Key to Comprehension 1

A-1 : a website

B-1 : On January 1st 1997.

B-2 : (He went) to an elite private boarding-school.

B-3: (He was) 24 years old.

C-1: True. “Kofi  Annan and his twin sister Efua were born in a family of gold merchants…”

C-2: True. “Early on, he famously wrote that he would be running this organization one day.

C-3: False. “The first black UN Secretary-General was working under Boutros Boutros Ghali from Egypt when he got the big post…”

D-1: … economics and management.

D-2:  … who were in difficult circumstances.

D-3: … HIV/AIDS prevention and the education of women.

E-1: Kofi Annan.

E-2: Anna’s wife.

F-1: governor

F-2: in the wake.

F-3: concern.

COMPREHENSION 1

هذا أول نص نورده في هذا البلوڭ. لذا سأذكر ببعض المسائل الأساسية:
ـ تكون قراءة النص بتأني و بعد تحديد هدف للقراءة أي سؤال نحاول الإجابة عليه.
ـ يجب الإجابة على الأسئلة كما هي مطروحة و ليس فقط نقل جمل من النص.
ـ هناك نوعان من الأسئلة: أسئلة حول الفكرة العامة (تمرين واحد) و أسئلة حول التفاصيل(4 أو 5 تمارين)
ـ يطلب في أسئلة الفكرة العامة اختيار عنوان للنص  title أو تحديد غاية الكاتب purpose of the writer أو تحديد مصدر محتمل للنصthis text is probably taken from ... . يستحسن ترك هذه التمرين إلى أن ننتهي من التمارين الخاصة بالتفاصيل

ـ تمرين صحيح/خطأ و علل true/false and justify 

*ينبغي قراءة الجملة بتركيز و الإلمام بالفكرة المعبر عنها ليسهل إيجاد التعليل.

* عند كتابة التعليل يجب فتح مزدوجتين "  ".

* سطر تحت الكلمات المهمة. إذا ا كان هناك ضمير اكتب بين مزدوجتين (   )  على ماذا يعود الضمير. 

تمرين أجب عن الأسئلة التالية answer these questions from the text 

*اجعل جوابك ملما و مختصرا

* انتبه إلى الكلمة التي يبدأ بها السؤال 

إذا كان السؤال يبدأ ب…	يبدأ الجواب ب...
Why	Because السبب  so as to الغاية
How	By أو  Adverb
What …do	فعل  Verb
Where	مكانPlace
What	شيء  thing
How many	عدد number أو كلمة تفيد العدد a lot, a few, several …
when	ظرف زمن أو زمن حدوث شيء ما

سنواصل التطرق لباقي تمارين الفهم قريبا.
إليكم هذا النص للتدريب (الشكر للأساتذة الذين أعدوا هذا النص من نيابة الخميسات)

          Kofi Annan of Ghana, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, is the first to be elected from the ranks of the U.N staff. His first five-year term began on  January 1st, 1997 and, five years later, he was re-appointed for a second term by the U.N member states. He gave high priority to revitalizing the UN through a comprehensive programme of reform; strengthening the organization’s traditional work in the areas of development and maintenance of international  peace and security; advocating human rights and restoring public confidence in the organization.

           Kofi  Annan and his twin sister Efua were born in a family of gold merchants in Ghana in 1938. His uncle and both his grandfathers had been tribal chiefs.  Upon his retirement, Annan’s father, who worked as an export manager for the cocoa exporter Lever Brothers, was elected governor of Ghana’s Asante province. As a boy, Kofi Annan was sent to an elite private boarding school, and as a young man he studied economics and management at university. He is married to a Swedish artist and lawyer. He has got one son and two daughters.

          A lifelong U.N bureaucrat, Annan started working for the UN while studying in Geneva in 1962. Early on, he famously wrote that he would be running this organization one day. For the next few decades, Annan took on a variety of UN assignments involving budget and finance. In the wake of the Iraq-Kuwait-USA war, he was sent to find suitable solutions and negotiate the release and equity of hostages, the quick exit of half a million stranded Asian workers in difficult circumstances, and the priority of selling humanitarian supplies to Iraq.

            Annan’s wife, a Swedish artist and lawyer, is interested in two issues of particular concern to her: HIV/AIDS prevention and the education of women. The first black UN Secretary-General was working under Boutros Boutros Ghali from Egypt when he got the big post in 1997. Kofi Annan is also fluent in English, French and several African languages.
                                                                                           www.nobelprize.com

I.              COMPREHENSION: (15 points)

(BASE YOUR ANSWERS ON THE TEXT.)

