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CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 1
Fashion victims: History’s most dangerous trends
Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘fashion victim’, a 35-year-old Australian woman had
to be cut out of a pair of skinny jeans after developing a condition called compartment
syndrome. It’s not the first time someone has succumbed to a dangerous style trend:
“They’ve always been around, since the Stone Ages,” says Summer Strevens, the author of
Fashionably Fatal. Here are five of the deadliest fads in history.
The undergarment that shrank waistlines long before Spanx had an influence on language
as much as women’s bodies: it spawned the term ‘strait-laced’, lending a Victorian
respectability to its wearer, as well as ‘loose women’ – implying that those who were
corset-less had morals as free as their lacing. In her book, Strevens says that “corsets
caused indigestion, constipation, frequent fainting from difficulty in breathing and even
internal bleeding and inhibited breathing.”
The structured petticoat did more than just enhance a silhouette. During the 19th Century,
at the peak of the crinoline’s popularity, there were several high-profile deaths by skirt
fire. In July 1861, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow rushed to help his wife after her
dress caught fire. She died the following day. Oscar Wilde’s two half-sisters also died of
burns after they went too close to an open fire in ball gowns.
Invented in the 19th Century, the detachable collar meant men didn’t have to change their
shirt every day. It was also starched to a stiffness that proved lethal. “They were called
‘father killer’, or ‘Vatermörder’ in German,” says Strevens. “They could cut off the blood
supply to the carotid artery.
The expression ‘mad as a hatter’ was in use 30 years before Lewis Carroll popularised it
with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Mercury poisoning was an occupational hazard
for hat makers in the 18th and 19th centuries: the chemical was used in the production of
felt, and prolonged exposure led to what was termed the ‘mad hatter disease’.
Chinese foot-binding was officially banned in 1912. Yet some continued the practice – a
means of displaying status, revealing that a woman didn’t need her feet to work – in secret.
While historic practices might sound barbaric, women today are still enduring pain for
fashion, referencing “the contemporary vogue for the surgical shortening, even
amputation of healthy toes, in order to fit into today's sky-high stilettos”. There are still
plenty of fashion victims in the 21st century. “Although we haven’t got corsets or
crinolines any more, there are now people having their ribs removed to get a smaller
waist.”
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 2
Hollywood’s other diversity crisis
Amid the intense debate over the lack of diversity at the Oscars there’s one issue that’s
getting little mention: the Academy’s dismal record with Latinos.
Not since 1951, when José Ferrer won for Cyrano De Bergerac, has a Latino performer
won a best actor Oscar trophy. It’s even worse for Latinas: none have ever taken home a
best actress Academy Award. It’s in supporting roles where Latino actors have earned
some nominations and trophies. They’re just not getting the bigger prizes.
What makes this all the more perplexing is that according to the US Census Bureau Latinos
represent 17% of the US population whereas African-Americans make up around 13% –
yet black actors have secured more nominations and trophies over the years.
Film critic Noah Gittell thinks one reason why Latinos have a weaker track record is
because they’re not such a strong political force. “There is no social movement behind
them, or there isn’t one as strong as the one that exists for racial equality when it comes
to African-Americans,” he explains.
Another reason why Latinos specifically in the US fail to get significant roles may be
because they are often perceived as immigrants.
It’s really US Latinos who bear the brunt because actors who have origins in Spain and
Latin America fare much better. Often it’s because they come from more economically
privileged backgrounds. “If you are a US-born Latino you have to fight racism every step
of the way to be part of the industry. If you were raised in a relatively middle class or
affluent class background in your country of origin it’s a very different trajectory. You
have that with the Spanish stars, European stars, like Penélope Cruz or Javier Bardem that
came to Hollywood already being stars of global cinema,” says Negrón-Muntaner.
But Gittell believes the solution really has to be driven by the Latino community itself. “I
absolutely think it needs to come from the bottom up. Latino directors, Latino actors, need
to make their own films about their experience. I don’t think white studio executives are
going to do it for them, because they simply don’t have the motivation to at this point.”
Change is likely to be slow. But one consolation is that Latinos behind the camera are
faring better. The Latino community may take heart that for the second year in a row an
Oscar could go to one of their own, Mexican film-maker, Alejandro González Iñárritu, who
is a strong candidate to win the best director trophy for his work on The Revenant. And
fellow Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro have also achieved
success in the US over the past 20 years.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 3
Why do the British say ‘sorry’ so much?
