CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 1

Fashion victims: History’s most dangerous trends

Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘fashion victim’, a 35-year-old Australian woman had

to be cut out of a pair of skinny jeans after developing a condition called compartment

syndrome. It’s not the first time someone has succumbed to a dangerous style trend:

“They’ve always been around, since the Stone Ages,” says Summer Strevens, the author of

Fashionably Fatal. Here are five of the deadliest fads in history.

The undergarment that shrank waistlines long before Spanx had an influence on language

as much as women’s bodies: it spawned the term ‘strait-laced’, lending a Victorian

respectability to its wearer, as well as ‘loose women’ – implying that those who were

corset-less had morals as free as their lacing. In her book, Strevens says that “corsets

caused indigestion, constipation, frequent fainting from difficulty in breathing and even

internal bleeding and inhibited breathing.”

The structured petticoat did more than just enhance a silhouette. During the 19th Century,

at the peak of the crinoline’s popularity, there were several high-profile deaths by skirt

fire. In July 1861, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow rushed to help his wife after her

dress caught fire. She died the following day. Oscar Wilde’s two half-sisters also died of

burns after they went too close to an open fire in ball gowns.

Invented in the 19th Century, the detachable collar meant men didn’t have to change their

shirt every day. It was also starched to a stiffness that proved lethal. “They were called

‘father killer’, or ‘Vatermörder’ in German,” says Strevens. “They could cut off the blood

supply to the carotid artery.

The expression ‘mad as a hatter’ was in use 30 years before Lewis Carroll popularised it

with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Mercury poisoning was an occupational hazard

for hat makers in the 18th and 19th centuries: the chemical was used in the production of

felt, and prolonged exposure led to what was termed the ‘mad hatter disease’.

Chinese foot-binding was officially banned in 1912. Yet some continued the practice – a

means of displaying status, revealing that a woman didn’t need her feet to work – in secret.

While historic practices might sound barbaric, women today are still enduring pain for

fashion, referencing “the contemporary vogue for the surgical shortening, even

amputation of healthy toes, in order to fit into today's sky-high stilettos”. There are still

plenty of fashion victims in the 21st century. “Although we haven’t got corsets or

crinolines any more, there are now people having their ribs removed to get a smaller

waist.”

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 2

Hollywood’s other diversity crisis

Amid the intense debate over the lack of diversity at the Oscars there’s one issue that’s

getting little mention: the Academy’s dismal record with Latinos.

Not since 1951, when José Ferrer won for Cyrano De Bergerac, has a Latino performer

won a best actor Oscar trophy. It’s even worse for Latinas: none have ever taken home a

best actress Academy Award. It’s in supporting roles where Latino actors have earned

some nominations and trophies. They’re just not getting the bigger prizes.

What makes this all the more perplexing is that according to the US Census Bureau Latinos

represent 17% of the US population whereas African-Americans make up around 13% –

yet black actors have secured more nominations and trophies over the years.

Film critic Noah Gittell thinks one reason why Latinos have a weaker track record is

because they’re not such a strong political force. “There is no social movement behind

them, or there isn’t one as strong as the one that exists for racial equality when it comes

to African-Americans,” he explains.

Another reason why Latinos specifically in the US fail to get significant roles may be

because they are often perceived as immigrants.

It’s really US Latinos who bear the brunt because actors who have origins in Spain and

Latin America fare much better. Often it’s because they come from more economically

privileged backgrounds. “If you are a US-born Latino you have to fight racism every step

of the way to be part of the industry. If you were raised in a relatively middle class or

affluent class background in your country of origin it’s a very different trajectory. You

have that with the Spanish stars, European stars, like Penélope Cruz or Javier Bardem that

came to Hollywood already being stars of global cinema,” says Negrón-Muntaner.

But Gittell believes the solution really has to be driven by the Latino community itself. “I

absolutely think it needs to come from the bottom up. Latino directors, Latino actors, need

to make their own films about their experience. I don’t think white studio executives are

going to do it for them, because they simply don’t have the motivation to at this point.”

Change is likely to be slow. But one consolation is that Latinos behind the camera are

faring better. The Latino community may take heart that for the second year in a row an

Oscar could go to one of their own, Mexican film-maker, Alejandro González Iñárritu, who

is a strong candidate to win the best director trophy for his work on The Revenant. And

fellow Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro have also achieved

success in the US over the past 20 years.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 3

Why do the British say ‘sorry’ so much?

