--- description: More than 12,000 pupils have signed a petition after they were unable to 'cope' with an English exam question title: This Word in an English Exam Has Outraged French Students image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b6b941ef8c7aea4/698857e83c16393204458828/student-test.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Word in an English Exam Has Outraged French Students  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Jun 23, 2015 12:05 PM CUT  Setting the page on fire with some hard work Setting the page on fire with some hard workGetty Images  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Jun 23, 2015 12:05 PM CUT Thousands of French teenagers were stumped by a question in their English exam paper using the word ‘coping.’ The question, based on Ian McEwan’s novel _Atonement,_ asks how the character Robbie Turner – falsely accused of rape – is “coping with the situation.” A disgruntled 17-year-old, known only as Arthur, [launched a petition ](https://www.change.org/p/annulation-de-la-question-m-au-bac-d-anglais-minist%C3%A8re-de-l-%C3%A9ducation-nationale "undefined")describing the question as “incomprehensible” and “impossible” and called for the notorious ‘Question M’ either to be annulled when grading the exam, known in France as the baccalaureate or for bonus points to be awarded to those who managed to answer it. More than 12,000 pupils had signed it by Tuesday morning. Arthur [told](http://www.france24.com/en/20150622-french-pupils-rebel-over-impossible-english-exam-question "undefined") a local TV station that ‘coping’ is not a word in common usage and would only be familiar to someone with “excellent” English. Others defended the question. Fellow student Hugo Travers, 18, [tweeted](https://twitter.com/HugoTravers/status/611974699120246785 "undefined"): “In 2015, you find a question hard and you write a petition full of errors. No, just no.” ### 5 Horrible Habits You Need to Stop Right Now  Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night “The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item. Chris Pecoraro—Getty Images  Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time “If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.'” Sam Edwards—Getty Images/Caiaimage  Do Not Check Email Constantly Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help. Jetta Productions—Getty Images  Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7 At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit. by nacoki ( MEDIA ARC )—Getty Images/Flickr RF  Do Not Let People Ramble Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?” But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally. Reza Estakhrian—Getty Images _Read next:_ [_Why You Should Write in Your Books_](http://time.com/3919181/reading-book-conversation/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go_](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/time-mobile/id328218429 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3931629/baccalaureate-english-exam/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3931629/baccalaureate-english-exam/"},"headline":"This Word in an English Exam Has Outraged French Students","datePublished":"2015-06-23T12:05:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:53.234Z","description":"More than 12,000 pupils have signed a petition after they were unable to 'cope' with an English exam question","url":"https://time.com/3931629/baccalaureate-english-exam/","keywords":["France"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b6b941ef8c7aea4/698857e83c16393204458828/student-test.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b6b941ef8c7aea4/698857e83c16393204458828/student-test.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"student standardized test","caption":"student standardized test","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3931629/baccalaureate-english-exam/","name":"This Word in an English Exam Has Outraged French Students"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now","description":"A practicing sex therapist in New York City, Dr. Shirley Zussman has witnessed everything from the legalization of the contraceptive birth control pill to the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s to the rise of internet porn in the new millenium.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uJFYIrvP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-20T13:40:15.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uJFYIrvP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3931629/baccalaureate-english-exam/","duration":"PT3M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3931629/baccalaureate-english-exam/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```