Devoir De Synthèse Du Matière : Anglais

1ier Trimestre
Décembre 2009 4ième Math ; SC Ex ; EG ;
SC Info

Circus billionaire Guy Laliberté becomes first clown in space

-1-Guy Laliberté, the Canadian circus billionaire, who

founded Cirque du Soleil, officially became the first
clown and the seventh tourist in space this morning
when he blasted off for the International Space Station.
A Soyuz capsule carrying Laliberté and two astronauts
lifted off on schedule from the Baikonur launch facility
atop a Russian rocket.

-2-Laliberté, the US astronaut Jeffrey Williams and the Russian cosmonaut

Maxim Surayev got a rousing send-off from friends and family at the
Russian launch facility on the Kazakh steppe. They are expected to arrive
at the orbital outpost on Friday. Their trip will last 48 hours, if everything
goes well.

-3- Laliberté, 50, plans to help publicise the world's growing shortage of
clean water. But he's also doing his best to make the trip fun. The
entertainer donned a bulbous red clown nose before boarding the capsule
and brought several of the novelty noses for his crewmates. Laliberté, who
plans to spend 12 days in space, paid $35 million (£22 million) for his
flight. He has a 95% stake in Cirque du Soleil, a circus arts and theatre
performance company that turned 25 this year. The entertainment tycoon
has said he will try to persuade his fellow spacemen to don red clown
noses.

-4-Laliberté may be one of the last private visitors to the space station for
several years as NASA retires its shuttle programme and turns to the
Russian space agency to ferry US astronauts to the orbiting lab, crowding
out places for tourists. The U.S. space agency (NASA) will be even more
reliant on the Russians after 2010 when the U.S. shuttle fleet is grounded
permanently, leaving astronauts to hitch rides on Russian spacecraft until
NASA's new ship is available, in 2015.

-5-Eric Anderson, the chief executive officer of Space Adventures, said his
company would try to make sure at least three tourists could visit the
space station each year, despite the shuttle's scheduled retirement. "I
keep hearing that space tourism is ending and it never seems to be true,"
Anderson told the Associated Press. “One way to keep the programme
alive would be to increase the number of Russian Soyuz missions,”
Anderson said.

The Guardian, September 30, 2009

A-Reading Comprehension: (12 marks)
1- Tick ‫ ކ‬the correct option. (2 marks)

a- The text purpose is to: i- narrate (….) ii-persuade (….) iii- inform (….)

b- The text is aimed at: i- general readers (….)

ii- people interested in unusual holidays (….)
ii- scientists and astronauts (….)

2- Complete the following table with information about the trip: (4 marks)

Departure: …………………………………………………………………………………….
Exact Destination: ………………………………………………………………………….…
Cost: …………………………………………………………………………………………...
Duration of stay: ……………………………………………………………………………...

3- Correct the false statement below with direct justification from the text. (1 marks)

a) Laliberté is going to space just for fun. (prg3)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4- Tick ‫ކ‬ the right explanation for the underlined phrase.(1 mark)

“The entertainment tycoon” (prg3) means:

someone who is very successful and powerful in business and has a lot of money

someone who is very funny and entertaining

someone who is very adventurous and courageous

5- Pick out the right information from the text. (1 mark)

- NASA is retiring its present shuttle programme until 2015 when:

………………………………………………………………………………………………....

6- Find in paragraph 1 an expression that has the same meaning as: (1 mark)

 at the expected time (paragraph 1) = ………………………………………………..

7- What does the underlined phrase in the text refer to? (1 mark)

 the programme (prg5) refers to ……………………………………………

8- Pick out from paragraph 4 a statement expressing probability. (1mark)

……………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
….
 B/ Language: (6 marks)

-1-Put the bracketed words in the correct tense or form: ( 4 marks)

The Dees travel the world on a budget, with no end in sight—“like summer vacation
forever,” as Ms. Dee put it. Their adventure began in 2006, when, after (sell)………………..
their house in Santa Cruz, Calif., they embraced a nomadic lifestyle that has so far taken them
to 32 countries on four continents, a (175,000 miles) ……………….. journey “most of it by
land,” Ms. Dee said. “Some people may (think) ……………….. it’s a nightmare,” she said,
“but we do it for the bonding, the shared experience. We’re (old) ……………….. parents
now, so we know how quick it goes.” That they’ve achieved their dream on roughly $ 25,000
a year — living off savings and investments, with cash stored in multiple currencies via
Everbank.com — just makes their endeavour the (impressive) ……………….. of all . Ms.
Dee (recent) ……………….. said “ I was very influenced by some people that retired early
and that sort of opened ( I ) ……………….. eyes. There’s a Web site called Families on the
Road, and they do a lot of interesting stuff with libraries. I got a lot of (information)
……………….. from them on how it works.

-2- Match a word in A with another word B to make meaningful collocations: (2 marks)

A
B Answers
1- Youth a- board 1+….

2+….
2- Exorbitant b- hostel
3+….
3- Full c- attendance
4+….
4- School d- price

C/Writing: (12 marks)

-1-Use the information in the table below to write a paragraph about Spain. (4marks)
Location: the extreme of the southern region of the continent of Europe
Neighbouring countries: Portugal , France , Andorra ,Gibraltar and Morocco
Surrounding sea(s)/ocean(s): Mediterranean Sea (on its south and east) and Atlantic Ocean (west)
Capital: Madrid

Spain is…………………………………………………………………….………………............
……... ……………………………………………………………………………….………..
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-2- Essay: (8 marks)

After participating in a TV programme contest, you have won a family holiday abroad for one
week. But you weren’t given any further information except their website to contact them.

Write an e-mail to the TV channel asking for information about the departure date,
destination, accommodation, entertaining programme…

Dear Sirs,

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
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LUA JZR