I. VERSION
WHEN British politicians talk about winning the “global economic race” (as they often do) they have athletes like Gregor Wilson in mind. Mr Wilson taught himself to code as a child. He started and built his first company while at university and sold it on graduating. His second venture, a software firm, is booming and will soon be ready to take on more staff. He is also preparing to leave Britain for good.
In the popular imagination, British expats are leathery retirees in the Mediterranean. But from 2006 onwards the weak pound, the bursting of Spain’s property bubble and rising taxes in France made the Costas less attractive. The number of old Britons emigrating annually has more than halved since then. Dean Blackburn, head of HSBC Expat, part of the high-street bank, says that a different breed of emigrant is now on the march: the ambitious graduate bound for North America or Asia.
The sharpest rise has been among those moving to the glittering East. Mr Wilson will build his business in Hong Kong. The web, along with the reach of the English language and the cachet of a British degree, gives young people like him opportunities undreamed-of by their parents’ generation. They are also untethered for longer: on average, they buy a house and form a family later in life than did previous generations. Since the eve of the economic crisis, emigration is up by 8% among 15- to 24-year-olds.
Adapted from The Economist, August 9th 2014
II. THÈME
1. Il leur conseillait depuis des années de changer de stratégie, mais ils ne voulaient rien entendre.
2. Si tu m’avais demandé d’appuyer ta candidature à ce poste clé, je l’aurais fait volontiers, crois-moi !
3. Lorsqu’on pourra ne plus avoir d’empreinte numérique, le respect de la vie privée gagnera du terrain.
4. Vous feriez mieux de garder votre calme : la situation actuelle est assez compliquée comme ça.
5. Il est grand temps que le Royaume-Uni se transforme en fédération car le nationalisme écossais est toujours là.
6. Les émeutes de Ferguson nous rappellent que les États-Unis n’ont pas encore réglé la question raciale.
7. Je regrette que le gouvernement ne fasse pas davantage pour protéger les classes moyennes de la crise.
8. La plupart des Français que je connais ne sont pas encore habitués à pratiquer le covoiturage.
9. Le président veut une loi permettant aux contribuables dont le revenu est modeste de ne pas payer d’impôt.
10. Nous préférerions que tu ne nous dises pas si tu as voté pour ou contre l’indépendance de l’Écosse.
III. ESSAI
Les candidats traiteront l’un des deux sujets proposés et indiqueront le nombre de mots employés (de 225 à 275)
1. Why do so many people want to migrate to the United Kingdom?
2. Should animals have rights?
