SÉQUENCE 5

Envisaging the future of our planet

PART 1

Harbingers of gloom and doom: announcing the apocalypse

Durée: 6h30

Introduction
In this unit you will:
• study various semantic fields related to speculative fiction and the future of the environment;
• become acquainted with the ideas of a celebrated writer of speculative fiction—Margaret Atwood;
• practise using an online dictionary;
• learn how to pronounce words ending in <ure> and words beginning with <u>;
• study extracts from works by two famous authors who depict environmental disasters;
• see how to use the vocabulary learnt in the reading activity to talk about a picture;
• revise the main verb forms and how to express various degrees of certainty;
• react to quotes by famous environmentalists and writers.

Activity 1 – Warming up - semantic fields

Look at the words in bold in the following paragraph, then class them in the grid according to whether the
connotations they convey are positive or negative:
Dystopian fiction offers a vision of the future. Dystopias are societies in cataclysmic decline, with
characters who battle environmental ruin, technological control, and government oppression. Dystopian
novels can challenge readers to think differently about current social and political climates, and in some
instances can even inspire action.
Dystopian literature is a form of speculative fiction that began as a response to utopian literature. A
dystopia is an imagined community or society that is dehumanizing and frightening. A dystopia is an
antonym of a utopia, which is a perfect society.
Dystopian novels that have a didactic message often explore themes like anarchism, oppression and
mass poverty. Margaret Atwood, one of literature’s most celebrated authors of dystopian fiction thinks
about it like this: “If you’re interested in writing speculative fiction, one way to generate a plot is to take
an idea from current society and move it a little further down the road. Even if humans are short-term
thinkers, fiction can extrapolate into multiple versions of the future.”
MasterClass, What is Dystopian Fiction? Learn About the 5 Characteristics of Dystopian Fiction With
Examples, Nov 8, 2020 - www.masterclass.com

CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS 1

 Postive Negative

dystopian
dystopias
cataclysmic 
decline
ruin
oppression
challenge
think differently
inspire
utopian
dehumanizing
frightening
utopia
perfect
didactic
anarchism
mass poverty
short-term

→ Check the correction.

Activity 2 – More about vocabulary – a few definitions

Match these words with their definitions:

1. didactic a. the political belief that laws and governments are not necessary
2. utopia b. a sudden disaster or a violent event that causes change
3. cataclysm c. an imaginary place or state in which everything is perfect
4. anarchism d. the state or process of being severely destroyed or damaged
5. ruin e. designed to teach people a moral lesson
→ Check the correction.

Activity 3 – Anticipation
In Activity 4 you’re going to listen to a document entitled ‘On Fiction, the Future and the Environment’.
Using the vocabulary from Activities 1 and 2, make hypotheses as to what the document may be about.
Make 5 sentences.

2 CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS

eg. The document may evoke a future in which the author describes a utopian world where environmental
catastrophes are a thing of the past.
→ Check the correction for some more ideas.

Activity 4 – Compréhension de l’oral

Nous vous proposons deux parcours. La première est de faire un compte rendu du document oral en
français sans être guidé(e). La deuxième consiste à relever les éléments proposés, en vérifiant le corrigé
au fur et à mesure. La correction proposée s’appuiera sur les éléments relevés dans le deuxième
parcours.

Frankie Fouganthin CC BY-SA 4.0

Margaret Atwood - On Fiction, the Future and the Environment

Margaret Atwood in Stockholm in June 2015.

Parcours 1

video 1
Écoutez le document intitulé « On Fiction, the Future and the Environment », vérifiez vos hypothèses
formulées à l’activité 3, puis faites un compte rendu du document en français en notant ce qui vous
semble être les points clefs pour atteindre le niveau B1. Vérifiez que vous avez identifié le contexte
d’énonciation, les principaux réseaux de sens ainsi que les stratégies de communication. Il est conseillé
d’écouter le document trois fois en prenant un maximum de notes pendant la deuxième et la troisième
écoute. Vous pouvez prendre les notes en anglais ou en français.
La correction se trouve à la fin du corrigé du Parcours 2.

CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS 3

Parcours 2
Nombre de locuteurs : …
Identité des locuteurs : …
Nature du document (ex. discours, interview, reportage, présentation, bulletin d’information,
podcast…) : …
Thème principal (notez les idées qui ont été évoquées aux trois premières activités, par exemple : ‘utopie’,
‘cataclysme’, ‘didactique’, ‘effrayant’…) : …
Principaux champs lexicaux : …
Les opinions exprimées : …
Écoutez le document trois fois, sans utiliser la fonction pause. Faites un compte rendu en français en
vous servant des notes que vous aurez prises en anglais ou en français.
→ Consultez le corrigé.

Activity 5 – Culture spot – focus on Margaret Atwood

1) Look up a short biography of the writer Margaret
Atwood on a suitable website, such as:
https://www.biography.com/writer/margaret-atwood
Look for the following information in
particular:
a. Nationality:
b. Genres explored in her writing:
c. Her works that have been adapted to the
screen as miniseries:
d. Themes explored in her writing:
→ Check the correction.

2) Present what you have learnt about Margaret

Frankie Fouganthin CC BY-SA 4.0

Atwood, and speculative fiction in general, to a
friend orally. Speak for approximately 3 minutes.
You can follow these guidelines, if you wish:
a. Give a definition of speculative fiction;
b. E
 xplain how Margaret Atwood fits into this
genre;
c. O
 utline the types of themes developed in
this type of fiction;
d. M
 ake a link with the question raised
in this unit: ‘How can we reconcile the Margaret Atwood in Stockholm in June 2015.
predominant atmosphere of gloom
and doom with our basic need for hope?’ Take into account the title of this first part of the unit:
‘Harbingers of doom: announcing the apocalypse.’

4 CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS

 Tips

You may find it helpful before doing this activity to do the next three activities first.
• Activity 6 helps you to check the meanings of new words in an online dictionary. Indeed, you may not be
familiar with the words: ‘doom’, ‘gloom’ and ‘harbinger’, for instance.
• Activity 8 will help you with the pronunciation of transparent words like ‘utopia’.

→ Check the correction.

Activity 6 – Méthode – l’utilisation du dictionnaire unilingue en ligne

Conseils

Pour cette activité, nous vous conseillons d’utiliser le dictionnaire en ligne :

https://www.macmillandictionary.com

1. Exemple
Nous allons prendre l’exemple du mot ‘dehumanizing’.
Si vous tapez ce mot dans le moteur de recherche du site, vous trouverez d’abord la transcription
phonétique en anglais britannique.
/ˌdiːˈhjuːmənaɪz/
Ensuite, vous verrez la catégorie grammaticale : Verb transitive UK
Après, vous aurez une première définition :
1) To make people stop feeling and behaving like normal people, especially by treating them very badly.
Synonyms and related words
To be cruel or unkind to someone
abuse mistreat
oppress …
2) To make people seems less real or important than normal people
Derived words
dehumanization (noun)
dehumanizing (adjective)

2. Exercice d’entraînement
Cherchez les mots ‘doom’, ‘gloom’ et ‘harbinger’, puis reliez le mot à sa définition :

1. doom a. the feeling of having no hope

2. gloom b. a sign that something (usually bad) will happen soon
3. harbinger c. a bad event
→ Consultez le corrigé.

CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS 5

3. Exercice d’application
Dans les phrases ci-après, choisissez le synonyme qui correspond le mieux à l’idée exprimée par les
mots soulignés. Il se peut que deux réponses soient possibles :
a. The current erratic weather patterns are thought to be harbingers of our future demise.
‘harbingers’ =  messengers  signs  proof
b. Margaret Atwood predicts that mankind is heading for doom.
‘doom’=  death  condemnation  a terrible fate
c. Dystopias often convey a sense of gloom.
‘gloom’=  sadness  darkness  cloudiness
→ Consultez le corrigé.

Activity 7 – Pronunciation – words ending in <ture>

Read the phonetic transcriptions of some words ending in <ture>.
/ˈkʌltʃə(r)/
/ˈneɪtʃə(r)/
/ˈnɜːtʃə(r)/
/məˈtjʊə(r)/
/ˈpɪktʃə(r)/
1) Which is the odd man out?
→ Check the correction.
2) Read the words aloud, then write them and check their spelling.
→ Check the correction.
3) Read the following rule, then explain the odd man out.
For words ending in <ture>, when the suffix is stressed, it is pronounced / tjʊə /, whereas when
the stress is on the first syllable, in two syllable words, it is pronounced / tʃə /

→ Check the correction.