A.   Choose the right answer from the list given : (1 point.)

Tick the right answer (√)

1.    The text is taken from :

     a-a magazine

     b-a web site

     c-a newspaper

B.   Answer these questions (3 points.)

1- When was Kofi Annan first elected Secretary General of the UN ?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2- What sort of school did Kofi  Annan go to ?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3- How old was Kofi Annan when he first worked for the UN ?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

C.   Are these sentences true or false? Justify. (3 pts)

1- Kofi  Annan comes from a rich family.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

                                                                                                                                                     1/3

2- Kofi Annan once knew that he would become UN Secretary General.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3- Boutros Boutros Ghali was elected UN Secretary General after Kofi Annan.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

D.   Complete these sentences :(3points)

1-    As a young student, Kofi Annan studied ……………………………………………………………………………

2-    During the Gulf War, one of Kofi Annan’s missions was to help the  Asian workers who …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3-    Kofi Anna’s wife is particularly interested in both ……..…………..…………………………and …………………………………………………………………………………………..……..

E.    What do the underlined words in the text refer to? (2 points.)

1- His: ………………………………..        2- Her: …………………………………………

F.    Find in the text words or expressions that mean the same as:(3 points.)

1.        a government official (parag 2): ………………………………………….

2.       in the beginning of (parag 3): …………………………………………………………

3.       special interest (parag 4): ……………………………………………………………….

WRITING 4 (values)

إليكم موضوعا إنشائيا حول القيم VALUES في شكل رسالة إلى صديق و تمرين حول أدوات الربط LINKING WORDS .

Dear Alex,

It was a great pleasure for me to receive your last letter. I hope that you and your family are both fine. You asked me in your last letter to talk to you about the importance of values in my life. Well, values are referred to as being the moral principles and beliefs which/whom a person or community has and which vary across cultures. These values are fundamental as/so that they regulate our lives and determine how we deal with others. As far as I am concerned, honesty and tolerance are the main values I believe in.

Honesty means the quality of being truthful and sincere. That is to say/Such as avoiding lying and cheating under all circumstances. Honesty is one of the pillars of a strong relationship between people. If all people were honest, life would really be different. everyone would get exactly what they deserve and injustice would fade away. Besides/however, honesty brings about the feeling of security and confidence in the social institutions. For instance/Especially, if you have to go before a court to claim a right, you are sure to get it if you really deserve it. Because/Therefore, we should teach our children to be honest not only by words but/and by acts too.

 An equally important value for me is tolerance. It refers to having a positive attitude towards the opinions, beliefs, race which/whom others may have. Tolerance would eradicate many plagues off the world such as/also racism, hatred, violence and so on. Besides/But our religion urges us to be tolerant with all people. It is a way to forgive other people’s flaws so that/in order to others can forgive ours.

 Of course there are other important values in life an each of us should have a few to believe in. will you tell me about yours in your next letter?

Looking forward.

WRITING 3 (brain drain)

إليكم موضوع إنشائي يتناول مشكل هجرة الأدمغة.BRAIN DRAIN  إنه على شكل رسالة إل مجلة.
المطلوب أولا ملأ الفراغات بالكلمات المناسبة. ثانيا يجب الانتباه للجملة الأولى من كل فقرة TOPIC SENTENCE و الجملة الأخيرة من المقدمة THESIS STATEMENT.

Dear Editor,

With reference to your interesting article about brain drain on the issue of the 23rd of April, I would like to share a few ideas about this harmful phenomenon with your readers. Brain drain ____1____to the emigration of highly skilled workers towards other countries. This flight usually occurs from Third World countries to rich countries in the West or the Middle-East.  This plague is caused by various factors and it brings about ____2____ side-effects to the native country.

    Brain drain is usually the result of poor social and political situations in the motherland. Talented workers fly away____3____ to escape the lack of employment opportunities in their countries as well as the low salaries and the high taxes which they have to pay. ____4____ , they try to flee from the injustice they suffer from as a result of inequality of chances for high-ranking jobs. In addition their motherlands are often the scenes of political conflicts which threaten their lives.  ____5____ but not least, these top professionals are tempted by the luxurious western way of life.

  Despite a few advantages, brain drain often blights the economy of developing countries. It is taken for granted that the currencies which emigrants send to their families back home contribute to the economy and that brain drain facilitates the spread of knowledge. ____6_____, the poor countries are deserted by their top professionals on whose high education the country has invested but not benefited from. To make matters worse, these countries are often obliged to replace these talented emigrants with foreign workers. As a ____7____ , the loss is double.

 To sum up, the native countries have to take measures to stop this drift abroad. For ____8____ they should eradicate corruption and nepotism so as to establish equal opportunities. They  ____9____ should give talented workers better salaries to improve their social status. But most of all, the sense of belonging should be nurtured.

Yours faithfully,

damaging - so as - Besides - also - Last - refers  - However - instance - consequence.