The British are famous for how frequently they say ‘sorry’ – even when they’re not at fault.
But does the data hold up this stereotype? And is apologising so often really that bad?
A recent survey of more than 1,000 Brits found that that the average person says ‘sorry’
around eight times per day – and that one in eight people apologise up to 20 times a day.
But do the British really apologise more frequently than members of other cultures? If so,
what’s the reason for this peculiar verbal tic… and how bad a habit is it? In her book
Watching the English, social anthropologist Kate Fox describes experiments in which she
deliberately bumped into hundreds of people in towns and cities across England. She also
encouraged colleagues to do the same abroad, for comparison. Fox found that around 80%
of English victims said ‘sorry’ – even though the collisions were clearly Fox’s fault. Often
the apology was mumbled, and possibly people said it without even realising it, but
compared to when tourists from other countries were bumped, the difference was
marked. “Only the Japanese seemed to have anything even approaching the English sorry-
reflex,” Fox writes.
Brits might say sorry more often, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more
remorseful. “We can use it to express empathy – so I might say ‘sorry about the rain’,” says
Battistella. “It might be that British and Canadian speakers use that kind of ‘sorry’ more
often, but they wouldn’t be apologising, per se.
“Our excessive, often inappropriate and sometimes downright misleading use of this word
devalues it, and it makes things very confusing and difficult for foreigners unaccustomed
to our ways,” says Fox. Still, she adds, “I don’t think saying sorry all the time is such a bad
thing. It even makes sense in the context of a negative-politeness culture…
There may be other benefits to saying ‘sorry’, too – such as fostering trust. Interestingly,
that is true even when people are apologising not for mistakes they’ve made, but rather
for circumstances beyond their control. In one study, Harvard Business School’s Alison
Wood Brooks and her colleagues recruited a male actor to approach 65 strangers at a US
train station on a rainy day and ask to borrow their telephone. In half the cases, the
stranger preceded his request with: “Sorry about the rain”. When he did this, 47% of
strangers gave him their mobile, compared to only 9% when he simply asked to borrow
their phone.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 4
Does it pay to be kind to strangers?
Generous people are happier and healthier, yet acts of kindness are often met with
suspicion and scorn. Why?
A psychologist at the University of Central Lancashire, has just embarked on a new project
to explore the phenomenon of “paying it forward” – a popular philosophy of being
generous to a stranger, in the hope they will pass on the kindness to someone else. “The
idea is to create a chain – a domino effect,” Mann explains.
Today, “paying it forward” has become a popular and far-reaching movement – it has even
spawned a novel and a film. Google the term, and you will read heart-warming stories of
grandiose acts of goodwill – like the generous philanthropists anonymously calling
hospitals to pay for expensive operations, without expecting so much as a simple thank
you. But often it is the smaller deeds that are most touching. Mann points to the case of
Josh Brown, a 12-year-old who found a stranger’s lost phone on a train. The owner was
so pleased she offered him a small reward for the trouble. Instead, he sent a note attached
to the returned phone: “Don’t worry about the money, just do something nice for someone
else.”
These everyday altruists may not get an immediate payback (besides the “giver’s glow”),
but people like Brown tend to reap their rewards in terms of general life satisfaction.
Michael Norton at Harvard Business School has found that people who spend a bigger
proportion of their income on others tend to be far happier, in the long run, than those
spending it on themselves. “Across all countries – rich or poor, and in every continent –
people who give more tended to be happier people,” he says.
Taking time to help others may even protect you from disease, Mann says. Over a 30-year
study, women who volunteered for a charity were 16% less likely to suffer a major illness
during that period – perhaps because it lowers stress levels, which may also, in turn, boost
the immune system. What’s more, there is some evidence that they can permanently
change you for the better – so that kindness becomes your norm.
As a clinical psychologist, Mann has even started advising people with depression to try
and incorporate small acts of generosity or kindness into their therapy. “Depressed
people say they have a lack of meaning in life, and that they don’t feel valuable,” says Mann.
She emphasises that it isn’t a “cure” – their other therapy is still very important. “But it
gives a way to contribute back to society – and that makes them feel good, like they are
something useful.”
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 5
The surprising downsides of being clever
Can high intelligence be a burden rather than a boon?
