years, the American Indians HAVE FORMED tribes, HUNTED, LIVED, and PROSPERED on this great land.

They WERE overall a peaceful people who ENJOYED family, prayer, and creativity. An appreciation and respect for nature WAS of the utmost importance. American Indians VIEWED nature as a gift from the Gods which should be revered and treated properly at all times. Although most American Indians claim to have lived on their territory since the beginning of time, some would claim that they MIGRATED here in prehistoric times by way of the Bering Strait Land Bridge. Many believe that most CAME from Siberia.

From www.indians.org.

3. Translate.

a. American Indians were forced to leave their land to go and live on reservations.

b. Ever since they have been on fight to be recognized/for their rights.

c. American Indians have been confronted with numerous social issues for decades.

HOMEWORK FOR WEEK 5.
(I've posted all the slides from my powerpoint, please scroll down the blog and click on "articles" if you cannot see all the slides and videos)
I) End of our chapter on the president.
1° WHAT DO YOU THINK OF OBAMA AS PRESIDENT? DO YOU THINK HE'S BEEN A SUCCESS SO FAR?
2° NOW THAT YOU KNOW A BIT MORE ABOUT THE CANDIDATES ON BOTH SIDES, WHO DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT AND WHY? Please have a look at the campaign ads below if you haven't seen them in class.
3° Who do you think was the best American president ever? And the worst? Explain why.

II) The Native Americans and Manifest Destiny. (p 48)

1) Read document 26 and define what "Manifest Destiny" is.
2) Look at John Gast's painting "American progress" (1872) . How does it serve the manifest destiny propaganda?

III) GRAMMAR . Present perfect, simple past, plu perfect. l'Anglais de A à Z, units 281-282, 297, 315-320.

Correction of exercise 2 on the simple present and the continuous present.
a. Bien que le parti républicain et le parti démocrate dominent la scène politique américaine, il existe
d'autres mouvements idéologiques qui mettent en avant des positions alternatives et qui déterminent
le résultat d’élections en influençant l'opinion publique.
Although the Republican Party and the Democratic Party dominate/control the American political scene/politics, other ideological movements - that take alternative positions and shape the results of elections by influencing public opinion - exist.
b. Allume la télévision, c'est le dernier discours de son mandat ! Il annonce qu'il ne se représente pas.
Switch the TV on, it's / the last speech of his mandate / his last speech as incumbent! He's announcing that he's not running again!
c. Le pays traverse une crise économique sans précédent et cela explique pourquoi le président adapte certaines mesures de son programme à la situation.
The country is going through an unprecedented crisis which explains why the president is adapting some of the measures of his program to the current situation.
d. Aux États-Unis, le Congrès légifère actuellement sur une réforme du système de sécurité social.
In the U.S., Congress is currently legislating on / a reform of / reforming / the social security system.
e. Ils plaident contre toute forme d’interventionnisme de l'état fédéral dans l'économie du pays, dans
l'éducation et dans la santé ainsi que contre la mise en place d'une loi visant à contrôler l'achat et
l'utilisation d'armes à feu. Et toi, tu es d'accord avec eux !
They ADVOCATE against any form of interventionism of the federal government in the
economy, in education and in health and against implementing legislation aiming at checking
the purchase and the use of guns. And you agree with them!

The republican party

FOUNDED IN 1854. Created from the federalist party founded by Alexander Hamilton (1787)+ The Whig party. Owes its origin to the fight over slavery.

uThose who wanted to prevent slavery from spreading to the Western territories CREATED THE PARTY. Called themselves « Republicans » as a salute to the Founding Fathers.

uMain presidents Lincoln (1861-65), Ulysses Grant (1869-1877), Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909).

uDivisions during WWI : Intervention or not? Party divisions.

uHerbert Hoover (1929-1933) held responsible for the 1929 crisis. Long period of political wilderness.

uBack to power in 1953 with Eisenhower (1953-1961)

The democratic party

uThe Democratic party dates back from 1829 / Mr Jackson did not want the government to be too power hungry. The Democrats defended the RIGHTS OF SLAVE OWNERS right across the country, farmers, saying that if they wanted to have slaves that was none of Washington’s business.

uThey evolved to a party supporting the working class, but also having an agressive agenda supporting security, individual rights and freedoms.

uTheir current struggles: CIVIL RIGHTS, LABOR REFORM LAWS, HEALTHCARE REFORMS, EDUCATION…

uMAIN LEGACIES: WOMEN’S RIGHT TO VOTE (1920), THE MOON PROGRAM (1961), THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT (1964).

