Epreuve B.F.E.M 2009

Examen du B.F.E.M 2009 -EPREUVE D'ANGLAIS LV1-DURREE: 2H-COEF: 2

1. At the age of 25, Aboubacar Bailo Diallo had plans to leave his home town of Bolliwel to look for work in the Guinean capital of Conakry. Like many other young Guineans, who were forced to drop out of school due to a lack of money, rural exodus was the only hope for escaping the poverty in which he grew up.
2. Aboubacar's father convinced him to join a trainig program in chicken-raising, funded by a non-governmental organisation , as an alternative to leaving home. Two years later, Aboubacar says that is the best decision he has ever made, and that he no longer has any intention of leaving his hometown and his family in search of a better life. With his new knowledge of chicken-raising and the installation of his first chicken coop, he was able to create this better life at home. Beginning with 300 chicks, he now has 450 egg-laying hens.
3. Aboubacar is able to contribute greatly to the family's expenses, particularly by paying for medical fees. The income from the chicken farm also pays for the schooling of nine children in his family. Not only is there enough food in Aboubacar's family, but also the babies are well-fed and the children rarely become sick. Now eggs are consumed on a daily basis by each family in the community, whereas just two years ago, eggs were hardly eaten at all. The eggs are even being sold in the nearby villages and shipped to the principal regional centers.

Adapted fromwww.usaid.gov.stories, March 31, 2006.


NB: A chicken scoop is a place where chicken are raised.


I. Comprehension (8points)


1. Choose from the following what you think is the best title for the text. (0.5)

a) Aboubacar's Failure b) Aboubacar's success story c) Aboubacar's exodus

2. Match each of the ideas below with the paragraph it corresponds to.
a) Aboubacar's decision to start a new business paragraph 1
b) The benefits of Aboubacar's business Paragraph 2
c) Aboubacar's decision to move to the city Paragraph 3

3. Circle the right answer, a), b) or c)

i. Aboubacar wanted to go to Conakry to ..............
a) visit the capital b) find a job c) develop his home town

ii. Aboubacar finally started his new business in..........
a) Conakry b) another village c) Boulliwel

iii. With his new business, Aboubacar finallly.................... the living conditions of his family.
a) betters b) aggravates c) cannot change

4. Are the following sentences true or false? Tick and justify from the text.

Statement	True	False	Justification
Aboubacar rejected his father's suggestion
He didn't know anything about chicken-raising before getting into the business.
Aboubacar now has 45O egg-laying hens and 300 chicks.

5. Circle what you think is the best equivalent for the following words. (1.5pts)

i. As an alternative to leaving home(paragraph 2) means:
a) As another way of leaving home. b) as a possibility of staying home. C) as a decision to leave home.
ii. Eggs were hardly eaten all(paragraph 3) means:
a) They ate hard eggs b) they didn't eat many eggs c) all of them ate eggs
iii. The lesson from this text is:
a) You can earn a leaving without leaving your village.
b) You can succeed only in towns.
c)Large families are an obstacles to development.
II) Linguistic Competence (6pts) 6. Complete this short dialog with the questions Aboubacar's father asked his son. (2pts)

Father: Do you really want to go to Conakry?
Aboubacar: Yes, Dad. I 've already made my decision.
Father: ..................................................................................................?
Aboubacar: to look for a job.
Father: ...................................................................................................?
Aboubacar: I 'll be living with uncle Mamadou Woury.
Father: I really wish you stayed here.

7. Aboubacar is thinking about the situation. Underline the best words to make a meaninigful paragraph. (2pts)
" There is nothing/anything/something here. If I stay here, I won't/will/would be able to feed the family. And if I leave, I have no idea what job I 'll do since/unless/because Uncle Mamadou helps me find something. Though life here is more/less/as expensive than in Conakry, I can/have to/used to leave to support the family."