The British are famous for how frequently they say ‘sorry’ – even when they’re not at fault.

But does the data hold up this stereotype? And is apologising so often really that bad?

A recent survey of more than 1,000 Brits found that that the average person says ‘sorry’

around eight times per day – and that one in eight people apologise up to 20 times a day.

But do the British really apologise more frequently than members of other cultures? If so,

what’s the reason for this peculiar verbal tic… and how bad a habit is it? In her book

Watching the English, social anthropologist Kate Fox describes experiments in which she

deliberately bumped into hundreds of people in towns and cities across England. She also

encouraged colleagues to do the same abroad, for comparison. Fox found that around 80%

of English victims said ‘sorry’ – even though the collisions were clearly Fox’s fault. Often

the apology was mumbled, and possibly people said it without even realising it, but

compared to when tourists from other countries were bumped, the difference was

marked. “Only the Japanese seemed to have anything even approaching the English sorry-

reflex,” Fox writes.

Brits might say sorry more often, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more

remorseful. “We can use it to express empathy – so I might say ‘sorry about the rain’,” says

Battistella. “It might be that British and Canadian speakers use that kind of ‘sorry’ more

often, but they wouldn’t be apologising, per se.

“Our excessive, often inappropriate and sometimes downright misleading use of this word

devalues it, and it makes things very confusing and difficult for foreigners unaccustomed

to our ways,” says Fox. Still, she adds, “I don’t think saying sorry all the time is such a bad

thing. It even makes sense in the context of a negative-politeness culture…

There may be other benefits to saying ‘sorry’, too – such as fostering trust. Interestingly,

that is true even when people are apologising not for mistakes they’ve made, but rather

for circumstances beyond their control. In one study, Harvard Business School’s Alison

Wood Brooks and her colleagues recruited a male actor to approach 65 strangers at a US

train station on a rainy day and ask to borrow their telephone. In half the cases, the

stranger preceded his request with: “Sorry about the rain”. When he did this, 47% of

strangers gave him their mobile, compared to only 9% when he simply asked to borrow

their phone.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 4

Does it pay to be kind to strangers?

Generous people are happier and healthier, yet acts of kindness are often met with

suspicion and scorn. Why?

A psychologist at the University of Central Lancashire, has just embarked on a new project

to explore the phenomenon of “paying it forward” – a popular philosophy of being

generous to a stranger, in the hope they will pass on the kindness to someone else. “The

idea is to create a chain – a domino effect,” Mann explains.

Today, “paying it forward” has become a popular and far-reaching movement – it has even

spawned a novel and a film. Google the term, and you will read heart-warming stories of

grandiose acts of goodwill – like the generous philanthropists anonymously calling

hospitals to pay for expensive operations, without expecting so much as a simple thank

you. But often it is the smaller deeds that are most touching. Mann points to the case of

Josh Brown, a 12-year-old who found a stranger’s lost phone on a train. The owner was

so pleased she offered him a small reward for the trouble. Instead, he sent a note attached

to the returned phone: “Don’t worry about the money, just do something nice for someone

else.”

These everyday altruists may not get an immediate payback (besides the “giver’s glow”),

but people like Brown tend to reap their rewards in terms of general life satisfaction.

Michael Norton at Harvard Business School has found that people who spend a bigger

proportion of their income on others tend to be far happier, in the long run, than those

spending it on themselves. “Across all countries – rich or poor, and in every continent –

people who give more tended to be happier people,” he says.

Taking time to help others may even protect you from disease, Mann says. Over a 30-year

study, women who volunteered for a charity were 16% less likely to suffer a major illness

during that period – perhaps because it lowers stress levels, which may also, in turn, boost

the immune system. What’s more, there is some evidence that they can permanently

change you for the better – so that kindness becomes your norm.

As a clinical psychologist, Mann has even started advising people with depression to try

and incorporate small acts of generosity or kindness into their therapy. “Depressed

people say they have a lack of meaning in life, and that they don’t feel valuable,” says Mann.

She emphasises that it isn’t a “cure” – their other therapy is still very important. “But it

gives a way to contribute back to society – and that makes them feel good, like they are

something useful.”

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 5

The surprising downsides of being clever

Can high intelligence be a burden rather than a boon?

