NDA EURO - Première 2009-2010

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Revision Links | FCE online training resources | Best of Pupils' Websites

Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy was born in 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. When he began, we was only a song writer but the songs he wrote and sold soon became such a success that he was able to found his own label with the money he earned. So he created it on January 12th 1959 and named it Tamla records. He produced Marv Johnson's first hit. He had many songs that he wrote and sold at the top of the charts. For example, The Miracles' first hit "Shop Around" was first on the R'n'B charts and second on the billboard charts in 1960. We can notice that Berry Gordy was Afro American and mainly produced for Afro American artists. He really cared about their images and controlled everything from the clothes they wore to what they said. Later on, Tamla records changed to be Motown records and then, it merged with Universal to become Universal Motown.

Jessica Coupez. Image

 

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino is a famous American director, producer, actor, cinematographer and screenwriter who was born on 27th March 1963 in Knoxville, USA.

In the beginning, Tarantino attended acting school at the James Best Theatre Company. At the same time, he started to work in a video rental store where he developed an amazing cinematographic culture. During this time, he began to write and sell screenplays such as True Romance which gained him enough money to produce and direct the film “Reservoir Dogs”.

 In 1993, he wrote and directed his next feature, “Pulp Fiction”, which was acclaimed by the critics. After the film's success, Tarantino was everywhere. In 1997, he directed “Jackie Brown”, an adaptation of a novel about blaxploitation. Then he wrote and directed “Kill Bill”. In 2005, Rodriguez and Tarantino joined their force for the Grindhouse project: Quentin’s contribution was “Death Proof”.

Recently, he released “Inglorious Basterds” which went on to become Tarantino's best success in the whole world. Today, Tarantino is considered as one of the best directors of his generation.

Camille Benhammadi

 

John F Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in 1917 in a rich family of Irish immigrants. His father probably gave him his passion for politics. John was a brilliant student who graduated from Harvard with honour in 1940.

He went into politics in 1946 and became a member of the democratic party. He was noticed in politics by his courage and his tenacity. At 35 he became senator of Massachusetts. In 1953, he married Jacqueline Bouvier: this event provided the admiration among all America. In 1960, at the age of 43, the young senator becomes the 35th president of the United States of America against the republican candidate Richard Nixon. In domestic policy, he fought for racial equality and against poverty. He backed the Apollo program.

But in 1963, after only three years of presidency, he was killed in front of millions of people in Dallas.

Charles Granger

 

The Island

The story takes place in 2019, in a strange community underground. The air on the whole world is infected, except one place called "the Island", a paradise.

Everyday, a lottery allows somebody to go there. One day, Lincoln makes a friend who doesn't live in the community and starts worrying about it. He wants to speak with him but instead he finds a secret way to get out and discovers that the air isn't infected. When he goes back, he sees the last winner of the lottery trying to escape from scientists. Lincoln explains everything to Jordan, his best friend, before leaving together. They don't know why Merrick (the director) hasn't told them the truth.

Later on, they discover that wealthy patients paid Merrick to make clones of themselves and use them as organs. Now they have to find a way to stop him. At the end, they manage to kill him and set the clones free.

Erik Beuvelet

 

The Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the South eastern United States. Linguistically, they are connected to speakers of the Iroquoian-language family. In the 19th century, their oral tradition told of their having migrated south from the Great Lakes region in ancient times.

The Cherokee refer to themselves as "Tsalagi", which means "Principal People." In the 19th century, the Cherokees were known as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes", because they had assimilated numerous cultural and technological practices of European-American settlers.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, with more than 300,000 members, today they are the largest of the 563 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States. Cherokee people have lived in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee for a far longer period of time. During the late Archaic and Woodland Period, Indians in the region began to cultivate plants such as marsh elder, lambsquarters, pigweed, sunflowers and some native squash.

Wikipedia, chosen by Tahchee Lordet

 

McDonald's

McDonald's is the world’s largest chain of fast food restaurants. With 31 thousands restaurants worldwide, it is an evidence of the American influence upon the different societies.

