News Lessons 3(2).pdf

Return to Algeria

Level 3 l Advanced

1 Key Words

Use these words from the text to ill the gaps in the sentences:

undaunted bustling congestion overwhelmed indifference

outright hostility dilapidated obstinate apologetic

1. If you are

, you are unwilling to be reasonable and change your behaviour, plans or ideas.

2. A

place is one full of noise and activity and is usually pleasant and interesting.

3. If something is

, it is old and in a bad condition.

4. If you are

, you show that you are sorry for doing something wrong or causing a problem.

5. If you are

, you are determined and not afraid to continue doing something even though it

mightbedificultordangerous.

is unfriendly or threatening behaviour or feelings towards another person.

7. If you are

by something, it affects your emotions in a very powerful way.

means ‘clear and direct with nothing hidden’.

indicates a lack of interest or sympathy.

10.

is a situation in which a place is crowded with people or vehicles.

2 Find the information

Look in the text and ind this information as quickly as possible.

1. What is the capital of Algeria?

2. In what year were the French driven out of Algeria?

3. What are pieds noirs ?

4. What was the name of the victorious group in the Algerian war of independence?

5. How many pieds noirs have made the trip back to Algeria?

No one says a word. They are anxious, locked in their memories and perhaps their fears too. Once on board

the plane they start to relax. “When we get there, it will be like stepping back into my teens,” says Robert,

60.ItishiswifeMarie-France’sirstlight.TheylivenearMarseille,andinlessthananhourtheywillbein

Algiers. “I have two little brothers there,” he suddenly says. They are buried in the Christian cemetery of

Algiers, alongside his father and his grandparents.

The closer we get to Algiers the more talkative he becomes. “I was born in the Hussein Dey district,” he

says.“Istartedworkat15,asalocksmith.Welivedinacouncillat,butwewerehappy.Allwewantedwas

togotothebeach,dosomeishingandshooting.”Whentheplanelands,Robertsimplysays:“HereIam,

back where I started 44 years ago.”

Everyoneinthegroupofabout50peopleseemstowanttodothesamething:seetheiroldstreet,their

house, maybe their school and perhaps some childhood friends. The three-day tour is organised by a

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Return to Algeria

Level 3 l Advanced

French tour company. In response to growing demand, it occasionally organises visits specially for French

people who left Algeria in 1962, the so-called pieds noirs . In the past two years it reckons some 60,000 pieds

noirs , as they are commonly known in France, have made the trip. And demand is increasing steadily.

“WhenIsawtheadvertIdidn’thesitateforlong,”saysLydia,50.“Myfamilyandfriendsallsaid:‘Algiers?

Butyou’recrazy.Whatareyouaregoingtodoinaplacelikethat?Whatdoyouexpecttoind?’Anyone

wouldthinkweweregoingtoBaghdad.”Shewasundaunted,tellingthemall:“PerhapsI’llbedisappointed,

butatleastI’llhavetried.”SoheretheyareagaininAlgiersfortheirsttimeinalmosthalfacentury.During

the dark years of Islamist terror (1990-2000) they thought they would never see the place again. For many

it is a big surprise, the streets bustling with people, the congestion and pollution, the innumerable satellite

dishes, and washing drying everywhere.

Theyareoverwhelmedbythewarmthoftheirreception.Wherevertheygotheyhearthesamegreeting:

“Welcomehome.”Oldermembersofthecommunitypatthemontheshoulderandask,inFrench:“Whydid

youleave?Comeback,weneedyou.”Eventheyoungpeoplecryout:“It’sgoodtoseeEuropeansagain.”

As time passes the anger they felt for so long ebbs away. Who, they wonder, was actually threatening them

when they left hurriedly in the summer of 1962? The victorious National Liberation Front or the [far-right]

OAS extremists? Nothing seems clear any more. “I should never have left. Here, at least, I would have

been some use,” says Mary-Josette, a retired nurse. “We had no choice. We had to go,” the others repeat

obstinately.

None of them have forgotten their nightmare arrival in France. Suddenly Algeria was no longer part of

France and they no longer mattered. They lost everything. In France they encountered indifference, even

outright hostility. “In Marseille and Toulon they referred to us as ‘repatriates’ but that was nonsense. We

were immigrants. Only here, in Algeria, are we really repatriates,” says Lydia.

Several members of the group are acting on behalf of relations. Marie-Christine was only three when she

left Algeria. Her mother, 67, did not feel up to the trip, but she gave her daughter a lock of hair and a love

letter addressed to the country in general, instructing her to drop them “somewhere in Algiers”. Fabienne,

73,andPierre,60metontheplaneanddiscoveredtheywereborninthesamequarterofAlgiers.Fabienne

isacolourfuligure.Pierre,incontrast,isquiet,withblueeyesandfairhair.Hisforebears,fromAlsace,

settledinAlgeriain1870.Heplanstovisithisfamily’soldlat,amovethatseemstoodaringforFabienne.

