Examen FP Grado Superior 2014 - Winning at any cost

To be ‘the best’ at any sport means long hours and a lot of effort. The training can be very demanding, and many coaches believe it is best to begin when you are young. But is the physical and mental cost too great? We asked three young sportspeople for their views.

Sixteen-year-old Sonia Martin believes that her swimming training made her ill: 

‘At first, entering national competitions was really enjoyable, because it gave me a real sense of achievement. But my coach, who was always shouting, told me I was fat and lazy. In fact, I practised for hours and I hardly ever ate. One day, I fainted. The doctor who treated me was really sympathetic. She said that instead of being fat, I was actually underweight and over-stressed. I got rid of my coach, and now I just swim for fun. I don't enter competitions any more—I eat normal food and have a normal life. I don’t have any regrets.

Mike Green, seventeen, is a basketball player who thinks that sport is too competitive: 

‘People are only interested in winners! No one cares about how hard you've tried or how passionate you are – if you aren't number one, you're nobody. Success is everything! I know some fifteen-year-olds who have taken illegal drugs like steroids to help them succeed. Often, young players haven't got anyone to talk to and advise them. Sportspeople usually view other sportspeople as rivals. So nobody wants to be friendly- everybody just wants to help themselves.

Brenda Jones, eighteen, worries that child stars are sometimes exploited by their families:

‘I was only twelve when I started training, but my parents wanted me to win trophies and earn money for the family. If I won, they bought glamorous clothes and expensive cars. But if I lost, they were furious, which make me feel dreadful. Once, when I had a painful fall on the ice, my parents shouted at me because I forgot to keep smiling’

So, what can we learn from these three young stars?

All have been very successful in their sports, but ultimately all have paid a high price for it. The long hours, intensive training, and highly competitive atmosphere of professional sports put young athletes under great pressure. Perhaps we should reconsider our attitude to sport. Perhaps winning isn't everything?

Des roses pour célébrer la centième Journée de la femme - FP Grado Superior 2011 - francés A2

Mardi 8 mars, c'était la Journée Internationale de la Femme. Une journée consacrée aux femmes du monde entier, pour rendre hommage à leur lutte, à leur talent et à leur travail, mais aussi pour ne pas oublier que l’égalité entre l’homme et la femme est encore loin. En 2010, au Parlement européen de Strasbourg, pour célébrer les cent ans de cette journée, une rose a été posée sur les sièges occupés par une femme députée.

Depuis la première Journée de la femme en 1910, le destin des femmes dans le monde a beaucoup évolué. Mais l'égalité avec les hommes est encore bien loin, et cent ans plus tard, ce 8 mars 2011 est l'occasion de faire un bilan sur la condition des femmes dans le monde et sur l’égalité des sexes.
En France, le droit des femmes a évolué tout au long du XXe siècle : elles ont obtenu le droit de vote en 1945 et il y a de plus en plus de femmes en politique et dans la direction des grandes entreprises. Malheureusement, ces avances ne se sont pas faites naturellement : pour parvenir à la parité entre hommes et femmes en politique et à l'égalité des salaires, des lois spécifiques ont été nécessaires.
Malgré ces avancées, des inégalités persistent dans la France de 2011. Les femmes sont toujours responsables de la majorité des tâches ménagères. Elles occupent généralement des postes moins bien payés que les hommes. Et pour un même travail, elles touchent un salaire inférieur à celui des hommes.
La situation de la femme dans le monde est pire encore. On calcule qu’une femme sur deux est victime de mauvais traitements.
Chaque année, la journée internationale de la femme est l’occasion d’une analyse particulière. En 2011, le thème central était la situation des femmes déplacées dans les zones en conflit, qui sont fréquemment victimes de violences sexuelles, de discrimination et d’intimidations.

Examen FP Grado Superior 2011 - White House goes green with solar panels

Solar panels will be installed on the White House roof a quarter of a century after they were removed by President Ronald Reagan.

A mix of different panels will be fitted in spring 2011 to generate both hot water and renewable electricity.

The move will come as a surprise to many green campaigners after the White House apparently rejected a recent request by environmentalists to install the technology.

It will be the first time since 1986 that solar panels have sat on the White House, since Reagan removed a system installed by his predecessor Jimmy Carter. In 1979 Carter held a conference on the roof, showing off the 32 panels and his desire to reduce the US’s dependence on oil.

The return of solar at the White House follows other symbolic green efforts since Obama took power, including Michelle Obama’s creation of an organic vegetable garden in the White House grounds last year.

Green campaigners have been pressing the president to reinstate solar at the White House. They have been driving around the US in a biodiesel-powered van with one of the original panels installed by Carter.

The campaigners visited the White House in September and made a symbolic demand for the old panel to be reinstalled on the roof. But the request was rejected and no plans for future solar panels were given.

Bill McKibben, who led the campaign, welcomed Obama’s decision to fit new panels: “Solar panels on one house, even this house, won’t save the climate, of course. But they’re a powerful symbol to the whole nation about where the future lies.”

To mark last month’s 10/10/10 day of mass participation climate events around the world, the president of the Maldives also decided to use solar energy. Mohamed Nasheed, whose low-lying island country is at risk from rising sea levels caused by global warming, has installed 50 panels on his presidential home.

Original article by Adam Vaughan, rewritten by Janet Hardy-Gould. guardian.co.uk/weekly/

Examen FP Grado Superior 2013 - My best holiday

I've just come back from a school trip to Russia. It was for students who are studying art or history. The day before we left I was very nervous about going to a country with a culture so different from my own.

We arrived in Moscow at lunchtime. That afternoon we went to Red Square and the Kremlin. It really brought my history lessons alive. Over the next two days we saw a lot of squares and churches. At the end of the third day we took an overnight train to St Petersburg. I only slept for about half an hour because it was really hot. We tried to open the windows, but we couldn't. The next morning we discovered that we had passed an enormous nuclear power plant and the guards had closed all the doors and windows for security reasons!

St Petersburg was even more impressive than Moscow. In the morning we visited some beautiful squares and churches and after lunch we went to the amazing Hermitage Museum. The next day, our last day, in the morning there was snow everywhere and the sky was blue. I think it was the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. We all had a snowball fight in a park – it was brilliant fun.

I loved the trip because I saw some brilliant sights, I discovered a new culture and now I feel closer than before to my classmates.