Activity 8 – Pronunciation check- words beginning with <u>.

1. Look at the two sentences that follow:
The members of the COP 24 reached an understanding about their common target for reducing CO2
emissions.
In 1516 Thomas More first imagined a utopia where justice reigned.
Why is the article, before the word beginning with a < u> ‘an’ in the first sentence, and ‘a’ in the second
sentence? Select the correct answer.
□ Due to the meaning of the word.
□ Due to the context.
□ Due to the pronunciation of the <u>.
→ Check the correction.

6 CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS

2. Class these words in the appropriate column of the grid, according to the pronunciation of the initial <u>:
unity; ugliness; unhappiness; ultimate; university; Ulysses; unique; union; upper; underneath; use;
usually.

/ ʌ / an in ‘understanding’ / ju: / as in utopia

unity 
ugliness
unhappiness
ultimate
university
Ulysses
unique
union
upper
underneath
use
usually
→ Check the correction.

Activity 9 – Compréhension de l’écrit

Comme pour la compréhension de l’oral, nous vous proposons deux parcours. Le premier vous permettra
d’aborder les deux textes en toute autonomie, pour ensuite faire un compte rendu en anglais afin de
les présenter en vous appuyant sur les points clefs (le contexte, le thème principal et les stratégies
de communication). Le deuxième parcours sera un parcours plus guidé où vous pourrez vérifier vos
réponses au fur et à mesure. Dans les deux cas, il faut commencer par faire une lecture approfondie
des deux textes, en vous servant d’un dictionnaire en ligne. Les consignes seront en anglais puisque les
évaluations en compréhension de l’écrit seront probablement en anglais au cycle terminal.

 
1. Read the two texts carefully, noting the key ideas and the new vocabulary. If you need any help with the
vocabulary, do the matching exercise which you can find after the text.

Text A: The Road

At the crest of a hill was a curve and a pullout in the road. An old trail that led off through the woods. They
walked out and sat on a bench and looked out over the valley where the land rolled away into the gritty fog.
A lake down there. Cold and gray and heavy in the scavenged bowl of the countryside.
What is that, Papa?
Fotocelia iStock / Getty Images Plus

It’s a dam.
What’s it for?
It made the lake. Before they built the dam that
was just a river down there. The dam used the
water that ran through it to turn big fans called
turbines that would generate electricity.
To make lights.
Yes. To make lights.

CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS 7

 Can we go down and see it?
I think it’s too far.
Will the dam be there for a long time?
I think so. It’s made out of concrete. It will probably be there for hundreds of years. Thousands, even.
Do you think there could be fish in the lake?
No. There’s nothing in the lake.
Cormac McCarthy, The Road, 2006.

Text B: God’s own country

Downriver, a saltwater barrage had been built, in exchange
for votes from the influential paddy-farmer lobby. The barrage
regulated the inflow of salt water from the backwaters that
opened into the Arabian Sea. So now they had two harvests a
year instead of one. More rice, for the price of a river.
Despite the fact that it was June, and raining, the river was no
more than a swollen drain now. A thin ribbon of thick water
that lapped wearily at the mud banks on either side, sequined
with the occasional silver slant of a dead fish. It was choked
with succulent weed, whose furred brown roots waved like thin
tentacles under water. Bronze-winged lily-trotters walked across
it. Splay-footed, cautious.
Once it had the power to evoke fear. To change lives. But
now its teeth were drawn, its spirit spent. It was just a slow,
Augustus Binu CC BY-SA 3.

sludging green ribbon lawn that ferried fetid garbage to the sea.
Bright plastic bags blew across its viscous, weedy surface like
subtropical flying-flowers.
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things, 1997.

Arundhati Roy in 2013

2. Match these words with their definitions:

1.crest a. path
2. curve b. eaten away by animals
3. pullout c. place where human waste goes
4. trail d. bend
5. gritty e. in a tired way
6. scavenged f. useless vegetation
7. drain g. top
8. wearily h. thick with mud
9. weed i. full of particles of earth, sand or small stones
10. sludging j. toxic
11. fetid k. parking space
→ Check the correction.

