While in France, thousands of middle school students continue to revise, abroad, the subjects of French, maths, science and history-geography-EMC have already been distributed. Enough to help other candidates in their revisions.
The kickoff is on for the 2024 session of the college certificate. The tests began abroad, notably in examination centers in North America. In France, third grade students still have a little respite, because their first tests, in French and mathematics, take place in a few weeks, on July 1, 2024. The next day, July 2, is devoted to history, geography and moral and civic education, then sciences and modern foreign languages.
For thousands of middle school students, this is their first official exam before entering high school. A step that can make more than one student stressed who is already betting on the subjects that could potentially have. This is where subjects from other academies come in handy. Candidates can use it to practice and also identify the concepts that have been requested. On the other hand, we must keep in mind that it will probably not be the same ones who will fall in France.
This year, French students in North America worked on various subjects. In Frenchthe first part “Comprehension and interpretation skills, Grammar and linguistic skills” focused on an extract of text from the work Wood’stown (1873) by Alphonse Daudet as well as a related image of “Liuzhou Forest City”: a forest city in China designed by architect Stefano Boen in the 21st century. For the writing test, the students had the choice between an imagination subject (“Imagine a sequel to this text, highlighting the role of the forest. Like Alphonse Daudet, you will write your text in the third person singular and in past tenses”) and a subject for reflection: “Can art bring us closer to nature?” As for the dictation, it also focused on an extract from Alphonse Daudet, Wood’stown. For the mathematics test, middle school students in North America had five exercises to complete. Several concepts were used, including: problem solving, literal expressions, calculating volumes, fractions and variables.
For the subjects ofhistory-geography-EMC, in the first exercise, the theme was “A bipolar world during the Cold War”. The candidates had to answer six questions by analyzing a text bringing together testimonies on the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, as well as a press cartoon on German reconciliation in 1990, published in The worldFebruary 2, 1990. In the second exercise, the students were questioned on “French overseas territories, a specific problem”, with a constructed development of around twenty lines, as well as a map and its legend at complete.
For the third exercise, dedicated to moral and civic education, the theme addressed was “Universal National Service and Commitment”. The candidates had to answer questions relating to two documents: a testimonial article “Universal National Service. Feedback in the Pyrénées-Orientales”, and illustrated extracts from the 2023 SNU leaflet.
As for the science test, French middle school students from North America were graded in physics and chemistry on the elements present in a smartphone. There were a series of questions covering the carbon footprint of a device, atoms, forms of energy and problem solving. For the life and earth sciences part, the theme of the test was the “Reconstitution of elephant-birds of Madagascar, now extinct”, with several documents to analyze, and at the very end, the students were given a MCQ to complete.