1. LYCEE MUNICIPAL TANDA **** BACCALAUREAT BLANC **** SESSION 2012
LANGUE VIVANTE 2 : ANGLAIS Coefficient : 2
SERIE A2 Durée : 3h
Cette épreuve comporte trois (03) pages numérotées 1/3,2/3,3/3.
Do all the activities of this examination paper on your answer sheet.
PART ONE: READING 40%
Read the text below and do the tasks that follow.
APARTHEID
There has always, since the early days of slavery, been racial discrimination in South Africa. I
suppose, at the beginning, when people enjoying a more advanced civilisation came into contact
and intermingled with those not so fortunate, this was inevitable. Today we know, from
experience in other parts of the world, that it is possible to grow away from such a situation,5
through a process of "civilisation" and a sharing of privileges, provided those in power are
prepared to devote sufficient resources to it and to make sacrifices for it.
But in South Africa the White rulers hesitated for 150 years, before they finally chose a
road which led in an entirely opposite direction. To preserve "civilisation" one would think it
prudent to spread it as rapidly as possible. Instead, our rulers elected as far as possible to retain10
it as a White monopoly. Deliberately we chose the path of "segregation" which, whatever
changing appellations we may give to it, is a policy intended to keep the Blacks in a state of
permanent inferiority and subjection, which is a political strategy based on economic
considerations.
Inevitably this has led to a strong and ever-growing movement for the liberation of15
Blacks, which is obvious to anyone whose vision is not totally obscured by the myopia of the
White South African, and which is supported not only by the whole of Africa but by virtually
the whole membership of the United Nations, both West and East. However powerful South
Africa may be in military or economic terms (and recent events have proved the country to be
more vulnerable than had been wishfully thought before), the present minority group cannot20
maintain its position of absolute power indefinitely in the face of the natural historic
development of the country's own inhabitants. The sole questions for the future of all of us
therefore are not whether a Black majority will take over or when it will happen, but only:
(a) whether the change can be brought about peacefully and without bloodshed; and
(b) what the position of the White man is going to be in the new dispensation after the years25
of discrimination and oppression and humiliation which he has imposed on the Black peoples of
this country.
In both respects the Afrikaner finds himself in a decisive role. It is he who is in power;
which means that it is he who is blamed for the evils and the humiliation of apartheid. But it
also means that he is in a position to negotiate a peaceful changeover, provided he is really30
sincere about it; he can eradicate such wrongs as may later give rise to a justified call for
vengeance.
An extract from RUMOURSOF RAIN (1978), byANDRE BRINK.
35
1/3
2. COMPREHENSION CHECK
A. Match each word from the text in box A with its opposite or antonym in box B.
Write your answers like this: 1‒ beginning ≠ j‒ end
A B
1- beginning (L 2) a- avoidable
2- advanced (L 2) b- release
3- fortunate (L 3) c- backward
4- inevitable (L 3) d- momentarily
5- prudent (L 9) e- weak
6- retain (L 9) f- praised
7- strong (L 14) g- unlucky
8- totally (L 15) h- invincible
9- vulnerable (L 19) i- partly
10- indefinitely (L 20) j- end
11- blamed (L28) k- unsafe
B. Read the text and say if each statement below is true (T) or false (F); then quote the lines
that justify your answers. Example: 1‒F (Line 1)
1- Racial discrimination is a recent phenomenon in South Africa.
2- The discrimination in South Africa was avoidable from the start.
3- The racial discrimination can’t end, no matter what efforts are made.
4- The racial discrimination can stop if the people in power do all they can to keep their privileges.
5- By the word “civilization” (line 8), the narrator refers to the civilization of white people.
6- The pronoun “ it” ( line 9) refers to South Africa.
7- The white South Africans established a system to maintain the blacks in poverty and servitude.
8- In their fight for freedom, the black South Africans have the support of all Africa and almost all
the United Nations.
9- The white South Africans will inevitably lose power.
10- For the narrator the change cannot happen through violence.
11- The white South Africans may escape vengeance from the blacks if they arrange a peaceful
transition.
PART TWO: WRITING 40%
Do only one of these tasks, in 25 lines.
TASK 1: As a keen observer of current events, you have noticed that racism is receding.
Write an article to share your opinion with the world.
You may use these arguments:
- racial segregation is no longer legal (USA, South Africa)
- racist acts are punishable by law
- blacks are given more respect in multiracial countries
- race is not so much an issue today
- etc.
TASK 2: Your friend thinks our society is becoming more and more tolerant. You disagree with him.
Write a dialogue between you and him.
2/3
3. PART THREE: LANGUAGE IN USE 20%
A- Find a meaningful word to complete each gap in the text below.
Write your answers like this: 1- in.
In the present struggle the Black man in South Africa finds himself (…1…) a remarkable
position. If it is true that it is essentially a struggle (…2…) freedom ‒ not merely freedom
(…3…) political or economic exploitation, but the freedom (…4…) choose for oneself ‒ then it
should be seen in the context of those situations in which it becomes possible (…5…) some
people to discover that their personal choice coincides of necessity (…6…) historical
inevitability. The slave who, in the USA in the Nineteenth (…7…), became conscious (…8…)
his situation, had (…9…) option but to make the choice he made: and yet there was no coercion
involved, he made his choice freely and proudly, and accepted full responsibility for it. The
same applies (…10…) the Jew revolting against the Nazis in the Second (…11…) War.
B- Fill in each gap with the suitable word from the box.
Example: 1- c
a-that; b-one; c-killing; d-to; e-that; f-was; g-overthrow; h-because; i-of; j-exists; k-ashamed
I realise only too well that by (…1…) one policeman one cannot (…2…) a system. But through
his death one can demonstrate (…3…) justice is not the prerogative of officialdom. It has
become imperative for small groups of highly organised men to keep alive in the minds (…4…)
the people, through dangerous and daring acts, an outrageous thought: the idea (…5…) the
system is vulnerable, that freedom (…6…), that justice can be implemented by the people. And
so I gave my approval to those forms of violent action through which (…7…) can affirm one's
freedom and prove one's solidarity with the oppressed masses.
I am not (…8…) of it. Had I remained inert or silent, that inertia or silence would have implied
a condonation of what (…9…) happening. That I couldn't accept for a moment. I still cannot,
even though I realize you will win in the short run (…10…) you have enough brute force at
your disposal. But in the end your system must crumble. For in order (…11…) cling to power
permanently one would require what you lack: right on your side, and justice in your system.
3/3