The first steps to answering this question were taken almost a century ago, at the height

of the American Jazz Age. At the time, the new-fangled IQ test was gaining traction, after

proving itself in World War One recruitment centres, and in 1926, psychologist Lewis

Terman decided to use it to identify and study a group of gifted children. Combing

California’s schools for the creme de la creme, he selected 1,500 pupils with an IQ of 140

or more – 80 of whom had IQs above 170. Together, they became known as the “Termites”,

and the highs and lows of their lives are still being studied to this day.

As you might expect, many of the Termites did achieve wealth and fame and their average

salary was twice that of the average white-collar job. But not all the group met Terman’s

expectations – there were many who pursued more “humble” professions such as police

officers, seafarers, and typists. Nor did their smartness endow personal happiness. Over

the course of their lives, levels of divorce, alcoholism and suicide were about the same as

the national average. So why don’t the benefits of sharper intelligence pay off in the long

term?

One possibility is that knowledge of your talents becomes something of a ball and chain.

Many of the Termites reported that they had been plagued by the sense that they had

somehow failed to live up to their youthful expectations, a recurring motif for many other

gifted children. The most notable, and sad, case concerns the maths prodigy Sufiah Yusof.

Enrolled at Oxford University aged 12, she dropped out of her course before taking her

finals and started waitressing. She later worked as a call girl.

A tendency to rely on gut instincts rather than rational thought might also explain why a

surprisingly high number of Mensa members believe in the paranormal; or why someone

with an IQ of 140 is about twice as likely to max out their credit card.

Indeed, “there are plenty of people doing irrational things despite more than adequate

intelligence in our world today,” says Keith Stanovich from the University of Toronto. “The

people pushing anti-vaccination or spreading misinformation on websites are generally

of more than average intelligence and education.”

So if intelligence doesn’t lead to rational decisions and a better life, what does? Igor

Grossmann, at the University of Waterloo in Canada, thinks we need to turn our minds to

an age-old concept: “wisdom”, the idea of someone who can make good unbiased

judgement.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 6

Facebook wildlife trade prompts fears among environmentalists

Environmentalists say they are worried about the emergence of Facebook as an online

marketplace for trade in endangered species.

Wildlife monitoring network Traffic found hundreds of protected animals for sale on

Facebook groups in Malaysia, including sun bears, gibbons, and binturongs, also known

as bearcats. It says this type of illegal trading is a growing threat around the world.

Facebook said it "will not hesitate" to remove content promoting such trade.

The researchers monitored 14 Facebook groups for 30 minutes daily over a period of five

months. They found more than 300 wild, live animals for sale as pets. "You often find that

in trading there's a small percentage of people involved in illegal activity," said Sarah

Stoner from Traffic, one of the report's authors. "But we identified 236 posts where there

was perceived illegal activity, there were 106 different sellers, that's quite a lot of different

people and it shows how prevalent it is."

The researchers say the development of an online trade is surprising in Malaysia because

open wildlife markets are not found in the country, unlike in other parts of Asia.

"The demand for these animals has always existed in Malaysia but it's never really had an

outlet to flourish whereas the Internet and Facebook seem to be providing the platform

to enable the trade to happen in this manner," said Sarah Stoner. Almost half of the species

recorded were protected and illegal to sell under Malaysian law. Some 25 of the 69 non-

native animals were protected under the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).

Traffic say they have shared the details of their investigation with Facebook who are

looking to develop practical solutions to combat the trade. "We are committed to working

with Traffic to help tackle the illegal online trade of wildlife in Malaysia," Facebook said

in a statement. "Facebook does not allow the sale and trade of endangered animals and

we will not hesitate to remove any content that violates our terms of service." The

investigators also passed on their information to the Malaysian authorities.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 7

Silicon Valley's gender problem extends beyond pay gap

Companies like Arjuna are beginning to take action to address pay inequality, but

demographic data doesn’t tell the full story of women’s experience.

Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, earned infamy for his declaration that women

should not bother to ask for raises. When his remarks were greeted with howls of outrage,

Nadella backpedalled at the speed of light. Less than a year later, Microsoft was sued by a

former employee, Katie Moussouris, now chief policy officer at HackerOne, alleging

gender bias. Moussouris claimed that she was only one of a number of women at Microsoft

who earned less than their male counterparts. Moussouris also alleged that men received

preferential treatment in promotions and systematically received more favorable job

reviews. There is no way to know whether Moussouris’s claims are accurate, because

Microsoft does not disclose any data about the extent to which men and women are paid

differently for doing similar jobs.