Homework for week 4

HOMEWORK FOR WEEK 4. TOPIC :THE PRESIDENT. (P 32-47)
1° MAKE SURE YOU CAN TALK ABOUT THE REPUBLICANS AND THE DEMOCRATS (THEIR PLATFORMS, agendas)
2° WATCH THE SHORT VIDEOS ON THE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. How did both parties evolve? What did you learn? Which event, reform, president or legacy struck you?
3° Read document 15 p 32-35 and complete the portraits with the right names.
4° READ DOCUMENT 18 P 42. ANSWER QUESTIONS 1,2 AND 4.
GRAMMAR. / ARTICLES.
Read l'anglais de A à Z UNITS 39 TO 43 + 256. WORK ON EXERCISE F P 44 OF YOUR BROCHURE. .

homework for week 3.

Homework for week 3. Topic: Political parties. (brochure p 26 to 31)
Please, if you cannot see all the "articles" (videos, slides...), scroll down the blog, then you will read "articles/atom" click on "articles" and all the videos and articles and slides from my powerpoint will appear.

Document 9: What do you know about these symbols?
Document 10: Watch the video "Two parties dominate US politics" on the blog or on youtube and answer the questions 1 to 5 (brochure p 26)
GRAMMAR : present tenses. See units 309 to 313 + 315 to 320 of L'anglais de A à Z.
+ exercise n° 1 p 30 of your brochure.
You can also work on exercise 2 (we won't correct it in class but I'll post the correction on the blog)

ESSAY SUBJECT ON THE MEDIA n ° 1:(please read the methodology pages in your brochure before drafting it)
Remember the more you practise, the better! If your essay needs a lot of correction, your grade won't count for your average grade, but your "homework grade" will be upgraded anyway! It's a win-win game!
"Media manipulation in the US today is more efficient than it was in Nazi Germany because here we have the pretense that we are getting all the information we want. That misconception prevents people from even looking for the truth" Mark Crispin Miller, director of the project on media ownership (PrOmO). Comment on this statement.

Essay subject n°2: Should freedom of expression be limited so as to prevent hate speeches? Answer the question by focusing on the United States

Please do not forget to choose your presentation topic, the presentations will start in week 4. Your presentation week will be given to you this week.

another exercise on link words.

Fill in the sentences with the appropriate link word : Even though, besides, contrary to, however, despite, in addition to (X2), since, instead of, unless, whereas, nevertheless, although, while, therefore, furthermore.
1. ........................ many nations have abolished capital punishment, over
60% of the world's population live in countries where executions take place.
2. ....................... the arguments of retribution, defendants of the death penalty
also claim the deterrent effect.
3. ....................... major media bias, most Americans support the use of capital
punishment.
4. ....................... well-funded efforts by death-penalty abolitionists, support for this
institution remains very high.
5. ....................... California has many inmates on death row, few of them are
executed.
6. If martyrdom is what they seek, should the 9/11 plotters ...................................... face the
death penalty?
7. ................................. being a retributive institution, capital punishment acts as a
deterrence measure.
8. In California, the death penalty is arbitrarily enforced and ...................................... legally pointless as a punishment.
9. ............................... society has the highest interest in preventing murder, it should use the
strongest punishment available to deter murder, and that is the death penalty.
10. Supporters of the death penalty argued ........................... certain murderers were put to
death, they could escape and kill again.
11. The death penalty is our harshest punishment. It is irrevocable: it ends the
existence of those punished, .................................... temporarily imprisoning them.
12. The death penalty violates the right to life which happens to be the most basic of
all human rights. ...................................., it undermines human dignity which is inherent to every
human being.
13. The US condemn many people to the death penalty. .................................., they don’t always execute them.
14. ............................ the lives of the victims who might be saved are valuable, that of the murderer has only negative value.
15. ............................. polls generally show that about 50 percent of Americans still support the
death penalty, questions about the massive racial disparity are constantly raised.

CORRECTION

Fill in the sentences with the appropriate link word : Even though, besides, contrary to, however, despite, in addition to (X2), since, instead of, unless, whereas, nevertheless, although, while, therefore.
1. ALTHOUGH/WHEREAS many nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world's population live in countries where executions take place.
2. IN ADDITION TO the arguments of retribution, defendants of the death penalty also claim the deterrent effect.
3. CONTRARY TO major media bias, most Americans support the use of capital punishment.
4. DESPITE well-funded efforts by death-penalty abolitionists, support for this institution remains very high.
5. EVEN THOUGH California has many inmates on death row, few of them are executed.
6. If martyrdom is what they seek, should the 9/11 plotters NEVERTHELESS face the death penalty?
7. IN ADDITION TO being a retributive institution, capital punishment acts as a deterrence measure.
8. In California, the death penalty is arbitrarily enforced and THEREFORE legally pointless as a punishment.
9. SINCE society has the highest interest in preventing murder, it should use the strongest punishment available to deter murder, and that is the death penalty.
10. Supporters of the death penalty argued UNLESS certain murderers were put to death, they could escape and kill again.
11. The death penalty is our harshest punishment. It is irrevocable: it ends the existence of those punished, INSTEAD OF temporarily imprisoning them.
12. The death penalty violates the right to life which happens to be the most basic ofall human rights. BESIDES, it undermines human dignity which is inherent to every human being.
13. The US condemn many people to the death penalty. HOWEVER, they don’t always execute them.
14. WHEREAS the lives of the victims who might be saved are valuable, that of the murderer has only negative value.
15. WHILE polls generally show that about 50 percent of Americans still support the death penalty, questions about the massive racial disparity are constantly raised.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE USA. A short exerpt.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Article. I.