8.Do the underlined words express aptitude/like or dislike/ comparison/ intention? Write your answers in the space provided. (1PT)
i. Like many other young Guineans (line 2):......................................................................
ii. Aboubacar is able to contribute (line 12):.....................................................................

9. Write the numbers in full letters ( 0.5 pt)
450 (egg-laying hens)..........................................................................

III) Writing: Choose one topic and write about 80 to 100 words

Topic 1: Mamadou Saliou, Aboubacar's cousin, has been in Conakry for two years but has not been able to even send money home. Tell his story.

Topic 2: One day, your brother/sister informs you that he/she wants to leave the village and go to town in search for work. Knowing the difficulty to find work in town, you try to convince him/her to stay in the village and create his/her own business activity. Write about your conversation.

Topic 3: Would you like to take risks and leave Senegal on a boat for Spain for a job?

Epreuve bfem 2008

EXAMEN DU B.F.E.M. 2008 - EPREUVE D'ANGLAIS LV1-DUREE: 2H-COEF:2
Without water, life could not exist. Water is essential to people in more ways than we might think. We need water for cooking, bathing, transportation and recreation. We eat aquatic plants and animals. We use water to irrigate our crops and manufacture our products. We think there is plenty of it- in oceans, lakes, rivers and streams. It may even seem as though we have more water than we need.

Most of the water on earth-97 percent- is salt water stored in oceans. Only about three percent of the earth's water is fresh water- and most of that is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. The same water is simply recycled over and over again. Just think- the water we are using is the same that the dinosaurs used millions of years ago.

Where does your drinking water come from? Some folks depend on surface water, such as lakes and rivers; others use water that collects underground. In some small communities, people get their water fom public wells and carry it home in pots and buckets. Many big cities rely on networks of pipes, pumps and other equipment that cleans and carries water from the watershed to the kitchen.

Because water is esential; we must manage it carefully. Water is considered at "risk" when it contains materials than can harm people and other organisms. These harmful materials are called pollutants. Pollutants may be chemical, industrial waste, small particles of soil or sewage.

The color and clarity of water can tell you a lot about whether it is polluted. Green color may indicate that the water contains fertilizers or animal waste. Orange-red may indicate that the water contains oil, blood from meat-processing plants, or chemicals from mines. Dark red, purple, and black might mean that the dyes from a textile mill or leather- tanning factory have got into water. The smell of water is another indicator of pollution. Thus, rotten-egg smell may indicate that water contains sewage or industrial waste.
Adapted from English Teaching forum, Jan-Mar 1999(pp 47-48)

I. Reading Comprehension ( 7pts)
A. True or False: write True or False after the folowing sentences, then justify with a relevant quotation from the text (1.5)

1. Polluted water is dangerous for people only.
Justify: ....................................................................
2. The biggest part of the water on earth is drinkable.
Justify:.....................................................................
3. Only color and clarity permit to recognize polluted water.
Justify:....................................................................
B. Title/Paragraph matching: Match these titles with the paragraphs of the text. The first is given as an example ( 2pts)

Titles Paragraphs
4. Different sources of water / Paragraph 3
5. Water- indispenable for all / Paragraph.........
6. How to recognize the impurity of water/ Paragraph.........
7. So much water and so little to drink/ Paragraph........
8. Let us protect our water from danger/ Paragraph........

C. Reference: Who or what do the underlined words in the text refer to? (1.5)

9. " it" in " plenty of it"
10. "others" in " others use water that collects"
11. "we" in " we must mangage it carefully"

