Sujet 1 ♦ 5 10 15 20 25 30 Sujet national, septembre 2005, série L, LVI When Mel approached us...

« Sujet 1 ♦ 5 10 15 20 25 30 Sujet national, septembre 2005, série L, LVI When Mel approached us at the airport, we heard a faint rattling 1 : a ring full of gold and silver keys hanging from his belt.

With each step Mel took, the ring swung and rattled by his sicle.

The keys were new to him.

Mel was tall and thin, but the ring looked fat, important.

Mel caught the ring and pushed it into his pocket.

This silenced the keys for a moment.

He shook everyone's hand - including mine - and laughing nervously said, "Welcome to America." He then waved his hand in the air and when I followed it with my eyes, I saw a poster of a man and a woman at the beach, lying on striped towels, sunning themselves between two tail paim trees.

Above the paim trees were large block letters that looked like they were on fire: SUNNY SAN DIEGO.

The man was lying on his stomach, his face buried in his folded arms.

The woman was lying on her back, with one leg clown and the other leg up, bent at the knee.

[...] After Mel and his mother took us to the room in Mel's house where Ba, the four uncles and I would ail be sleeping, they wished us goodnight and left us aione, closing the door quietly behind them. They stood in the hailway and we could hear them taiking.

Even without understanding a word of what they were saying, the tone of their voices troubled us.

Had we been able to understand, we might have heard the following: "I feel like I've inherited a boatload of people 2 • I mean, I've been living here aione and now I've got five men I've never met before, and what about that little girl?" "Dear, you know your father wanted them here." "Here in America, sure, but not here with me." "Well, it's worked out that way.

If your father were here -" The woman started to cry. 'Tm sorry, Mother.

I'm so sorry." We heard their footsteps move clown the hailway toward the living room. Inside the bedroom, we ail remained quiet in our places.

Ba was standing with his back against the door.

The four men were sitting on the two bunk beds and I was sitting on the double bed, my knees pulled up near my chest.

One of the uncles took a deep breath and lay clown on the bed. He was still wearing his shoes and let his feet hang off the edge of the bed so he wouldn't get the covers dirty. Ba stepped forward and explained to the four men and me that Mel had bought our way into the United States.

He said that Mel was a good man.

We heard without reaily listening.

We nodded. Ba said that Mel had let the people at the airport gates know that it was OK for us to be here.

"If 1. 2. rattling: series of short regular knocking sounds. In the late seventies and early eighties, thousands of Vietnamese fled their country by boat and found temporary refuge in neighbouring countries. it wasn't for him," Ba said, "they would have sent us back the way we came." 35 40 We each thought of these long nights floating on the ocean, rocking back and forth in the rniddle of nowhere with nothing in sight.

We remembered the ships that kept their distance.

We remembered the people leaning over the decks of the ships to study us through their binoculars and not liking what they saw, turning away from our boat.

If it was true that this man Mel would keep us from floating back there - to those salt-filled nights - what could we do but thank him? And then thank him again.

Only why did it seem from the tones of the voices in the hallway as if something was wrong? Ba said that we had to be patient. Two of the uncles nodded.

One closed his eyes.

One lay down and turned toward the wall.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and studied my bare feet.

They were very clean; not a speck of sand or salt on them. 45 Ba said whatever we might came to think of Mel, we should always remember that he opened a door for us and that this was an important thing to remember. Lê Thi Diem Thuy, The gangster we are ail /ooking for, 2004 . Compréhension 1• Where exactly does the scene take place at the beginning of the text? 2.

Where do the characters go from there? 3.

a) Who do the following underlined words refer to? "They wished us good night" (1.

12). "fve got five men I've never met before, what about that little girl?" (1.

16) b) Among the characters mentioned above, who are the refugees? 4.

What exactly has been arranged for the night? (20-30 words) 5.

"Had we been able to understand, we might have heard the following...

" What does the first part of the sentence imply? 6.

In your own words, say how Mel feels about the presence of the refugees.

(30-40 words) 7.

Give two quotations showing the effect of the conversation from "I feel like...

" (1.

16) to 'Tm so sorry" (1.

22) on the refugees. 8.

Describe Bàs attitude.

What role does he try to play in the group? (20-30 words) 9.

a) In your own words, explain why Mel is said to be "a good man" (2 elements). b) What image does Ba use at the end of the text to refer to Mel's role? c) What element in the first paragraph announces this image? 1O.

Focus on the memories Bàs words bring back to the narrator's mind.

Describe the situation the refugees had to face and the reactions they were confronted with.

(40-50 words) 11.

Read from "Ifit was true ...

" (1..... »