Aural News, Reports, and Documentaries

Section V in 60 Seconds: Exam Mechanics and Strategy

The listening examination carries 80 marks (20%) of the 400-mark Higher Level paper. Sections I to IV focus on interviews and conversations, whereas Section V consists of three separate news items or bulletins, each paired with its own factual questions.

The Golden Rules of Section V

• Answers are written in English in note form. Full grammatical sentences waste valuable time. If the audio refers to un canapé, writing "A sofa" gains full marks.
• Never answer in French. Copying French phrases directly from the audio scores zero.
• Spelling proper nouns: If you cannot spell a French town or surname, write it phonetically in English. Examiners do not penalise English spelling as long as the pronunciation is clear.

Section V Exam Checklist

1. Read the rubric: Check the exact number of playings printed on the cover page.
2. Use the reading pause: Underline the question trigger words (why, where, how many, two points) and circle any named regions or compass directions.
3. Playing one (the factual sweep): Catch the general drift and write down every figure, date, and concrete noun in the margin immediately.
4. Playing two (answering): Fill in your blanks in plain English notes.
5. Final playing (the audit): Check your figures, verify qualifiers, and ensure you have not left accidental blanks.

Decoding the Marking Scheme

• Round brackets are optional: In marking schemes, round brackets denote optional extra detail, such as (More than) 28,000 or (Bed)rooms are dirty. The bare number or word secures the mark, but include the qualifier if you catch it to make your answer unmistakable.
• Obliques indicate alternatives: An entry such as recycled / repaired microwave oven means either verb earns the point.
• Handling 'Two Points' questions: You must write two clearly distinct facts, ideally on separate numbered lines. One expanded sentence only earns one mark. For example, when 2016 asked why Charlotte envies her older brother, writing "because he is older and has freedom" scored poorly; the scheme demanded two concrete facts: (i) "He can go out when he wants" and (ii) "He earns a wage / salary."
• Avoid hedging or contradictions: Never guess with "either X or Y". Examiners mark what is written in order, and adding an incorrect extra fact spoils a correct one.

Numbers, Times, Dates, and Forecast Regions

Section V questions lean heavily on numerical data, times, and regional locations. A student who misses a French numeral loses direct marks.

Numbers You Must Hear Instantly

• The 60 to 79 range: French builds the seventies onto sixty. So soixante-dix is 70, soixante et onze is 71, soixante-quinze is 75, and soixante-dix-neuf is 79. When you hear soixante followed by a teen, just add it to 60.
• The 80 to 99 range: The eighties work from four twenties (quatre-vingts for 80, quatre-vingt-un for 81). The nineties simply add teens to that base: quatre-vingt-dix is 90 and quatre-vingt-quinze is 95.
• Large figures: cent (100), deux cents (200), mille (1,000), deux mille (2,000), vingt-huit mille (28,000), un million (1,000,000), un milliard (a billion).
• Approximations: une dizaine (about 10), une quinzaine (about 15), une vingtaine (about 20), une centaine (about 100), des milliers de (thousands of), la moitié (half), un tiers (a third), le quart (a quarter).
• Quantity qualifiers: plus de (more than), moins de (fewer than), environ / près de (about / close to), au moins (at least), jusqu'à (up to), à peu près (roughly).

Sound-Alike Traps and Clock Times

Train your ear to separate sound-alikes: deux (2) versus douze (12); six (6), seize (16), and soixante (60); cent (100) and cinq (5); quatre (4), quatorze (14), and quarante (40).

News bulletins rely strictly on the 24-hour clock. When a reader says treize heures quarante, write down 13:40, 1:40 p.m., or twenty to two. Similarly, vingt heures means 8:00 p.m., while traditional phrases like midi moins le quart mean quarter to twelve or 11:45 a.m. On dates, listen out for time markers like hier (yesterday), ce matin (this morning), au mois de septembre dernier (last September), and d'ici la fin de l'année (by year's end).

Forecast Regions and Storm Terms

Forecasts name broad geographic regions far more frequently than compass points. Always listen for both:

• Key geographic areas: You will hear regional names far more often than compass points. Presenters talk about la Bretagne (Brittany) and la Normandie in the north-west, les Hauts-de-France or le Nord up top, l'Alsace to the east, and la Provence, la Côte d'Azur, or simply le Midi for the south. You will also hear mountain ranges like le Massif central, les Alpes, and les Pyrénées, island news for la Corse (Corsica), and contrasts between le littoral (the coast) and l'intérieur des terres (inland).
• Severe conditions on the airwaves: Listen out for electrical storms with un éclair (a lightning flash), la foudre (a lightning strike), and le tonnerre (thunder). High-impact weather reports regularly mention des rafales de vent à 100 km/h (wind gusts of 100 km/h), des inondations (flooding), la grêle (hail), and le verglas (black ice). For seasonal extremes, note une canicule (heatwave) versus une éclaircie (sunny spell), alongside formal warnings like un avis de tempête (storm warning) and une vigilance orange / rouge (weather alert levels).

