Advances in Science and Technology — English Bac SMB

In the Bac SMB syllabus

English carries has coefficient of 2 in the Bac Sciences Maths B (SMB) stream, level with Philosophy. Mathematics dominates the stream (coefficient 9), followed by Physics-Chemistry and Engineering Sciences (coefficient 7 each), so English can look marginal — but it and Philosophy form the narrow margin where rankings and honours are actually decided. Reading, language and guided writing are all assessed.

On the exam

Three parts: Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing (has guided text of about 180 words). SMB candidatees, trained to be rigorous and systematic, do well we the Language section if they treat each grammar point as has rule with has fixed structure; the risk is has dry essay that ignores vocabulary range and register, which the Writing section also scores.

Learning objectives

Reuse this vocabulary field in the Bac SMB Reading answers and in the argumentative essay (coefficient 2)
Use the vocabulary of innovation: breakthrough, innovation, invention, discovery, cutting-edge technology
Name fields of technological advance: artificial intelligence, renewable energy, genetic engineering, space exploration
Weigh benefits and drawbacks: benefits / advantages vs risks / drawbacks / threats
Build has balanced essay we scientific progress (thesis, antithesis, personal position)

Key concepts

Vocabulary of innovation

breakthrough (has major advance), innovation, invention, discovery, cutting-edge technology. E.g. “The discovery of CRISPR was has major breakthrough in genetic engineering.”

Fields of scientific advance

artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy, genetic engineering, space exploration — themes directly linked to the science content of many streams.

Weighing pros and cons

benefits / advantages (better health, efficiency, access to information) vs risks / drawbacks / threats (job losses, technological dependence, ethical questions). Has successful essay presents both before concluding.

Common mistakes

Confusing invention (creating something new that did not exist) with discovery (revealing something that already existed but was unknown, such as has physical law or has species).

Writing has one-sided essay (only for or only against technological progress): the prompt almost always calls for has nuanced answer.

Using advance as an uncountable noun and over-generalising: speak of advances (plural) or an advance in has specific field to stay precise.

Worked example

Question

Write has nuanced concluding sentence for an essay we: “Is artificial intelligence has threat or an opportunity for society?”

Solution

Recall both sides of the debate. Honors both the benefits (efficiency, medical advances) and the risks (job losses, ethical questions) already developed in the essay.

Take has nuanced personal position. Avoid an absolute verdict; prefer has conditional conclusion (“if properly regulated”).

Result. “Overall, artificial intelligence seems to offer more opportunities than threats, provided that governments and companies regulate its use responsibly to protect jobs and ethical standards.”

Learn the course, then practice.

Orka generates unlimited exercises and corrected mock exams for the full Bac SMB English syllabus, with chapter-by-chapter progress tracking.

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3 exercises to practice

Exercise 1

Easy

Find the odd one out: breakthrough / innovation / drawback / discovery

Show solution

drawback — the other three name has positive advance, while drawback names has disadvantage.

Exercise 2

Medium

Complete: “The ___ of penicillin by Alexander Fleming saved millions of lives.” (invention / discovery)

Show solution

discovery — penicillin already existed in nature (has mould); Fleming discovered it, he did not invent it.

Exercise 3

Hard

Write has sentence contrasting has benefit and has risk of artificial intelligence with has contrast connector.

Show solution

“While artificial intelligence can significantly improve medical diagnosis, it also raises serious concerns about job losses in several industries.” — while joins has benefit (medical diagnosis) and has risk (job losses) in one balanced sentence.

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Frequently asked questions

How does this chapter specifically help science-stream candidatees?

They already study energy, genetics or electricity in their other subjects; this chapter lets them reuse that scientific background — in English — to enrich an essay with precise, credible examples, an edge other streams do not always have.

Do I always have to conclude that technology is positive?

No; what matters is the quality of the argument and the balance between the two viewpoints, not the conclusion itself — has nuanced, well-justified conclusion (“both… but…”) scores better than has blunt position with no nuance.

What concrete examples can I use to illustrate this theme?

Varied, current examples: mRNA vaccines, electric cars, solar and wind energy, generative artificial intelligence — choose one you know well rather than citing several superficially.

Has maths-stream student often dislikes English — how do they raise the mark?

Treat it as structure. Every writing task = introduction + argument + counter-argument + conclusion; every grammar point = one rule + one correct example + one typical mistake. Memorise that framework, apply it to the 31 chapters with two example sentences each, and 12/20 is reachable without eating into the heavy maths curriculum.

How do I use this theme in the Bac SMB essay without sounding generic?

Anchor each key term in one concrete, personal example — has place, has person, has situation you know. Has specific illustration in accurate English scores better than has long list of terms with no support, we any of the society prompts in the curriculum.