The two brothers McDonald, Dick and Maurice, founded the McDonald's Corporation on May the 15th 1940. As the brothers are now dead, the company is currently owned by shareholders. The firm employs 400.00 people, the turnover is about 23 million dollars, and the restaurants serve nearly 47 million customers daily. The restaurant now offers a “McDrive”, a “McCafé” and a “McDelivery” (which doesn’t exist yet in France).

But despite its obvious advantages, McDonald's is center of many controversies: the rise of obesity in America is somehow attributed to its too rich food, and the major problem is an environmental one: the numerous packages needed are strongly against ecology. In response, McDonald is involved in an anti-pollution fight, and created in 1994 a charity in order to help hospitalized children: the Ronald McDonald Foundation.

Tiphaine Rapicault. Image

 

The US Open is one of the four tennis tournaments of the Grand Slam. This championship is competed since 1881, but there were some changes, about the surface and the venue of the tournament. Now, it takes place in New York on concrete.

Most of the winners were American. There were for example Pete Sampras or John McEnroe and of course Roger Federer! Every year, there are 7 Masters series before the US Open (Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Montreal...), so the players can prepare themselves. This tournament is very important for them and all the matches are very interesting and competitive. But since 1881, only two French men have won the US Open; they were René Lacoste and Henri Cochet. This year, Juan Martin Del Potro won against roger Federer,it was very unexpected.

Lise Terriac. image source

 

Avatar

James Cameron the oscar winning director of Titanic first conceived the film Avatar fifteen years ago when the means to realise it did not exist yet. It is a 3D film. It provides the illusion of depth perception.

Sam Worthington plays Jake and Zoë Saldana is Neytiri. The film take place on another planet called Pandora. The inhabitants of Pandora are the Na'vi. On this planet there is a mineral that could solve the Earth energy crisis. Because of Pandora's lethal air, the humans are forced to create avatars. Jake Sully is one of the men who will control avatars. He is saved by a beautiful Na'vi female: Neytiri. Then she teaches him how to survive in Pandora. They fall in love with each other. At the end of the film Jake Sully has to choose between humans and the Na'vi in the epic battle that closes the film.

Laure-Elise Dumergue. Image

 

James Mandrake

James Mandrake was a British robber. He was one of the greatest thieves around the world. He wasn’t really famous in spite of the amount of money and jewels he stole.

James Mandrake was born in 1698 in London. His parents were shopkeepers. His most famous theft was in British Jewellery, the biggest jewellers in London; he apparently took more than an equivalent of a million pounds.

He married Jenny Brown but had no children. In 1732, Jenny died from health problems, although she was rather young. He committed suicide a year later but we don’t really know why.

Before dying he wrote some notes where he told everything that we know; his famous robberies mainly. The person who found the notes publicized them but the king George II forbade the publication. Now it appears to be impossible to steal so much money because of new technologies.

Hippolyte Heuberger

 

Marks and Spencers

In 1884, Micheal Marks created a general store in Leeds called "Penny Bazaar". His motto was "Don't ask for the price, it's a penny!" He had the brilliant idea to sell quality articles cheaply. Ten years later, Marks extended his company with Thomas Spencer. At that time, Marks and Spencer was born.

Today, Stuart Rose manages it. Their principles are: quality, value, service, trust and innovation. An example of innovation: in 2004, they were the first company to create steam cooked microwave potatoes. In the 70s, they exported their stores to France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. They have 295 stores in 41 territories.

In 1997, they were the first retailer to earn over 1 billion pounds. There are 600 stores in the UK: the largest one is at Marble Arch on London's Oxford Street.

Marie Peschard. Image

 

Step Up

Step Up is an American dance romance film, directed by anne Fletcher realized on August 19th 2006.

The two main characters are Nora Clark a modern dancer (played by Jenna Dewan) and Tyler Gage a disadvantaged man (played by Channing Tatum). Following a party, Mac and Skinny Carter and their friend Tyler Gage break into the Maryland School of Arts and damage many of the props in the school's theatre. When a security guard appears, Tyler helps the others to escape and accepts the blame. He is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, which he has to serve at the school. While working, he watches a dance class and meets Nora Clark, a student preparing for her "senior showcase." At the end of the year, the performance could determine if she gets a job with a dance company.