Essential Vocabulary: Faits Divers, Health, and Current Affairs

Exam audio draws from five recurrent news themes. Grouping vocabulary around these scenarios helps you anticipate the exact details examiners demand.

Faits Divers: Accidents, Fires, and the Courts

Questions on faits divers routinely ask what caught fire, who was arrested, or where an unexploded object turned up.

For objects, give the exact noun and nothing else: 'a sofa' (Quimper fire) or 'a Second World War bomb' found 'behind the town hall' (Falaise). One clear noun is a full-mark answer.

Health, Public Services, and Social Issues

Health questions examine causes of hospital shortages and emergency responses.

• une épidémie de grippe (a flu epidemic)
• le manque / la pénurie de lits (bed shortage)
• le service des urgences (A&E / casualty)
• transférer les patients (to transfer patients)
• soigner / un traitement (to treat / a treatment)
• le personnel soignant (nursing staff)
• une hausse des cas (a rise in cases)
• un préavis de grève (strike notice)
• revendiquer une augmentation (to demand a pay rise)
• le trafic est perturbé (transport services are disrupted)
• le pouvoir d'achat (purchasing power)
• sans-abri (homeless)

False Friends in Current Affairs Audio

Watch out for false friends that trip people up during audio playings. The adverb actuellement means currently, never actually, and une manifestation is a protest march, not a spiritual sign. If someone in an accident is described as blessé, they are injured, not blessed. In the same vein, un car means a coach, sensible means sensitive, rester means to stay, and l'essence refers to petrol. If you hear un journal, that is a newspaper or news bulletin, while achever means to finish and demander means to ask rather than to demand.

Tracking Causes, Consequences, and Direction Verbs

Section V audio constantly presents causes and results in rapid succession. When an emergency or crisis is reported, you must determine whether a question asks what triggered the problem or what action solved it.

Causal Markers (Backward-Looking)

Causal phrases point backwards to the root cause of an incident:

• à cause de (+ negative noun): because of, due to (à cause du verglas = because of the black ice)
• en raison de (+ neutral noun): due to, owing to (en raison d'une grève = due to a strike)
• grâce à (+ positive noun): thanks to (grâce aux pompiers = thanks to the firefighters)
• puisque / car: since / because (note that car never starts a sentence)

Consequence Markers (Forward-Looking)

Consequence phrases point forward to the result, damage, or solution:

• provoquer / entraîner: to cause, trigger, or lead to (a provoqué des inondations = caused flooding)
• par conséquent / c'est pourquoi: consequently / that is why
• ce qui a provoqué: which caused / leading to
• afin de / pour (+ infinitive): in order to (afin de résoudre la crise = in order to resolve the crisis)

Cause or Solution? Quick Recognition

Trend Verbs

When anchors deliver economic or demographic reports, listen for verbs of direction: augmenter (to rise/increase), diminuer / baisser (to fall/decrease), s'améliorer (to improve), and se dégrader (to deteriorate/worsen). If a question asks "what happened", listen for verbs in the passé composé (s'est déclaré, a arrêté); if it asks "what is the situation now", track the present tense (sont sur place, restent fermées).

Written Production: The Current-Affairs Opinion Piece

Current-affairs themes tested in the aural exam often cross over into Question 4(a) of Written Production. Prompts regularly ask for your stance on social media, fake news, or European politics. This task carries 30 marks, split evenly between Communication (15 marks) and Language (15 marks).

To secure high marks, write around 75 words structured across three short paragraphs: state your position, balance two reasons, and supply a punchy conclusion.

Connectors and Set Phrases for Opinion Pieces

• Stating your stance: State your view with confidence using À mon avis… (In my opinion), Selon moi… (According to me / As I see it), Je suis convaincu(e) que… (I am convinced that), or Il me semble que… (It seems to me that).
• Weighing up both sides: Frame balanced arguments with D'un côté… d'un autre côté… (On the one hand… on the other hand), concede a point with Il est vrai que… mais… (It is true that… but), or pivot cleanly using En revanche and Cependant (However / On the other hand).
• Proposing action: Il faut + infinitive (We must…); On devrait + infinitive (We should…).
• Concluding: Pour conclure, je dirais que… (To conclude, I would say that…).

