Nelson Mandela A2 compréhension écrite

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid.

Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in a small village in South Africa. He was the first member of his family to go to school. He went to university and he studied Law. At university he met Oliver Tambo, who became a great friend and, later a colleague. 

 When the National Party that supported racial segregation won the election, Mandela became the leader of another party, called the African National Congress that was against Apartheid.

Apartheid was a system of separation between the black and white people. The Blacks could not go to the same schools, hospitals or restaurants as the Whites. In other words, they were second-class citizens.

Nelson Mandela, like Martin Luther King in the USA, was influenced by Gandhi’s ideas of non violent resistance. However, there was a lot of violence against black people and soon the ANC (African National Congress) became illegal and in 1962 Mandela was arrested because he refused to stop his activity.

He stayed in prison for 27 years. During this period he studied to become a lawyer.

In 1980 Oliver Tambo began an international campaign to free him.

People in other countries were very angry about apartheid so they refused to buy South African things in their shops. Pop stars, opera singers and sports teams refused to go to Africa.

Nelson Mandela was the most famous political prisoner in the world.

In 1990 the President of South Africa ordered the prison to free Nelson Mandela. In 1993 Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1994 he became the first black African president of South Africa.

Reading Comprehension

Read the text about Mandela and Apartheid and answer the questions

1. When and where was Nelson Mandela born?
2. What did he study at university?
3. What did the National Party support?
4. What was Mandela’s political party?
5. What does apartheid mean?
6. What were the differences between blacks and whites in public services?
7. What did Mandela, Gandhi and M.L. King have in common?
8. When and why was Mandela arrested?
9. How long did he stay in prison?
10. How did other countries react to apartheid?
11. When was Mandela freed?
12. What happened in 1993 and 1994?

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