After many events Nora and Tyler decide to dance together. Thanks to their performance at the showcase Tyler is accepted at the school, and Nora integrates a dance company. 

Marie Huchon and Wikipedia

 

Mika

Mika, real name Michael Penniman, was born in 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon. He lived there one year before going to live in Paris for 9 years, and moved again to London. Mika had some difficulties at school, because the children rejected him, thinking he was weird. He refused to speak and learn to read or write, and at the age of 10, he began the piano and singing lessons. It's with music that Mika can explain his thoughts and emotions.

His first album "Life in Cartoon Motions" was released in February 2007, and he became famous with his first single "Relax!” He is compared to many artists like Freddie Mercury, Robbie Williams, and David Bowie. Mika has some problems about his sexuality, because many people think he is homosexual, but he always says that he doesn't see why this question is so important for his musical career...!

In September 2009, he released his second album, "The boy who knew too much". Today, Mika is one of the most famous singers in the world.

Sacha Pichol. Image

 

The Inuit

The Inuit (meaning "the people") are a group of 150,000 indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic coasts of Siberia, Alaska, Quebec, Labrador and Greenland. The Inuit crossed the Bering Strait from Asia about 10,000 years.

They were hunters and fishermen. They hunted sea animals from a covered seal-skin boat called"qajaq". On land, the Inuit used dog sleighs for transportation. They made clothes and footwear from animal skins, using needles made from animal bones and thread made from animal products.

The arrival of Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in mass death from new diseases and social disruptions. The Inuit, a once self-sufficient people in an extremely harsh environment, were quickly transformed into a small minority without resources, dependent on white people for day to day survival.

Bridges Anglais 1eres, chosen by Maxence Puton

 

Microsoft was created on April 4th 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. At the beginning, these two men wanted to put “one computer on each desk and in each house”.

In 1981 Microsoft Corporation launched MS-DOS which was the first Operating System of this company. Then they launched Windows 95 in autumn 1995 which allowed Microsoft to be the best of Operating Systems for personal computers. This OS was a big success: two years after its release it was the world’s best selling of the year.

In 2001, a new operating system appeared: Windows XP which is a family of multithreaded operating system. Windows XP was replaced by Windows Vista on October, 30th 2007. Windows XP selling was stopped on June, 30th 2008.
Windows Vista is considered one of the most calamitous versions of Windows. Microsoft is already preparing a new version three years later to try to repair the damages; this new version is Windows 7.

On June 27th 2008 Bill Gates left the company.

Nicolas Anjoran

 

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This is your web space!

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

Check it out!

Last year's Première's Page

 

 

 

“Slumdog Millionaire” is a British adaptation of Vikas Swarup’s Indian novel . It’s the story of a young man, Jamal Malik. For a long time, Jamal is in love with Latika, an orphan like him. They were separated and to find her, Jamal appears in the game “Who wants to be a millionaire?” because he knew that Latika looked at this broadcast.

He arrives until the answer at 20,000 rupees when it’s the end of the issue. He was arrested because the presenter said he had cheated. He explains that in every question he had striking memories of his life which allowed him to answer correctly. All these explanations convinced the inspector of his innocence. At the last question, he ignored the answer and used the “call to a friend”. It was Latika. She didn’t know either. Then he gave an answer by chance and it was good! He laughed at the money and looked only for love; and he won everything.

This film won 8 Oscars, 4 Golden globes and 7 Baftas.

Marion Pinsard. Image IMDb

 

The Twin Towers

The Twin Towers were a very famous symbol of the United States of America. They were part of the World Trade Center which is the most important place of trade in the USA; it was on Manhattan Island in New York.

The Twin Towers were designed by Minoru Yamasaki who is an American architect and a Japanese immigrant. The Twin Towers consisted in offices and a restaurant called Windows on the World, which opened in 1976. The towers were inaugurated in April 1973: they were 416 meters high, with 110 floors and 99 elevators. There were a fire in February 1975, a suicide bomb in February 1993, and finally on 11 September 2001, Al-Qaeda affiliated hijackers flew a jet into each tower and it destroyed them and everything around.

