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Bac Blanc All Units
Bac Blanc All Units
In ancient Athens, the purpose of education was to produce citizens trained in the arts, to prepare citizens
for both peace and war. Girls were not educated at school, but many learned to read and write at home, in the
comfort of their courtyard. Other than requiring two years of military training that began at age 18, the state
left parents to educate their sons as they saw fit. The schools were private, but the tuition was low enough so
that even the poorest citizens could afford to send their children for at least a few years. Until age 6 or 7,
boys were taught at home by their mother or by a male slave. Later, in the fourth century B.C. in some cities
public schools were open that were available to poor.
However, the goal of education in Sparta, an authoritarian, military city-state, was to produce soldier-
citizens. In ancient Sparta, the purpose of education was to produce a well-drilled, well-disciplined marching
army. Spartans believed in a life of discipline, self-denial, and simplicity. They were very loyal to the state of
Sparta. Every Spartan, male or female, was required to have a perfect body. When babies were born in ancient
Sparta, Spartan soldiers would come by the house and check the baby. If the baby did not appear healthy and
strong, the infant was taken away, and left to die on a hillside, or taken away to be trained as a slave (a helot).
Babies who passed this examination were assigned membership in a brotherhood or sisterhood, usually the same
one to which their father or mother belonged.
On the other hand, the Spartans believed that their women should be educated and capable of defending
themselves. This was deemed necessary so they could defend not only themselves but their husband's property
during his absence. Women enjoyed much freedom and could move around as they wished, because their
husbands did not live at home with them. Spartan women are frequently pictured as warriors. The goddess
Artemis was often considered as a Patron goddess and worrier in Sparta.
By comparison, the women of Athens city-state encountered a very different type of education to that of
the Spartan women. Before education Athenian women were subjected to a lifetime of enthusiastically obeying
the wishes and orders of others. Even their counterpart Spartan sisters were better fed during this time.
Athenians were taught all the domestic skills they needed to run the home, along with weaving and spinning.
They were not taught to read and write and were not allowed to conduct business transactions or own property.
Priscilla Babiolakis
1. Are the following statements true or false?
a. The Athenians as the other Greeks admired the Spartans.
b. The Spartan education aimed at developing discipline, courage and strength in their future
soldier-citizens.
c. Athenian women were taught special skills to defend themselves.
d. Athenians share the same beliefs with the Spartans.
2. Answer the following questions according to the text.
a) Why was a Spartan infant taken away and left to die on a hillside?
b) Which of the women education do you like best, the Athenians’ or the Spartans’? why?
3. Match each of the following ideas with the corresponding paragraph.
a) The goal of education in ancient Athens
b) Education of the Spartan women
c) Differences in life style in ancient Greek city-states
d) Education of the Athenian women
e) The goal of education in ancient Sparta
Paragraphs 1 2 3 4 5
Ideas
4 What or who do the underlined words in the text refer to?
a) They wouldn't want b) … but their husband’s property c) …their counterpart
B. Text Exploration
(7points)
1. Find in the text words or phrases opposite in meaning to the following.
a. similar (§2) b. the wealthiest (§2) c. to attack (§4)
الموضوع الثاني
PART ONE : Reading (14 points)
A/ Comprehension (7points)
In many parts of the world, people do not hesitate to engage in activities that do not comply
with the basic patterns of ethics. The absence of legal structures to control their businesses and the
spread of poverty and illiteracy in their land encourage the birth of all sorts of unlawful practices.
The illegal means they handle enable them to acquire vast fortunes and hold immense influence over
their communities.
In Asia and in Africa but also in South America, the widespread usage of child labour by
merciless employers and the expanding trade in drugs and narcotics dominated by powerful groups
are vivid examples of the barbarous features that take grip of human societies. Other misdeeds that
are practised on a large scale involve the obligation made to girls and women to perform immoral acts
in return to low gains, and the extending manufacture of all sorts of forged and imitated goods
without any respect either to the statutes protecting the products and their inventors or the
regulations required for their safe use.
We also find that bribery and embezzlement of public funds by unscrupulous individuals take
alarming proportions in many nations. At the same time the unauthorised sale of fire arms and the
marketing of suspicious medicaments have become intensive. In addition, many operations are carried
out by international organisations that no authority is able to check and to penalize.
All these transgressions to law and morality weaken the resources of the state and impair the
social condition of the inhabitants because of the tax evasion they generate in every country. Worse
than that, they enable their authors to handle the clever strategy of laundering their billions of
dollars through lawful channels where no suspicion will be raised about the cruelty through which
they have amassed and even the death of thousands of defenceless creatures they have caused.
1. Say whether the following statements are True or False according to the text.
a) Wrong-doers have much control over the fellows in their communities.
b) Secured treatments and medicines are given to poor patients.
c) Big sums of money get deviated from their legal destination.
d) Legal business will reduce the incomes of the governments and states.
