The Faces of Poverty (From Emile KAHOUN, Yadéga High School)
I have seen poverty all over the world- villages, suburbs and cities, at home and abroad. I’ve seen babies with swollen babies, mothers who can’t obtain care for a sick child, girls who are denied the right to be sent to school and families who are forced to live on top of disease-laden sewage canals because they don’t have the political clout to bring about change on their own behalf. Poverty can mean that a child with promise as a pianist will never feel the keys under her hands and that a father who struggles to earn a living will never make enough to send a child who needs a help to high school or college. It can mean that a community fighting to survive will not be able to organise itself to confront its social and economic problems.
We can only overcome the scourge of poverty if, as a global family of nations, we agree to invest in the world greatest resource: our people. Giving all men, women and children, the tools of opportunity-education, health care, employment, legal rights and political freedom-does not just serve humanitarian purposes. It’s the key to economic, social and political progress. When individuals flourish, families flourish. Ana when families flourish, communities and nations flourish as well.
By Hilary Rhodam CLINTON, Choices, the Humanitarian Development Magazine, October 1996
Vocabulary
Abroad : à l’étranger
Swollen bellies : gros ventre, ventre distendu
Disease-laden-sewage canals : caniveaux infestés de maladies
Political clout : influence ou poids politique
To flourish : s’épanouir
I- COMPREHENSION
Choose the letter that is in front of the correct answer
1) Poverty exists…
a) in villages only
b) in suburbs, but not in cities
c) everywhere
d) in large families
2) The speaker has seen…
a) malnutrition, sickness, unschooled girls, unhygienic environment
b) babies that are neglected by their mothers
c) hospitals rejecting sick people who are poor
d) politicians who desire to change living conditions
3) For Hilary Clinton, a poor person …
a) does not eat a lot of food
b) does not have control over his or her future
c) does not know how to pay a piano
d) is always sick
4) « ….on their own behalf », (line 5) means :
a) be in half
b) on their property
c) in their interests
d) on their won houses
5) A father who struggles to earn a livid
a) deserves a child
b) will not survive
c) cannot have a child in school
d) organises his family
6) We can only win the fight against poverty if we…
a) Force people to work in farms
b) invest more money in developing countries
c) lay emphasis on our people
d) reduce the population
7) All men, women and children should be
a) given equal chances
b) involved in politics
c) given three meals a day
d) invited at the restaurant
8) Poverty should be fought against
a) in the educational system
b) first, at the level of individuals
c) by taking all sick people to clinics
d) with guns and bombs
II- GUIDED ESSAY (10 points)
1) Give two consequences of poverty
2) What does the text suggest to overcome poverty
3) Do you believe that poverty can be overcome in Burkina Faso? Justify
(8-10 lines) 6 points
III- GRAMMAR
A- Choose the correct answer to fill in the gaps (1pt)
1) Pupils……don’t attend classes cannot succeed
a)-which
b) whose
c) who
d) whom
2) A child…… father fights to earn a living cannot go to school
a) that
b) which
c) whom
d) whose
B) Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense
3) If the children are given food, poverty (be) eradicated in the country.
4) His father (buy) a new car last year
C) Put the following sentences into the passive voice
5) Can w eradicate poverty ?
6) She offered him a beautiful flower
D) Put the following sentences into the the future
7) You must learn your lessons
8) Joe may bring a bag with him
IV TRANSLATION
1) Jack est le plus pauvre du village.
2) Combien de temps restez-vous ici?
3) Que ces jeunes gens sont forts !
4) Elle ne mange ni les mangues, ni les oranges.