Anglais

Baccalauréat de l'enseignement général

Madagascar

Session 2002

 

 

TEXT

THE FAMADIHANA

 

Winter is back… But the entire village feels warm today. The family – in its widest sense – is gathered. This is an opportunity which should not be missed since it will only happen every seven years. It is winter and time for the exhumation or « famadihana » (turning of the bones). It is also called « bemenaka »,  literally « with a lot of oil », as a reference to the very greasy food offered to the guests.

According to our beliefs, a Malagasy person never dies, but just becomes a « razana » (ancestor) who can see, hear and listen to us. And, why not protect and bless us. Omnipresent, he is next to us every day. Sometimes through dreams. And the « bemenaka » is only one facet of these Malagasy habits, customs and beliefs which remain incomprehensible to foreigners when they see such joy a few metres from the family vault…

Vintsy N° 21,1997

 

QUESTIONS

 

I.       READING COMPREHENSION               (7 pts)

A – Find in the text                                                                  (0,5ptx2)

1 . the equivalent of « tomb ».

2 . the antonym of « far from ».

 

B – Choose the one best answer.                                            (0,5ptx2)

1 . According to the text

a)    nobody dies in Madagascar .

b)    foreigners do not understand Malagasy people.

c)     Malagasy people will continue living after death.

2 . Malagasy people

a)    believe that their « razana » can help them in their life.

b)    like eating greasy food.

c)     practise exhumation every year

 

C – Fill in the blanks with words from the text.                         (0,5ptx2)

1 . We must ………..our environment if we want to survive

2 . Christian people believe that God is ………………in their life

 

D – Answer the following questions.                                         (1ptx2)

1 . How can Malagasy people and their ancestors communicate ?

2 . The « bemenaka » is a Malagasy custom which remains incomprehensible and full of contradictions to foreigners. Why ?

 

E – Scrambled summary. To summarize the text, put the sentences in order.         (2pts)

§         It is an important event for Malagasy people

§         The whole family come to

§         because they believe that their ancestors

§         celebrate the exhumation.

§         protect and bless them.

 

II.      LANGUAGE TEST                               (7 pts)

A – Grammar

Fill in with the appropriate grammatical items.                 (0,5ptx6)

Do you know that tobacco comes ……… America ? It first arrived in Britain in about 1565. Later on King James I ………..  reigned in England for 22 years ………… not like it. …………...….. he wrote a little book ………... try and convince people ………..to smoke.

 

B – Language Functions.

Complete the following dialogue                                     (1ptx4)

Alice is in hospital and Gladys comes to visit her.

Gladys         :        Hello ! I’m sorry to hear you’re not well

Alice   :        Thank you for coming to see me.

Gladys         :        …………………………………… ?

Alice   :        I have a fever . My head aches and I often feel dizzy

Gladys         :        ………………………………… ?

Alice   :        For a few days, I hope.

Gladys         :         ………………………………………. ? (Offering help)

Alice   :        Would you mind opening the window ?

Gladys         :        (After opening the window) Is  that o.k ?

Alice   :        ……………………………………………….

Gladys         :        You’re welcome .

 

III.     WRITING                                           (6 pts)

           What are the advantages of practising sports ? (about 30 words)