The first steps to answering this question were taken almost a century ago, at the height
of the American Jazz Age. At the time, the new-fangled IQ test was gaining traction, after
proving itself in World War One recruitment centres, and in 1926, psychologist Lewis
Terman decided to use it to identify and study a group of gifted children. Combing
California’s schools for the creme de la creme, he selected 1,500 pupils with an IQ of 140
or more – 80 of whom had IQs above 170. Together, they became known as the “Termites”,
and the highs and lows of their lives are still being studied to this day.
As you might expect, many of the Termites did achieve wealth and fame and their average
salary was twice that of the average white-collar job. But not all the group met Terman’s
expectations – there were many who pursued more “humble” professions such as police
officers, seafarers, and typists. Nor did their smartness endow personal happiness. Over
the course of their lives, levels of divorce, alcoholism and suicide were about the same as
the national average. So why don’t the benefits of sharper intelligence pay off in the long
term?
One possibility is that knowledge of your talents becomes something of a ball and chain.
Many of the Termites reported that they had been plagued by the sense that they had
somehow failed to live up to their youthful expectations, a recurring motif for many other
gifted children. The most notable, and sad, case concerns the maths prodigy Sufiah Yusof.
Enrolled at Oxford University aged 12, she dropped out of her course before taking her
finals and started waitressing. She later worked as a call girl.
A tendency to rely on gut instincts rather than rational thought might also explain why a
surprisingly high number of Mensa members believe in the paranormal; or why someone
with an IQ of 140 is about twice as likely to max out their credit card.
Indeed, “there are plenty of people doing irrational things despite more than adequate
intelligence in our world today,” says Keith Stanovich from the University of Toronto. “The
people pushing anti-vaccination or spreading misinformation on websites are generally
of more than average intelligence and education.”
So if intelligence doesn’t lead to rational decisions and a better life, what does? Igor
Grossmann, at the University of Waterloo in Canada, thinks we need to turn our minds to
an age-old concept: “wisdom”, the idea of someone who can make good unbiased
judgement.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 6
Facebook wildlife trade prompts fears among environmentalists
Environmentalists say they are worried about the emergence of Facebook as an online
marketplace for trade in endangered species.
Wildlife monitoring network Traffic found hundreds of protected animals for sale on
Facebook groups in Malaysia, including sun bears, gibbons, and binturongs, also known
as bearcats. It says this type of illegal trading is a growing threat around the world.
Facebook said it "will not hesitate" to remove content promoting such trade.
The researchers monitored 14 Facebook groups for 30 minutes daily over a period of five
months. They found more than 300 wild, live animals for sale as pets. "You often find that
in trading there's a small percentage of people involved in illegal activity," said Sarah
Stoner from Traffic, one of the report's authors. "But we identified 236 posts where there
was perceived illegal activity, there were 106 different sellers, that's quite a lot of different
people and it shows how prevalent it is."
The researchers say the development of an online trade is surprising in Malaysia because
open wildlife markets are not found in the country, unlike in other parts of Asia.
"The demand for these animals has always existed in Malaysia but it's never really had an
outlet to flourish whereas the Internet and Facebook seem to be providing the platform
to enable the trade to happen in this manner," said Sarah Stoner. Almost half of the species
recorded were protected and illegal to sell under Malaysian law. Some 25 of the 69 non-
native animals were protected under the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).
Traffic say they have shared the details of their investigation with Facebook who are
looking to develop practical solutions to combat the trade. "We are committed to working
with Traffic to help tackle the illegal online trade of wildlife in Malaysia," Facebook said
in a statement. "Facebook does not allow the sale and trade of endangered animals and
we will not hesitate to remove any content that violates our terms of service." The
investigators also passed on their information to the Malaysian authorities.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 7
Silicon Valley's gender problem extends beyond pay gap
Companies like Arjuna are beginning to take action to address pay inequality, but
demographic data doesn’t tell the full story of women’s experience.
Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, earned infamy for his declaration that women
should not bother to ask for raises. When his remarks were greeted with howls of outrage,
Nadella backpedalled at the speed of light. Less than a year later, Microsoft was sued by a
former employee, Katie Moussouris, now chief policy officer at HackerOne, alleging
gender bias. Moussouris claimed that she was only one of a number of women at Microsoft
who earned less than their male counterparts. Moussouris also alleged that men received
preferential treatment in promotions and systematically received more favorable job
reviews. There is no way to know whether Moussouris’s claims are accurate, because
Microsoft does not disclose any data about the extent to which men and women are paid
differently for doing similar jobs.