Key to Reported Speech 1 exercise

1. She said  that she had got up late and (had) missed the bus.

2. My brother told me that he wouldn't be there because he was having a party.

3. The customs officer asked me toopen my suitcase.

4. We told them that we had just come back from holiday.

5. The teacher told the students not to cheat.

6. The receptionist asked me if I wanted a single room.

7. My friend asked me where I had been.

8. My neighbour asked me to help him lift that box.

9. She asked me if I smoked.

10. The police officer told us not to leave the luggage there.

11. The flight hostess told the passengers to fasten their seat belts.

12. They asked me not to smoke.

13. The teacher asked him to close the door.

14. The guide said that the castle had been built two centuries before.

15. She said that it was the most beautiful place they had ever seen.

16.- Joanna said out that her cousins had often visited Paris.

17. He said that the boys had been saving up for a guitar.

18. I told my brotherthat I would buy that laptop if I saved enough money.

19. The librarian told the readers not to make noise.

20. The father told his son not to forget to phone them the day after.

Reported Speech 1

REPORTED SPEECH 1

يطلب عادة تحويل جمل من Direct Speech إلى Reported Speech . و لهذا نجري بعض التغييرات على الأفعال و ظروف الزمان و المكان و كذلك الضمائرحسب الجول التالي:

 

Direct Speech	Reported Speech	Direct speech	Reported speech
Present simple	Past simple	Now	Then
Present continuous	Past continuous	Today	That day
Present perfect	Past perfect	Last night	The night before/the previous night
Past simple	Past perfect	Yesterday	The day before/the previous day
Past continuous	Past perfect continuous	Tomorrow	The day after /the following day
Will	Would	Ago	Before
Here	There
Can	Could	This	that
May	Might	these	Those
Shall	Should
Must	Had to

1) تحويل الجمل التصرتحية   Statements نستعمل غالباSay  أوtell  في الماضي متبوعا ب that

Examples:

- "I am busy today."           Karim said that he was busy that day.

- "My parents gave me a present last week."            Karima told me that her parents had given her a present the week before.

-"We must say here now."        he said that they had to stay there then.

2) تحويل الطلب أو الأمرRequests or Commands نستعمل غالبا tell  أو ask  في الماضي متبوعا ب to + infinitive

Examples:

-"Stop shouting now!"     The teacher told us to stop shouting then.

-"Can you repeat this sentence please?   I asked the teacher to repeat that sentence.

-"Don't watch TV until you finish!"      I told them not to watch TV until they finished.

3) تحويل الأسئلة:  Questions

* أسئلة نعم لا: yes/no questions نستعمل ask في الماضي متبوعا ب if مع تجنب عكس الفاعل inversion of subject

Examples:

-"Do you need my help?"      I asked my friend if he needed my help.

-"Did you find out the truth?"      I asked her if she had found out the truth.

* اسئلة WH questions نستعمل غالبا ask  متبوعا بكلمة WH المستعملة

Examples:

-"How do you go to school?"        He asked me how I went to school.

-"Where were you yesterday?"      I asked Hassan where he had been the day before.

EXERCISES

Rewrite the sentences.

1.- “She got up late and she missed the bus”

She said  __________________________________________________ .

2.- “I won’t be here because I’m having a party”

My brother told me  ___________________________________.

3.- “Open your suitcase now, please”

The customs officer asked me __________________________.

4.- “We have just come back from holiday”

We told them _______________________________________ .

5.- “Don’t cheat!”

The teacher told the students ___________________________.

6.- “Do you want a single room?”

The receptionist asked me ____________________________________.

7.- “Where have you been?”

My friend asked me _________________________________________.

8.- “Please, help me lift this box.”

My neighbour asked me ______________________________________.

9.- “Do you smoke?”

She asked me ______________________________________________.

10.- “Don’t leave the luggage here”

The police officer told us ______________________________________.

11.- “Fasten your seat belts, please”

The flight hostess told the passengers _________________.

12.- “Would you mind not smoking?”

They asked me ______________________________________.

13.- “Could you close the door, please?”

The teacher asked him _______________________________    

14.- “The castle was built two centuries ago.”

The guide said _____________________________________.

15.- “It’s the most beautiful place we have ever seen”

She said ____________________________________________________.

16.- “My cousins have often visited Paris”

Joanna said out that ________________________________________.

17.- “The boys were saving up for a guitar”

He said _____________________________________________________.

18.- “I will buy this laptop, if I save enough money.”

I told my brother ________________________________________.

19.- “Don’t make  noise”

The librarian told the readers _________________________.

20.- “Don’t forget to phone us tomorrow.”

The father told his son ______________________________. 

(See you soon for the key. Good luck. J-26)