Consignes
- Answer all the questions in English.
- Write clearly and check your spelling.
- Dictionaries are not allowed.
Part I — Reading comprehension
Text — The school garden
Two years ago, the headmaster of a secondary school in Koudougou looked at the empty land behind the classrooms and had an idea. « Why do we buy vegetables in the market », he asked, « when we have soil, water and four hundred students? »
At first the students were not happy. Digging is hard work, and some of them thought that a school should teach mathematics, not agriculture. But the science teacher explained that a garden is a laboratory: you can measure, compare, and prove things there.
They divided the land into four plots. On the first, they used chemical fertiliser; on the second, compost made from kitchen waste; on the third, nothing at all. The fourth was kept for experiments with different watering times.
The results surprised everybody. The plot with compost produced almost as much as the plot with fertiliser, and the vegetables kept better. Today the school canteen uses its own tomatoes and onions, the students sell the surplus, and the money buys books for the library. « We wanted to grow vegetables », the headmaster says. « We also grew a science class. »
a) Why did the headmaster want to create a garden?
b) What is done with the money from the sales?
a) All the students liked the idea from the beginning.
b) The plot with compost gave poor results.