Text 1: Why I hate living in the countryside, www.telegraph.co.uk, 2012
I recall clearly how the nightmare started. Martin, my husband, sat me in the car, and announced: “I have a surprise.” He then proceeded to drive three hours from our flat in Notting Hill to Herefordshire. Rolling hills, sheep, picturesque farmhouses: Herefordshire’s Golden Valley is a bucolic vision. Martin stopped the car at the top of a drive: “This,” he announced, “ is Great Brampton House.” At the end of the drive stood a large Regency residence. The sun gilded its charming, if slightly run-down façade; “It’s beautiful!” I trilled, enchanted; “I was hoping you’d say that,” Martin had a twinkle in his eye: “I’ve just bought it.”

Text 2: David Vann, Caribou Island, 2011
Gary and Irene are on an isolated island in Alaska where a cabin is being built.
It’s really small, Irene said.
Yeah, he said. Nothing wasteful. Just a cabin. Only what we need.
I think we need more. If you want me to live out here, actually live out here, we need space for a bed, a kitchen, a bathroom, and maybe just a little bit of space to walk around.
Somewhere to sit.

Expression: Choose ONE of the following subjects. (150 words minimum)
1) You are going to spend the summer with two of your best friends. You have to decide where you are going to stay. Choose one of the following possibilities and try and convince your friends. Write the conversation.
2) Which three objects would you like to have with you on a desert island? Explain your choice.

Text 1: Virginia Ironside, No! I Don’t Need Reading Glasses!, 2014
Oh dear, there’s a bit of me that misses the family so much […].
‘It’s different, here, Granny,’ said Gene firmly, when we next talked on Skype. I had managed to smother my face with make-up and sit rather far away so I knew he wouldn’t be able to see me properly. He paused. ‘They call poo “shit” here, Granny. That’s a very rude word, isn’t it, Granny?’

Text 2: Grandparents take on key childcare role during summer holidays, The Guardian, 2012
More than half of grandparents surveyed plan to look after their grandchildren during school holidays.
A third of grandparents are looking after their grandchildren more than three times a week during the summer holidays, a survey for Saga Motor Insurance suggests.

Expression: Vous traiterez UN SEUL sujet, au choix.
1. Gene and his father have a stereotyped view of the American way of life. Are stereotypes always true? Discuss and give examples (200 words).
2. Imagine Granny goes to America to visit her family. Write down a dialogue between her and Gene (200 words).

Text 1: Blogs are a great way to keep in touch on a gap year, www.yearoutgroup.com (2012)
Parents, teachers, family and friends will all be interested in things a gapper is getting up to on their gap year and a blog is a great way to keep them up to speed.

Text 2: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending, 2011
Some of my contemporaries did VSO, departing to Africa, where they taught schoolkids and built mud walls; I wasn’t so high-minded. Also, back then you somehow assumed that a decent degree would ensure a decent job, sooner or later.

Expression: Imagine you are ONE of the following young people. Complete the summary of your experience abroad published on the website YearOutGroup.com. (150 words minimum).
1. K. Anderson, Teaching and Photography in India: « I volunteered in India, working with villagers and children. I really enjoyed… » [Read more…].
2. M. Thornley, Wildlife Conservation Research in South Africa: At the wildlife conservation center I experienced amazing encounters with Africa’s famous animals. It was … » [Read more…] 3. R. Castle, Become a Ski Instructor as Part of a Gap Year: « I spent a winter season in western Canada training to become a ski instructor. The experience was… » [Read more…] 4. N. Black, Art History in New York City: « I loved spending days studying paintings and sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In New York City, everything is … » [Read more…]

Text 1: Sue Townsend, The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year, 2012
She had been a very clever girl whose essays were always read aloud in class, and she was told by her teachers that with hard study and a grant she might even get to university. But she had been needed to go to work and bring in a wage. And how could Ruby afford to buy a grammar school uniform from a specialist shop on a widow’s pension?

Text 2: www.booktrust.org.uk
I began writing Throne of Glass when I was 16 —and it became a project that I worked on through high school and college, and several years after that. I decided by the end of high school that I wanted to be a professional writer—that I wanted to publish Throne of Glass. Little did I know just how long it’d take me to reach that goal.

Expression: Choose one of the following subjects. (150 words minimum)
A. You are W. Neil a pupil at Bradford Secondary School and you belong to the school’s book or film club. Imagine that you belong to a book or film club. Write an article for your school newspaper about one of your favourite books or films to encourage your friends to read or see it. Choose a book or film from an English-speaking country if possible.
B. lifechangingexperiences.com is a blog which suggests different ways to change your life: 1. Change your routine. 2. Change your looks. 3. Make new friends. 4. Find a new hobby.
Choose ONE suggestion and write a paragraph for the blog to explain how your suggestion can help change people’s lives.

Text 1: Ill Behaviour, The Independent, 2013,
Page after page, chapter after chapter, when Lucy started reading she simply couldn’t stop. She wouldn’t sleep, eat or speak to anyone until she had completed the story. Then, she’d begin another one. Lucy was addicted to ebooks. At her worst, the 23 year-old student would spend 30 hours at a time alone in her bedroom, reading online novels on her laptop. Her head would hurt, her eyes would ache and the hunger would be painful, but she was unable to tear herself away from the screen.

Text 2: Surgery Patients Embrace New-Age Wonder Drug: The iPad, Wired, 2013
The iPad already has won the hearts of doctors across the country, and now, they’ve started experimenting with the popular tablet computer as an anxiety reducer for children. (…) For most kids, the iPad is addictively fun. Parents fret about this at home, but in the hospital, that mind-sucking quality becomes an asset.

Expression: Vous traiterez les DEUX sujets.
1. Alex and his mum had a serious talk after he was excluded from college. Imagine and write the conversation. (about 80 words)
2. “It is possible to live without a mobile phone or computer”. Discuss and give examples. (120 words)

Text 1: City of the future (davidszondy.com)
This painting by Frank R. Paul of a city of the future is pretty typical of sci-fi predictions. The city is a massive pile of steel, plastic and glass put together in a way that not only has no past, but actively rejects it.

Text 2: Detroit’s Urban Renewal (Joe Gardener, growingagreenerworld.com, 2012)
Detroit’s bleak landscape is slowly changing due to the efforts of urban farmers and community gardeners determined to grow their city’s revival. Once America’s most productive manufacturing city, Detroit was home to a thriving automotive and music industry, with almost 2 million residents and a robust economy.

Expression: Choose one of the following subjects. (150 – 180 words)
A. A building in your neighbourhood is going to be transformed. The population is asked to send suggestions to the local authorities. Write out the project that you and other young people are going to send.
B. You live in 2050. Describe your environment and explain what you like and what you don’t like.