Annales gratuites Bac ST2S : Compréhension écrite

When I got back to the reservation, my family wasn't surprised to see me. They 'd been expecting me back since the day I left for Seattle. There's an old Indian poet who said that Indians can reside in the city, but they can never live there. That's as close to truth as any of us can get.

Mostly I watched television. For weeks I flipped through channels, searched for answers in the game shows and soap operas. My mother would circle the want ads in red and hand the paper to me.

"What are you going to do with the rest of your life ?" she asked.

"Don't know," I said, and normally, for almost any other Indian in the country, that would have been a perfectly fine answer. But I was special, a former college student, a smart kid. I was one of those Indians who was supposed to make it, to rise above the rest of the reservation like a fucking eagle or something. I was the new kind of warrior.

For a few months I didn't even look at the want ads my mother circled, just left the newspaper where she had set it down. After a while, though, I got tired of television and started to play basketball again. I'd been a good player in high school, nearly great, and almost played at the college I attended for a couple years. But I'd been too out of shape from drinking and sadness to ever be good again. Still, I liked the way the ball felt in my hands and the way my feet felt inside my shoes.

At first I just shot baskets by myself. It was selfish, and I also wanted to learn the game again before I played against anybody else. Since I had been good before and embarrassed fellow tribal members, I knew they would want to take revenge on me. Forget about the cowboys versus Indians business. The most intense competition on any reservation is Indians versus Indians.

                                                                               Sherman Alexie
                                      The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, 1994

I - COMPREHENSION

General comprehension

Fill in the blanks in the following summary with words from the text : (one blank = one word).
The narrator is a young                  who returned to live on his                 after a few years in a                   . First, he was unable to do anything, then he started to                                again, which he                     very much.

Detailed comprehension

A. True or false ? Justify with a brief quotation.

1 - The narrator's family had always thought that he would not enjoy life in the city.

2 - The narrator was very passive for some time.

3 - His mother observed him and did not worry about his future.

4 - The narrator had never been to university.

5 - He was impatient to find a job.

6 - T.V. stopped interesting him.

7 - The narrator was a beginner at basketball.

8 - Basketball gave him pleasant sensations.

9 - For the narrator there is great solidarity between Indians.

B. Choose the narrator's reasons for playing basketball alone :

He had no friends.
He was afraid of the others.
He was not as good as he used to be.
He had stopped playing for some time.
He did not like playing in a team.
He preferred to train before playing with others.
The others refused to play with him.


C. Choose two passages showing that there was a pressure on the narrator from the tribe.

From                           to                        :

From                           to                        :


D. Choose the correct answer :

1 - "Indians can reside in the city, but they can never live there" means that :

- Indians are not allowed to live in the city.
- Indians can never really adapt to city life.
- Indians only work in the city but go home to the reservation every night.
- Indians need special permission to go to the city.

2 - "I was the new kind of warrior" means that :

- The narrator was a soldier.
- The narrator wanted to fight against non-Indians.
- The narrator was a symbol for the others on the reservation.
- The narrator was at war with other Indians.

3 - "I'd been too out of shape from drinking and sadness" means that :

- The narrator was in poor physical condition after drinking too much because he was   depressed.
- The narrator had been depressed and had started to drink after losing his physical condition.
- The narrator had been too sad to drink anything.
- The narrator always felt sad when he drank too much.

E. Vocabulary : find in the text equivalents of these words.

1. zapped (in 2 words) :
2. job offers (in 2 words) :
3. intelligent :
4. to succeed (in 2 words) :
5. a moment :
6. alone (in 2 words) :
7. egoistic :
8. against :

When I got back to the reservation, my family wasn't surprised to see me. They 'd been expecting me back since the day I left for Seattle. There's an old Indian poet who said that Indians can reside in the city, but they can never live there. That's as close to truth as any of us can get.