Section. 1.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section. 2.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Welcome! Hope this year will be fruitful, successful and fun!

Homework for week 2. Topic: the media.

Buy L’anglais de A à Z, Michael Swan et Françoise Houdart, Hatier, 2011 for grammar preparations and exercises.

•Read the methodology pages on reading skills p 9 to 12 of your brochure.

•Brochure, the media, p 18

•Read document 1 p 18 , fill in the blanks and answer the questions on the text.

•Read doc 2, p 19, in a few words, what does the text denounce? What shocked or struck you?

•Vocabulary: exercise p 25.

•Grammar : exercise 1 p 25 - do not answer question 2 and 3, (read l’Anglais de A à Z first, UNIT 240).
-Start looking for a presentation topic (see the list below).
THE PRESENTATIONS WILL START IN WEEK 4.
Please watch Obama's speech to get further knowledge on net neutrality.

Correction of your streaming test .

Streaming test.
therefore: par conséquent, pour cette raison
instead of + vb ing: au lieu de / Instead of dancing, you should start doing your homework
despite: malgré, en dépit de // in spite of the fact that...
Although; bien que...
Whereas: alors que... She likes dogs whereas I like cats.

cursus: (more or less) a degree course
Je suis passionné(e) par: I have a passion for.../ I am keen on, very fond of...
Pour moi, le droit etait une évidence: For me, law was the obvious choice to make.
Law encompasses different fields of knowledge.
It is a vocational field which provides opportunities/ expands, open prospects for the future
The law: la loi
Law: le droit.
It runs in the family: c'est de famille!
Choose, chose, chosen : I chose law or I've chosen law.
Law is at the heart of human relationships
Law is necessary for me to fulfill my professional goals and dreams
I failed the science po examination
When you study law, not only do you know more about how the political institutions work, but you also understand what you are allowed to do and how your country's legal, social and political systems are structured and intertwined.
As long as I remember I've always wanted to become a lawyer/ an attorney
I've always seen myself pursuing a law career
I'm sure studying law here holds many promises and I intend to carry them out.

Homework for week 2

HOMEWORK FOR WEEK 2
GRAMMAR (articles) : read unit 39 to 43 + 216, 250, 256 + exercises 1 and 2 p 15 + 3 p 16 of your grammar booklet.I)
READING doc 4, p 8
A) Right or wrong ? (justify by quoting from the text)
1) The text is a strong diatribe against the Monarchy.
2) It mainly deals with Queen Elizabeth's coronation and its political and social background.
B) What was the national and international context at the time ? How did the English see the Monarchy back then?
C) Read document 5 (p 10) and compare the 1953 vision of the Monarchy to the current one.

test monarchy religion

Université Panthéon Assas- L1 mrsloukam@gmail.com

ENGLISH EXAM -L1 -SEMESTER 2.

STUDENT’S FULL NAME :

GRADE /100

I) READING COMPREHENSION. 40 points.

Prince Charles’ views on religion could force him to GIVE UP throne - ‘ABDICATION’

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1008027/Prince-Charles-news-abdication-king-charles-religion-later

PRINCE Charles' outspoken views, including those on religion, mean his accession on the throne could trigger a national debate between the Church of England and the state. In a recently-unearthed documentary religious experts discuss the future king’s position on religion.

By Latifa Yedroudj, www.express.co.uk, 25 August, 2018

In the bombshell documentary, titled, The Madness of Prince Charles, the voiceover says: “For the last 500 years, the reigning British Monarch is crowned the title of supreme governor of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith, Henry VIII by the Pope in 1521 for his early support for Roman Catholicism.

“However, Charles views on religion go against a long-standing tradition in the Royal Family, after the Prince of Wales declared to be the defender of all faiths. “He has praised Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, the Greek Orthodox church and other un-Orthodox beliefs, going against the traditional stance taken since the reign of Henry VIII.”

