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Annales gratuites Bac L : Compréhension du texte

Le sujet  1998 - Bac L - Anglais LV1 - Compréhension écrite Imprimer le sujet
LE SUJET

Otis Godberry said "We've got some kids here from the projects in Dorchester" - he said "projects" in a certain way, meaning ghetto - "and I'd appreciate it if you could make them feel especially welcome. They find it awfully hard to fit in with the other kids".
"Because they're horrid little beasts. You might have to employ persuasion", Mr Phyllis said.
"They're part of our target audience, "Mr Mazzola said in a stern voice.
"I'll keep them in mind", Millroy said.
"You'll be lucky if you can just shut them up," Mr Phyllis said. "Paradise Park has never had a live audience before, and I don't see any reason to start now."
"This'll just be a pilot program," Miss Spitler said, "See how it goes."
Then we all walked into the studio, and Millroy went to the centre of the stage, opened his box of tricks, and took charge, silencing the studio by dropping his chainsaw (1) and making an enormous crash.
He now had everyone's attention.
Millroy next produced a puppet, and the puppet conjured (2) Boobie the chicken, feathers and all. The puppet clapped a silver dome over Boobie - shrieked "Lonny !" - the name of a boy in the front row - and when he removed the dome there were ten pieces of fried chicken where Boobie had been. The children loved it, and cheered.
He had placed the puppet on a table where it lay like a broken doll. Millroy said the puppet had been so helpful, he wanted to make it into a real kid. The puppet wore a red shirt and a baseball hat and blue jeans.
"He deserves (3) to be a real boy," Millroy said.
I knew my signal, and where to go and how to vanish by bunching myself up (4) in the box off stage. I did not see Millroy make the puppet disappear, but I could hear him asking the kids whether he should make the puppet into a real boy.
The children screeched "Yes" over and over and went on squawking like parrots as Millroy persisted with his questions, winding the kids up(5), and the next thing I knew Millroy was whacking the top off (6) my box with a hammer. I stood up, dressed like the puppet, whom I resembled, in the red shirt and baseball hat and blue jeans I had put on in the box.
Millroy calmed the cheering and whistling, while I dropped out of sight, and he said that Uncle Dick had some questions for them - Uncle Dick's history lesson.
"How many of you know what grandparents are ?"
A boy in the front row answered that they were your Dad's and Mom's parents.
"And what are their parents called - you're grandparents' folks ?"
"Great - grandparents !" Several children competed to shout this.
"And if you've got four grandparents and each of them has parents how many great-grandparents does that make ?"
Eventually they got it right - eight great-grandparents.
"Now Uncle Dick has a real interesting question for you youngsters," Millroy said.
Even the adults were listening closely to this - Mr Mazzola, Mrs Spitler, Otis Godberry and the frowning Mr Phyllis.
"How many of you can say that all eight of your great-grandparents were born in the USA ? If one of them was born in Ireland or Puerto Rico or Italy, or somewhere else, just sit there.
But if you know that all eight of your great-grandparents were born in the USA I want you to stand up."
There was a little shuffling and then - how did Millroy know this ? - twelve black children stood up, smiling proudly. And a big person was standing, too, the last man on the judging panel, and he was black too, Otis Godberry.
"You were here first, guys," Millroy said." "You were waiting for us. Let's have a cheer for these early Americans."
Everyone began to clap, with Millroy leading the applause.

Paul THEROUX, Millroy the Magician, 1994.

(1) chainsaw : tronçonneuse.
(2) to conjure : to cause to appear (as if by magic).
(3) to deserve : mériter.
(4) bunching myself up : (en) me faisant tout petit.
(5) to wind the kids up : faire monter l'excitation des enfants.
(6) to whack off : faire partir, faire sauter d'un coup.



1 - In what country does the scene take place ? Justify with two quotations from the text.

2 - a. In your own words, compare Otis Godberry's and Mr Phyllis's attitudes towards the children.

b. What does Mr Phyllis really mean he says "You might have to employ persuasion" ?


3 - The passage falls into three parts. Suggest a title for each of them.

Part one : from .......... to ..........

Part two : from .......... to ..........