Key Media and Political Lexicon

• les médias / les réseaux sociaux: the media / social media
• l'actualité / s'informer: the news / to keep informed
• une fausse nouvelle / une infox: fake news
• vérifier ses sources / une source fiable: to check one's sources / a reliable source
• l'esprit critique / la manipulation: critical thinking / manipulation
• l'Union européenne / un accord: the European Union / an agreement
• les droits de douane / les exportations: tariffs / exports

Handling the Future Tense in Policy Questions

When a prompt asks about future consequences (such as the impact of Brexit), use the future simple tense. Form it by taking the infinitive (dropping the final -e of -re verbs) and adding the endings: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.

Key irregular stems include: être $\rightarrow$ ser- (ce sera); avoir $\rightarrow$ aur- (il y aura); faire $\rightarrow$ fer-; pouvoir $\rightarrow$ pourr-; and falloir $\rightarrow$ il faudra (it will be necessary).

Model sentence: Je crois que les conséquences seront graves pour notre économie, car il y aura des droits de douane sur nos exportations. (I think the consequences will be serious for our economy, because there will be tariffs on our exports.)

Grammar Foundation: Genders, Adjectives, and Regular Verbs

Strong Language marks in written tasks depend on basic grammatical control. These structures also help you identify who is doing what in rapid audio tracks.

Noun Gender Clues

• Common masculine suffixes: Nouns ending in -age (le village), -ment (le gouvernement), -eau (le bureau), -isme (le tourisme), -oir (le pouvoir), and -é (le marché) are usually masculine. Keep a few tricky exceptions in mind: la page, la plage, l'image, and l'eau.
• Usually feminine endings: -tion / -sion (la manifestation), -té (la sécurité), -ette (la cigarette), -ance / -ence (la violence), -ie (l'économie), and -ée (la journée). Exceptions to remember: le silence, le musée, and le lycée.
• Core news nouns to recognise: Learn these key news terms and their genders: le chômage (unemployment, m.), la grève (strike, f.), un incendie (fire, m.), une enquête (investigation, f.), un orage (thunderstorm, m.), and la foudre (lightning, f.). Remember that plural nouns like les dégâts (damage) and les secours (emergency services) are masculine plurals.

Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives

Possessive adjectives agree with the noun possessed, never with the person who owns it. That means son article can mean his article or her article. Before a feminine noun beginning with a vowel or mute h, use the masculine forms (mon amie, son école) to prevent vowel clash.

Demonstrative adjectives point out specific nouns: ce journal (m. sing.), cet article / cet homme (m. sing. before a vowel or mute h), cette chaîne (f. sing.), and ces nouvelles (plural).

Present Tense of Regular Verbs

• -er verbs (parler): je parle, tu parles, il/elle parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils/elles parlent. Verbs in -ger add an e before -ons (nous mangeons); verbs in -cer take a cedilla (nous commençons).
• -ir verbs (finir): je finis, tu finis, il finit, nous finissons, vous finissez, ils finissent.
• -re verbs (vendre): je vends, tu vends, il vend, nous vendons, vous vendez, ils vendent.

Key terms

Selon / D'après

Prepositions meaning 'according to', used by anchors to attribute statements: selon les autorités (according to the authorities) or d'après la police (according to the police).

En raison de

A formal causal preposition meaning 'due to' or 'owing to', introducing the underlying reason or trigger for an event.

Par conséquent

A consequence connector meaning 'consequently' or 'as a result', introducing the outcome of an event.

Un porte-parole

A spokesperson appointed to issue formal statements for an organisation, ministry, or emergency service.

Démentir

A verb meaning 'to deny' or 'to formally refute' an unverified report, rumour, or accusation.

Une éclaircie

A sunny spell or temporary break in cloud cover during a weather forecast.

La canicule

An intense, prolonged period of abnormal heat; a heatwave.

S'améliorer / Se dégrader

Opposing pronominal verbs meaning 'to improve' and 'to deteriorate / get worse', used to describe weather conditions or economic indicators.

Les secours

Emergency rescue services and first responders deployed to accidents or disaster zones.

Les dégâts

Physical damage or destruction caused by severe weather, fires, accidents, or unrest.

Un incendie

A large, destructive fire, commonly appearing in faits divers reporting.

Un blessé

An injured person or casualty; a false friend that does not mean 'blessed'.

Une manifestation

A public demonstration or protest march; a false friend that does not mean a spiritual manifestation.

Promettre (de)

A verb meaning 'to promise (to)', frequently heard in the passé composé: le gouvernement a promis une aide d'urgence (the government has promised emergency aid).