That day it was cool and rainy. Anna decided that she had to buy shoes. We were going to a hotel in the Catskill Mountains and she needed a pair of summer shoes. We had a neighbor who had a daughter of fifteen. This girl loved our little Natasha. Her name was Dorothy. Anna had complete confidence in Dorothy, and she left Natasha with her. Because of Anna's lack of English, I accompanied her. She would never enter a store without buying something, so as not to disappoint the merchant. But when it comes to footwear one cannot be too considerate. I was supposed to see to it that she didn't buy shoes that would be too tight or a pair that the salesman wanted to get rid of. We lived on Second Avenue and Eighteenth Street, which was then considered uptown, and many wealthy people had moved into this neighborhood. By this time I had become a dental technician. It was a new profession in America, and it paid well. There were many shoe stores on the avenue and we window‑shopped, passing from one to the other. After a while I tired of the whole business. I had a laboratory in my apartment and I wanted to return to my work. Anna had already bought socks and panties for the baby, and she gave them to me, saying, "If I don't find the shoes I want, perhaps I will try Fifth Avenue."
Those were her last words to me. That was the last time I saw her. Many hours later, I informed the police. It was evening. The Irish policeman considered the whole affair a joke and he advised me to wait until later that night, or until the next morning. About one o'clock I returned to the station, and the policeman on the night shift suggested that my wife was probably visiting her boyfriend. Just the same, he wrote down everything and told me to come the next day if she had not returned. I went back for days and weeks. Anna had disappeared like a stone in the water. People came up with the theories you would expect. Perhaps she had a clandestine lover. Perhaps she had found her lost fiancé, Vladimir Machtei, and the old love had rekindled. Perhaps she had decided to return to Russia and throw a bomb at the czar. From the police I had learned that not only men ran away in America but women as well. But none of the cases about which I heard compared to mine. Anna had no lovers. The baby was dear to her. If Vladimir Machtei wanted to know Anna's whereabouts, he could have written to her grandparents. In all the years we had been in America, he never showed a sign of life. Deep inside me, I knew the tragic and unbelievable truth: that Anna was by nature or fate ‑ call it as you like ‑ a person born to lose and to be lost. She lost her money, her possessions, her fiancé She might have lost the child, too if she had not got lost herself. I say "deep in me" because my reason would never accept anything so irrational. What does it mean? How can a thing become nothing? The Pyramids have stood in place for six thousand years, and unless there is an unusual earthquake, they may last for another six thousand ‑ or sixty thousand. In the British Museum and here in the Metropolitan, you find mummies and artifacts that have endured for many centuries. If matter can turn to nothing, all of nature is a nightmare. This is what my logic dictates to me.
A Crown of Feathers, Isaac Bashevis Singer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc. 1970)

COMPREHENSION
I ‑ Who's who? Complete the following grid when possible. If the answer is not in the text, put a cross (X) in the corresponding box: (2.5 pts)
ATTENTION : Les colonnes 2 et 3 ont été supprimées (incorrigeables)
Names	How they are related to each other	
Anna	the narrator's wife	
Natasha	Anna's daughter (baby, child)	
Dorothy	Natasha's neighbor (baby sitter)	
Vladimir Machtei	Anna's lost fiancé (ex-boy friend, former lover)	
the narrator	Natasha's father	
II ‑ What sort of social background do the main characters belong to? Justify your answer with 3 elements from the text (indicate the lines): (5 pts)
They must be well off people 
1) (line 10)  uptown
2) (line 10-11.)  many wealthy people had moved
3) (line 12 .)  it paid well
III ‑ In what city does the story take place ? Justify your answer with two elements from the text (indicate the lines): 2.5 pts
1) ‑ the city is: New York City
2) ‑ first element:  line 17 Second Avenue + eighteenth street
3) ‑ second element:  (l 40) the metropolitan
IV ‑ Why didn't Anna go shopping alone on that particular day? Find three reasons by quoting from the text: 3 pts
1) (line 5 ) because of her lack of English
2) (line. 6-7)  when it comes to footwear one cannot be too considerate
3)(line. 8-9) she did not buy shoes that would be too tight / to get rid of
V ‑ Why did the narrator go to the police station? (20 words) (2pts)
 To inform the police that his wife had disappeared
VI ‑ What was the conclusion of the policeman who was on duty? (20 words)  (2 pts)
 …that she was probably visiting her boyfriend
VII ‑ Give two examples of what other people thought might have happened. (2 pts)
1)  perhaps she had found her lost fiancé
2)  perhaps she had decided to return to Russia and throw a bomb at the czar
VIII ‑ What is the narrator's own interpretation of the facts? (2pts)
 … his wife’s fate was to lose and to get lost
 	
IX ‑ In the last lines what is the narrator's state of mind? Tick  the right answer and justify by quoting two elements from the text (indicate the lines): (3 pts)
 puzzled 	 happy 	 indifferent 	 depressed 	 relieved
a) (line 36-37)  because my reason would never accept anything so irrational
b) (line 37)  What does it mean?