D. Vocabulary in context: Choose the correct answer among a, b, c, d proposals. ( 2pts)
12. "aquatic plants" are plants which grow:
a. without any water b. near or in water c. very far from water d. with a lot of water.
13. "fresh water" means water which:
a. is very cold b. is undrinkable c. is not salty d. has no suggar.
14. " harmful materials" are materials that:
a. we use as arms. b. people don't need c. people need a lot d. have a dangerous impact
15. "meat-processing plants" are:
a. factories that transform meat b. trees that produce meat c. meat used for growing plants d. factoties where meat is not eaten.
II. Linguistic competence ( 7pts)
E. Reformulations: rewrite the sentences without changing the initial meaning. (2pts)
16. People are pumping recycled water for irrigation.
- Recycled water..........................
17. Let's look after our water or it will be polluted.
- If we...........................................
18. " Don't waste my water I will need it tonight.", my mother said to us.
-My mother told us.....................
19. We must manage water carefully.
- It is necessary...........................
F. Verb tenses/ Forms: Put the verbs in brackets into the right tense or form. (2pts)

20. If we heat water at 100°C, it ..................................... bubbling. ( to start)
21. It's high time people.......................................about managing water. (to think)
22. It's no use................................ to drink; that water is undrinkable. ( to try)
23. If I had known about the lack of water, I.............................................. some with me. ( to bring)
G. Multiple Choices: Complete with the most appropriate answer. (2 pts)
24. No is liquid is ................................................ water.
a. as precious than b. so precious c. as precious as d. more precious as
25. The student: "Sir, ......................................... have people been using water?"
The teacher: " Since the creation of the world."
a. how long b. when c. how old d. what time
26. Mrs Ngom and Mrs Sarr always wash their.......................... clothes on Sundays.
a. husbands b. husband's c. husbands' d. husbands's
27. This is the man..................................... sells water in our district.
a. who's son b. whose son c. whom son d. which son
H. Word formation: Use the correct form of the words between brackets. (1pts)
28. Oceans have the highest...............................of water in the world. ( percent)
29. Recycled water is too..................................... for people to drink. ( risk)

III. Writing: ( 6 pts)
Choose one topic only and write about 150 words.

Topic 1: One day, in your district or town or village, there was a problem of water. How did people react? What did you do to help find somutions?

Topic 2: One of your friends thinks that it is not impotant to manage water. You disagree with him or her write the conversation.

Topic 3: You are facing a water problem in your area. You write a letter to the ministry in charge of water resources to ask for his help.

Corrigé compo. anglais 2nd semestre 3éme

I. Reading comprehension
A. The text is: b. a description of a book
B. All the sentences are false. Justify.
1. false: " Ramatoulaye must share her home with Bintou, her cowife."
2. False: " Aissatou, now a divorced woman living in the United States, left Mawdo after he took a cowife."
3. False: " Ramatoulaye's mother disapproved of her choice"
C. Paragraph title matching
1. friends and victims of plygamy= paragraph 4
2. Tradition versus modernity= paragraph 3
3. The context of the book = Paragraph 1
4. The lost husband= paragraph 2
D. Vocabulary in context
a. Synonyms
1. isolation= seclusion 2. belief= faith 3. thinks= muses 4. remembers= recalls 5. possibility= opportunity
b. Antonyms
1. minor#major 2. acccepted# disapproved 3. good# unfit 4. short#long 5. sad# happy
E. Reference
1. she refers to Ramatoulaye.
2. thes women refers to Ramatoulaye and Binetou
3. the dead refers to Modou Fall
II. Communicative linguistic comptence.
A. Rewrite
1. If her husband weren't dead, Ramatoulaye wouldn't feel lonely.
2. Ramatoulaye said to Aissatou that her husband had died the week before and the children had been crying so much.
3. Mamadou Fall was killed by a heart attack.
4. If her husband hadn't married a second wife, Ramatoulaye wouldn't have been unhappy.
B. Tenses
1. While Ramatoulaye was writing a letter to Aissatou, she started crying.
2. As soon as her husband marries a second wife, Penda will certainly go away.
3. Aissatou is living in the United States at the moment.
4. Mawdo has been running after Aissatou since she left him.
C. Asking questions
1. Ramatoulaye: who complains everyday because she is angry.
2. everyday: How often does Ramatoulaye complain because she is angry?
3. because she is angry: why does Ramatoulaye complain everyday?