LA12 – ANSWERS PRIVATE STUDY DOCUMENT C

TASK 1 : READING
Read the text, the answer the questions below :

WELCOME TO THE PAPERLESS CLASSROOM

Arriving at his Tuesday morning English class at Framingham State College,

Joe LaFauci consulted his syllabus for the day's assignment. But instead of digging
through his backpack for a crumpled course outline, he logged onto
the class Web page on a wireless laptop.
There, he found a few announcements and writing suggestions from the teacher.
In a class billed as "virtually paperless," there are no handouts, only
postings. LaFauci called up an edited announcement, with revisions written in
digital blue bubbles instead of red ink. Students fixed their gaze not on a teacher
behind a lectern, but on their softly glowing monitors.
No professorial pronouncements or pencil scratchings could be heard, only the
steady tapping of keyboards, as students reworked their papers, researched topics
on the Internet, and sent messages to friends across the classroom. There were no
textbooks or spiral notebooks in sight.
This is the future of higher education, say many educators, who see classrooms
in which droning lectures and dry textbooks give way to a lively blend of
multimedia presentations and instant, independent research.
Framington State has been one of the main testing grounds for this vision
since two years ago, when it became the first public college in New England to
require incoming students to own portable computers. Now, about 80 percent of
the courses at the college use wireless laptops to connect to the Internet and
conduct classes online.
Laptops have made it easier for students to communicate with teachers via e-
mail outside the classroom and to receive quick answers as questions arise.
E-mail makes the most intimidating professor immediately accessible, many
teachers and students agree.
Yet some critics worry that relying on virtual communication with teachers has
depersonalized the student-teacher relationship, and teachers complain that laptops
distract their students, who sometimes secretly surf the Web during class.
Only 3 percent of US colleges, predominantly private institutions, require
students to own computers, and a handful of schools integrate technology into the
classroom.

Boston Globe,
QUESTIONS
Paragraphs 1-3
1) Explain a) how students consult the day's lessons
b) how teachers correct homework assignments
c) how students get more information on the topics they are studying

Students consult the day's lessons by logging onto the class webpage.
.................................................................................................................................
Teachers do online corrections, using digital blue bubbles instead of red ink.
.................................................................................................................................
Students get more information on the topics they are studying from the
.................................................................................................................................
Internet.
.................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................

2) Paraphrase (reformuler) the ideas in Paragraph 4, to show that you have

correctly understood.

Higher education as we know it will undergo a transformation, with

.................................................................................................................................
traditional methods giving way to a livelier, more modern version.
.................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................

Paragraph 5
3) Why is Framington State College a pioneer in its field ?
Framington State College been used as an experimental establishment,
.................................................................................................................................
and was the first public college in New England to ask its students to buy
.................................................................................................................................
laptops.
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4) Mention as many advantages and disadvantages of the paperless classroom
as you can. Use ideas from the text, as well as any others you have.

Students no longer need a collection of cumbersome text books and

.................................................................................................................................
 notebooks, since everything is on their computer, and they find this method
.................................................................................................................................
more attractive. Similarly, using the Internet makes it easier for students to
.................................................................................................................................
find information, and they can prepare their presentations on their
.................................................................................................................................
computers. Communication with teachers is faster, and students may feel
.................................................................................................................................
less intimidated.
.................................................................................................................................
On the other hand, having computers in the classroom may tempt
.................................................................................................................................
students to chat with their friends or surf the web, and could dehumanize
.................................................................................................................................
the student-teacher relationship.
................................................................................................................................

5) Observe the following sentences :

Instead of digging through his backpack for a crumpled course outline, he logged
on to the class Web page on his wireless laptop.

The teacher used digital bubbles instead of a red pen.

Complete :

INSTEAD OF est suivi soit d'un verbe à la forme - ing , soit d'un

nom / groupe nominal.

Translate the following :

Au lieu de regarder dans le dictionnaire, j'ai cherché sur internet.

Instead of looking (it up) in the dictionary, I searched on the Internet / did an

Internet search.
TASK 2 : VOCABULARY

How many terms related to the themes of COMPUTERS and THE CLASSROOM
can you find in the text ?
Make lists, and write the translation in French or in your mother tongue next to
them, before learning them.

Your teacher will give you a quick test in your next class.

COMPUTERS

to log onto, Web page, wireless laptops, postings, digital blue bubbles, monitors,
tapping of keyboards, the Internet, to send instant messages,
multimedia presentations, portable computers , to connect, online, e-mail,
virtual communication, to surf the web, technology

THE CLASSROOM

syllabus, assignment, backpack, course outline, handouts, revisions, red ink,

students, teachers, lectern, pencil, to rework a paper, to research a topic,
textbooks, spiral notebooks, educators, lectures, courses, the teacher-student
relationship
TASK 3 : LISTENING

Listen to Willy Mason's song "Oxygen". You can listen to the CD in the
Centre de Langues, or find it on the Web (http://www.willy-mason.com/ and lots
of other websites).

Write a transcription of the beginning of the song, from "I wanna be better than
oxygen," to "things we don't really need."

Then, look up the lyrics.

PLEASE DO NOT CHEAT BY LOOKING AT THE LYRICS BEFORE
ATTEMPTING THE TRANSCRIPTION.

I wanna be better than oxygen

So you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees
I wanna speak louder than Ritalin
For all the children who think that they've got a disease
I wanna be cooler than TV
For all the kids who are wondering what they are going to be
We can be stronger than bombs
If you're singing along and you know that you really believe
We can be richer than industry
As long as we know that there's things that we don't really need

* This isn't in the project, but you could point out the grammatical
inaccuracy in the last line of the extract...
TASK 4 : VIDEO

IDENTIFYING THE MAIN FACTS

Complete the following text :

Glaciologists use a GPS (global positioning system) system to register ice

movement,which is currently about eight metres a year. Some of the smaller

ice-caps could disappear over the next 100 years. Meteorologists

have observed that summers in Iceland are getting hotter, winters are getting

wetter and there are more storms.

A one °C warming per decade has been observed, which is five times the

global average.

Iceland's message to the world is that it's possible to live without

greenhouse gases. Seventy per cent of Iceland's energy comes from renewable

sources, i.e. geothermal and hydroelectric power. Scientists

dream of the day when all transport runs on hydrogen .

Observe the following :

to renew -- renewable to sustain -- sustainable

Transform the verbs below into adjectives :

to manage manageable to notice noticeable

to debate debatable to break breakable

to afford affordable to rely reliable

TASK 5 : GRAMMAR
For more information, see «Grammaire de l'Anglais» (Le Robert et Nathan)
pages 350 -351.

I CONDITIONAL SENTENCES
Observe the following sentences :

A If the government introduces traffic restrictions, air quality will improve.

B If the government introduced traffic restrictions, air quality would improve.

C If the government had introduced traffic restrictions, air quality would

have improved.

What differences are there between the 3 sentences ?

Sentence A refers to a real possibility in the future; the verb in the "IF" clause is
in the present simple tense, with WILL + infinitive in the main clause.

Sentence B refers to a hypothetical situation which is less probable than that

referred to in Sentence A. The verb in the "IF" clause is in the past simple
tense, with WOULD + infinitive in the main clause.

Sentence C refers to an alternative outcome to a past situation, which is therefore

impossible now. We find HAD + past participle in the "IF clause,
with WOULD + HAVE + past participle in the main clause.

* The students will probably answer this question in French.

III Complete the sentences below :

a) If people make a big effort, the amount of rubbish produced each day
will go down.

b) There would be less air pollution if people used public

transport instead of their cars .

c) If companies stop releasing chemicals into our rivers, fewer fish

will die.

d) If I had found some cheap plane tickets, I would have gone

to Iceland last summer.

e) If meteorologists had not observed the temperature

 increase in Iceland, so many experiments would not have taken place.

f) I would buy a hydrogen-powered car, if they were

available at competitive prices.

II DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES ( Ø , THE, A, AN)

N.B. For more detailed explanations, read «Grammaire de l'Anglais»
(Le Robert et Nathan) pages 28 -33

No article ( Ø ) is necessary to designate an abstract notion, or a class in

general :
Ø Cars are expensive. I don't like Ø cabbage.
Les voitures coûtent cher. Je n'aime pas le choux.

Ø English journalists are following the preparations for Charles and

Camilla 's wedding very closely.
Les journalistes anglais.....

A / AN
A and AN are indefifnite articles used with countable nouns . AN is used
before a vowel sound or a silent 'h' ( an hour BUT a hairstyle).

A /AN are used to extract one element from a class of elements.

xxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx à x
xxx
class of helicopters a helicopter

I saw a helicopter. (one particular helicopter extracted from the class of

all helicopters)
THE

THE is a definite article used with countable or uncountable nouns. It is used

to designate a PARTICULAR notion or element.
The persons concerned by the message KNOW which element is referred to.

Is the coffee too strong ? --> the coffee which you are drinking

The nurses looked after Peter very well --> the nurses in charge of Peter
 Other uses of THE
THE is used to designate a unique element :

The Queen will not attend the civil marriage ceremony (only one queen in GB).
The moon is very bright tonight (only one moon).

THE can be used before an adjective to designate a class of elements :

The homeless are particularly affected by the cold weather.

The French love good food and wine.

EXERCISE
All the articles have been removed from the following paragraph.
Rewrite the paragraph, inserting articles ( A / AN, THE) where necessary.

Because of the low probability of a tsunami, eastern North America does not
have a system in place like the elaborate network along the Pacific Coast that warns
when a strong earthquake has the potential to produce tsunamis. Some scientists
say that because of careful seismic monitoring, they will probably know when one
is coming towards New England, but others say a warning system or public
education campaign is needed to warn people to stay away from coastal areas if
they feel tremors.

* This was just an article from "Vocable" with the articles removed. Please
accept any other justifiable versions.

III WANT ET WOULD LIKE

Observe the following sentences :

Willy Mason wants people to be less materialistic.

He would like them to concentrate on more spiritual values.

In the above sentences, WANT et WOULD LIKE are followed by

to + infinitive

* It is not possible to say « He wants that....... »

EXERCISE
Now read the lyrics for "Oxygen" and make 4 more sentences :
(PLEASE SEE ANNEXE)

Willy Mason wants young people to avoid taking drugs.

He wants countries to stop fighting.

He would like people to be more sincere.

He would like Americans to return to the values of the founding fathers.

* These are just some examples.

STUDENT A
Here are your Scruples cards. (Student B's cards are on the next page).
These are the questions you should ask your partner:

You are at a job

interview. The You borrow your Your friend asks
interviewer asks uncle's car, but if you like her
if you speak fluent you scratch it a new hairstyle.
English. little. You think it's
awful...

If you have time, invent two questions of your own.

STUDENT B
Here are your cards. These are the questions you should ask your partner.

You are really You find a purse You see your friend's
tired, but you have containing 60 euros girlfriend / boyfriend
to write a report. in the student bar. kissing someone else.
Your friend says
you can copy his.

If you have time, invent two more questions :

TASK 8 : LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Find a short article concerning the environment to present to your group.

ANNEXE
Here is the complete text of "Oxygen" by Willy Mason.

I wanna be better than oxygen

So you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees
I wanna speak louder than Ritalin
For all the children who think that they've got a disease
I wanna be cooler than T.V.
For all the kids that are wondering what they are going to be
We can be stronger than bombs
If you're singing along and you know that you really believe
We can be richer than industry
As long as we know that there's thinhs that we don't really need
We can speak louder than ignorance
Cause we speak in silence every time our eyes meet.

On and on, and on, and on it goes

The world it just keeps spinning
Until I'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes, and start again anew.

I wanna see through all the lies of society

To the reality, happiness is at stake
I wanna hold up my head with dignity
Proud of a life where to give means more than to take
I want to live beyond the modern mentality
Where paper is all that you're really taught to create
Do you remember the forgotten America?
Justice, equality, freedom to every race?
Just need to get past all the lies and hypocrisy
Make up and hair to the truth behind every face
Then look around to all the people you see,
How many of them are happy and free?
I know it sounds like a dream
But it's the only thing that can get me to sleep at night
I know it's hard to believe
But it's easy to see that something here isn't right
I know the future looks dark
But it's there that the kids of today must carry the light.
On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until I'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew.

If I'm afraid to catch a dream

I weave your baskets and I'll float them down the river stream
Each one I weave with words I speak to carry love to your relief.