LINKS TO A PRINTABLE TEXT DOCUMENT, AN IMAGE OF THE ORIGINAL WORK, AND EVIDENCE OF CERTIFICATION:
Chris Larham’s piece of A Level French creative writing in the form of a fictional transport-related speech to be given before the town council [35 out of 45, 2001/2002] can be opened in a print-friendly text document format here
An image of the original work can be seen here
An image of Chris Larham’s ‘A’-grade A Level French certificate can be seen here
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Mesdames, Messieurs, je suis ici aujourd’hui pour discuter les solutions possibles au problème des transports. Je peux voir des avantages de privilégier le vélo: c’est bon pour la santé; il ne pollue pas l’environnement; ce n’est pas cher; la personne qui pédale est en contrôle de la vitesse; il y aurait moins de bouchons… Il y a évidemment plusieurs avantages. Par contre, il y a un bon nombre d’inconvénients. Beaucoup de gens meurent chaque année à cause des accidents entre les vélos et les voitures – ce n’est pas totalement sans danger. En plus, certains gens qui circulent en vélo utilisent les trottoirs et donnent peur aux piétons. Ajoutons à cela le fait que s’il faut aller quelque part trés vite le vélo n’est pas suffisant. Pour ma part, je suis persuadé que nous devons encourager le covoiturage. Si plus de gens partagaient les voitures il y aurait moins de voitures sur nos routes. Afin d’inciter l’usage de covoiturage, il se peut que nous réduisions le prix d’essence pour les voitures où on pratique le covoiturage avec au moins d’un membre de deux ou plus familles – cela serait un bon encouragement. On peut également promouvoir l’usage des transports en commun. Cette mesure diminuerait le nombre de voitures sur les routes, car les gens prendraient les moyens de transport comme l’autobus à la place de la voiture. Si on reduisait le coût de voyager par le transport en commun, je suggère que beaucoup de monde l’utiliserait. Pour conclure, je propose que l’utilisation de covoiturage et le transport en commun serait une meilleure solution au problème des transports. [^] |
Ladies, gentlemen, I am here today to discuss possible solutions to the transport problems. I can see the advantages of privileging the bicycle: it is good for your health; it does not pollute the environment; it is not expensive; the person pedalling is in control of the speed; there would be fewer traffic jams… There are evidently several advantages. On the other hand, there are many inconveniences. A lot of people die each year as a result of accidents between bicycles and cars – it is not completely without danger. Furthermore, certain cyclists use the pavements and frighten pedestrians. Added to this is the fact that cycling is inadequate if it is necessary to go somewhere very quickly. Personally, I am convinced that we should encourage ‘carpooling’. If more people car-shared then there would be fewer cars on our roads. In order to encourage carpooling, we could reduce the price of petrol for cars that are engaged in car-sharing activities, with at least one member of two or more families – that would be a good encouragement. We could also promote the usage of public transport. This measure would diminish the number of cars on the roads, since people would take modes of transport such as the bus, rather than the car. If we were to reduce the cost of travelling by public transport, I suggest that a lot of people would use it. To conclude, I propose that the utilisation of ‘carpooling’ and public transport would be a better solution to the transport problems. [^] |
Forty-year-old father of three wonderful children [William, Seth, and Alyssa]. Works as an Assistant Technical Officer in the Sterile Services Department of Treliske Hospital, Cornwall. Enjoys jogging, web design, learning programming languages, and supporting Arsenal FC. Obtained a BA degree in English from the University of Bolton in 2008, and has continued to gain qualifications in a diverse range of subjects thereafter.
