Séries générales • LV1
angT_1309_13_00C
Idée de progrès
16
CORRIGE
Polynésie française • Septembre 2013
Séries générales • LV1
Text 1Keeping in touch with grand-parents
Families tend to spread out across the country these days, and sometimes even across the world. Jobs are scarce, making relocation an option that cannot be ignored. While moving can be scary, exciting, adventurous and overwhelming, it doesn’t have to leave extended family members feeling left behind. Grandparents, particularly, are important elements in the lives of children. This article points out how to keep grandparents involved, even from across the country.
Electronic communication opens many doors when it comes to keeping in touch with long-distance grandparents. Email is so simple that even a child can do it. And so can Grandma and Grandpa! If the senior generation is a bit computer shy, why not spring for a basic computer and include some tutoring. Classes may be as close as the local community center.
Once Grandma sees a few pictures of Sally and Bobby on her computer screen, she’ll be encouraged to learn whatever she needs to learn in order to keep the photo fountain flowing. It’s also very impressive to the pre-PC generations when they see the instant communication lines that computers create. No more waiting [for] a letter via snail mail. Answers to questions come swiftly. Vacation pictures arrive while the family is still out of town. Family recipes can be relayed in time for dinner. The possibilities are almost endless.
Children also love to communicate via computer, sending e-cards to Grandma and Grandpa, scanning and emailing schoolwork or artwork, or chatting about the day’s events using a webcam and a microphone. Technology has definitely made it easy to keep in touch with long-distance grandparents.
Feeling creative Here are a few more ways you can bridge the miles using your computer and an open mind. Ask Grandma or Grandpa to record family stories, jokes or songs using a microphone and some simple voice recording software. These family audio files can be compiled into libraries of memories that children will cherish into their own senior years. And with the ease and convenience of email, they can be shared instantly with multiple grandchildren.
Grandkids can also take advantage of audio recordings, sending Grandma and Grandpa moments that will forever be frozen in time. Baby’s first words can be savored, piano recitals can be virtually attended, and precious childhood “I love you’s” can melt hearts a thousand miles away. Add a webcam and grandparents will be watching baby’s first steps, clapping for ballet performances and admiring that frilly prom dress as if they were in the same room.
With today’s technology, there’s no reason not to keep in close contact with long-distance grandparents. Children grow quickly and months easily roll into years. Let that time be quality time. Stay in touch!
Mina Survese, Howtodothings.com, 2012.
Text 2Electronic fund-raising helps a family in need
Wayan once told me that sometimes when she’s healing her patients she becomes an open pipeline for God’s love, and she ceases even thinking about what needs to be done next. […] She says, “It feels like a wind comes and takes my hands.”
This same wind, maybe, is the thing that blew me out of Wayan’s shop that day, that pushed me out of my hung-over anxiety about whether I was ready to start dating again, and guided me over to Ubud’s local Internet café, where I sat and wrote – in one effortless draft – a fund-raising e-mail to all my friends and family across the world.
I told everyone that my birthday was coming up in July and that soon I would be turning thirty-five. I told them that there was nothing in the world that I needed or wanted, and that I had never been happier in my life. I told them that, if I were home in New York, I would be planning a big stupid birthday party and I would make them all come to this party, and they would have to buy me gifts and bottles of wine and the whole celebration would get ridiculously expensive. Therefore, I explained, a cheaper and more lovely way to help celebrate this birthday would be if my friends and family would care to make a donation to help a woman named Wayan Nuriyasih buy a house in Indonesia for herself and her children.
Then I told the whole story of Wayan and Tutti and the orphans and their situation. I promised that whatever money was donated, I would match the donation from my own savings. Of course I was aware, I explained, that this is a world full of untold suffering and war and that everyone is in need right now, but what are we to do This little group of people in Bali had become my family, and we must take care of our families wherever we find them. As I wrapped up the mass e-mail, I remembered something my friend Susan had said to me before I left on this world journey nine months ago. She was afraid I would never come home again. She said, “I know how you are, Liz. You’re going to meet somebody and fall in love and end up buying a house in Bali.”
A regular Nostradamus, that Susan.
By the next morning, when I checked my e-mail, 700 had already been pledged. The next day, donations passed what I could afford to match.
