French 335 - About the Mid-term - Fall 2001

    The mid-term comprises two parts: a vocabulary test (15 minutes) and the main part of the exam. You may use a dictionary or any notes for the main exam (90 minutes), but not for the vocabulary test.

Vocabulary

    You will be tested on vocabulary found in the web pages you have visited since the beginning of term (lessons 1-5).  Words will be chosen especially for their usefulness and frequency, so from the page on "La paille au moyen-âge" you will be expected to recognize words and expressions like jonchés de paille, démission, pêle-mêle or faire don à, but not words like prébende or feurre.

    The words will be presented in context.  Two question formats will be used, as follows:

    (a) Translate the missing words or phrases:  Les planchers des appartements étaient jonchés de paille.  The appartment _______ were ________________.

    (b) Circle the best choice: Les jeunes élèves étaient couchés pêle-mêle aux pieds des professeurs). (any old how - pleased with themselves - like spades).

Main Exam

Divided into three parts.

(1) You will be given two or three texts to read and understand, then will be asked comprehension questions about them. Here is a short simple example:

Text 1: Au pays des couleuvres.
Près du village de Narcisse, à 150 km au nord de Winnipeg, le Manitoba sort de son hiver rigoureux. Le grand rassemblement des couleuvres y a commencé. Il durera de trois semaines à un mois entre avril et mai. Les mâles sont les premiers à apparaître, suivis par les femelles qu'ils assaillent immédiatement en formant autour d'elles des "boules d'accouplement". Aussitôt fécondée, la femelle part en quête d'un terrain de chasse pour l'été.

Translate:

  1. "le Manitoba sort de son hiver rigoureux"
  2. "aussitôt fécondée ".

True, false or undecidable (i.e. the text doesn't say):

  1. The name of the village, Narcisse, was chosen because of the snakes.
  2. Male snakes arrive before female snakes.
  3. After coupling, females are chased away..

Answer the following questions:

  1. Explain in one sentence for what Narcisse is well-known.

(2) You will be given sentences to understand which incorporate the content of the "Tips and Tricks" pages you have studied. For example, you might be given a sentence such as "Il s'impatientait, se plaignait comme si on l'eût oublié." and asked either to translate it or to choose the best among two or three possible translations (as if one wanted to forget him - as if people had forgotten about him - as if he were forgotten).

(3) You will be asked simple grammatical questions based on the Tips and Tricks pages you have studied. For example:

  1. Which of the following words is not a verb: viendrait, pensait, croix, veux?
  2. What is the subject of the first sentence in Text 1?

(4) You will be tested on the False friends studied so far, using a multiple choice format similar to that used in the exercises. False friends may also be found in the texts in part 1, so be alert.