Reverend Gordon Warren, former rector of Limehouse told the programme, made by British Royal Family Documentary: "If he can't in all honesty be supreme governor of the Church of England, then perhaps abdication."

The Prince has caused controversy within the Anglican church when he brought up his views several years ago, stating that he wanted to embrace all the other religions practised in Britain.

The move would mean Charles - the future monarch - would no longer be known as the Defender of the Faith.

He hopes to be known as Defender of Faith (rather than faiths) seeing this role as instilling unity among different cultures and religions across the UK. However, for this change the prince would need Parliament to amend the 1953 Royal Titles Act. A Clarence House spokesman previously said on the issue: "There has been work done on the accession planning as you would expect however there has been no planning of the Coronation or its contents."

Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at Oxford University, told the Telegraph: "In 1952, when the Queen came to the throne, it was very much an Anglican society. The Prince of Wales will become head of a nation which is multi-denominational.

"The Prince has said that he wants to be seen as a defender of all religious faiths and not just the Anglican Church but the Coronation is an Anglican ceremony. Any change would require legislation."

The expert said that it would be possible that members of other faiths, such as Muslims and Hindus would attend Charles' Coronation as Westminster Abbey when he becomes king.

Meanwhile, Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell recently cast doubt on Charles ever taking to the throne.

He said in an interview with The Royal Box: “I know it's his right, I know he's heir to the throne, I know he's waited his whole life to do it [but] his own wife said: "My husband is not fit for the top job". Diana said that.

“I don't think he will get there. I think by the time the Queen dies - and she will live to be Queen as long as there is breath in her body - she will die aged 101, 102, or 103, maybe. Her mother was almost 102 when she died. Longevity is in the family.

“I think, for the sake of the monarchy - by the time Charles gets there, he's going to be 80.

“Why wouldn't he say to the Commonwealth, and the people of the United Kingdom: ‘I’m sure you'd much prefer a younger king and a younger queen to sit on the throne, with those beautiful children, instead of this old thing’.”

1. What is the controversy around Prince Charles’ views on religion? /15

Write your answer here:

2. Give 2 opposite reactions to his position. Which one do you side with? /15

Write your answer here

3. Comment on the underlined sentence. Do you think that could happen? Justify your viewpoint /10

Write your answer here:

II) Grammar (20 pts)

1. Modal verbs. Complete the sentences with the proper modal. (had to, will have to, may, don’t have to, Could, can’t, should) /7

Ecrivez là où se trouve l’espace

a. Prince Harry -------- decide to come back to Britain , but I am not sure. (probability)

b. Boris Johnson has made it clear that in the future Britain --------- deal closely with the Commonwealth and the US (obligation)

c. I --------- believe he voted for that politician!

d. Jeremy Corbyn -------------- face a lot of criticisms when he refused to resign after his party’s defeat in December 2019. (obligation)

e. Boris Johnson ---------------- negotiate a good deal with Europe if he does not want Scotland to leave the UK.

f. The PM keeps on explaining that Scotland ------------- leave the UK to gain more independence (absence of obligation)

g. Do you think Britain ---------- have a prime minister such as Leo Vadkanar?

2. Tenses (active or passive voice) / 7

Ecrivez là où se trouve l’espace (AVANT LE VERBE ENTRE PARENTHESES).

a . Yesterday, Mr Mc Donnell ------ (defend) the controversial remarks he

-------- (make) about the IRA in 2013.

b . Elizabeth II --------- (visit) many countries since she --------- (become) Queen in 1952.

c . Prince Charles ---------- (crown) king when his mother --------- (die).

d. I think she ------- (read) the Sun for at least an hour now! What a waste of time!

3. Relative pronouns. Fill in the sentences with the appropriate relative pronoun : which, what, whom, whose, 0, who or that. Do not use a pronoun twice, please. /6

Ecrivez votre réponse là où se trouve l’espace.

a . Prince Charles ----- is over 70, has delivered many speeches on climate change.

b . The problems -------- are faced by the Church or England were referred to by the Queen.

c. Meghan Markle ------------- mother is a yoga teacher, keeps on promoting the love of nature and veganism.

d. Boris Johnson --------- a lot of people admire, is also harshly criticized for being a liar.

e . The Sun claims that the Queen backs up Brexit, ----------- is surprising.

f . -------------- I don’t understand is the nostalgia for the Empire.

III ESSAY WRITING / 40 PTS

Write a well-structured essay on one of the following subjects. (250 words/ -/+10%).

1. “The monarchy is archaic, undemocratic and inequalitarian” (The Republican website). Do you agree with this statement?

2. Is British multiculturalism a model?

WRITE YOUR ESSAY HERE :

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dimanche 2 février 2014

If, by Rudyard Kipling (1895)

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