2,750 people died and the Americans felt helpless but they decided to build another tower on the World Trade Center site.

Benjamin Capovilla. Image

 

The history of Coca Cola

On May 8th 1886 John Styth Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, tried to find a new original syrup. He mixed extract of nut of Kola, sugar, caffeine, leaves of coca and some other plant extracts. His accountant Mr. Robinson baptized the drink "Coca-Cola" and drew the first graphics which are always used today.

Then the drink was put on sale in the "soda-fountain" of Jacob's Pharmacy. The waiters diluted the syrup with some ice-cold water. One of them had the idea to use some sparkling water instead and the consumers appreciated the formula even more. Coca-Cola was born.

On May 29th 1886 the first advertisement was published in the "The Atlanta Journal". Afterwards, the "Soda-fountain" became also a café, a tea-room, a pharmacy and candy store. They started seling the Cola at the price of 5cts.

Justine Mitri. Image

 

Sir Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was a British politician. He was famous because he was the Prime Minister during the Second World War.

He was born on 30th November 1874. He joined the British army in February 1895. He went to India, the Sudan, Greece, South Africa and Pakistan. In 1911 he became First Lord of the Admiralty. During the First World War he took part in the Gallipoli battle against the Ottoman Empire, but it was a great defeat and then he had to leave the war cabinet.

In 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister. The Second World War ended and he was defeated in the 1945 election. In 1951 he was re-elected Prime Minister. However in 1955 he had to retire because of health problems. He died on 24th September 1965.

Hippolyte Heuberger 

 

Samantha Davies

Samantha Davies was born in 1975 in Great Britain. She had a happy childhood. Her parents loved the sea and her grandfather was a submarine commander in the British navy. The little girl who dreamed of being a ballerina quickly became an accomplished sportswoman with the bonus of a good education. She graduated with a master in mechanical engineering.

Samantha Davies now lives and trains in Britanny, France. She has an impressive nautical record. She’s a specialist in the Figaro Class and she finished third in the last Vendee Globe with the monohull Roxy (two times winner of the Vendee globe with Vincent Rioux and Michel Desjoyeaux under the colours of PRB). I admire her because she’s a great sailor, a clever woman who didn’t sacrifice her feminity.

Laure-Elise Dumergue. Image source

 

Pupils' Websites 2009
Fanny	Looney Tunes
Richard	Guild Wars 2
Lucie	Bollywood
Maxence	Dr House
Clément	Cinema
Antoine	Colorado
Céline	Cooking
Quentin	King of Pizzas
Anne	Jane Austen
Victor	Xtrem Sports
Ghiwan	Nigel Kennedy
Jérémy	Counter Strike
Alexis	Guild Wars
Claire-Elisabeth	Skiing
Dimitri	Rock 'n' Roll
Xavier	Japanese Lessons
Daphné	Chocolate
Valentin P	Walt Disney
Valentin T	NBA
Audrey	Girls' Website
Julien	American Football
François	Legends
Solène	Vancouver
Mary	Visiting Toronto
Clémence	Be a Yogi
Théo	Jazz
Timour	USSR
Valentin LF	Barak Obama
Luc	Ireland

 

 

Dreamweaver CS3 (v.9)

It's the name of the web development tool you will be using to design and create web sites this year.

 

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Get into training now with these interactive online FCE tests!

• Prepare the oral exam by watching these video clips on YouTube (5 or 6 clips)
• The Interactive FCE Trainer
• Flo-Joe Writing Class
• ExamEnglish Use of English
• ExamEnglish Listening Test
• EnglishJet Use of English Test
• Pass First Certificate
  (free software download)

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Revision

 

S'entraîner à la compréhension orale (1)
S'entraîner à la compréhension orale (2)
with www.elllo.org

English Karaoke - wide choice of songs

Become a fan of Flo-Joe for FCE on Facebook - Daily links to bite-sized learning chunks, including vocabulary, grammar and Writing tasks. Great practice for the real thing!

 

 

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