Vous êtes ici : Accueil / Se former / Workbook et précis / Workbook / Environmental issues: degrowth and progress / Oil consumption in the US

Oil consumption in the US

Publié par Clifford Armion le 15/09/2011
A partir d'une caricature de Kal (Kevin Kallaugher), dessinateur à The Economist, traitant de la consommation excessive de pétrole aux Etats-Unis, cette page propose des exercices de compréhension générale et d'analyse.

All rights reserved

Cartoon by Kal (Kevin Kallaugher), from The Economist, June 17, 2010

 

General comprehension

1) What is the nature of this document and what is its general subject?
2) Who do you recognize on the first picture? What is their function or who do they symbolize?
3) What is the problem with the character on the right? And what is the attitude of the one on the left? (picture 2)
4) Picture 3: What is the solution offered by the character on the left? And what is the other character's reaction?
5) What do you gather from the fourth picture?

 

Analysis

The cartoonist's strategy

1) What is the cartoonist's actual message?

2)  What strategies does he use to convey his message? (focus on Obama's attitude, on his words, on the posture of both characters (facing each other, facing the reader, looking and pointing east, going in opposite directions), on the nature of this document, etc.)

Historical trend and today

3) What do you know about the history of the US in terms of environmental policy?

4) Judging from the fourth picture and the date this cartoon was drawn, have things evolved ever since Obama was elected? And is the situation likely to dramatically improve in a near future? Why? (both in terms of economic impact and habit)

 

Pour citer cette ressource :

"Oil consumption in the US", La Clé des Langues [en ligne], Lyon, ENS de LYON/DGESCO (ISSN 2107-7029), septembre 2011. Consulté le 28/03/2024. URL: https://cle.ens-lyon.fr/anglais/se-former/les-precis-et-le-workbook/workbook/environmental-issues-degrowth-and-progress/oil-consumption-in-the-us