That may soon change, if Arjuna Capital succeeds in placing a resolution before
Microsoft’s shareholders and convincing enough of them to vote in favor of it, thus
requiring the company to publicly disclose that information for the first time. Anyone who
has looked in even a cursory fashion at the economics of the technology universe
shouldn’t be surprised by the existence of a gender pay gap. Joint Venture Silicon Valley
reported last year that men in Silicon Valley reported earning as much as 61% more than
their female counterparts. Of course, some of that happens because women don’t have the
same skills and don’t hold the same kinds of high-paid positions.
Brian Krzanich of Intel noted that a key motivation for his backing of the company’s
initiatives was that he has two daughters of his own. “I want them to have a world that’s
got equal opportunity for them,” he told reporters at the time, rather than one that is
dominated by the “bro” culture of gamers.
But even if a wizard or fairy godmother were to appear and level the playing field, it would
not solve all the issues women face in the world of technology. Demographic data doesn’t
tell the full story, and even being well compensated doesn’t mean you can put up with
everything else that gets flung your way. As Ellen Pao’s trials (literal and rhetorical) last
year revealed, women who try to be in the vanguard can end up in a toxic work
environment. Female entrepreneurs report being hit on for sex by potential backers;
some female employees recount coping with casual sexism in a male-dominated
workplace.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 8
Revealed: the 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Generation Y’s income
New data shows how debt, unemployment and property prices have combined to stop
millennials taking their share of western wealth
A combination of debt, joblessness, globalisation, demographics and rising house prices
is depressing the incomes and prospects of millions of young people across the developed
world, resulting in unprecedented inequality between generations.
Millennials – those born between 1980 and the mid-90s, and often otherwise known as
Generation Y – are increasingly being cut out of the wealth generated in western societies.
Where 30 years ago young adults used to earn more than national averages, now in many
countries they have slumped to earning as much as 20% below their average compatriot.
Pensioners by comparison have seen income soar.
It is likely to be the first time in industrialised history, save for periods of war or natural
disaster, that the incomes of young adults have fallen so far when compared with the rest
of society. Experts are warning that this unfair settlement will have grave implications for
everything from social cohesion to family formation.
For the first time in France, recent pensioners generated more disposable income than
families headed by a person under 50. In Italy the average under-35 became poorer than
average pensioners under 80. Using the most recent US data, in the midst of the downturn
in 2013, average under-30s had less income than those aged 65-79. This is the first time
that has happened as far back as the data goes.
In Australia, millennials are being inched out of the housing market. In the UK, new figures
will show the notion of a property-owning democracy has already been terminated. In the
US, debt is the millennial millstone – young people are sitting on $1.3tn of student debt.
Across Europe, the issue centres more around jobs – and the lack of them. The numbers
of thirtysomethings still living with their parents is stubbornly high in countries such as
Italy and Spain, with grave implications for birthrates and family formation in places
whose demographics are already badly skewed towards elderly people. “We’ve never had,
since the dawn of capitalism really, this situation of a population that is ageing so much
and in some countries also shrinking, and we just don’t know whether we can continue
growing the economy in the same way we once have,” said Prof Diane Coyle, an economist
and former UK Treasury adviser.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 9
The unforeseen dangers of Uber and Airbnb
Over the past few years, companies like Airbnb and Uber have made a great deal of money
by pioneering a business model of connecting consumers, who want to use things — such
as apartments and cars with drivers — with other people, who want to provide them. For
public relations reasons they promote this model as the ‘sharing economy’. And who could
be against ‘sharing’?
But this isn’t the kind of sharing your mother taught you. The term entered the technology
vernacular when Napster introduced ‘file-sharing’ — which many lawyers called
‘copyright infringement’, and a US court essentially ruled illegal. Today’s sharing economy
involves physical goods, but it still revolves around technology companies that tend to
view at least some legal regulations as outmoded, annoying barriers to their business
plans.