Shegatherssomeearthfromoutsideherformerhome,adilapidatedblockoflats.Thisiswheresheused

to buy doughnuts for breakfast and where she did her athletics training. At one point in the 1950s she was

the“Algerianchampionover100and200metres”.Shespotsabarsheusedtofrequent.“Ah,Iwasyoung

then,”sheexclaims,tornbetweenlaughterandtears.TotheAlgerianswhosmileather,shesays:“Khuya”

[mybrother],adding:“IfeelIknowthem,wehavethesameblood.”

OnreachinghisbuildingPierrehesitates.“It’sallabittoomuch,”hesays,stiledbyemotion.Heclimbsto

thesecondloorandringsthebell.Thedooropensslightly.HiswifeDominiquewaitsonthestairs,anxious.

Her husband has been dreaming of this moment for 40 years and she wonders what will happen if he is

turned away. A woman, in her 60s appears. “Come in,” she says with a smile. Little has changed inside the

lat.Pierregoesfromroomtoroom.Heindstheroomwherehewasborn,onceoccupiedbyhismother,a

musician.AndhereistheireplacewherethefamilyusedtoputtheirChristmaspresents.Forawhile,Pierre

says nothing, lost in his thoughts.

“Goodness,youhavekepteverythingthesameasitwas,”saysPierre.Thewoman,whohaslivedinthelat

withherhusband’sfamilysince1963,says:“Thisgentlemanwasbornhereandnowheisrelivinghiswhole

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Return to Algeria

Level 3 l Advanced

life. It must be terrible for him.” Finally everyone sits down and they exchange addresses. “You must come

back with your family, stay for a week,” says the old woman’s husband, when the visitors leave. “It’s a lot to

takeallatonce,”saysPierre,hiseyesbrimmingwithtears.

MarcelPontierhasstillnotrecoveredfromtheshockhehadthatafternoon.Hewastakingaphotographofhis

old home when the owner appeared. He apologetically explained that he once lived there. The other man

replied:“Oh,youmustbeMrPontier.”Andre,aJewborninthepoordistrictofBabel-Oued,isdelighted.

“Whatawelcome!Afterallthathashappened,itisquiteunexpected.Theseareourpeople.”

Enrico, 79, feels obliged to put a damper on the enthusiasm. A barber and former member of the OAS, he

now lives in the US. “It’s dirty. I’d have been better advised to stay at home and keep my memories intact.

Still, I must admit, I’ve never seen such hospitable people.”

3 Comprehension Check

Choose the best answer.

1. How would you describe the feelings of the people in the article on their return to Algiers?

a. surprised by the outright hostility they encountered

b. overwhelmed by the warmth of their reception

c. anxious and silent

2. How did the pieds noirs feel during the period of terror from 1990 to 2000?

a. They thought they would never be able to visit Algeria again.

b. They felt angry with the NLF.

c. They felt worried when they visited Algiers during this period.

3.HowdidPierrefeelwhenhevisitedhisoldfamilyhome?

a. He felt terrible.

b. He felt angry.

c. He felt very emotional.

4. What was the reaction of the French to the pieds noirs in 1962?

a. They welcomed them with open arms.

b. They were indifferent or even hostile towards them.

c. They told them they didn’t matter.

4 Vocabulary 1 Find the Word

Look in the text and ind the word or phrase that means:

1. worried (paragraph 1)

2. talking a lot (paragraph 2)

3. estimates (paragraph 3)

4. too many to be counted (paragraph 4)

5.quicklybecauseofalackoftime(paragraph5)

6. a small piece of hair from someone’s head (paragraph 7)

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5 Vocabulary 2 Deinitions

Match these words and phrases from the text with their meanings.

1. put a damper on

a. feeling upset because you cannot choose between two things

2. brimming with

b. to disappear gradually

3. torn

c. to visit a place regularly

4. feel up to

d. full of

5. ebb away

e. to make people feel less enthusiastic or hopeful about something

6.frequent f.feelyouarestrongorhealthyenoughtodosomething

6 Vocabulary 3 Collocations

Fill the gaps using verbs. Check your answers in the text.

hostility

someone on the shoulder

a plane

to growing demand

addresses

from a shock

7 Discussion

What things do you remember from your childhood and adolescent years? Do you ind it an emotional

experience to visit the house where you were born or to go back to your irst school?

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Return to Algeria

Level 3 l Advanced

KEY

1 Key Words

1. obstinate

2. bustling

3. dilapidated

4. apologetic

5. undaunted

6. hostility

7. overwhelmed

8. outright.

9. indifference

10. congestion

2 Find the information

1. Algiers

2. 1962

3. The former French population of Algeria.

4. The National Liberation Front

5. 60,000

3 Comprehension check

1. b; 2. a; 3. c; 4. b

4 Vocabulary 1 Find the Word

1. anxious

2. talkative

3. reckons

4. innumerable

5. hurriedly

6. lock of hair

5 Vocabulary 2

1. e; 2. d; 3. a; 4. f; 5. b; 6. c

6 Vocabulary 3 Collocations

1. encounter

2. pat

3. board

4. respond

5. exchange

6. recover

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