That may soon change, if Arjuna Capital succeeds in placing a resolution before

Microsoft’s shareholders and convincing enough of them to vote in favor of it, thus

requiring the company to publicly disclose that information for the first time. Anyone who

has looked in even a cursory fashion at the economics of the technology universe

shouldn’t be surprised by the existence of a gender pay gap. Joint Venture Silicon Valley

reported last year that men in Silicon Valley reported earning as much as 61% more than

their female counterparts. Of course, some of that happens because women don’t have the

same skills and don’t hold the same kinds of high-paid positions.

Brian Krzanich of Intel noted that a key motivation for his backing of the company’s

initiatives was that he has two daughters of his own. “I want them to have a world that’s

got equal opportunity for them,” he told reporters at the time, rather than one that is

dominated by the “bro” culture of gamers.

But even if a wizard or fairy godmother were to appear and level the playing field, it would

not solve all the issues women face in the world of technology. Demographic data doesn’t

tell the full story, and even being well compensated doesn’t mean you can put up with

everything else that gets flung your way. As Ellen Pao’s trials (literal and rhetorical) last

year revealed, women who try to be in the vanguard can end up in a toxic work

environment. Female entrepreneurs report being hit on for sex by potential backers;

some female employees recount coping with casual sexism in a male-dominated

workplace.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 8

Revealed: the 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Generation Y’s income

New data shows how debt, unemployment and property prices have combined to stop

millennials taking their share of western wealth

A combination of debt, joblessness, globalisation, demographics and rising house prices

is depressing the incomes and prospects of millions of young people across the developed

world, resulting in unprecedented inequality between generations.

Millennials – those born between 1980 and the mid-90s, and often otherwise known as

Generation Y – are increasingly being cut out of the wealth generated in western societies.

Where 30 years ago young adults used to earn more than national averages, now in many

countries they have slumped to earning as much as 20% below their average compatriot.

Pensioners by comparison have seen income soar.

It is likely to be the first time in industrialised history, save for periods of war or natural

disaster, that the incomes of young adults have fallen so far when compared with the rest

of society. Experts are warning that this unfair settlement will have grave implications for

everything from social cohesion to family formation.

For the first time in France, recent pensioners generated more disposable income than

families headed by a person under 50. In Italy the average under-35 became poorer than

average pensioners under 80. Using the most recent US data, in the midst of the downturn

in 2013, average under-30s had less income than those aged 65-79. This is the first time

that has happened as far back as the data goes.

In Australia, millennials are being inched out of the housing market. In the UK, new figures

will show the notion of a property-owning democracy has already been terminated. In the

US, debt is the millennial millstone – young people are sitting on $1.3tn of student debt.

Across Europe, the issue centres more around jobs – and the lack of them. The numbers

of thirtysomethings still living with their parents is stubbornly high in countries such as

Italy and Spain, with grave implications for birthrates and family formation in places

whose demographics are already badly skewed towards elderly people. “We’ve never had,

since the dawn of capitalism really, this situation of a population that is ageing so much

and in some countries also shrinking, and we just don’t know whether we can continue

growing the economy in the same way we once have,” said Prof Diane Coyle, an economist

and former UK Treasury adviser.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 9

The unforeseen dangers of Uber and Airbnb

Over the past few years, companies like Airbnb and Uber have made a great deal of money

by pioneering a business model of connecting consumers, who want to use things — such

as apartments and cars with drivers — with other people, who want to provide them. For

public relations reasons they promote this model as the ‘sharing economy’. And who could

be against ‘sharing’?

But this isn’t the kind of sharing your mother taught you. The term entered the technology

vernacular when Napster introduced ‘file-sharing’ — which many lawyers called

‘copyright infringement’, and a US court essentially ruled illegal. Today’s sharing economy

involves physical goods, but it still revolves around technology companies that tend to

view at least some legal regulations as outmoded, annoying barriers to their business

plans.

