English for Beginners and Advanced

Lors de la dernière partie de votre oral, on vous donnera un texte à lire et vous répondrez dans la foulée à 4 - 6  questions en français.

Voici des exemples de textes:

Texte 1 Facebook

Facebook is a social networking website. Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, and school or college.

Mark Zuckerberg (born May 14, 1984, in New York, USA) founded Facebook with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes while he was a student at Harvard University. The website's membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area and to Stanford University. It later expanded further to include any university student, then high school students, and, finally,  anyone aged 13 and over. The website currently has more than 500 million active users worldwide.

Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

Texte 2 Energy drinks may be harmful for children

Energy drinks packed full of caffeine may be harmful for children. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the University of Miami. Study author Judith Schaechter said popular drinks like Red Bull and Monster Energy have no health benefits. Many of the ingredients used to make them are not regulated. Dr. Schaechter warned that children with conditions such as diabetes, mood swings* and heart, kidney or liver diseases may have negative reactions to the drinks and could even die after drinking them. Report co-author Steven Lipshultz said: “Pediatricians need to be aware of the possible effects of energy drinks.” He advised that: “Toxicity surveillance should be improved and regulations of…sales…should be based on appropriate research assessing energy drink safety.”

Nearly a third of American children between the ages of 12 to 14 regularly buy these beverages. Sales are steadily rising in the U.S. from $6.5 billion in 2008 to $6.9 billion in 2009. Sales for 2010 are expected to be much higher. American teens say the drinks help them at school. Tracy Wong, 18, said she needs them because, “it pumps my system full of caffeine. That's why I have energy. Caffeine energizes you and keeps you awake." A Red Bull spokesman said: “Red Bull Energy Drink is available in over 160 countries because health authorities across the world have concluded that [it] is safe to consume.” However, it is banned in Germany and Taiwan for containing minute traces of cocaine.

mood swings* : sautes d’humeur                                                                         

                                                                       From  http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/

VOCABULARY : packed  full of= contenant plein de;            health = santé;         warned

= a prévenu    are steadily rising= augmentent régulièrement;    minute traces= des traces infimes         

Texte 3 CLIMATE CHANGE

How  are  we  causing  climate  change?

Human  activities ,  like  travelling  by  car ,  eating  hamburgers  or  heating  water  in  the home  have  led  to  an  increase  in  greenhouse  gases  in  the  atmosphere ,  causing  an  enhanced  greenhouse  effect  and  extra  warming .  As  a  result ,  over  the  past century  there  has  been  an  underlying  increase  in  average  temperatures  which  is continuing .  Globally ,  the  ten  hottest  years  on  record  have  all  been  since  1997.

What  will  happen  if  we  don’t  reduce  emissions ?

If  emissions  continue  to  grow  at  present  rates ,  CO2  concentration  in  the atmosphere  is  likely  to  reach  twice  pre-industrial  levels  by  around  2050 .  Unless  we limit  emissions ,  global  temperature  could  rise  as  much  as  7 °C  .  Even  if  global temperatures  rise  by  only  2 °C ,  20–30%  of  species  could  face  extinction .  We  can expect  to  see  serious  effects  on  our  environment ,  food  and  water  supplies ,  and health.

But  isn’t  the  climate  always  changing?

Yes .  There  is  natural  variability  in  Earth’s  climate  but  the  current  climate  change  is very  unusual  as  it  is  not  exclusively  part  of  a  natural  cycle .  Natural  factors  include volcanic  eruptions ,  aerosols  and  phenomena  such  as  El  Niño  and  La  Niña  ( which cause  warming  and  cooling  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  surface ) .  Natural  climate  variations  can  lead  to  periods  with  little  or  no  warming ,  both  globally  and regionally   and  other  periods  with  very  rapid  warming .  However ,  there  is  an  underlying  trend of  warming  that  is  almost  certainly  caused  by  man’s  activities.

 Adapted from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk