Status Quo

Status Quo is an English band, created in 1962 in London by 3 teenagers, Alan Lancaster, Alan Key and Francis Rossi. Alan Key left the band shortly after its creation and Jess Jarowsky and Barry Smith joined. It was now made up of a bassist, a guitarist, an organist and a drummer. In 1965, Roy Lines replaced Jess Jarowski at the organ, and in 1966, the band signed its first contract with the Pye record label. Their first single "I (Who Have Nothing)" came out in 1966 but was not a success, like their first and second albums, "Picturesque Matchstickable Messages" and "Spare Parts".

In 1969, the band changed its name to "Status Quo". This change of name is was accompanied by a change of music style. Their music became more "rock".

The band became famous during the seventies. But after that, the atmosphere in the band was strained and John Coghlan left Status Quo in 1981. In 1984 the band, which didn't look like the original band, finally broke up forever.

François Ducrocq

The British Red Cross

The Red Cross was created in 1864 in Geneva, Switzerland. It' s an NGO (non governemental organisation) which is well-known all around the world, but they are not the same (British Red Cross is not the same as la "Croix Rouge". Most people who work for the Red Cross are volunteers, they spend their free time helping people. If you want to be a volunteer, you join the association, and generous people are welcomed.

The principal goal of the Red Cross is to stop TB (tuberculosis) which is the most infectious disease in the world (about 2 million people die of it each year). The British Red Cross help more than 8 thousand people to complete their TB treatment principally in Asia and in South Africa. The association can also help people in rich countries like last March when the volunteers were called to evacuate people because a second- world- war unexplosed bomb was found in Coventry, England. You can help the Red Cross on the official website by giving money (if you give them £2 a month, they can send food and people to poor countries) or by doing the New-York marathon.

The British Red Cross is an association with about 97 million volunteers which fight agaist diseases.

Ismael Asaoui

Men of peace - Three men who changed the world

Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela… these three men of peace helped to change the world.

Today, it is almost impossible to imagine that the British governed India until 1947. It is also difficult to believe that segregation between black and white people existed in America just 50 years ago. And it seems crazy that Apartheid was not abolished in South Africa until 1990. Thankfully, three heroic men changed all of this. We find out how they became men of peace…

Gandhi was an Indian who defended the rights of Indian immigrants opposing British oppression. But he encouraged non-violent protest. Martin Luther King organised also a boycott of the buses in Alabama because indeed he fought, but he always insisted on the non-violence as Gandhi. Nelson Mandela was the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) who fought against Apartheid. After years of fights and imprisonment, he became the first black president of South Africa in 1994.  

Richard Paixao

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is a sweetener made from the sap of maple trees. It originates in north-eastern North America, and is commonly associated with Quebec in Canada and Vermont in the U.S. It is often eaten with pancakes, waffles, toasts, cornbread or ice cream. It was first collected and used by Native Americans. Production is concentrated in February, March, and April. To collect the sap, holes are bored into the maple trees and tubes are inserted. Sap flows through the tubes into buckets. The maple sap is then collected from the buckets and taken to the sugar house. During sugaring-off, the sap boils down until so much water is lost that it forms a sweet syrup. There are different grades of maple syrup, that correspond approximately to what point in the season the syrup was made. In Canada, there are three grades containing several colour classes, from #1 : Extra Light (AA), Light (A), and Medium (B); then #2 : Amber (C); and finally #3 : Dark (D).

Solène Stephan & Wikipedia. Photo: http://www.cubacheese.com

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is amazing, it is just unbelievable! It is very famous worldwide. The spectacular falls’ span is 670 meters and the drop is 56 meters. The massive waterfalls are located on the Niagara River, separating the Canadian province of Ontario and the US of New York.

Niagara derives from the Iroquois language, meaning ‘thundering noise’ and you can easily understand this name! Niagara Falls was formed about 12,000 years ago, when glaciers retreated north. Nowadays, it goes through the northern Great Lakes region, from Wisconsin to New York.

This place is a great tourist attraction, luring millions of visitors a year. Niagara’s large volume of flow, averaging about 5,520 cubic meters per second, gives the river a big power potential. The water power is really useful. It is one of the most impressive and most famous landscapes in Canada. 

Marie Slomovici (text & photo)

Big Ben

Big Ben is the name of the clock tower of the House of Parliament. This clock is near the Thames, Westminster Bridge and Westminster Abbey. Big Ben is a gothic style tower that is about 96 meters tall, it has got four clock faces of seven meters in diameter and an hour bell of about fifteen thousand kilos. It was built by Charles Barry between 1858 and 1859, but the mechanism was built in 1854.

During the Second World War, a roof of the tower and two clock faces were destroyed by the Germans, but they were rebuilt after the war. Big Ben has a really specific mechanism, because to regulate the clock we have to put or remove a penny coin. At the base of each clock face there is a Latin inscription: "O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First".

This tower is shown in many films, because when we see Big Ben we know that we are in London. 

Quentin Leroy
Image: commons.wikimedia.org

Anthony Horowitz

Anthony was born in north London in 1957. At the age of eight, he decided to be a writer. He was educated at Rugby school and he studied at York University.

At the age of 23, he published his first novel whose name was “Enter Frederick K Bower”. He has written a lot of television programs and films, mostly about murder like the series of Hercule Poirot, the famous private detective of Agatha Christie. But for 30 years, he has principally written fantasy and detective books. To finish, he received prizes for his books in 1988, 1993 and 1994.

Antoine Fauvel
Photo: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Halloween

Throughout the year, countries celebrate historic or religious events. What are these holidays celebrated in England? We have St George's Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day as well as Halloween.

In pre-Christian times, Celts celebrated the pagan festival of “Samhain”. Celts believed spirits looked for living bodies to possess. So, on 31st October, Celts dressed up in scary costumes and made a lot of noise to scare away spirits.

In 8th century,the Catholic church changed this festival to “All Hallows Eve”, on 31st October. “Halloween” comes from “All Hallows Eve”.

In England, children carry Halloween lanterns... because it recalls legends of Jack O' lantern. They put on Halloween costumes and go to neighbours’ houses. If someone opens the door, they say “trick or treat” and receive sweets.

At Halloween parties, people play a game called “Dead Man’s Body”, which makes your flesh crawl. They have to touch "dead body parts" with eyes closed. Bobbing for apples is also a popular game.

Despite these enjoyments, Halloween remains a festival more celebrated in the USA than in Great Britain …

Richard Paixao

Las Vegas

Las Vegas was founded 1n 1855 by settlers. At the beginning, the city was a small agrarian colony; indeed, the name “Las Vegas” means the meadows. The city began to grow in 1930 and, in the same time, the state of Nevada legalized gambling. The first casino of Las Vegas, the Flamingo, opened in 1946.

Nowadays, Las Vegas counts more than 120 000 hotel rooms and a lot of casinos. 40 billions tourists visit the city every year. The biggest casinos are located on The Strip, which is the most famous boulevard of the city. In Las Vegas there are also wedding chapels, where you can get married in less than 10 minutes.

In conclusion, we can say that Las Vegas is the city of games and entertainments. But today the excessive consumption of electricity and water raises a big ecological problem in Las Vegas, this is why a lot of green associations have been founded.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 5, 1901. As a boy, Walt enjoyed drawing. When he became an adult, he moved to Hollywood to follow his dream of animation.

In 1928 Disney created Mickey Mouse. "Steamboat Willie" was the first animated short complete with sound. After the success of "Steamboat Willie", Disney made plans to create a full-length film. When the rest of the film industry heard of his plans to produce an animated feature-length version of "Snow White", they were certain that the project would fail. These assumptions were wrong as the audience gave the film a standing ovation. Other well-known films produced by The Walt Disney Company during this time include "Pinocchio", "Fantasia", and "Dumbo".

Walt Disney spent five years of his life developing Disneyland. He envisioned a place where workers could spend time with their children. After many years of chain-smoking, Walt Disney died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966, before the opening of his amusement park, however his legacy still lives on.

Daphné Malapert

The Commonwealth

the original meaning of the word “commonwealth” dates back to the fifteenth century: it literally meant "common well-being”.Nowadays the term is less specific and indicates a political community.

As far as we are concerned, the Commonwealth is a free association of equal independent states. It’s composed of 54 nations formerly members of the ancient British Empire. The leader is the king or the queen of the United Kingdom, nowadays Queen Elizabeth II. These countries aren’t bound by any treaty. The members of this union have to respect human rights and trust in the British monarchy. These states can remain neutral during a war. They have financial interests in business.

The concept of the commonwealth varies. In different contexts it might indicate:
- a political unit
- a federated union
- a union of sovereign states
- a republic
- a democratic constitutional monarchy

The Commonwealth is composed of 1,7 billion people. This union remains a powerful union on both political and economical levels.

Clément Bigot

Coca Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia,in May,1886.

The beverage was named Coca Cola because of the ingredients: there are coca leaves from South America and kola nuts.

In 1887, another Atlanta pharmacist and businessman, Asa Candler, bought the formula of Coca Cola. Candler brought it to its dominance of the world soft drink market throughout the 20th century.

Advertising was an important factor in John Pemberton and Asa Candler's success and by the turn of the century, the drink had reached the status of a national icon for the USA .

In the 1930s Coca Cola's advertising had an impact on American culture with the "invention" of the modern image of Santa Claus as an old man in red and white clothes.

Today, Coca Cola's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. The Coca Cola Company offers nearly 400 brands in over 200 countries,and it is one of the largest corporations in the United States.

Lucie Havard

The National Health Service
in the UK

In the United Kingdom some services are free, and others are not. It depends if you are a UK resident. If you are, you can have free healthcare and be treated by a general practitioner (GP) for free.

In the UK, you are a resident if you live there, if you are a member of the European Union or if you study in the UK for six months or more (this is for the students who aren’t members of the European Union).

For UK residents, some care is free:

-All the GP’s healthcare.
-Hospital treatments, urgent or not.

But some treatments are not free even if you are a UK resident:
-most of the medicines which are prescribe by your GP.
-dental and ophthalmology treatments.

In conclusion, we can see that the NHS in the UK is quite different from the French one. But the French NHS is going to be similar.

Xavier Cueille

Etudes en Angleterre? TPE?

Voici un site bilingue qui pourrait intéresser des élèves de sections européennes. Ce site est réalisé par une étudiante française qui a suivi une section européenne en France et continue ses études à l'université de Notthingham en Biologie environ-nement. Elizabeth sera ravie de répondre aux questions que peuvent se poser nos élèves pour poursuivre leurs études en Angleterre. http://aboutbamboo.free.fr

Whisky

Whisky refers to a category of alcoholic beverages, which are distilled from fermented grain mash, and aged in wooden casks. The word "whisky" derives from the Gaelic expression « uisce beatha », which means "Water of Life". The first written record of whisky comes from 1405 in Ireland, where it was distilled by monks, but it is thought that it had been around for several centuries before that. Whiskies are produced in most grain-growing areas. Malts and Grains are combined in various ways. Malt is whisky made entirely from malted barley and distilled in an onion-shaped pot. Grain is made from barley along with other grains, in a continuous "patent". Whiskies do not mature in the bottle, only in the cask : the "age" of a scotch is the time between distillation and bottling. Most whiskies are sold at a strength of 40% ABV. In conclusion, experts would say putting a drop of water in your drink will bring out the flavour of the whisky!

Claire-Elisabeth Blanc

St Augustine

The town of St Augustine, Florida, was created in 1565 by Pedro Menédeze de Avilés. As this town was sighted on St Augustine’s day, it became the name of the town. It is the oldest town of America. A lot of old buildings are still there, but many houses collapsed with time. Nowadays, we can see the Castillo of San Marco, an old castle which was once an old prison. The Lightner Museum was a hotel bought by Otto C. Lightner before 1948. It is a special museum that exposes a lot of strange things. The Flagler College is an old hotel too. Since 1968, it is a university for liberal arts. And most of the historic center is in Walker street, the old houses which remain are now shops.

Frédérick Laurent  

The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. It's owned by The New York Times Company. Its famous motto, always printed in the upper left-hand corner of the front page is « All the News That's Fit to Print ».

The New York Times was founded on September 18, 1851 by journalist and politician Henry Jarvis Raymond and a former banker George Joness. It won its first Pulitzer Prize for its reports of the First Wold War events in 1918.

The online version of the newspaper appeared in 1996, readers around the world could access the most recent articles for free. Now, over 350 full-time reporters and about 40 photographers work for The New York Times.

The New York Times is is the largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States. It won a lot of famous prizes and is now one of the most prestigious of American newspapers.

Fanny Gosse & Wikipedia

George Washington

George Washington was born on February the twenty-second of 1732, in Westmoreland, Virginia. His parents were French emigrants who came from Ré Island.

In 1775, the Second Continental Congress chose him as commander-in-chiefs of the American Revolutionary forces. In 1776 he forced the British out of Boston. At the end of the American revolutionary war in 1783, he retired in his plantation in Mount Vernon. In 1787, George Washington presided over the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the United States Constitution. In 1789 he became the first president of the United States of America. At the end of his second mandate, on March 4th 1797, he retired from political life. He died on the 14th December 1799, aged of 67 years.

Today you can see his face on bank notes or coins and also on Mount Rushmore. To pay homage to him, the capital has been named Washington so like many things. And his birthday is a holiday.

Valentin Pruvot

Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes was born on April 13th 1570 in Stonegate. Guy Fawkes’ family was a resistant of the Church of England. He convert to Catholicism at the age of 16. He went to the free school of Saint Peter’s where he had schoolfellows. Those schoolfellows helped him in the gunpowder plot.

In the gunpowder plot the conspirators were discovered and Guy was caught in the cellar of the House of Parliament. He died on January 31st 1605. He managed to avoid the worst of his execution, by jumping from the scaffold where he was supposed to be hung, breaking his neck before he could be drawn and quartered. 

Jean-Christophe Chambon

American Football

American football was created in the 19th century. It descended from rugby and football. The real rules of the game were created in 1876. In 1920 the national football league began.

The field measure 100 yards, it is cut in 10 parts. On the sides there are the end zones; it’s here you score points. One American football match last 60 minutes. The time is cut in 4 quarters.

Play starts with a snap, or kickoff, this shot is use for the beginning of each quarter or after one team scores. The team who attacks has the ball, and has 4 chances to run 10 yards. To do this it can run or pass. In defence, the team can fumble or intercept the ball. To score points there is the touchdown (6), the conversion (1), the 2 point conversion (2), the long field goal (3) and the safety (2). There are 53 players in an American football team but only 11 play in a match.

American football is the most famous sport in USA, but not in the world.

Julien Petrix

Tracy McGrady

Tracy Lamar McGrady Junior was born on 24th May 1979 in Bartow near Orlando, Florida. T-Mac (his nickname) is an Amercan professional basketball player. He plays in the Houston Rockets in NBA.

Tracy McGrady entered the league after graduating from high school. He was drafted ninth in the first round of the 1997 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors where he played with his cousin, Vince Carter. When his contract finished, he signed up to the Orlando Magic to be near his family who stayed there. In Orlando T-Mac played with Grant Hill, a star in NBA but he was often injured. In 2004 T-Mac was traded to the Houston Rockets where another star, the giant Yao Ming, was playing. He earns 21 million dollars a year plus he has a contract with Adidas. He is married and he has 3 children, 2 daughters and one son.

He scored 13 points in 35 seconds against the San Antonio Spurs in 2004.

He was the MIP(Most Improved Player) in 2001 with the Orlando Magics, he has become a 7-time All-star and he was twice NBA scoring champion in 2003 and in 2004.

Ismael Azaoui

The American Civil War

The American civil war opposed during the XIX century the union and the confederation. The main reason for the war was the abolition of slavery: the Union wanted to abolish it but the southern states did not agree with this.

The confederation was composed of the states of South and North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, Texas and Tennessee. At the beginning of the war, the confederation had the advantage over the union, but the union returned the situation and won the war in April 1865 at Appomattox when the confederation's commander in chief (General Lee) surrendered to General Grant who led the union. In December 1865, the congress ratified the law against slavery.

But the integration of former slaves was not easy in the southern states and nowadays segregation is still significant. The American Civil War was the only war which took place on the American territory except the War of Independence, but it was the bloodiest.

François Ducrocq

The history of New York  City

The city of New York is more than three hundred years old, but that is not very old for a city. Nowadays it is one of the biggest and most important cities in the world.

New York City was, at the beginning of the 17th century, a Dutch city and was named New Amsterdam. But in 1664, English came and took the city. The English named it New York. More and more English people came to live there. The Americain people thought that they were the same as people in the United Kingdom. But the English king did not think so; he wanted to take everyting from America, but he didn’t want to give the Americans anything. He even wanted to make them pay for his wars with Holland and France.

Life in America became very difficult, and there was soon a new war, this time between America and England. The Americans fought to be free.

Americains won the war, they named their country The United States of America and named New York the capital.

Dostaev Timour
& http://tinyurl.com/3xmy8h

All Blacks

The All Blacks are New Zealand's national team in rugby union, which is the country's national sport. The All Blacks are a formidable force in international rugby and have a winning record against every international rugby team. In 1987 New Zealand hosted and won the inaugural Rugby World Cup.