2. Read the text and put the following sentences in order they appear in the text.
a) The violation of the law endangers the existence of the state.
b) Some people become wealthy through illegal actions and activities.
c) Some inventions are illegally reproduced and sold in the world.
d) Some groups deviate public funds for their own interests.
3. Answer the following questions according to the text.
a) What do poverty and illiteracy engender in modern societies?
b) What attitude do wrong-doers have toward the law?
c) Is tax evasion harmful to the economy of the state?
d) Do people sometimes acquire fire arms illegally ?
B/ Text Exploration
(7points)
1. Match each word with its definition.
Words Definitions
a) merciless 1) punish for breaking law
b) misdeeds 2) wrong or illegal actions
c) unscrupulous 3) showing no pity to people who suffer
d) penalize 4) without moral principles
After the decline of the Egyptian civilization, Phoenician city-states rose to power and became
the dominant seafaring traders of the Mediterranean Sea. They established ports along the coasts
of Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. Their dominance lasted from roughly 1200-800 BCE.
The Phoenicians controlled their trade routes and ports until the Persian empire, under Cyrus the
Great, conquered the Phoenician city-states in 539 BCE. Alexander the Great later took control of
Tyre in 332 BCE after a bloody battle, and soon conquered the rest of the Phoenician kingdoms
peacefully. From this point on, Phoenicians were assimilated into the Greek civilization, and most of
their culture slowly died away.
https://www.historytoday.com/reviews/who-were-phoenicians
2- Say whether the following statements are True or False according to the text.
Productive
3- Combine the pairs of sentences using the connector between brackets. Make the necessary
changes.
a. The Phoenicians were defeated. The Phoenicians were powerful and wealthy. ( Despite)
b. Alexander the Great took control of Tyre in 332 BCE . Alexander the Great
conquered the rest of the Phoenician kingdoms peacefully. (After)
4- Fill in the gaps with four words from the list below .
city - became- invented – Paper
Phoenicians also used papyrus from Egypt to make rolls of ……………… for books. The words bible
and bibliography come from the Phoenician ………………… of Byblos. Phoenicians traded with peoples all
around the Mediterranean sea. As merchants, the Phoenicians needed a simple alphabet to erase
the burden of keeping records. They therefore ………………a phonetic alphabet consisting of 22
letters. After alterations by the Greeks and Romans, this alphabet…………………the one we use today.
5- Classify the following words according to the pronunciation of the final “ed”.
Invented – destroyed – composed – vanished
Topic one : All civilizations such as the Egyptian, Indus, Greek, Roman Phoenician, Sumerian,
Babylonian etc; rose, feel and then vanished. Use the following notes to write an essay on the
following topic: Why do civilizations fall?
- Vast and uncontrollable empires
- Wars and invasions
- Internal and external conflicts
- Internal political problems
- Luxury, over abundance and excessive wealth
Topic two: Some people think that the world of business is a jungle and that ethics has nothing
to do with. Write a composition of about 80 words stating your arguments for or against this
point of view.
Unethical behaviours in the workplace can be defined as any action that does not confirm with the
standards of conduct established by the organization. Unethical behaviours can occur in the relationships
between employees, in the way an employee goes about his business or how he uses company resources.
Unethical behaviours can even break the law in some situations.
Employees may use company computers to engage in unethical behaviours. For example, an employee who
is not permitted to use the Internet for personal reasons commits an unethical act by shopping online while
working. Random Internet surfing takes away from the time he spends on work related activities. Employees
sometimes use company’s email to spread inappropriate websites or videos to colleagues, some of which could be
considered disrespectful by the recipients.
Unethical behaviours can include “stealing” time from the company, as it is paying its employees and
receiving no productivity in return. In addition to time spent on aimless Internet surfing, time misuse can
consist of extending breaks beyond the allotted time, falsifying time sheets, coming into work late and leaving
early and running personal matters while travelling on company business.
Some unethical acts can also be illegal when a bookkeeper or an accountant commits embezzlement by
having access to the company’s financial records. As well as an employee dealing with personal files, uses Social
Security number to raid bank accounts or fraudulently obtain credit cards.
Adapted from Internet
B/Text Exploration:(08pts)
2. Give the opposite of the following words keeping the same root.
a) moral b) fair c) responsible d) behave
3. Combine the following pairs of sentences with the connectors given. Make changes where
necessary.
a) Your business prospers. You behave ethically. (as long as)
b) Corruption is widespread. It is hard to eradicate corruption. (so…that)
c) The employees stopped misusing the Internet. The company’s productivity increased. (after)
4. Classify the following words according to the pronunciation of their final ‘s’.
practices - bahaviours - takes - manages
/s/ /z/ /iz/
5. Fill in the gaps with words from the list so that the text makes sense.
integrity - if - fight - time
It’s our responsibility to ……………… fraud and other unethical practices. It’s high ……………… we worked hand
in hand so as to put an end to immoral behaviour.……………… we all cooperate and keep our probity and ……………… ,
we can succeed.
