2 documents about the idea of progress in the world. In the first is an extract from TWP, Pamela Constable, a journalist, interviews Namita a 22 years old graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology. And also Lalit, a physics professor. Namita has the possibility to work in Dallas in America: on one hand she really wants to realize her dream but on the other hand, she is reluctant to leave her family. The Indian high tech workers can find work anywhere in the world, that's why today 50% of them work abroad. It's called the brain drain. It's a progress for the countries that benefit from the best workers joining them, but it's not for the countries that the workers are leaving. For example, the employers in the States like Indian workers because they have good skills, they are fluent in english and their demands are minimal. It would be a huge economic and scientific progress for India if the youth only went for few years to a more developped country and then come back home. However, the youth want to leave for the sense of freedom and the good salaries. But they are afraid of the different culture and to being homesick. In any ways, most of the Indians would rather stay in their country if it's possible. One sign of the developping progress in India is the increasing sale of software material. The second document is the story of Mr and Mrs Nash. They're from Colorado. Six years ago, they had a daughter named Molly. But unfortunately she was born with leukeamia, a incurable disease, and was about to die by the age of 7. However there was a solution: the only way to save her was to transplant cells from a perflectly matched sibling. Therefore, Molly's parents decided to have an other baby in order to save her. They used genetic tests to select the embyo with the correct type of cells needed and then implanted the embryo in Mrs Nash's womb. Nine months after, Adam was born. Cells were collected from his umbilical cord and infused into Molly's circulatory system. And it worked: the little girl is recovering in Minneapolis Hospital. Adam is the first child to be born for therapeutic reasons. This is a kind of scientific progress, nowadays thanks to medical advances (like cloning, genetically modified organisms and in vitro fertilization) we can cure illnesses that were uncurable few decades ago. That's a huge progress, but still, this progress leads to the question of ethic. There are more and more technical and scientific progress, but it can be stop by the ethic.

Myths and heroes II The second document is about Jesse Owens, a black American who had an hard start in life, he was picking cotton all day long with his parents and there still wasn't enough money to last the year. 16 years later, in 1936, Owens arrived in Berlin to compete for the United States at the Summer Olympics. Adolf Hitler was using the games to show the world a resurgent Nazi Germany. He and other government officials had high hopes that German athletes would dominate the games with victories. Meanwhile, Nazi propaganda promoted concepts of "Aryan racial superiority" and depicted ethnic Africans as inferior. Owens countered this by winning four gold medals. He was the most successful athlete at the games. After Owens won 4 gold medals, a furious Hitler stormed out of the stadium. While, Owens helped the U.S. triumph at the games, his return home was not met with the kind of fanfare one might expect. He wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but he wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the president, either. But he still became a sporting legend for his achievements. Owens was recognized in his lifetime as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history". He finally died of lung cancer in 1980. Owen won medals in only one Olympic, but his powerful and heroic impact on the social and political climate of his day made him the Olympic icon for millions of people worldwide. The third document is an extract from «The Guardian» about Ellen MacArthur, an English exceptional sailor. She was 24 when in 2001, she rounded the world in 94 days. She achieved that, thanks to her courage, belief, strengh and her ability to read the weather. The race's name is « Vendée Globe » it is a very hard, world-known race. The winner this year was Michel Desjoyeaux who was only 12 days faster than Ellen. I think that her performance is really impressive because she spent 3 months alone on her boat and this boat would ordinarily be crewed by 11 people! However, later during her life she acted for the protection of the earth and for the sustainable development with her own fundation. She also helped the leukemia childrens. She was awarded by Her Majesty the Queen and Nicolas Sarkory gave her a Légion l'Honneur. If we add all of what she'd done... she's a real hero of the XXIst century and I would say that she should be a role model for anyone on earth.

Myths and heroes I've chosen 3 documents which illustrate the notion «myths and heroes». First of all, I'm going to present the notion and the documents, then I'll speak about them in more detail and finally, I'll do a conclusion. A myth can be defined as a story about gods or heroes, it can be a popular belief or a tradition or a false notion. A hero is a man who is idealized for possesing superior qualities in any field. He is generally couragous, noble, fourtitude, stang and achieve exploits. → What does a hero teach to the people in genral? -The first document that I've chosen is: «Lincoln» it was written by Vidal in 1984. This text is a historical novel describing Lincoln's years as the president of the United States of America. -The second document is a text as well, about Jesse Owens, a black men who took part in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. -The third document is a text called « Weather eye makes Ellen simply the best » it's a text, published in The Guardian in 2001, about Ellen MacArthur, a skilled British sailor. Now, I'm going to talk in more detail about these documents: The first document is about Abraham Lincoln who was the 16th president of the United States, he represented the Republican party. The scene happenend in Lincoln's office when the United States are divided over the question of slavery and the South has decided to secede from the North. Lincoln is trying to find a solution to the situation. That's why, he wanted to consult some Negro leaders about the idea of settling the blacks in Central America. The reason is because Lincoln thinks that there is a little difference between blacks and whites and slavery had negative effects on both sides. The President's offer is not well recieved. At the end, Blacks stayed in the United States. Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of America's greatest heroes due to both his incredible impact on the nation and his unique appeal. During the civil war, Abraham Lincoln helped end slavery of African Americans. He was heroic because he stood up for others that were being treated unfairly. He outwitted his rivals and enemies and brought the United States of America together during a tough time. His brilliance and heroism helped end the civil war and create a better future for our country. Unfortunately, he was assacinated in 1865.

The idea of progress (PartII) The second document is the story of Mr and Mrs Nash. They're from Colorado. Six years ago, they had a daughter named Molly. But unfortunately she was born with Fanconi amaemia, a incurable disease, and was about to die by the age of 7. However there was a solution: the only way to save her was to transplant cells from a perflectly matched sibling. Therefore, Molly's parents decided to have an other baby in order to save her. They used genetic tests to select the embyo with the correct type of cells needed and implanted the embryo in Mrs Nash's womb. Nine months after, Adam was born. Cells were collected from his umbilical cord and the cells were infused into Molly's circulatory system. And it worked: the little girl is recovering in Minneapolis Hospital. Adam is the first child to be born for therapeutic reasons. This is a kind of scientific progress, nowadays thanks to medical advances like cloning, genetically modified organisms and in vitro fertilization we can cure illnesses that were uncurable few decades ago. Still, this progress leads to the question of ethic. There are more and more technical and scientific progress, but it can be stop by the ethic, the religious or the moral. There is also the fact that we find solutions to problems but we don't know the long term consequences. That is the case for the contraceptive pills or the GMO, it seems to be safe and we don't know what it will lead to in 50 years for exemple. Those are the bounds of this type of progress. To sum up, I talked thought this documents about the economical and scientific progress and the scientific and technical progress. However, there are many others kinds of progress, like the technological progress with the wind turbines, solar panels ect..it is a good way to slow down climate change. But also the communication progress that have changed our lives with of course internet, the social medias, the mobile phones etc... And the social progress like education, equality, freedom, the human's/women's/minority's rights. It contribues to a better quality of life for everybody. In our documents cases, the progress are good for the society. But some progress are not: for exemple the nuclear even if it was good at first. And some good progress can be used for bad reasons or lead to bad consequences: the video games can make someone addict but it can also be a great way to enjoy yourself.

How can I use "worth" ?

What is the difference between "everybody" and "everyone" ?