I won’t go through the entire drama of the week, or to explain what it feels like to open e-mails every day from all over the world that all say, “Count me in!” Everyone gave. People whom I personally knew to be broke or in debt gave, without hesitation. One of the first responses I got was from a friend of my hairdresser’s girlfriend, who’d been forwarded the e-mail and wanted to donate 15. My most wise-ass friend John had to make a typically sarcastic comment, of course, about how long and sappy and emotional my letter had been […], but then he donated money anyway. My friend Annie’s boyfriend (a Wall Street banker whom I’d never even met) offered to double the final sum of whatever was raised. Then that e-mail started whipping around the world, so that I began to receive donations from perfect strangers. It was a global smothering of generosity. Let’s just wrap up this episode by saying that – a mere seven days after the original plea went out over the wires – my friends and my family and a bunch of strangers all over the world helped me come up with almost 18,000 to buy Wayan Nuriyasih a home of her own.
Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love, 2006.
Compréhension
Both texts
11. What is the common theme of these two texts
2. Is it seen in a positive or negative way Explain briefly.
3. Say what sort of document each text is.
Seuls les candidats de LVA répondront à la question suivante.
2 In both texts, are long-distance relationships seen as a handicap or not
Text 1
11. Find in paragraph one a sentence summarizing the main idea of the text.
2. What could be the obstacles for grandparents What two solutions does the writer suggest
21. What does the text state about the geographical situation of families today
2. Say in your own words what explains this geographical situation.
3 List three different types of electronic communication mentioned in the text.
4 Who do you think this text is aimed at
Text 2
1 Give information about the narrator: first name, nationality, age.
2 In what country is the narrator
3 Pick out one quote from the text to explain why she is there.
4 What is the link between the narrator and Wayan
5 What decision does the narrator make concerning Wayan
6 How does she go about achieving this
71. What does she say she will do in return
2. Is she able to do this Justify your answer by quoting from the text.
8 “It was a global smothering of generosity” (lines 50, 51). Explain this sentence in your own words.
9 What do we know about the financial situation of the people who responded
Expression
> Choose one of the two subjects, 1 or 2.
1 You have given an elderly member of your family her/his first computer. During a visit, you try to persuade her/him to use it. Write the dialogue.
2 You are a local journalist who hears about the story in text 2. Write the newspaper article describing what happened and Wayan’s reaction.
Texte 1
L’auteur
Mina Survese est l’une des contributrices du site howtodothings.com, consacré à la résolution des problèmes de la vie quotidienne.
Pour en savoir plus :
https://www.howtodothings.com/information#about-us.
Le thème
L’article explique comment Internet peut rapprocher virtuellement des familles malgré la distance physique.
Vocabulaire utile à la compréhension
To spread out, l. 1 (s’étendre) moving, l. 3 (déménager) to keep in touch, l. 10 (garder le contact) to be computer shy, l. 12 (avoir peur des ordinateurs) to spring for, l. 12-13 (argot US, = payer) snail mail, l. 20 (courrier papier – snail = escargot) recipe, l. 21 (recette culinaire) a frilly prom dress, l. 41 (une robe de bal à froufrous).
Texte 2
L’auteur
Elizabeth Gilbert (1969-) : journaliste, essayiste et romancière américaine dont l’œuvre principale, Eat, Pray, Love, raconte son voyage autour du monde après son divorce.
Pour en savoir plus : https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/.
Le thème
La narratrice raconte comment elle a réussi, grâce à Internet, à obtenir des dons pour acheter une maison à une famille balinaise dans le besoin.
Vocabulaire utile à la compréhension
To heal, l. 1 (guérir) fund-raising, l. 9 (collecte de fonds) orphan, l. 22 (orphelin) to match, l. 24 (ici, donner la même somme) to pledge, l. 36 (promettre) broke, l. 41 (fauché) wise-ass, l. 44 (gros malin) sappy, l. 45 (nunuche) smothering, l. 50-51 (de to smother: étouffer. Ici, déferlement, avalanche) plea, l. 52 (appel).
Les points de convergence
Les deux textes démontrent combien Internet nous est précieux pour communiquer et nous entraider.
Le sujet d’expression 1
Pistes de recherche
La personne âgée se sentira démunie devant cet ordinateur, donc promettez-lui une formation et insistez sur les avantages mentionnés dans le texte sans les répéter tels quels.
Vocabulaire utile
What’s the point in... (à quoi ça sert de... ) snail mail (courrier postal - snail = escargot) to switch on (allumer un appareil électrique) to press a button (appuyer sur un bouton) to type (taper au clavier) to manage (y arriver).
Le sujet d’expression 2
Pistes de recherche
Attention à ne pas vous contenter de reprendre les éléments du texte à la troisième personne... Pour éviter ce piège, faites de Wayan le personnage principal de l’article écrit, la consigne le précise bien, par un journaliste balinais.
Vocabulaire utile
Healer (guérisseur) relief (soulagement) to struggle financially (avoir des difficultés financières) to support (subvenir aux besoins de).
