1.      Compétences linguistiques

• Complétez le texte suivant en mettant les verbes entre parenthèses au prétérit simple ou au prétérit en be + - ing : (5 points). Écrivez seulement les réponses sur votre copie mais dans l’ordre.

They (arrive) from China to San Francisco Bay in 1933. In those days all Chinese prospective immigrants had to go to an immigration centre on the West Coast. She (be) seven at the time. During the trip, which (last) several weeks, she (feel) full of hopes.

However, on arrival her feelings (change). They had to wait for days before the immigration examination (take) place. She waited with other women in barracks. All around her women (cry) and complaining. Already they (miss) their homeland. They didn’t know if they would be deported or not. It was humiliating. At last the fateful day (come) and they were accepted. As she left the barracks at last, she saw her father who (wait) for them on the peer.

• Traduisez les phrases suivantes en français. (3 points)

1. What were you doing there ? Were you looking for someone ?

2. When we came in we saw an old woman, she was sitting on her bed and looked forlorn.

3. He was wearing his traditional costume and he was waiting patiently.

• Traduisez les phrases suivantes en anglais. (3 points)

1. Quand ils virent les côtes américaines, ils se mirent à crier de joie.

2. Ce fut en 1887 que mes ancêtres débarquèrent sur la Côte Est.

3. Après une semaine, ils attendaient encore la décision des inspecteurs et leur inquiétude grandissait.

• Traduisez en anglais en utilisant la forme passive. (4 points)

1. Les passagers de première classe étaient examinés sur le bateau .

2. On leur posait toutes sortes de questions pour savoir s’ils étaient capables de travailler.

3. On disait que Los Angeles était une ville espagnole.

4. Philadelphia a été construite par les premiers immigrants puritains qui cherchaient refuge contre les persécutions religieuses.

2.      2. Compréhension de texte

• Read the following text.

Detained on Angel Island

This is the record of Li KengWong, a Chinese immigrant who arrived in the USA in 1933 at the age of seven. From 1910 to 1940, Chinese immigrants had to pass through the Immigration Station on Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay, and not through Ellis Island.

Angel Island was known as “the Ellis Island of the West”.

We arrived in high hopes but we worried about not being able to answer the many questions that the authorities were to ask us. We were scared of getting deported.

A number of Chinese people were deported back to China. For us, returning to China would be shameful. There were rumors that a few people committed suicide rather than to be sent back to China in shame.

Women and men were segregated in Angel Island, and while we were there, we were locked up in the women’s barracks.

The barracks had barred doors and windows. Guards wearing green uniforms stood outside and constantly watched us.

Our barrack had a handful of women who came before us and were still waiting to learn their fate – would they make it into the United States or return home in shame ?

Each day, we sat and waited to be called for our immigration interview. The waiting was nerve-wracking. There wasn’t anything to keep us occupied. We had no books to read and no toys to play with. We didn’t study the coaching papers while being detained because we had memorized the questions and answers back in our village.

Each day, we were escorted to the dining area, where we ate Chinese food. We ate rice, meat, and vegetables. We also ate bread and fruit. The food was good and was supplemented by the government.

But we were not treated kindly. The officials seldom smiled or acknowledged us. I hated the detention and I was worried that we could be deported, but I didn’t have to worry for long.

After a week, we had our immigration interview. We were interrogated separately. Mother was questioned for one day, my older sister Li Hong was questioned for two hours. My father had to make the trip from Oakland, taking the ferry to Angel Island, where he was questioned for two days. We didn’t even know he was there until later because we had no

way to communicate with him !

Finally, we were released, and we were so relieved! My father was waiting for us when we got off the ferry in San Francisco, and we travelled to Oakland where we would start our new lives in Gold Mountain – our name for America.

I was so upset by my experience that for 50 years I refused to talk about Angel Island. It was not until 1985 that I was able to talk and write about it.

Extract from Angel Island, Li Keng Wong’s story, scholastic.com

• Answer the following questions, in English. (30 points)

1. General comprehension

a) What is the nature of this text ? (1 point)

b) Where and when are the events taking place ? (2 points)

c) Give the names and relationships of the people mentioned in this passage, including in the subtitle. (2 points)

d) Put the following phrases in the chronological order of the text : (7 points)

1. Hopes and worries

2. Freed at last

3. Unkindness

4. Nothing to do

5. The interrogation

6. Rumours

7. Well-guarded

2. From line 1 to line 4

e. What are the two contrasting feelings of the characters on arrival ? (2 points)

f. What indication of the Chinese personality do we have in the second paragraph? Justify from the text. (3 points)

3. From line 5 to line 15

g. Find four elements in the third paragraph which indicate that people lived like prisoners.

Quote if necessary. (4 points)

h. In paragraphs 4, 5, 6, find details which indicate that the events are seen through the eyes of a child. Quote if necessary. (3 points)

4. From line 16 to the end

i. How long was each family member questioned and why ? (3 points)

j. What is the Chinese name for America ? Explain it. (3 points)

3.      3.Expression écrite

Daren, a young man from London, has found a job in San Francisco. A few days after his arrival he writes a letter to his fiancée

back home in London. He tells of his surprise, his satisfaction, his regrets, his hopes. Write his letter.