Annales gratuites Bac L : Compréhension écrite

He caught sight of Margaret, and he called her to come through the stile (1).
"I have just had a letter from America."
"About the money ?"
"Yes, about the money. But I shall have to go over there."
He stood looking at her, wondering what to say ; and she guessed that he would tell her that he must go to America before they were married.
"Do you mean, James, you will have to go at once ?"
"Yes", he said, "at once. But I shall come back in time to be married in August. It will only mean delaying our marriage a month."
They walked on a little way talking, and every step he took James felt that he was a step nearer the Bowery slum (2). And when they came to the gate Bryden said :
"I must walk on or I shall miss the train."
"But," she said, "you are not going now - you are not going today ?"
"Yes, this morning. It is seven miles. I shall have to hurry not to miss the train."
And then she asked him if he would ever come back.
"Yes," he said, "I am coming back."
"If you are coming back, James, why don't you let me go with you ?"
"You couldn't walk fast enough. We should miss the train."
"One moment, James. Don't make me suffer, tell me the truth. You are not coming back.
Your clothes - where shall I send them ?"
He hurried away, hoping he would come back. He tried to think that he liked the country he was leaving, that it would be better to have a farmhouse and live there with Margaret Dirken than to serve drinks behind a counter in the Bowery. He did not think he was telling her a lie when he said he was coming back. Her offer to forward his clothes touched his heart, and at the end of the road he stood and asked himself if he should go back to her. He would miss the train if he waited another minute, and he ran on. And he would have missed the train if he had not met a car. Once he was on the car he felt himself safe - the country was already behind him. The train and the boat at Cork were formulae ; he was already in America.
And when the tall skyscraper stuck up beyond the harbor he felt the thrill of home that he had not found in his native village and wondered how it was that the smell of the bar seemed more natural than the smell of fields, and the roar of crowds more welcome than the silence of the lake's edge. He entered into negotiations for the purchase of the barroom. He took a wife, she bore him sons and daughters, the barroom prospered, property came and went ; he grew old, his wife died, he retired from business, and reached the age when a man begins to feel there are not many years in front of him, and that all he has had to do in life has been done. His children married, lonesomeness began to creep about him in the evening, and when he looked into the firelight, a vague tender reverie floated up, and Margaret's soft eyes and name vivified the dusk.
His wife and children passed out of mind, and it seemed to him that a memory was the only real thing he possessed, and the desire to see Margaret again grew intense. But she was an old woman, she had married, maybe she was dead. Well, he would like to be buried in the village where he was born.
There is an unchanging, silent life within every man that none knows but himself, and his unchanging silent life was his memory of Margaret Dirken. The barrooms was forgotten and all that concerned it, and the things he saw most clearly were the green hillside, and the bog lake and the rushes (3) about it, and the greater lake in the distance, and behind it the blue line of wandering hills.

George MOORE, Modern Irish Short Stories, 1903.

(1) A stile : small ladder to pass over a hedge.
(2) The Bowery slum : a poor district in New York
(3) Rushes : grasslike plant growing in wet places.

1 - Give James's and Margaret's full names.


2 - Name the countries where the scenes take place. Justify from the text.


3 - How are James and Margaret related at the beginning of the text ?


4 - True or False ? Tick the correct box and justify your answers by quoting from the text.

	TRUE	FALSE
1) James was in a hurry to leave.
2) James told Margaret she could come with him.
3) Margaret is convinced James will come back.
4) James left without any hesitation.
5) After emigrating, James had to face very hard living conditions. .
6) James had been haunted by Margaret all his life.
7) He became a parent.
8) Ultimately, America is the country where he feels he belongs.

5 - "The country was already behind him" means : (underline the right answer)

a) He had reached his destination.

b) He was no longer interested in his country.

c) Everybody was already encouraging him.

d) He already missed his country.


6 - "Lonesomeness began to creep about him" means : (underline the right answer)

a) He was alone in the barroom.

b) People around him were left alone as well.

c) He felt a deep sense of solitude.

d) He could no longer stand being left on his own.


7 - Translate into French.

a) He entered into negotiations for the purchase of the barroom.

b) It seemed to him that a memory was the only real thing he possessed.


8 - Compare James's attitude and feelings in the 2 underlined passages. (50 words).

1 - Give James's and Margaret's full names.

James Bryden and Margaret Dirken.


2 - Name the countries where the scenes take place. Justify from the text.

Ireland and the United States.
"The train and the boat at Cork were mere formulae".
"He was already in America".


3 - How are James and Margaret related at the beginning of the text ?

They are going to be married.


4 - True or False ? Tick the correct box and justify your answers by quoting from the text.

	TRUE	FALSE
1) James was in a hurry to leave. "Will you have to go at once ?" "Yes, he said, at once".	X
2) James told Margaret she could come with him. "Why don't you let me go with you ?"		X
3) Margaret is convinced James will come back. "...tell me the truth you are not coming back".		X
4) James left without any hesitation. "... he stood and asked himself if he should go back to her".		X
5) After emigrating, James had to face very hard living conditions. "The barroom prospered, property came and went".		X
6) James had been haunted by Margaret all his life. "His unchanging silent life was his memory of Margaret Dirken".	X
7) He became a parent. "She bore him sons and daughters".	X
8) Ultimately, America is the country where he feels he belongs. "He would like to be buried in the village where he was born".		X

5 - "The country was already behind him." means : (underline the right answer)

a) He had reached his destination.

b) He was no longer interested in his country.

c) Everybody was already encouraging him.

d) He already missed his country.


6 - "Lonesomeness began to creep about him." means : (underline the right answer)

a) He was alone in the barroom.

b) People around him were left alone as well.

c) He felt a deep sense of solitude.

d) He could no longer stand being left on his own.


7 - Translate into French.

a) He entered into negotiations for the purchase of the barroom.
Il entama des négociations pour l'achat du bar.

b) It seemed to him that a memory was the only real thing he possessed.
Il lui sembla que la seule véritable chose qu'il possedait était un souvenir.


8 - Compare James's attitude and feelings in the 2 following passages. (50 words).

When he first arrived in America, James felt excited about living in a big city and he was amazed at seeing that he felt more at home there than in the country where he was born. It seemed to him that he had always belonged to the United States. But when James grew old, he realised that his life was empty. He felt sadness because he knew he had missed something, and the only thing he remembered was Margaret and the country of his roots.

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