Correction
COMPRÉHENSION
Both texts
11. How the internet makes the world a smaller place.
2. It is seen in a positive way, as it can keep extended families in touch and help fund-raising to help people in need.
3. The first text is a web article while the second text is an autobiographical extract from a book.
Uniquement pour les candidats de LVA
2 Each text deals with long-distance relationships, but it’s never really seen as a handicap, thanks to the Internet. The first text shows that grandparents can keep in touch with their families easily, while the second text illustrates how the Internet can be used to raise funds, even from strangers. It’s a gigantic information highway.
Text 1
11. This article points out how to keep grandparents involved, even from across the country (l. 6-8).
2. Some grandparents live far away from their families, so they can use emails to communicate and send pictures, videos or audio files. If they are uncertain about using new technology, a basic computer and a local course will help them adapt.
21. Today the members of many families live far away from each other.
2. As jobs are difficult to find, you often have to move away from your family, depending on where you find one.
3 Emails, chats, audio or video recordings.
4 The article is aimed at parents who want to help their children keep in touch with their long-distance grandparents.
Text 2
1 Her first name is Elizabeth (Liz, l. 32), she is 35 (l. 12) and is American (l. 14-15).
2 She is in Bali (l. 27).
3 Whether I was ready to start dating again (l. 7) / I left on this world journey nine months ago (l. 30).
4 They have become very close friends, as she says “This little group of people in Bali had become my family” (l. 27).
5 She has decided to raise funds to help Wayan buy a house.
6 For her birthday, she sends a mass email to ask people to donate money to help her friend instead of buying her a birthday present.
71. For every donation that is made, she will donate the same amount.
2. No, because so much money is donated, she can’t afford to keep her word. “The next day, donations passed what I could afford to match.” (l. 36-37)
8 Donations came in mass from all over the world, it was totally over-whelming.
9 Donors ranged from poor to wealthy: some had very little money but gave what little they could, and at the other end of the scale, a banker doubled the final sum.
EXPRESSION
1 Guidelines
Grandma: …but, dear, what’s the point in using this machine for an old woman like me!
Me: Grandma, just imagine: most of the family has spread out across the country, so you can’t see them except on special occasions. Now you can communicate with them whenever you wish. You can send them emails and get nearly immediate answers.
Grandma: Emails
Me: Sort of letters which you send with your computer. It goes very fast, that’s why we call traditional mail “snail mail”, as it is so slow.
Grandma: It sounds fascinating, but I can’t even switch that computer on, so how could I...
Me: Grandma, stop. Don’t panic, it’s very easy, I’ll teach you. You just press this button, and a few seconds later you will just have to type your letter and click here to send it. I have already entered the addresses of all your children and grandchildren. I’ll show you how to enter new addresses.
Grandma: Are you sure I can manage
Me: Of course! We’ll all send you pictures and videos of ourselves, so that you can keep in touch and see your grandchildren grow.
Grandma: Oh that would be superb! I wish I could see all of you more often!
Me: Well, now you can! You could even talk to us on a video chat with the webcam on your computer.
Grandma: It sounds so sophisticated! But I’m afraid I’m too old to learn all this...
Me: No, Grandma, you’re still young enough for this! You know what I’ll spend next Sunday with you and believe me, at the end of the day you’ll know everything about it!
2 Guidelines
Wayan’s good fairy
Modest traditional healer Wayan Nuriyasih never dreamed that one day she could live in her own house in Ubud: at least not before she met Elizabeth Gilbert. The American writer was travelling around the world and came into Wayan’s shop for a sprained knee. Liz found such fast relief, physically and mainly morally, that the two became close friends. When Liz realized that single mother Wayan was struggling financially and lived in a shack behind her shop with her daughter Tutti and two abandoned orphans she had taken in and considered as her own children, she decided to help her buy her own house.
“Liz really is my good fairy and I consider her part of my family”, says Wayan. “As soon as she heard my story, she decided to collect donations from her friends and did all this from the Internet café across the street. She sent emails to friends and family, telling them about us and asking for whatever money they could give. The wonderful thing is that all her friends responded and even forwarded her request to their own friends. Isn’t that lovely! They were so generous that I was soon able to buy a little piece of land and a house. Liz has even written about this in a best-seller and now my Traditional Balinese Healing Center is known all over the world! Now I can support my children and even give jobs to some local people!”
But Wayan hasn’t changed: she still is “an open pipeline for God’s love” and this wonderful gift means she will continue being as such for many years to come.
Ni Luh Nyoman, Ubud Times, Bali.