While some bloggers still treat the sharing economy as some kind of cause, Slee rightly

analyses it as a business model masquerading as a movement. The case usually made for

the sharing economy is that it’s progressive: it comes from San Francisco and it involves

sharing! To be fair, companies like Airbnb offer an appealingly human-scale version of

commerce, where you can rate, and often meet, the person with whom you’re doing

business. But these companies also mediate those transactions, and they push for

deregulation. The truly (counter?) revolutionary thing about the sharing economy is how

it extends the free market into areas of our lives where it previously couldn’t go. Not so

long ago, one could simply borrow a flat from an acquaintance who was out of town and

perhaps leave a bottle of wine to say thanks. Now what was once a favour has become a

transaction: every unoccupied apartment has a value that the owner can extract every

time he’s away for the weekend.

And it is true that at least some sharing economy companies have unfair advantages. It’s

easy to make fun of the municipal regulations that apply to transport and hotels. Some of

them may indeed be outdated, and all of them are uncool. But it’s also worth remembering

that they were enacted for a reason. No one would want to post a fire-escape plan map

inside his apartment — and such plans don’t look all that appealing in hotel rooms either.

But they’re there because they serve a purpose — and they’re just as useful in an

apartment as they are in a hotel. The same goes for hotel taxes, which should apply to

anyone who lets out rooms as a business.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 10

Intelligent people are more easily distracted at work, study claims

Do you have trouble concentrating at work? It’s probably because of all those amazing

ideas you have running through your head

Finding yourself easily distracted at work may sound like a bad thing but there could be a

silver lining to your daily office woes.

Workers who have trouble concentrating on a daily basis may be intellectually superior

to their colleagues, according to a new study.

Intelligent people may find it difficult to focus the mind because of all the amazing ideas

constantly running through their genius brains, the research suggests.

The cleverest among us find it difficult to prioritise which idea to focus on first, with the

distractions potentially leading to “a feeling of inadequacy and inability to deal with the

workload as a whole”, according to psychiatrist Dr Ned Hallowell.

He added that the brightest brains can end up falling short of their own expectations and

also of what their boss expects.

“Employers are always on the lookout for the brightest people available, however the

difficulty to withstand multiple tasks and distractions in the office affects smart people in

the same way as everyone else, if not more,” explained Bostjan Ljubic, vice president of

Steelcase, who published the research.

“The ways in which we work are changing more rapidly than ever before and the brain is

being subjected to stresses and distractions which can lead to overload and statistics

show that distractions in the workplace are on the rise.”

The study of 10,000 workers from 17 different countries also found that the increased use

of technology in the workplace has made it more difficult for staff to stay focused, with

the average office worker distracted once every three minutes.

So how do you stay focused at work? Do your creative work first, suggests David Rock, author of Your Brain at Work. “Typically, we do mindless work first and build up to the toughest tasks. That drains your energy and lowers your focus. An hour into doing your work, you've got a lot less capacity than (at the beginning)," Rock says. "Every decision we make tires the brain." In order to focus effectively, reverse the order. Check off the tasks that require creativity or concentration first thing in the morning, and then move on to easier work, like deleting emails or scheduling meetings, later in the day.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 11

Having a messy desk makes you 'more creative'

Working at a messy desk may actually help you think more creatively, according to a new

scientific study. Scientists found that being surrounded by clutter can promote creative

thinking and stimulate new ideas. In contrast, working at a clean and prim desk may

promote healthy eating, generosity and conventionality.

The new study was conducted by psychological scientist Professor Kathleen Vohs and

fellow researchers at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. They mapped the

behaviour of people working on messy and clean desks with a series of experiments. For

example, participants in the study were given a choice between a new product and an

established one. Those in the messy room were more likely to prefer the novel one - a

signal that being in a disorderly environment prompts a release from conventionality.

Professor Vohs said: "Being in a messy room led to something that firms, industries, and

societies want more of - creativity.” Previous research has found that a clean setting leads

people to do good things, such as not engaging in crime, litter and showing more

generosity. "We found, however, that you can get really valuable outcomes from being in

a messy setting."

In the first of several experiments, participants were asked to fill out questionnaires in an

office. Some completed the task in a clean and orderly office, while others did so in an

unkempt one where papers were strewn about and office supplies were cluttered.

Afterwards, the participants had the opportunity to donate to charity and were allowed

to take a snack of chocolate or an apple on their way out.

Being in a clean room encouraged people to do what was expected of them as they

donated more of their own money to charity. They were also more likely to choose the

apple over the candy bar. However, messiness had its virtues as well. In an alternative

experiment, participants were asked to come up with new uses for ping-pong balls.