c) (line 37)  How can a thing become nothing?
X ‑ Explain why the author mentions the Pyramids (30 words):
 The Pyramids are ancient and symbolize duration/eternity. He does not understand how Anna can have vanished into thin air and become “nothing” when the Pyramids endure.
XI ‑ Explain the following expressions in your own words: (4 pts)
1) the old love had rekindled (line 27) They had fallen in love again
2) wanted to know Anna's whereabouts (line 31) He wanted to know where Anna was
COMPETENCE LINGUISTIQUE 
I ‑ Classify the following words according to the stressed syllable in each of them: (5,5 pts)
confidence / accompanied / disappoint / neighborhood / profession /laboratory /
business / apartment / unbelievable / possessions / centuries.
words stressed on the first syllable	 words stressed on the second syllable 	words stressed on the third syllable	
Confidence	Accompanied	unbelievable	
Disappoint *	Profession	Disappoint *	
Neighborhood	Laboratory *		
Business	Apartment		
Centuries	possession		
Laboratory *			
II ‑ What does "would" refer to in each of these sentences? Put a cross in the appropriate column: (4 pts)
Sentences from the text	Future in the past 	Typical behavior 	Willingness	
she would never enter a store (1. 6)		X		
shoes that would be too tight (1. 8)	X			
the theories you would expect (1. 25)		X		
my reason would never accept (l. 36)			X	
III ‑The narrator makes a few hypotheses about his wife's disappearance. Complete the following sentences in your own words: (6 pts)
1. If Anna had found good shoes, she  would (could, might) have bought them
 2. If Anna had had a lover, she would (could might) have left her husband
3. If he knew where Anna had gone, he  would (could, might) look for her (try to find her)
4. If Anna does not come back, he  will (may) marry another woman
IV ‑ After reading the first paragraph say what the underlined words refer to: (2.5 pts)
1) that day (line 1)  the day when she disappeared
2) one cannot be (line 7) . we / you / people
3) this neighborhood (line 11) . the neighborhood where the narrator lived
4) it paid well (line 12) .The narrator’s job / this new profession / being a dental surgeon
5) from one to the other (line 13) . shoe store / shop window(s)
V ‑ Rewrite the following sentences using, direct or indirect speech as appropriate: (12 pts)
1. The policeman advised me to wait until later that night = the policeman said to me:"  	
You should wait until tonight (ought to / you’d better / why don’t you)°
2. The policeman suggested that my wife was probably visiting her boyfriend = the policeman said to me: " . Don’t you think that she is visiting her boyfriend?" )She may be …)
3. He told me to come the next day if she had not returned = he said to me: “ 	
Come tomorrow if she hasn’t returned / You can always come tomorrow if …
4. "If I don't find shoes, perhaps I will try Fifth Avenue" = Anna told the narrator  	
 if she did not find shoes, perhaps she would try Fifth Avenue
EXPRESSION ECRITE
Choose ONE of the following subjects: (300 words)
a)	Imagine what had happened to Anna. 
b)	Years later, the narrator is surprised to get a letter from Anna. What is it about?
Correction
Tranche de 15 mots manquants : -1/20
Barbarismes : 0-5
Fautes graves :6-9
Pas de risques : 10-12
Bon niveau, bon voca : 13-15
Bonnes structures, bien organisé : + de 15