Bac Anglais 1er groupe, S1-S2-S1A-S2A-S4-S5 2024
We can observe that clubs compete aggressively to hire players. Thousands of players are actually transferred worldwide every year. Players’ characteristics are easily observed before and after they are hired, and so wages can be expected to accurately reflect player productivity. Therefore, in football, clubs usually get what they pay for. In fact, random factors such as good and bad
5 luck make this relationship much less reliable in the short term. Players are injured, and have runs of unexpectedly good and bad form. However, over time, good and bad luck tend to cancel each other out, and so you get what you pay for. There is a market for clubs too. While there is a myth of eternal fans’ loyalty, this is true only for a small minority. The more successful a team is, the more intensively fans follow it. In $2003$, Borland and
10 MacDonald conducted a survey on the demand for sports. Because relegated teams lose large numbers of fans, revenue is so closely related to league position. Poor performance on the football ground means fewer tickets sold, less merchandising, less sponsorship and broadcast income. Against this background, it is perhaps not surprising that financial ruin is a common problem in football. Significant underperformance, either in terms of performance based on wages, or of revenues based on
15 performance, will mean that a club cannot balance its budget. In the last $30$ years, there have been about $70$ cases of financial ruin involving English clubs in the top four divisions. Nevertheless, this is a pan-European problem.
UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) has introduced the system of “Financial Fair Play” to try to limit the spending of clubs. Meanwhile, it is not clear that these regulations will really benefit the fans.
20 Given that clubs never disappear, it is not clear why loss making is a problem, and there is a danger that restricting spending will just cement the power of already dominant clubs.
I. Reading comprehension
A. Based on your understanding, circle the right option for each item.
1. The title that best summarizes the text is...
a. Underperformance guides clubs'success in all teams ;
b. Sponsorship is related to player's lack of performance ;
c. Players' performance is key to club position and success in the league ;
d. Players depend on UEFA's backing to perform.
2. The terms'Borland and MacDonald', lines 9-10, refer to...
a. an undetermined company ;
b. famous fast-food company ;
c. study an research company ;
d. We cannot say based on the text.
3. The phrase 'runs of good and bad form', lines 5-6, suggests...
a. series of periods of good and bad performance by players
b. a succession of poor management decisions by clubs
c. a succession of different player injuries
d. the sports ground on which players run and play
4. The expression ''a myth of eternal fans' loyalty '', line eight, means :
a. Fans will never let their club down ;
b. Fans will eternally stop supporting their club ;
c. Fans relate their support to their club's performance ;
d. Neither a., b., nor c.
B. Find in the text an equivalent in the indicated paragraph for each given word.
5. ‘Salaries’ (Paragraph 1) : wages .............................
6. ‘Income’ (Paragraph 3) : revenue .............................
7. ‘Promoting’ (Paragraph 3) : merchandising ....................
C. Circle True or False and justify by referring to the text.
8. In all types of sports, clubs usually get what they pay for. True or False
Justification : .........................................
..............................................
9. Poor performance has no consequences on a club's position in the league. True or False
Justification :........................................
...........................................
10. The “Financial Fair Play” system only favors dominant clubs' position. True or False
Justification :............................................
.....................................................
D. Mark with a cross $(\times)$ these words or phrases that express a positive, negative, or neutral aspect. An example has been given to guide you.
$$\begin{array}{|l|l|l|l|} \hline \text{Words/Phrases}\smallsetminus\text{Aspect}&\text{Positive to the}&\text{Negative to the}&\text{Neither positive}\\ &\text{club's success}&\text{club's success}&\text{nor negative}\\ \hline \text{Example : loss-making}&&\times&\\ \hline \text{11. Relegation}&&&\\ \hline \text{12. Financial ruin}&&&\\ \hline \text{13. Player performance}&&&\\ \hline \end{array}$$
II. Linguistic competence
E. Put the verbs between parentheses in the right tense or form.
Clubs' underperformance (14 - to affect) ............ thousands of games in sports. It (15 - to be) .............. a worldwide problem for years now. It is high time international sports bodies (16 - to find ............) effective solutions to that. If the “Financial Fair Play” system were improved, many small clubs .............. (17 - to benefit) from it.
F. Rewrite the sentence, starting with the words provided ; the new sentence should reflect the original meaning and be correct.
18. There is not any benefit from restricting club expending.
No one .................................................
19. If the UEFA league does not change its regulations, small clubs won't greatly increase their performance.
Unless .................................................
.....................................................
20. “At least, hundreds of fans leave our clubs every year because of our players poor performance,” the Manager said.
The Manager ..........................................
......................................................
G. Circle to indicate the word or phrase that would make the sentence correct and meaningful.
21. Good morning Sir, (mind you / would you mind / did you mind) answering some questions about your club ?
22. Do players' salaries (reflect / reflecting / reflected) their performance on the football ground) ?
23. So, why (your team relegated / was your team relegated / relegate your team) last year ?
24. Because bad luck (fortunate / fortunately / unfortunately) occurred when three of our players were injured.
25. Are you satisfied (of/ with/ on) your club performance ?
26. Yes, (I will/ I do/ I am).
III. Writing
Choose ONE topic and write a text of about 200 words in length.
1. Topic 1 Essay : Huge amounts of money are spent by big clubs, to buy players who do not always play or meet club owners' expectations. This practice is at the detriment of small clubs. Give your opinion on the causes and consequences of this practice, then, propose some solutions.
2. Topic 2 Letter : Your club is risking relegation because of lack of finances to buy good players and fans are threatening to leave the club. Write a letter to the Mayor of your district to ask for help.
3. Topic 3 Dialogue : Your friend is a good football or basketball player who does not earn a lot of money from your local club. He/ She wants to leave the club and become professional for better wages. You do not agree, and want him/ her to stay and continue playing in your local club. Write down your conversation.
Ajouter un commentaire