Mostly I watched television. For weeks I flipped through channels, searched for answers in the game shows and soap operas. My mother would circle the want ads in red and hand the paper to me.

"What are you going to do with the rest of your life ?" she asked.

"Don't know," I said, and normally, for almost any other Indian in the country, that would have been a perfectly fine answer. But I was special, a former college student, a smart kid. I was one of those Indians who was supposed to make it, to rise above the rest of the reservation like a fucking eagle or something. I was the new kind of warrior.

For a few months I didn't even look at the want ads my mother circled, just left the newspaper where she had set it down. After a while, though, I got tired of television and started to play basketball again. I'd been a good player in high school, nearly great, and almost played at the college I attended for a couple years. But I'd been too out of shape from drinking and sadness to ever be good again. Still, I liked the way the ball felt in my hands and the way my feet felt inside my shoes.

At first I just shot baskets by myself. It was selfish, and I also wanted to learn the game again before I played against anybody else. Since I had been good before and embarrassed fellow tribal members, I knew they would want to take revenge on me. Forget about the cowboys versus Indians business. The most intense competition on any reservation is Indians versus Indians.

                                                                               Sherman Alexie
                                      The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, 1994

I - COMPREHENSION

General comprehension

Fill in the blanks in the following summary with words from the text : (one blank = one word).
The narrator is a young Indian who returned to live on his reservation after a few years in a city. First, he was unable to do anything, then he started to play basketball again, which he liked very much.

Detailed comprehension

A. True or false ? Justify with a brief quotation.

1 - The narrator's family had always thought that he would not enjoy life in the city.

True, "They'd been expecting me back since the day I left for Seattle"

2 - The narrator was very passive for some time.

True, " Mostly, I watched television. For weeks, I flipped through channels"

3 - His mother observed him and did not worry about his future.

False, " What are you going to do with the rest of your life ? she asked"

4 - The narrator had never been to university.

False, "I was (…) a former college student"

5 - He was impatient to find a job.

False, "For a few months I didn't even look at the want ads"

6 - T.V. stopped interesting him.

True, " After a while ( … ) I got tired of television"

7 - The narrator was a beginner at basketball.

False, "I'd been a good player in high school"

8 - Basketball gave him pleasant sensations.

True, "I liked the way the ball felt in my hands ( and the way my feet felt in my shoes)"

9 - For the narrator there is great solidarity between Indians.

False, " The most intense competition on any reservation is Indians versus Indians"


B. Choose the narrator's reasons for playing basketball alone :

He had no friends.
He was afraid of the others.
He was not as good as he used to be .
He had stopped playing for some time.
He did not like playing in a team.
He preferred to train before playing with others.
The others refused to play with him.


C. Choose two passages showing that there was a pressure on the narrator from the tribe.

From I was one of those Indians to the rest of the reservation.

From Since I'd been good before to take a revenge on me.


D. Choose the correct answer :

1 - "Indians can reside in the city, but they can never live there" means that :

- Indians are not allowed to live in the city.
- Indians can never really adapt to city life.
- Indians only work in the city but go home to the reservation every night.
- Indians need special permission to go to the city.

2 - "I was the new kind of warrior" means that :

- The narrator was a soldier.
- The narrator wanted to fight against non-Indians.
- The narrator was a symbol for the others on the reservation.
- The narrator was at war with other Indians.

3 - "I'd been too out of shape from drinking and sadness" means that :

- The narrator was in poor physical condition after drinking too much because he was   depressed.
- The narrator had been depressed and had started to drink after losing his physical condition.
- The narrator had been too sad to drink anything.
- The narrator always felt sad when he drank too much.

E. Vocabulary : find in the text equivalents of these words.

1. zapped (in 2 words) :flipped through
2. job offers (in 2 words) :want ads
3. intelligent :smart
4. to succeed (in 2 words) :to make it
5. a moment : a while
6. alone (in 2 words) :by himself
7. egoistic :selfish
8. against :versus

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