While some bloggers still treat the sharing economy as some kind of cause, Slee rightly
analyses it as a business model masquerading as a movement. The case usually made for
the sharing economy is that it’s progressive: it comes from San Francisco and it involves
sharing! To be fair, companies like Airbnb offer an appealingly human-scale version of
commerce, where you can rate, and often meet, the person with whom you’re doing
business. But these companies also mediate those transactions, and they push for
deregulation. The truly (counter?) revolutionary thing about the sharing economy is how
it extends the free market into areas of our lives where it previously couldn’t go. Not so
long ago, one could simply borrow a flat from an acquaintance who was out of town and
perhaps leave a bottle of wine to say thanks. Now what was once a favour has become a
transaction: every unoccupied apartment has a value that the owner can extract every
time he’s away for the weekend.
And it is true that at least some sharing economy companies have unfair advantages. It’s
easy to make fun of the municipal regulations that apply to transport and hotels. Some of
them may indeed be outdated, and all of them are uncool. But it’s also worth remembering
that they were enacted for a reason. No one would want to post a fire-escape plan map
inside his apartment — and such plans don’t look all that appealing in hotel rooms either.
But they’re there because they serve a purpose — and they’re just as useful in an
apartment as they are in a hotel. The same goes for hotel taxes, which should apply to
anyone who lets out rooms as a business.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 10
Intelligent people are more easily distracted at work, study claims
Do you have trouble concentrating at work? It’s probably because of all those amazing
ideas you have running through your head
Finding yourself easily distracted at work may sound like a bad thing but there could be a
silver lining to your daily office woes.
Workers who have trouble concentrating on a daily basis may be intellectually superior
to their colleagues, according to a new study.
Intelligent people may find it difficult to focus the mind because of all the amazing ideas
constantly running through their genius brains, the research suggests.
The cleverest among us find it difficult to prioritise which idea to focus on first, with the
distractions potentially leading to “a feeling of inadequacy and inability to deal with the
workload as a whole”, according to psychiatrist Dr Ned Hallowell.
He added that the brightest brains can end up falling short of their own expectations and
also of what their boss expects.
“Employers are always on the lookout for the brightest people available, however the
difficulty to withstand multiple tasks and distractions in the office affects smart people in
the same way as everyone else, if not more,” explained Bostjan Ljubic, vice president of
Steelcase, who published the research.
“The ways in which we work are changing more rapidly than ever before and the brain is
being subjected to stresses and distractions which can lead to overload and statistics
show that distractions in the workplace are on the rise.”
The study of 10,000 workers from 17 different countries also found that the increased use
of technology in the workplace has made it more difficult for staff to stay focused, with
the average office worker distracted once every three minutes.
So how do you stay focused at work? Do your creative work first, suggests David Rock, author of Your Brain at Work. “Typically, we do mindless work first and build up to the toughest tasks. That drains your energy and lowers your focus. An hour into doing your work, you've got a lot less capacity than (at the beginning)," Rock says. "Every decision we make tires the brain." In order to focus effectively, reverse the order. Check off the tasks that require creativity or concentration first thing in the morning, and then move on to easier work, like deleting emails or scheduling meetings, later in the day.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 11
Having a messy desk makes you 'more creative'
Working at a messy desk may actually help you think more creatively, according to a new
scientific study. Scientists found that being surrounded by clutter can promote creative
thinking and stimulate new ideas. In contrast, working at a clean and prim desk may
promote healthy eating, generosity and conventionality.
The new study was conducted by psychological scientist Professor Kathleen Vohs and
fellow researchers at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. They mapped the
behaviour of people working on messy and clean desks with a series of experiments. For
example, participants in the study were given a choice between a new product and an
established one. Those in the messy room were more likely to prefer the novel one - a
signal that being in a disorderly environment prompts a release from conventionality.
Professor Vohs said: "Being in a messy room led to something that firms, industries, and
societies want more of - creativity.” Previous research has found that a clean setting leads
people to do good things, such as not engaging in crime, litter and showing more
generosity. "We found, however, that you can get really valuable outcomes from being in
a messy setting."
In the first of several experiments, participants were asked to fill out questionnaires in an
office. Some completed the task in a clean and orderly office, while others did so in an
unkempt one where papers were strewn about and office supplies were cluttered.
Afterwards, the participants had the opportunity to donate to charity and were allowed
to take a snack of chocolate or an apple on their way out.
Being in a clean room encouraged people to do what was expected of them as they
donated more of their own money to charity. They were also more likely to choose the
apple over the candy bar. However, messiness had its virtues as well. In an alternative
experiment, participants were asked to come up with new uses for ping-pong balls.