8 CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS

3. Comprehension:
Parcours 1 : Give an account in English of the two texts, focusing on what they have in common. (150-200
words) You will find the correction at the end of ‘Parcours 2’.
Parcours 2 : Pick out the following elements in the two texts (Text A and Text B): Give an account of the
two texts using the following guidelines.
a. Nature of the documents:
b. Type of narrative:
c. The context: place, indications of when the scene takes place:
d. The main theme and the main lexical fields:
e. What appears to be the author’s message:
→ Check the correction.

Activity 10 – Using new vocabulary to talk about a picture

The aim of this exercise is to transfer what you have learnt to a different type of document. Use as much
of the vocabulary you have just learnt as possible to talk about this picture. Just use the vocabulary learnt
in Activity 9 to express what the photographer aims to convey.

Subodh Agnihotri / iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus

The polluted Yamuna River in Delhi.

Using vocabulary from Activity 9, say what the photographer aims to convey in this picture. Use these
prompts:
The picture shows…

CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS 9

It looks…
It looks as if…
It may…
To my mind…..
→ Check the correction.

Activity 11 – Grammar check

Le but de cet exercice est simplement de réviser les différentes formes verbales utilisées dans les
documents étudiés. Nous allons nous pencher plus particulièrement sur l’expression de la certitude et de
la probabilité à l’activité 12.
Reliez les verbes et le modal à la notion exprimée :

1. something we’re doing now a. répétition dans le passé

2. something we’ve already done b. prédiction
3. we don’t always foresee the consequences c. passé révolu
4. do you think we could change the world? d. action en cours de déroulement
5. they walked out and sat on a bench e. action passée antérieure à une autre
6. turbines that would generate electricity f. généralité
7. it will probably be there for hundreds of years g. bilan
8. a saltwater barrage had been built h. récit au passé d’actions successives
9. water that lapped wearily i. possibilité
→ Consultez le corrigé.

Vous pouvez réviser ces points de grammaire dans «Petite grammaire anglaise de l’anglais et de l’oral»
 de Sylvie Persec.
Voici les références : 1. Le présent BE+ING, p. 20 ; 2. Present perfect, p. 30 ; 3. Présent simple, p. 20 ; 4. Les
modaux, pp. 48-52 ; 5. Le prétérit simple, p. 26 ; 6. Le passé révolu, p. 36 ; 7. Expressions du futur, p. 66 ; 8.
Le pluperfect, p. 66 ; 9. Le prétérit simple (imparfait en français), p. 26. Voir Petite Grammaire Anglaise
p180-182. Entrainez-vous en faisant les exercices.

Activity 12 – Exprimer la certitude, la probabilité, la possibilité et

l’éventualité
a. Observez les phrases ci-après, puis repérez la notion exprimée par les segments en gras :

Certitude Probabilité Possibilité Éventualité

Degré de certitude
(100%) (80%) (50%) (20%)

Global warming is likely to reach record

heights in 2021
More and more species will become extinct

10 CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS

 Certitude Probabilité Possibilité Éventualité
Degré de certitude
(100%) (80%) (50%) (20%)

New York may be under water before the end

of the century
Water shortages are bound to affect develo-
ping countries more severely
There could also be food shortages in
developed countries
Climate change won’t cure itself
We might have to resort to carbon rationing

→ Consultez le corrigé.

b. Classez les phrases suivantes en fonction du degré de certitude du locuteur :

Sûr de ce qu’il Prudent dans son Pas du tout sûr de

affirme affirmation ce qu’il avance

The number of climate refugees appears to

be rising.
Green parties seem to be gaining ground
all over Europe.
People will never change their habits if
they’re given no incentives.
People in Germany and Scandinavia tend to
be more aware of how to be environmen-
tally-friendly.
It is highly unlikely that we manage to
reduce carbon emissions by the end of this
decade.

→ Consultez le corrigé.

Avant de réaliser la dernière activité de la partie 1, nous vous proposons une séance
de révision interactive pour que vous puissiez vérifier que vous avez bien mémorisé le
vocabulaire et que vous maîtrisez les points de grammaire étudiés dans cette Partie 1.

CNED SECONDE – ANGLAIS 11