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Section Tests Tests Section Tests Tests In this section, the reader will find 600 questions mostly based on the contents of the book and testing the whole spectrum of cultural references in the French press. For the general reader, these tests can be seen as an entertaining way to check on their general knowledge about France and the French language. For the student working alone, these tests can be a useful tool for self-assessment. For the teacher, these tests can be useful in several ways. They can be used as ‘entry’ or upstream ‘diagnostic’ tests for students starting a new course, or as tests for continued assessment. They may also be used as exit tests at the end of a given course, the teacher being free to fix what he or she considers to be a ‘pass’ mark in the light of previous students’ results. Test 1: Popular cultural references 1) Which of the following is not an expression associated with French childhood? a) Jeu de main, jeu de vilain b) C’est celui qui dit, qui l’est c) La souris verte d) Droit dans mes bottes 2) Which of the following is not a song by Serge Gainsbourg? a) Sea, sex and sun b) Je t’aime moi non plus c) Le Poinçonneur des Lilas d) Foule sentimentale 3) Which of the following is not the title of a famous film? a) La Grande Vadrouille b) La Bonne du curé c) Elle court, elle court la banlieue d) Le Bonheur est dans le pré Information Classification: General 4) Which of the following is not associated with Sartre and de Beauvoir? a) La Coupole b) Les Deux Magots c) Le Café de Flore d) Le Pavillon Gabriel 5) Which of the following is not a French cinema classic? a) Quai des brumes b) Hôtel du Nord c) La Guerre des Boutons d) Le Passager de la pluie 6) Find the odd man out among the following slang words. a) godasses b) schnouf c) flingueurs d) grisbi 7) Which of the following is not a comic strip character? a) Lucky Luke b) Astérix c) Casimir d) Les Bidochon 8) Programmes unsuitable for young viewers used to be indicated on the TV screen by a a) colour b) letter c) number d) geometrical form 9) Which is not a supermarket chain in France? a) Les Mousquetaires b) U c) Leclerc d) FNAC 10) The French prize for the best cinema performances is known as a/an a) Oscar b) Molière c) César d) 7 d’or Information Classification: General 11) Which of the following is a typical cry of the French waiter? a) ‘On a gagné!’ b) ‘Approchez Mesdames, Messieurs !’ c) ‘Chaud devant !’ d) ‘Sous vos applaudissements !’ 12) Which of the following is not a famous advertising slogan? a) ‘Le contrat de confiance’ b) ‘Sans une Rolex tu as raté ta vie’ c) ‘X lave plus blanc’ d) ‘Ça déménage’ 13) Which of the following is not a famous publicity slogan? a) ‘Tu t’es vu quand t’as bu ?’ b) ‘Un verre ça va’ c) ‘Elle est pas belle la vie?’ d) ‘Boire ou conduire il faut choisir’ 14) Which is the odd man out ? a) ‘Crac, boum, hue’ b) ‘Et moi et moi et moi’ c) ‘Paris s’éveille’ d) ‘Tous les garçons et les filles’ 15) Which of the following is not a charitable organization ? a) Les Enfants du marais b) Emmaüs c) Les Restos du cœur d) Le Secours Catholique 16) Which Latin expression is unrelated to France? a) e pluribus unum b) fluctuat nec mergitur c) ultima ratio regum d) Docet omnia 17) What did young French servicemen shout on being demobilized? a) Merde! b) Bordel! c) C’est la quille! d) L’adjudant aux chiottes! Information Classification: General 18) Which is the odd man out among the following prizes? Le Prix a) Goncourt b) de Rome c) Renaudot d) Interallié 19) Find the odd man out. a) Teresa b) Emmanuelle c) Fouettard d) Poulard 20) Find the odd man out among the following boulevards. a) de la Madeleine b) des Capucines c) Haussmann d) Suchet 21) From which famous film does the following (ungrammatical) quote come: ‘Si j’aurais su, j’aurais pas venu?’ a) La Guerre des Boutons b) Les Allumettes suédoises c) Les Noisettes sauvages d) Quai des brumes 22) La Loi Carrèze is related to a) violence on TV b) real estate surveyance c) smoking in public places d) prostitution 23) La Loi Evin is related to a) the numerus clausus concerning supermarkets b) the numerus clausus concerning chemists c) advertising of tobacco and alcohol d) homosexual relations between consenting adults 24) La Loi Veil is related to a) racism b) sects c) abortion d) undenominational education Information Classification: General 25) Find the odd man out among the following songs. a) Le Gorille b) Une Jolie Fleur c) Quand Margot dégrafait son corsage d) Papa Mambo 26) Traditionally, the lily of the valley is sold on a) Labour Day b) Whit Monday c) 8 May d) Easter Sunday 27) The operation known as ‘pièces jaunes’ was launched by Bernadette Chirac to raise money for a) people with reduced mobility b) funding hospital infrastructure for children and teenagers c) AIDS research d) the