Corruption has been defined in many different ways, each lacking in some aspect. A few years ago, the
question of definition absorbed a large proportion of the time spent on discussions of corruption at
conferences and meetings. However, like an elephant, even though it might be difficult to describe, it is
generally not difficult to recognize when observed. In most cases, though not all, different observers would
agree on whether a particular behaviour connotes corruption. Unfortunately, the behaviour is often difficult to
observe directly because, typically, acts of corruption do not take place in broad daylight.
The most popular and simplest definition of corruption is that it is the abuse of public power for private
benefit. From this definition, it should not be concluded that corruption cannot exist within private sector
activities. Especially in large private enterprises, this phenomenon clearly exists, as for example, in
procurement or even in recruitment. In several cases of corruption, the abuse of public power is not necessarily
for one’s private benefit or one’s party, class, tribe, friends, family, and so on. In fact, in many countries some
of the proceeds of corruption go to finance the political parties.
Not all acts of corruption result in the payment of bribes. For example, a public employee who claims to
be sick but goes on vacation is abusing his public position for personal use. Thus, he is engaging in an act of
corruption even though no bribe is paid.
It is important to distinguish bribes from gifts. In many instances, bribes can be disguised as gifts. A bribe
implies reciprocity while a gift should not. However, even though the distinction is fundamental, the
identification of a bribe may not always be simple.
Adapted from “Corruption Around the World” by Vito Tanzi, May 1998
a.all (§1) …………………… b.this phenomenon (§2) …………………… c.his (§3) …………………
2- Find in the text words that are closest in meaning to the following :
a.attitude(§1)= …………………… b.pretends (§3)= ………………… c.differentiate (§4)= …………………
5- Classify the following words according to the pronunciation of their final « s ».
instances- parties - proceeds - exists
Ethics is a set of moral values. It …………………………… what is right and what is wrong. It touches all
professions: ………………………………, journalism, business, medicine etc. It establishes ……………………………… codes of
behaviour for each one of them. These values are essential for better ………………………………… within society.
Topic 1:
Many companies suffer from a decrease in their productivity because of some of their employees’
unethical practices. Write a composition of 100 words suggesting how these employees should behave to be
more responsible and thus more productive.
Use the following notes:
- Respect the company’s code of ethics
- Be aware of the necessity of hard work
- Respect work time
- Use the company’s resources ethically
- Keep the company’s secret information safe
Topic 2:
Most Algerian companies look for profit but don’t care about ethics in business.
If you were appointed manager manager of one of those companies, how would you fight unethical practices?
The marketing of junk food and fast food has become big business—some have called the food
industry the next Tobacco. Companies spend top dollar on advertising to make us keenly aware of
their products. The aggressive advertising is working, Pepsi spends an estimated $2.1 billion a year on
marketing, McDonald’s $1.2 billion, and Coca-Cola is not far behind at $895 million.
The average child watches 10,000 food advertisements per year on television; most are for junk
food and fast food—only 2% are for fruits, vegetables, or beans. Advertisements for junk food and
fast food can also be seen in magazines, movies (through product placement), stores, the Internet,
and even schools. What impact is this having on youth? Recent statistics indicate that 14% of
children are now seriously overweight. 60% of overweight children between the ages of 5-10 years of
age already have at least one risk factor for heart disease, including elevated blood cholesterol,
blood pressure or increased insulin, and type 2 diabetes.
However, today’s youth, particularly girls, get mixed messages from the media. On one hand,
they are bombarded daily with advertisements for junk food and fast food on television and
magazines, yet the same magazines and television shows that serve up these ads also celebrate the
waif look by portraying pencil-thin models. This has created a state of confusion and potential danger
for many young women (and men). The National Eating Disorders Association estimates that 81% of
10-year-olds are afraid of being fat and between “5-10 million girls and women and 1 million boys and
men are struggling with eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or
borderline conditions.”
2/ Add an appropriate suffix “-tion, –er, -ment, -ing” to each of the verbs below to form
nouns: each suffix can be used once.
Verb Noun
product
watch
consume
move
Topic 1:
Some people think that satellites and space exploration are a waste of time and money while
others disagree. You are a member of a space association. Write a public statement of about 80
words in which you defend your point of view and try to convince people of their importance.
You may use the following notes:
- Telecommunications
- Exploring expeditions
- Gathering information about other planets
- Research
- Weather forecast
- Predicting natural disasters
Topic 2:
You are the president of The National Eating Disorders Association and you are giving a speech to
children and their parents explaining the impact of food advertisements on their health. write a
speech in ten lines stating your opinion.