By their 1905 tour the All Blacks were wearing all black, and their All Black name dates from this time. The All Blacks traditionally perform a haka (Maori posture dance) before each match.

Rugby Football was introduced to New Zealand by Charles Monro in the late 1860s and the first game in New Zealand took place in May 1870.

The professional era in rugby union began in 1995. The All Blacks entered the 2007 Rugby World Cup as favourites, then, they suffered a defeat to hosts France in the first knockout game, the quarterfinals at the Millennium Stadium of Cardiff.

The All Blacks have a positive win record against every nation they have played. They are the most successful international rugby union team in history.

Luc Charignon
& Wikipedia

London

London is the capital of Great-Britain with seven million inhabitants. It is situated on the River Thames which crosses the town. In 1665 it was ravaged by the plague and in 1666 by the great fire of London. It became the capital of financial and international trade. Nowadays, it is an important metropolis for business, culture and the economy. Before, London was a very clean town but now it is polluted a lot because of the cars.
In 2012, it will welcome the Olympic games.
London is a beautiful town with its ancient monuments like Tower of London, Saint Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge, but it is also one of the most expensive in Europe.

Valentin Le Floch

Qantas airways is an Australian airline company, the biggest of Australia and one of the best in the world.

Qantas was founded in 1920 under the name of Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service. The company’s head office is located at the Kingsford Smith Sydney airport.

The Qantas group is also the owner of several domestic airlines companies like Qantas Link or Jetstar.

The Qantas logo represents the kangaroo, the Australian symbol. The company changed it recently when it bought the first A380, the biggest plane in the world.

In fact Qantas is the main customer of this gigantic plane along with the Emirates and Singapore airlines with 20 of these on order.

Nowadays Qantas Airways mainly flies to London, Paris, Frankfort, Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, New-York and Los Angeles which is the destination of the first Qantas A380 from Sydney.

To conclude, from the beginning, Qantas has set a high standard of safety, quality of service and advancement..

Adrien Bianchi

The NBA

The National Basketball Association was founded in 1946 in New York City. This league has 30 teams. Every team plays 82 games in the year. The season begins in October and finish in April.

There are two conferences, eastern conference and western conference. In one conference, there are three divisions and in one division there are 5 teams. 29 teams are in the United States and one in Canada (Toronto).

In the middle of the season, there is the All Star Game. It regroups the best players in the league. It’s the eastern conference against the western conference. It’s a game for show, a very beautiful game. At the end of the season, there are the play offs among the 16 best teams in the league, eight in each conference. The NBA final oppose the winners of the eastern conference and the western conference.

The most recent NBA champions are the San Antonio Spurs, who beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. So, to be NBA champions, you had to have a good team and work a lot.

Valentin Torset

This is your web space!

Each year, you will be required to give an oral presentation in class. Then you will publish a summary of your presentation here, perhaps with a small illustration.

Check out last year's Seconde's Page

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford was born in Chicago in 1942. He grew up in Illinois and attended Ripon college where he took a drama class in his junior year. After school he became a carpenter and, in 1964, he married Mary Marquadt. They moved to Los Angeles and he worked with Columbia Pictures for $150 a week playing bit parts in films. Then he went to Universal Studios and did minor television roles. In 1975 he built some cabinets for George Lucas and helped him to read Han Solo’s role in "Star Wars". It was Steven Spielberg who notice that Ford was perfect for this role, so from 1975 to 1979 he played the role of Han Solo in the first three "Star Wars" films. In 1981, 1984 and 1989 he played the role of Indiana Jones. In 1985 he received Academy Awards and Golden Globe nominations for his role in "Witness". Since 1990 he received a lot of other prizes and he played in a lot of other films but he didn’t find the sucess of "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones".

Antoine Fauvel

Image: wikipedia.org

Oxford

Oxford is an English town north-east of London, that is famous for his elitist universities. The university was built around 1167 because Henry II of England didn't want British students to study in "La Sorbonne" in Paris. There are 39 Colleges and 7 religious foundations. A college is the place where the students live,sleep and work. Christ Church College, Merton College and University College are the most popular colleges. The university has the luck to own the oldest and one of the biggest libraries in Great Britain: the Bodleian library has all the books ever published in England. It was built in 1602. It's in this library that the 2 first films of Harry Potter were shot. The prestigious university of Oxford was frequented by many celebrities like Bill Clinton, Joanne Kathleen Rowling, Lewis Carol, Margaret Thatcher, Albert Einstein, Tolkien...