Overall, participants in the messy room generated the same number of ideas for new uses

as their clean-room counterparts. But their ideas were rated as more interesting and

creative when evaluated by impartial judges. Professor Vohs said: "Just making that

environment tidy or unkempt made a massive difference in people's behavior."

The researchers are continuing to investigate whether these effects might even transfer

to the Internet. Preliminary findings suggest that the tidiness of a webpage predicts the

same kind of behaviour.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 12

'Boys, as well as girls, perform better in single-sex schools'

Little is written about achievement in boys' schools, with perceptions skewed by Tom

Brown's School Days. Sarah Burns sets the record straight.

There is a stubborn achievement gap in England at GCSE between the performance of boys

and girls. Typically, girls perform about 9 per cent better than boys in standard measures.

And the 2015 GCSE results show that boys in single-sex schools outperform boys in mixed

schools in a variety of performance measures. This is not only true when all boys' schools

are included in the data but also when selective schools are excluded from the data set. In

the top measure of 5 A*-C including English and maths, boys in non-selective single-sex

schools achieved 10 per cent better than boys in non-selective mixed-sex schools.

Furthermore, this pattern is not restricted to the top level only. When levels of progress

in English are examined from KS2 to KS4, levels are 8 per cent higher for boys in single-

sex schools; ironically the figure for girls in non-selective single-sex schools is only 5 per

cent.

In maths, for the expected progress measure, boys in single-sex schools achieve 7 per cent

higher and girls an impressive 9 per cent. The same pattern of non-selective single-sex

schools outperforming mixed-sex schools is present in other performance measures

including the percentage of students achieving A*-C in English and maths and the point

average.

So why is this information about boys’ achievement in single-sex schools such a well-kept

secret? Little is written about the achievement of boys in boys' schools compared to the

achievement of girls in their respective single-sex schools, but it should be celebrated.

Perception of comprehensive boys' schools is often skewed; influenced by a generation of

fathers who loathed their single-sex experience, where regimes were often harsh and

uncompromisingly macho. But today's boys' schools are a far cry from the 'Tom Brown's

School Days” era. I concede that there is little real evidence to back up claims about elusive

factors such as happiness, self esteem or sociability; however, when there is reliable data

to hand it should be used to inform the debate and, to that end, the record can be put

straight. Boys – as well as girls – perform better academically in single-sex schools.

Note: A*-C : A-star is the highest mark

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 13

Technology in the classroom promotes pupil interaction

Lessons at one primary school have been made much more engaging since PC World

Business helped it upgrade its IT equipment.

It’s been a long time since attending school consisted of hauling in a large pile of books

and sitting still looking at the teacher all day. Students these days are online, connected

and digitally savvy. But are we making the most of this? One Hertfordshire school

certainly is.

Miss Baker devised an interactive activity about the Egyptians and, she says, things like

this have made a huge difference to learning. Because more than one person can interact

with the Smart table, Mrs Short says her own teaching style has changed: “Before, lessons

were purely teacher-led. It’s opening doors we didn’t even know existed and having an

amazing impact.”

The students were also each given their own Windows 8-enabled tablet; one child was so

excited about this that he even burst into tears. The digital natives needed just one session

to experiment and they were off. Miss Baker laughs: “They even teach me how to use the

kit sometimes.”

It might seem as though increased technology decreases concentration but, says Miss

Baker, “Pupils are so much more engaged when they’re using the tablets, even if they’re

just checking their answers on them.”

The tech has also allowed the children to be more independent in their learning, but there

are security measures in place to ensure Miss Baker has control over content and activity.

Miss Baker has Acer Class Management software installed on her tablet. This allows her

to see what all the students are doing on their tablets, and also enables her to share

slideshows and websites. Handily, she can even lock their screens.

At the same time, the entire school network has been upgraded. Pupils and teachers can

now access a Wi-Fi connection in the outdoor learning area and there are plans afoot to

allow them to use their tech in the nearby woodland and garden areas.

The school is carefully monitoring the impact of the new technology, and has been making

careful comparisons on the students’ progress. The teachers hope, too, that the tech will

have a positive impact on attendance as students become increasingly engaged in lessons.

