Sujet Anglais LV2 - Bac STMG 2017 Polynésie

Document 1

WHEN A GIANT ROAMED THE EARTH. Muhammad Ali was a colossus of sports and culture.

Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, died in Phoenix on June 3 at age 74 of respiratory illness and complications related to Parkinson's disease. Some kings wear crowns. The Greatest simply wore a heavyweight championship belt.

Few athletes have been as dominant in their chosen sport: Ali was a three-time heavyweight champ whose career spanned three decades. [...]

Boxing was his occupation, but Ali was a colossus of culture. He was by far the most charismatic athlete of the 20th century [...]. He was undaunted1 by the stature of his opponents or by the divisive racial years during which he entered his prime. At a time when leaders of the civil rights movement were marching peacefully, locking arms2 and singing "We Shall Overcome”, Ali was standing defiantly over the prone figures of boxers he’d dispatched and unapologetically proclaiming, “I am the Greatest of all time!”

He was introduced to America during those 1960 Summer Olympics, [...] a time when athletic vainglory was intensely frowned upon3, particularly if it emanated from a "Negro" athlete. Ali repeatedly declared that he was pretty - and he was. He said he was gonna "whup"4 whomever he fought – he did. As early as 1964, before his first heavyweight title bout, versus Sonny Liston, he proclaimed himself "the Greatest.” And he was. [...]

But Ali's final opponent was Parkinson's. He was diagnosed in 1984, and it slowly and cruelly robbed him of his physical abilities and later his ability to speak. In these last 32 years, though, Ali became, as The New York Times called him a "secular saint," an international ambassador of good will. [...]

Ali's legacy transcends every sport, every geopolitical border and every language. He was a creature immune to self-doubt and a fighter who seemed to embrace or at least enthrall5, every person he met. Immediately after knocking out Liston in February of 1964 to win his first heavyweight title, Ali stepped to a microphone in the ring and repeatedly declared, "l shook up the world!"

That he did. And a world that needed shaking is in his debt.

by John WALTERS, Newsweek, June 17, 2016

1 not afraid

2 joining arms

3 disapproved of

4 to beat

5 to make someone very interested

Document 2

Looking back at the time Muhammad Ali refused the draft1 in Houston

On April 28,1967, Muhammad Ali made headlines for refusing to be drafted into the U.S. Army on the grounds of being a conscientious objector, and it all happened here in Houston. It would set off a chain of events that wouldn't cease until a 1971 Supreme Court decision reversed his conviction.

Ali went before military induction officials inside Houston's Military Entrance Processing Station building off San Jacinto and refused to step forward for induction when his name was called. He was later arrested. [...]

Ali's boxing career spiraled out of control after his arrest, with the New York State Athletic Commission suspending his boxing license and the World Boxing Association stripping him of his world heavyweight title. This banned him from boxing in the United States.

Ali had long been an opponent of the Vietnam War, and had fought being eligible for the military draft for some time. He spelled out his reasoning in a terse public statement. A week before the incident in Houston, he told reporters in Louisville, Ky., that he planned to not accept induction in military service.

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" Ali asked.

"I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong," went his famous quote.

On June 20, 1967, Ali was tried, convicted and sentenced in a Houston court to five years in prison for refusing to serve in the military and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for draft evasion. His lawyers then appealed the court's decision, which was denied in May 1968. He returned to boxing in 1970 while his case was on appeal.

The case found its way to the Supreme Court in June 1971, where his conviction was overturned.

by Craig Hlavaty, June 4, 2016

http://www.chron.com

1 military service

Document 3

Employees of Joe's Pizza build a makeshift memorial to the late boxer Muhammad Ali.

June, 2016.

http://image.google.fr

I. COMPRÉHENSION (10 points)

1. DOCUMENT 1, DOCUMENT 2 and DOCUMENT 3

Which description corresponds best to the three documents?

a. Death of a superstar

b. Parkinson’s disease

c. Muhammad Ali as a unique person

2. DOCUMENT 1

Find the events in Muhammad Ali’s life which correspond to each date.

Copy and complete the table.

3. DOCUMENT 1

The following sentences are true. Justify by quoting the text.

a) Muhammad Ali was supremely confident as a boxer.

b) Muhammad Ali’s career lasted a long time.

c) Muhammad Ali was a worldwide hero.

4. DOCUMENT 1

Copy the three most appropriate adjectives from the list to give the author’s opinion of Muhammad Ali.

heroic / charismatic / unpopular / intellectual / exceptional

5. DOCUMENT 2

What did Muhammad Ali decide in 1967? Answer in your own words. (1 sentence)

6. DOCUMENT 2

How did Muhammad Ali justify his decision? (30 words)

7. DOCUMENT 2

What sanctions were imposed on Muhammad Ali by

a) sports federations? Give at least 2 examples.

b) the American justice system? Give at least 2 examples.

8. DOCUMENT 1, DOCUMENT 2 and DOCUMENT 3

Compare and contrast the three visions of Muhammad Ali. (60 words)

II. EXPRESSION (10 points)

Afin de respecter l’anonymat de votre copie, vous ne devez pas signer votre composition, citer votre nom, celui d’un camarade ou celui de votre établissement.

Vous traiterez les DEUX sujets.

1. Look at document 3. How would you commemorate the death of a famous person? (80 words)

ET

2. Describe a person who is a role model for you. Explain why. (120 words)