Today 18,000 persons study in the University of Oxford. All subjects can be studied and that's why students from all over the world come in Oxford to stay in one of the world's most prestigious universities, and also one of the oldest and one of the most traditional.

Ghiwan Bouafir

Image: www.jevlangues.com

Hollywood

Hollywood is a district of Los Angeles situated in the north-western part of the city. It’s famed as the centre of the motion pictures industry in the United States. At first, in 1853, one house was on the site that became Hollywood, then appeared farms and fields. By 1900 there were 500 inhabitants.

In 1910 it was annexed to Los Angeles. The main road, Prospect Avenue, was renamed Hollywood Boulevard. In 1911, W.Griffith shot the movie “In Old California”. In 1913 many movie-makers took hold in Hollywood because of thehigh rent in New York. The first film totally made in Hollywood in 1914 was called “The Squaw Man”. Hollywood movie industry was born. In 1923 a promoter placed the letters “HOLLYWOOD” on the hillside.

During the 50’s commercial television stations and music recording studios began moving into Hollywood. The Hollywood Walk of Fame was created in 1958 and the first star, Joanne Woodward, was placed in 1960. The Kodak Theatre is the home of the Oscars with the Mann’s Chinese Theatre.

Valentin Pruvost

Image: www.musicweekblog.com

Andrew Roddick

Andrew Stephen Roddick was born on 30th August 1982 in Omaha, Nebraska. He started tennis when he was seven. He lived in Austin, Texas until he was 11, then moved to Boca Raton, Florida where he lived until graduating from high school in 2000. In 2001, he became the youngest player to end the year in the ATP Top 20 At Wimbledon that year, he showed his potential by taking a set from eventual winner Goran Ivanisevic. In 2004, Roddick produced the fastest serve in professionnal tennis: 155 miles por hour (250 km/h). Earlier that year, Roddick had the fastest serve in U.S. Open history: 244 km/h (152m.p.h.). At last, He won 6 world junior singles titles and 7 doubles titles In 2005, Roddick won the Humanitarian ward of the year because of his charity efforts, which included raising money for the survivors of the tsunami following 2004. He also created the Andy Roddick Foundation to help youth at-risk.

Daphné Malapert
Photo: Wikipedia

Mary Stuart

Mary Stuart, King of Scotland James V’s daughter, was born in 1542. She married at the age of 16 the future king of France, François I,I who died only two years later. After the death of his husband, Mary has to come back to Scotland for religious reasons. Mary Stuart marries in 1565 her cousin Henry Stuart but they divorce quickly. Henry Stuart angry kills Mary’s favorite and when Mary marries in 1566 James Hepburn, Henry Stuart’s killer, all Scotland is shocked and Mary has to abdicate. Mary takes refuge next to Elizabeth, her cousin. But Elizabeth knows that Mary could pretend to the English throne so she imprisons her. When Elizabeth becomes Queen and accuses Mary of a complot aiming to kill her, Mary is convicted of treason and sentenced to beheading. At the execution, the executioner was so drunk that he executed Mary in several times. 

Pierre Stievenard
Photo: www.ac-strasbourg.fr

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large discount department stores. It was incorporated by Samuel Walton in 1969, in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1970, the company was operating in five states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma and, in 1975, there were 125 stores with 7,500 employers and total sales of $340. million.

ln the 1980s, Wal-Mart became one of the most successful company in America. But this company had a lot of problems, and has been criticized by some community groups specifically for its extensive foreign product sourcing. For example 66% of the food imported by Wal-Mart into the United States comes from China. The employees are also low-payed and they can't afford health insurance. Today, Wal-Mart sells 19% of the food consumed in the United-States. This company employes more than 1,8 million people and sales 83,5 billion a year. Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world.  

Lucie Havard & Wikipedia

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan was born on 17th February 1964 in Brooklyn (New York). He began basketball at university (North Carolina), the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Assocation). In 1984 he began his professional career in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls.

He won his first NBA title in 1992 and again in 1993. But in 1993 James Jordan, his father, was killed and he wanted to stop his career. But in 1994 he came back and won three NBA titles again in 1996, 1997, and 1998. In 1998, he thought it was time to stop and he retired. But in 2001 for the love of the game, he played in the NBA again, but this time with the Washington Wizards. He did three very good seasons but in 2003 he was old and very tired so he retired for the last time.