“Following the installation, we surveyed pupils to gauge their perceptions on technology,”

says Miss Baker, “Pupils who have been able to take advantage of the tools provided by

PC World Business said that they felt technology was really important and that they will

use it when they grow up. Perhaps most importantly, all the students in the class agreed

that the technology has helped them learn.”

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 14

White British pupils the least likely UK ethnic group to go to university, new

research reveals

White British pupils are the least likely ethnic group in the UK to go to university, new

research reveals. Young people from other ethnic groups who tend to perform badly in

school tests and exams – including black Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils –

are more likely to go on to higher education, the study shows. The figures, compiled by

the Institute for Fiscal Studies, show that just under one in three (32.6 per cent) of white

British pupils go on to university. The next lowest participation rate is 37.4 per cent, for

black Caribbean pupils.

Dr Claire Crawford, assistant professor of economics at the University of Warwick and one

of the authors of the report, said: “The differences in higher education participation

between pupils from different ethnic groups are staggering. We were particularly

surprised to find that ethnic minority groups which have relatively lower school

attainment are, on average, more likely to continue into higher education than white

British pupils. “This highlights that prior attainment is not one of the key drivers of the

differences in university participation between these groups.”

The highest participation rate is achieved by Chinese students – 75.7 per cent of whom go

on to university. Second are Indians with 67.4 per cent. The report calls for more research

to determine why white British pupils lag so far behind in university participation. One

theory is that ethnic minority parents are more aspirational than their white British peers

– seeing education as a route out of poverty and disadvantage. By contrast, it is argued,

white working-class parents’ poor experiences of education have left them jaundiced over

the prospect that education could provide their children with a brighter future.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of Centre for Employment and Education Research at

Buckingham University, said: “Ethnic minorities value education more than the white

British do.” He said that the UK had offered many ethnic minority families the first chance

of a top-class education – whereas white British families have had the opportunity for

years. In addition, he argues, universities were under pressure from ministers to increase

the participation of ethnic minority pupils. A Green Paper published last week called for

a 20 per cent increase in ethnic minority participation by 2020. Even among the most

affluent group of students, just 54.8 per cent of white British pupils go to university.

CONCOURS ECRICOME BACHELOR – EPREUVE ORALE D’ANGLAIS – SESSION 2016

TEXT 15

UK students use £45 smartwatches from Amazon and eBay to cheat exams, say

teachers

UK schoolteachers are complaining that certain smartwatches advertised on Amazon

come with functions specifically targeted at helping students to cheat at exams. Deputy

head teachers in several secondary schools say that the hidden market for these

smartwatches is booming.

The modern-day cheat devices offer a great temptation to stressed-out students studying

for important examinations, such as the GCSEs, A Levels or International Baccalaureate,

according to BBC News. The teachers want more academic institutions to be aware of the

problem and seek to ban smartwatches from exams and tests, and they also want exam

boards to challenge companies that sell these devices, particularly since the smartwatches

can now be obtained on Amazon, where they are described as giving students the ability

to store and quickly view large sections of text and pictures.

In an exam, the student can surreptitiously look at the screen of the watch on their wrists,

and if an examiner walks past, pressing an "emergency button" on the side of the watch

will remove the incriminating text and replace it with a digital clock face. We found at least

five different off-brand smartwatch models designed specifically to help students cheat

still available on Amazon UK and Amazon US, as well as one model on eBay, with the

description of the watch's abilities listed in the title as clear as day, such as: "Premium®

2015 Student Digital Watch Cheat Test Text Covert Reader Mobile Multi Function Music

Player Write Exam Notes Copy Tests Exams Hidden TXT Reader Portable Video Audio

Photos Radio USB Player Spy Clock USB PC Mac Connection 4GB Memory."

According to the description, the smartwatch supports a variety of file formats, including

Notepad .txt files, JPG and GIF image files, as well as AVI, WMV and WAV video and audio

files. The watch can also be programmed in 27 different languages, including most

European languages, both Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew and

Arabic. "This watch is specifically designed for cheating on exams with a special

programmed software. It is perfect for covertly viewing exam notes directly on your wrist,

by storing text and pictures in the 4GB memory storage," the seller writes on the listing.

But perhaps schools around the world are catching up on the latest in technology – mobile

phones of any sort, from 1G up to smartphones have been banned from examination halls

around the world for at least 15 years, and now many institutions are also banning

smartwatches and other digital wrist-worn devices, like fitness bands, unless they are

traditional analogue watches.