LICENCE 1 | ANGLAIS
TD02
Niveau : difficile
OBJECTIFS
> COMPREHENSION GLOBALE D’UN TEXTE LITTERAIRE EN ANGLAIS
> LEXIQUE : CATEGORIES GRAMMATICALES ET CHAMPS SEMANTIQUES
> SYNTAXE: TOURNURE PASSIVE; PRONOMS ET REFERENTS; PRESENT/PAST PERFECT SIMPLE ET PROGRESSIF
 1. Overall comprehension: read the passage and tick the right answer(s)
Brave New World
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (1932).
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INFANT NURSERIES. NEO-PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING ROOMS, announced the notice board.
The Director opened a door. They were in a large bare room, very bright and sunny; for the whole of the
southern wall was a single window. Half a dozen nurses, trousered and jacketed in the regulation white viscoselinen uniform, their hair aseptically hidden under white caps, were engaged in setting out bowls of roses in a
long row across the floor. Big bowls, packed tight with blossom. Thousands of petals, ripe-blown and silkily
smooth, like the cheeks of innumerable little cherubs, but of cherubs, in that bright light, not exclusively pink
and Aryan, but also luminously Chinese, also Mexican, also apoplectic with too much blowing of celestial
trumpets, also pale as death, pale with the posthumous whiteness of marble.
The nurses stiffened to attention as the D.H.C. 1 came in.
"Set out the books," he said curtly2.
In silence the nurses obeyed his command. Between the rose bowls the books were duly set out–a row of
nursery quartos opened invitingly each at some gaily coloured image of beast or fish or bird.
"Now bring in the children."
They hurried out of the room and returned in a minute or two, each pushing a kind of tall dumb-waiter3 laden,
on all its four wire-netted shelves, with eight-month-old babies, all exactly alike (a Bokanovsky Group, it was
evident) and all (since their caste was Delta) dressed in khaki.
"Put them down on the floor."
The infants were unloaded.
"Now turn them so that they can see the flowers and books."
Turned, the babies at once fell silent, then began to crawl towards those clusters of sleek4 colours, those
shapes so gay and brilliant on the white pages. As they approached, the sun came out of a momentary eclipse
behind a cloud. The roses flamed up as though with a sudden passion from within; a new and profound
significance seemed to suffuse the shining pages of the books. From the ranks of the crawling babies came little
squeals of excitement, gurgles and twitterings of pleasure.
The Director rubbed his hands. "Excellent!" he said. "It might almost have been done on purpose."
The swiftest crawlers were already at their goal. Small hands reached out uncertainly, touched, grasped,
unpetaling the transfigured roses, crumpling the illuminated pages of the books. The Director waited until all
were happily busy. Then, "Watch carefully," he said. And, lifting his hand, he gave the signal.
The Head Nurse, who was standing by a switchboard at the other end of the room, pressed down a little lever.
There was a violent explosion. Shriller and ever shriller, a siren shrieked. Alarm bells maddeningly sounded.
The children started, screamed; their faces were distorted with terror.
"And now," the Director shouted (for the noise was deafening), "now we proceed to rub in the lesson with a
mild electric shock."
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D.H.C. : Director of Hatchery and Conditioning Center (Directeur des couveuses et du conditionnement).
Curtly : d'un ton sec.
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Dumb-waiter : table roulante.
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Sleek : brillant.
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a. Read the passage and give the following information:
Nature of the text: ..............................................................................................
Place: .................................................................................................................
Time: ..................................................................................................................
Main characters: ................................................................................................
b. What kind of person is the D.H.C.? Tick the adjectives:
 Apoplectic
 Frightening
 Pleasant
 Intimidating
 Welcoming
 Friendly
 Warm
 Fearsome
 Hospitable
 Chilling
 Charming
 Scary
c. What does the experiment described in the passage ultimately consist in?
 Training the nurses.
 Killing the babies.
 Burning the flowers and books.
 Making the babies hate the flowers and books.
d. Why is the D.H.C. satisfied at the end of the passage?
 Because the experiment failed.
 Because the nurses have managed to keep the flowers and books intact.
 Because the babies are screaming with fear.
 Because the babies are playing with the flowers and books.
 2. Vocabulary
a. For each word in the grid, give its nature (verb, noun, adjective), its semantic field (sound,
motion or colour) and its meaning (use the context).
Verb
Noun
Adjective
Sound
Motion
Colour
French translation
Stiffened (l.9)
Set out (l.10)
Unloaded (l.18)
Flamed up (l.22)
Squeals (l.23)
Gurgles (l.24)
Twitterings (l.24)
Rubbed (l.25)
Swiftest (l.26)
Reached out (l.26)
Grasped (l.26)
Crumpling (l.27)
Shriller (l.30)
Shrieked (l.30)
Started (l.31)
Deafening (l.32)
b. Several translations are given in Le Robert & Collins for each of the following words; choose
the right one, according to the context.
1. Row (l.5) :
rang
 rangée
2. Alike (l.15): semblable pareil
3. Cluster (l.20): grappe  bouquet
4. Shape (l.20): forme
 figure
5. Mild (l.33): doux
 léger
file
égal
amas
moule
modéré
ligne
rayon
de la même façon
groupe
rassemblement
silhouette
faible
bénin
tempéré
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c. Find the English translations of the following words in the text.
Panneau d'affichage
Comme de la soie
De l'intérieur
Envahir, baigner
Faire pénétrer
Chargé
Dûment
Grillagé
Manette
Tableau électrique
 3. Grammar in context
a. Convert into the active or passive voice.
- The Director opened a door (l.2); [...] the books were duly set out (l.11)
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- The infants were unloaded (l.18); The Head Nurse [...] pressed down a little lever (l.29)
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b. What do the following pronouns refer to?
They (l.2)
He (l.10)
They (l.14)
Them (l.17)
All (l.27)
We (l.32)
 4. Rewrite the following sentences with SINCE
Ex: Paul started reading in 1992. > Paul has read since 1992
N.B. Use the progressive form when you have a time and not a date > Paul has been reading a book since 12:35.
a. Paul and Mary started to ski in 1989.
b. My brothers started to ride motorcycles in 1975.
c. The child started to skate in 1987.
d. I started to ride horses in 1978.
e. The plane started to fly at 8:30.
f. The printer started to print at 9:00.
g. The operator started to work at 8:00.
h. You and your brother started to have lunch at 12:30.
i. We started to visit the castle at 10:00.
j. Sue started to go to the ballet and to visit her aunt the choreographer in 1978.
 5. Translate into English
a. Il dort depuis vingt minutes.
b. Il dormait il y a vingt minutes.
c. Il dort depuis que je suis parti.
d. Quand je suis arrivé ce matin, il dormait depuis une heure.
e. Quand elle a téléphoné, il avait dormi une heure plus tôt.
f. Il joue depuis un quart d’heure.
g. Il jouait il y a deux heures.
h. Quand le train est arrivé, il jouait depuis une demi-heure.
i. Quand l’avion est parti, il avait joué une heure plus tôt.
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