Overall, participants in the messy room generated the same number of ideas for new uses
as their clean-room counterparts. But their ideas were rated as more interesting and
creative when evaluated by impartial judges. Professor Vohs said: "Just making that
environment tidy or unkempt made a massive difference in people's behavior."
The researchers are continuing to investigate whether these effects might even transfer
to the Internet. Preliminary findings suggest that the tidiness of a webpage predicts the
same kind of behaviour.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 12
'Boys, as well as girls, perform better in single-sex schools'
Little is written about achievement in boys' schools, with perceptions skewed by Tom
Brown's School Days. Sarah Burns sets the record straight.
There is a stubborn achievement gap in England at GCSE between the performance of boys
and girls. Typically, girls perform about 9 per cent better than boys in standard measures.
And the 2015 GCSE results show that boys in single-sex schools outperform boys in mixed
schools in a variety of performance measures. This is not only true when all boys' schools
are included in the data but also when selective schools are excluded from the data set. In
the top measure of 5 A*-C including English and maths, boys in non-selective single-sex
schools achieved 10 per cent better than boys in non-selective mixed-sex schools.
Furthermore, this pattern is not restricted to the top level only. When levels of progress
in English are examined from KS2 to KS4, levels are 8 per cent higher for boys in single-
sex schools; ironically the figure for girls in non-selective single-sex schools is only 5 per
cent.
In maths, for the expected progress measure, boys in single-sex schools achieve 7 per cent
higher and girls an impressive 9 per cent. The same pattern of non-selective single-sex
schools outperforming mixed-sex schools is present in other performance measures
including the percentage of students achieving A*-C in English and maths and the point
average.
So why is this information about boys’ achievement in single-sex schools such a well-kept
secret? Little is written about the achievement of boys in boys' schools compared to the
achievement of girls in their respective single-sex schools, but it should be celebrated.
Perception of comprehensive boys' schools is often skewed; influenced by a generation of
fathers who loathed their single-sex experience, where regimes were often harsh and
uncompromisingly macho. But today's boys' schools are a far cry from the 'Tom Brown's
School Days” era. I concede that there is little real evidence to back up claims about elusive
factors such as happiness, self esteem or sociability; however, when there is reliable data
to hand it should be used to inform the debate and, to that end, the record can be put
straight. Boys – as well as girls – perform better academically in single-sex schools.
Note: A*-C : A-star is the highest mark
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 13
Technology in the classroom promotes pupil interaction
Lessons at one primary school have been made much more engaging since PC World
Business helped it upgrade its IT equipment.
It’s been a long time since attending school consisted of hauling in a large pile of books
and sitting still looking at the teacher all day. Students these days are online, connected
and digitally savvy. But are we making the most of this? One Hertfordshire school
certainly is.
Miss Baker devised an interactive activity about the Egyptians and, she says, things like
this have made a huge difference to learning. Because more than one person can interact
with the Smart table, Mrs Short says her own teaching style has changed: “Before, lessons
were purely teacher-led. It’s opening doors we didn’t even know existed and having an
amazing impact.”
The students were also each given their own Windows 8-enabled tablet; one child was so
excited about this that he even burst into tears. The digital natives needed just one session
to experiment and they were off. Miss Baker laughs: “They even teach me how to use the
kit sometimes.”
It might seem as though increased technology decreases concentration but, says Miss
Baker, “Pupils are so much more engaged when they’re using the tablets, even if they’re
just checking their answers on them.”
The tech has also allowed the children to be more independent in their learning, but there
are security measures in place to ensure Miss Baker has control over content and activity.
Miss Baker has Acer Class Management software installed on her tablet. This allows her
to see what all the students are doing on their tablets, and also enables her to share
slideshows and websites. Handily, she can even lock their screens.
At the same time, the entire school network has been upgraded. Pupils and teachers can
now access a Wi-Fi connection in the outdoor learning area and there are plans afoot to
allow them to use their tech in the nearby woodland and garden areas.
The school is carefully monitoring the impact of the new technology, and has been making
careful comparisons on the students’ progress. The teachers hope, too, that the tech will
have a positive impact on attendance as students become increasingly engaged in lessons.