Part three : from .......... to ..........


4 - Describe the three magic tricks performed by the magician.


5 - Pick out four words used to describe the chidren's enthusiasm for Millroy's magic tricks ?

What do these words have in common ?


6 - a. Who wonders, "-how did Millroy know this ?-"

b. What does it reveal about the character's perception of Millroy ?


7 - Show how the situation is completely reversed at the end.
Justify with a few quotations.
(60 words)


8 - Millroy the magician : in your opinion, to what extent is the title relevant to the passage ?
Is Millroy's art limited to performing magic tricks ?
(80 words)


9 - In the following examples, say what "it" announces or refers to :

a. "I would appreciate it !"

b. "The children loved it "

c. "he wanted to make it into a real kid"

d. "Eventually they got it right"


10 - Choose from the list below the words and expressions used to designate the characters- the children

- the magician
- the chicken
- the twelve black children and the big person
- the boy sitting in the front row
- the narrator

and write them in the appropriate boxes :

our audience / I / Lonny / the kids / Uncle Dick / Boobie / some kids / horrid little beasts / a real boy / Millroy / Early Americans.

The children

The magician

The chicken

The 12 black children
and the big person

 

 

 

 

The boy sitting in the front row

The narrator

 The 12 black children

 

 

 

LE CORRIGÉ

Otis Godberry said "We've got some kids here from the projects in Dorchester" - he said "projects" in a certain way, meaning ghetto - "and I'd appreciate it if you could make them feel especially welcome. They find it awfully hard to fit in with the other kids".

"Because they're horrid little beasts. You might have to employ persuasion", Mr Phyllis said.
"They're part of our target audience, "Mr Mazzola said in a stern voice.
"I'll keep them in mind", Millroy said.
"You'll be lucky if you can just shut them up," Mr Phyllis said. "Paradise Park has never had a live audience before, and I don't see any reason to start now."
"This'll just be a pilot program," Miss Spitler said, "See how it goes."
Then we all walked into the studio, and Millroy went to the center of the stage, opened his box of tricks, and took charge, silencing the studio by dropping his chainsaw(1) and making an enormous crash.

He now had everyone's attention.

Millroy next produced a puppet, and the puppet conjured(2) Boobie the chicken, feathers and all. The puppet clapped a silver dome over Boobie - shrieked "Lonny !" - the name of a boy in the front row - and when he removed the dome there were ten pieces of fried chicken where Boobie had been. The children loved it, and cheered.

He had placed the puppet on a table where it lay like a broken doll. Millroy said the puppet had been so helpful, he wanted to make it into a real kid. The puppet wore a red shirt and a baseball hat and blue jeans.

"He deserves(3) to be a real boy," Millroy said.

I knew my signal, and where to go and how to vanish by bunching myself up(4) in the box off stage. I did not see Millroy make the puppet disappear, but I could hear him asking the kids whether he should make the puppet into a real boy.

The children screeched "Yes" over and over and went on squawking like parrots as Millroy persisted with his questions, winding the kids up(5), and the next thing I knew Millroy was whacking the top off(6) my box with a hammer. I stood up, dressed like the puppet, whom I resembled, in the red shirt and baseball hat and blue jeans I had put on in the box.

Millroy calmed the cheering and whistling, while I dropped out of sight, and he said that Uncle Dick had some questions for them - Unle Dick's history lesson.
"How many of you know what grandparents are ?"
A boy in the front row answered that they were your Dad's and Mom's parents.
"And what are their parents called - you're grandparents' folks ?"
"Great - grandparents !" Several children competed to shout this.
"And if you've got four grandparents and each of them has parents how many great-grandparents does that make ?"
Eventually they got it right - eight great-grandparents.

"Now Uncle Dick has a real interesting question for you youngsters," Millroy said.
Even the adults were listening closely to this - Mr Mazzola, Mrs Spitler, Otis Godberry and the frowning Mr Phyllis.
"How many of you can say that all eight of your great-grandparents were born in the USA ? If one of them was born in Ireland or Puerto Rico or Italy, or somewhere else, just sit there.
But if you know that all eight of your great-grandparents were born in the USA I want you to stand up."