His career shows he is the best player in NBA history. For example, he won the title of regular-season MVP (most valuable player) 5 times, the NBA Finals MVP title 6 times, and appeared at the ALL STAR GAME 11 times. Now Michael Jordan is a businessman, and is he principal owner of a team, the Charlotte Bobcats.

Valentin Torset

Tennis

Tennis is an English adaptation of the palm game. During the 19th century, Major Harrygem and Major Walter Clopton Wingfield developed the game in England where everything began in the English upper class.

The first championships at Wimbledon, in London, were played in 1877. Then, the United States National Lawn TennisAssociation was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions. Thus, Wimbledon, the U.S.Open, the French Open (now Roland Garros), and the Australian Open became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis. Together these four events are called the Grand Slam. The Davis Cup, an annual competition between national teams, dates to 1900. There are three main types of court surfaces: red clay, hard and grass - used at Wimbledon. A tennis match comprises a number of sets, typically three for both men's and women's matches, the exception being at the major events where the men play the best of five sets. So, now, tennis is one of the most played and known sports in the world. 

Victor Ducoux
& http://en.wikipedia.org

Guinness

Guinness is a dry stout made from water, barley malt, hops, and brewers yeast, that originated in Arthur Guinness's St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. It is extremely popular with the Irish and is the best-selling alcoholic drink of all time in Ireland, where Guinness & Co. makes almost €2 billion annually.

Arthur Guinness started brewing ales initially in Leixlip, then at the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin, Ireland from 1759. He signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum for the unused brewery. Ten years later in 1769 Guinness exported their product for the first time, when six and a half barrels were shipped to England.In cooking, Guinness is often used as an ingredient in cooking, typically in stews or pies.

Now available around the world, the brand is heavily associated with Ireland. The parent company has been headquartered in London since 1932 and was later merged with Grand Metropolitan plc and developed into a multi-national alcohol conglomerate named Diageo.

Jérémy Le Lay & wiki.answers.com

Image: http://www.layoutscene.com

The Beatles

The Beatles was the most popular rock band of the sixties. They were Paul McCartney (bass guitar), John Lennon (rhythmic guitar), George Harrison (solo guitar) and Ringo Starr (drums). The Beatles were from Liverpool, in the north-west of the England.

They started concerts in a Jazz club in Liverpool, "The Cavern" and became famous. Then they composed their own songs and were high in the charts. So they made concerts in all Europe and all the World. They made their last concert in San Francisco and stopped to play "old rock'n'roll" and created the "real Pop rock" and they are well-known for that. They mixed every music styles with pop (jazz, classical, indian music, folk etc).Their most famous songs are Let it be, All You Need is love, Yesterday, Across the Universe, Revolution and many others. From 1962 to 1970, they composed around two hundred songs and made 13 albums.

The Beatles separated in 1970. They influenced a lot politics and civilisation and are unfashionable.

Ghiwan Bouafir
(Photo by Robert Freeman)

A Theatrical Outing

On a rainy Monday afternoon of December, the students of 2nd European Section went with their teachers to the theatre. The goal of this expedition was "The Importance of Being Earnest", a play by Oscar Wilde which was totally played in English! All the students came out with a big smile on their faces and really enjoyed this very interesting comedy of manners.

Clément Bigot, Xavier Cueille, Maxence Racault.
(Photo http://theatre.anglais.free.fr)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks to God at the conclusion of the harvest season.

In the United States Thanksgiving is a four day weekend. Meals are traditionally family events where certain kinds of food are served, usually turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy and pumpkin pie.

The story speaks about the many people in England who were very unhappy in their country and decided to come to America. They hired a vessel, the Mayflower to take them across the sea.

They arrived in November, the weather was cold and the pilgrims had no one to help them built their houses. Fortunately, an Indian called Squanto showed them how to plant corn. In the autumn, the pilgrims found that is had grown very well, so they wanted to thank God for all his goodness and decided to have a party.

Ever since that time, thanksgiving has been kept in Canada which celebrates it on the second Monday of October and the United States on the fourth Thursday of November.

Fanny Gosse

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Travailler l'Anglais en Autonomie

Anglais en Seconde : Fiches de Conseils Méthodologiques pour vous aider à progresser, en classe et chez vous.

Hot Off The Press : A BBC activity to learn about The British press. The British are among the most avid newspaper consumers in the world. Within the British press there is a wide range of newspapers to choose from.

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