homeless 28) ‘Poujadisme’ was a a) political movement founded by Pierre Poujade b) trend in modern art c) tropical disease d) royalist political current 29) Find the odd man out. a) Prend l’oseille et tire-toi b) On achève bien les chevaux c) Le Train sifflera trois fois d) La Grande Vadrouille 30) Political demonstrations traditionally start from place de la République and terminate at place a) de la Concorde b) de la Bastille c) de l’Étoile (Charles de Gaulle) d) de Stalingrad 31) The period of pop music in France corresponding to that of the 1960s in England was known as the a) go-go b) chi-chi c) yé-yé d) ba-ba Information Classification: General 32) The song Le Temps des cerises is associated with which historical event? The … a) execution of Louis XVI b) Commune of 1871 c) troop departures of 1914 d) victory of 1918 33) ‘La tentation de Venise’ refers to a) an elderly man's desire to have children b) the desire to have an adulterous affair c) the wish to drop everything and leave d) the desire to marry at a ripe old age 34) Find the odd man out. a) L’École des Fans b) La tête et les jambes c) Les cinq dernières minutes d) Peur sur la ville 35) Which song title by La Compagnie Créole has since become a cult phrase? a) La Vie en rose b) Je t’aime, moi non plus c) C’est bon pour le moral d) Le Plat Pays 36) Le Coup d’État permanent was written by a) Charles de Gaulle b) François Mitterrand c) Daniel Cohn-Bendit d) Alain Krivine 37) La Défaite de la pensée was written by a) Alain Minc b) Emmanuel Todd c) Alain Finkielkraut d) Bernard-Henri Lévy 38) The brasserie ‘La Closerie des Lilas’ is associated with which literary name? a) Verlaine b) Zola c) Balzac d) Flaubert Information Classification: General 39) What is the motto of the city of Paris? a) fluctuat nec mergitur b) ars longa vita brevis c) Docet omnia d) in cauda venenum 40) Find the ‘Académicien’ a) Zola b) Molière c) Descartes d) Giscard d’Estaing Test 2: Famous words 1) Who said ‘La propriété, c’est le vol’? a) Voltaire b) Jean-Jacques Rousseau c) Pierre-Joseph Proudhon d) Louise Michel 2) ‘Que d’eau, que d‘eau’. These were the words of a) Napoleon III b) Jules Grévy c) Georges Clemenceau d) Maréchal Mac-Mahon 3) Who reputedly said ‘Le 21ème siècle sera spirituel ou il ne sera pas’? a) André Malraux b) Jean-Paul Sartre c) Alain Finkielkraut d) Simone de Beauvoir 4) Who said ‘Les Français sont des veaux?’ a) Charles de Gaulle b) Napoleon Bonaparte c) François Mitterrand d) Jacques Chirac 5) ‘Aux grands hommes, la patrie reconnaissante’. On which public building in Paris are these words written? a) La Madeleine Information Classification: General b) Les Invalides c) Le Panthéon d) L’Opéra 6) Who said that the French army was ready ‘jusqu’au dernier bouton de guêtre’? a) Napoleon III b) Maréchal Massena c) Napoleon Bonaparte d) Edmond le Boeuf 7) ‘C’est l’histoire d’un mec.’ This was the pet phrase of which French comic? a) Coluche b) Guy Bedos c) Fernand Raynaud d) Louis de Funès 8) ‘À l’insu de mon plein gré.’ With which sportsman is this phrase associated? a) Lance Armstrong b) Richard Virenque c) Zinedine Zidane d) Didier Drogba 9) Which sentence is not associated with the revolution of 1968? a) ‘Sous les pavés la plage’ b) ‘Il est interdit d’interdire’ c) ‘Pour vivre heureux vivons cachés’ d) ‘Soyons réalistes, demandons l’impossible’ 10) ‘La justice militaire est à la justice ce que la musique militaire est à la musique.’ These are the words of a) Talleyrand b) Clemenceau c) Daladier d) Chateaubriand 11) ‘J’y suis, j’y reste.’ Who said these words? a) Général Nivelle b) Maréchal Soult c) Maréchal Massena d) Maréchal Mac-Mahon 12) Who said ‘Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point’? Information Classification: General a) René Descartes b) Blaise Pascal c) Auguste Comte d) Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier 13) ‘Il faut dégraisser le mammouth.’ Which minister of education said these words? a) François Bayrou b) Luc Ferry c) Lionel Jospin d) Claude Allègre 14) Who said ‘La France ne peut accueillir toute la misère du monde? a) Michel Rocard b) Jacques Chirac c) François Mitterrand d) Jean-Marie Le Pen 15) Who said ‘Donnez-moi dix hommes sûrs et je tiens l’Etat? a) Joseph Fouché b) Cardinal Richelieu c) Cardinal Mazarin d) Napoleon Bonaparte 16) Who said ‘Enrichissez-vous? a) Napoleon III b) François Guizot c) Georges Clemenceau d) Pierre Mendès-France 17) Who said ‘Familles, je vous hais a) André Gide b) Jean-Paul Sartre c) Simone de Beauvoir d) Louis Aragon 18) ‘La force tranquille’ was the election slogan of which French president? a) François Mitterrand b) Jacques Chirac c) Valéry Giscard d’Estaing d) Nicolas Sarkozy 19) Who reputedly said ‘La garde meurt mais ne se rend pas’? Information Classification: General a) Napoleon Bonaparte
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