There was a little shuffling and then - how did Millroy know this ? - twelve black children stood up, smiling proudly. And a big person was standing, too, the last man on the judging panel, and he was black too, Otis Godberry.

"You were here first, guys," Millroy said." "You were waiting for us. Let's have a cheer for these early Americans."

Everyone began to clap, with Millroy leading the applause.


Paul THEROUX, Millroy the Magician (1994)

(1) : chainsaw : tronçonneuse.
(2) : to conjure : to cause to appear (as if by magic).
(3) : to deserve : mériter.
(4) : bunching myself up : (en) me faisant tout petit.
(5) : to wind the kids up : faire monter l'excitation des enfants.
(6) : to whack off : faire partir, faire sauter d'un coup.


1. In what country does the scene take place ? Justify with two quotations from the text.

- "how many of you can say...born in the U.S.A. ?"

- "But if you know...born in the U.S.A. ?"


2. a. In your own words, compare Otis Godberry's and Mr Phyllis's attitudes towards the children.
Mr Godberry is closer to the ghetto kids, perhaps because he's black, whereas Mr Phyllis is condescending to them and even seems to be afraid of them.

b. What does Mr Phyllis really mean he says "You might have to employ persuasion"?
He means they might have to use force.


3. The passage falls into three parts. Suggest a title for each of them.

Part one : from "Otis Godberry said" to "He now had everyone's attention".
Welcome to the ghetto.

Part two : from "Milroy next produced a puppet" to "Uncle Dick's history lesson."
The show or the act.

Part three : from "Millroy calmed the cheering" to "with Millroy leading the applause."
The history lesson.


4. Describe the three magic tricks performed by the magician.

- A puppet conjures up a chicken.

- The puppet claps a dome over the chicken and he removes it, there are ten pieces of fried chicken where the live chicken had been.

- He turns the puppet into a real boy.


5. Pick out four words used to describe the chidren's enthusiasm for Millroy's magic tricks ?

- cheered
- squawking
- screeched
- whistling


What do these words have in common ?

They all describe the children's physical reactions to the show.


6. a. Who wonders, "-how did Millroy know this ?-"
The narrator (the real boy the puppet has turned into).

b. What does it reveal about the character's perception of Millroy ?
He is in awe of him.


7. Show how the situation is completely reversed at the end.
Justify with a few quotations.
(60 words)

In the beginning, the ghetto kids are just another "target audience" for TV shows, noisy and restless.

The magician performs his act, which the kids love, but when it is over he goes on with "history lesson" in which he calls on the children to speak of their ancestors, asking those whose eight "great grandparents were born in the U.S.A. to stand up".

Twelve black children, joined by Mr Godberry, the man in charge of them, get up, "smiling proudly.

The magician then asks the audience to clap for them.


8. Millroy the magician : in your opinion, to what extent is the title relevant to the passage ?
Is Millroy's art limited to performing magic tricks ?
(80 words)

Not only is Millroy a skilled magician, he's also extremely sensitive to his audience, knowing how to capture their attention and to make them feel good.

His trick with the puppet and chicken, not to mention knowing the name of a boy in the front row, is already sensational in itself.

Above all, he is masterful in drawing the children into the act by "Uncle Dick's history lesson", in which he asks the kids about their ancestors and ethnic backgrounds and makes them proud to be "early Americans", for these are ghetto kids descended from slaves.


9. In the following examples, say what "it" announces or refers to :

a. "I would appreciate it !"
gratitude

b. "The children loved it "
the act

c. "he wanted to make it into a real kid"
the puppet

d. "Eventually they got it right"
the question about how many great grand parents they have


10. Choose from the list below the words and expressions used to designate

- the children
- the magician
- the chicken
- the twelve black children and the big person
- the boy sitting in the front row
- the narrator

and write them in the appropriate boxes :

our audience / I / Lonny / the kids / Uncle Dick / Boobie / some kids / horrid little beasts / a real boy / Millroy.

The children

The magician

The chicken

The 12 black children
and the big person

horrid little beasts

Millroy

Boobie

our audience

The boy sitting in the front row

The narrator

Lonny

a real boy

 

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