“Following the installation, we surveyed pupils to gauge their perceptions on technology,”
says Miss Baker, “Pupils who have been able to take advantage of the tools provided by
PC World Business said that they felt technology was really important and that they will
use it when they grow up. Perhaps most importantly, all the students in the class agreed
that the technology has helped them learn.”
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 14
White British pupils the least likely UK ethnic group to go to university, new
research reveals
White British pupils are the least likely ethnic group in the UK to go to university, new
research reveals. Young people from other ethnic groups who tend to perform badly in
school tests and exams – including black Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils –
are more likely to go on to higher education, the study shows. The figures, compiled by
the Institute for Fiscal Studies, show that just under one in three (32.6 per cent) of white
British pupils go on to university. The next lowest participation rate is 37.4 per cent, for
black Caribbean pupils.
Dr Claire Crawford, assistant professor of economics at the University of Warwick and one
of the authors of the report, said: “The differences in higher education participation
between pupils from different ethnic groups are staggering. We were particularly
surprised to find that ethnic minority groups which have relatively lower school
attainment are, on average, more likely to continue into higher education than white
British pupils. “This highlights that prior attainment is not one of the key drivers of the
differences in university participation between these groups.”
The highest participation rate is achieved by Chinese students – 75.7 per cent of whom go
on to university. Second are Indians with 67.4 per cent. The report calls for more research
to determine why white British pupils lag so far behind in university participation. One
theory is that ethnic minority parents are more aspirational than their white British peers
– seeing education as a route out of poverty and disadvantage. By contrast, it is argued,
white working-class parents’ poor experiences of education have left them jaundiced over
the prospect that education could provide their children with a brighter future.
Professor Alan Smithers, director of Centre for Employment and Education Research at
Buckingham University, said: “Ethnic minorities value education more than the white
British do.” He said that the UK had offered many ethnic minority families the first chance
of a top-class education – whereas white British families have had the opportunity for
years. In addition, he argues, universities were under pressure from ministers to increase
the participation of ethnic minority pupils. A Green Paper published last week called for
a 20 per cent increase in ethnic minority participation by 2020. Even among the most
affluent group of students, just 54.8 per cent of white British pupils go to university.
CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016
TEXT 15
UK students use £45 smartwatches from Amazon and eBay to cheat exams, say
teachers
UK schoolteachers are complaining that certain smartwatches advertised on Amazon
come with functions specifically targeted at helping students to cheat at exams. Deputy
head teachers in several secondary schools say that the hidden market for these
smartwatches is booming.
The modern-day cheat devices offer a great temptation to stressed-out students studying
for important examinations, such as the GCSEs, A Levels or International Baccalaureate,
according to BBC News. The teachers want more academic institutions to be aware of the
problem and seek to ban smartwatches from exams and tests, and they also want exam
boards to challenge companies that sell these devices, particularly since the smartwatches
can now be obtained on Amazon, where they are described as giving students the ability
to store and quickly view large sections of text and pictures.
In an exam, the student can surreptitiously look at the screen of the watch on their wrists,
and if an examiner walks past, pressing an "emergency button" on the side of the watch
will remove the incriminating text and replace it with a digital clock face. We found at least
five different off-brand smartwatch models designed specifically to help students cheat
still available on Amazon UK and Amazon US, as well as one model on eBay, with the
description of the watch's abilities listed in the title as clear as day, such as: "Premium®
2015 Student Digital Watch Cheat Test Text Covert Reader Mobile Multi Function Music
Player Write Exam Notes Copy Tests Exams Hidden TXT Reader Portable Video Audio
Photos Radio USB Player Spy Clock USB PC Mac Connection 4GB Memory."
According to the description, the smartwatch supports a variety of file formats, including
Notepad .txt files, JPG and GIF image files, as well as AVI, WMV and WAV video and audio
files. The watch can also be programmed in 27 different languages, including most
European languages, both Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew and
Arabic. "This watch is specifically designed for cheating on exams with a special
programmed software. It is perfect for covertly viewing exam notes directly on your wrist,
by storing text and pictures in the 4GB memory storage," the seller writes on the listing.
But perhaps schools around the world are catching up on the latest in technology – mobile
phones of any sort, from 1G up to smartphones have been banned from examination halls
around the world for at least 15 years, and now many institutions are also banning
smartwatches and other digital wrist-worn devices, like fitness bands, unless they are
traditional analogue watches.
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