1 – VERSION
For those looking for encouraging signs about what a Trump administration might accomplish, the nomination of Betsy De Vos as education secretary deserves a cautious welcome. The welcome is because giving parents choice over where their children are educated is a good thing. The caution because there have been enough failures in school reform to suggest that promising ideas can be discredited if done badly.
Both Republicans and Democrats suffer from blind spots on education reform. On the left, there is a tendency to ignore bad public schools, *pander to unions and indulge underperforming teachers. On the right, the assumption often is that private is always better and that, once a voucher scheme has been set up, the work of school reform is done. The evidence suggests that what happens in the classroom is at least as important as the structure of the school system. This means recruiting and training teachers who give rigorous lessons and have high expectations of their pupils.
Mrs De Vos has put money and effort behind vouchers, which parents can spend at private schools. In Michigan, her home state, the results have been poor. In a state where test scores have declined over the past decade, 80% of private schools are below the state average in reading and maths. This is partly because Michigan ignored lessons from elsewhere.
Adapted from an article in The Economist, December 3rd 2016
*Aide à la traduction :
pander = give in to
2 – THÈME
1. Nous regrettons ne pas vous avoir accompagnés pendant la visite. Nous aurions beaucoup appris sur l’entreprise.
2. Le PDG doit rencontrer le conseil d’administration après-demain, mais il se peut que le rendez-vous n’ait pas lieu.
3. Pourquoi ne pas apprendre le chinois ? Cela te serait tellement utile dans ta future carrière, tu sais.
4. Plus la technologie devient sophistiquée, plus la vie de tous les jours est censée se simplifier.
5. Si vous aviez suivi nos conseils à la lettre, vous ne vous retrouveriez pas dans cette situation délicate.
6. Les patrons feraient mieux de dialoguer avec les syndicats. Les risques d’une longue grève sont élevés.
7. Peu de gens ont assisté à la conférence. J’espère qu’il y en aura davantage lors de la prochaine.
8. À peine sortie de son école de commerce, elle s’est mise à chercher du travail à l’étranger.
9. Il est grand temps que les autorités reconnaissent le rôle des médias sociaux dans la vie du pays.
10. Depuis longtemps, le personnel réclamait une augmentation de salaire. La direction a fini par la lui accorder.
3 – ESSAI – Les candidats traiteront l’un des deux sujets proposés et indiqueront le nombre de mots employés (de 225 à 275).
1. Will 2017 see the beginning of the end of globalisation? Justify your answer with relevant examples.
2. How would you explain the rise of populism in Great Britain and in the United States? Illustrate your answer with pertinent examples.
