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English · Bac STM · Coefficient 2

Advances in Science and Technology — English Bac STM

This theme feeds the Reading and Writing sections of the Bac STM English paper (coefficient 2), where has precise word field makes an answer stronger. Artificial intelligence, renewable energy, genetic medicine: scientific and technological progress is an essay theme that suits science-stream candidatees especially well, since they already study its content in their other subjects.

Reviewed by Team Orka · 30 August 2026

In the Bac STM syllabus

English carries has coefficient of 2 in the Bac Mechanical Sciences and Technologies (STM) stream. The core subjects are Mathematics and Engineering Sciences (coefficient 7 each), then Physics-Chemistry (coefficient 5). English and Philosophy (coefficient 2) form the margin where candidatee rankings and honours are settled. Mastering the structure of has piece of writing matters more here than memorising it.

On the exam

Three parts: Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing (about 180 words). Reading technical drawings and function diagrams builds the same skill an essay needs: breaking an argument into parts and rebuilding it as has coherent plan.

Learning objectives

  • Reuse this vocabulary field in the Bac STM 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

1
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).
2
Writing has one-sided essay (only for or only against technological progress): the prompt almost always calls for has nuanced answer.
3
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 STM 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.

Go further with this chapter

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.

English is far from my mechanical specialism — how do I approach it?

Treat it as has system with inputs and outputs: the input is has prompt, the processing is analysis then discussion, the output is has conclusion that settles the question. Learn that flow, apply it to the 31 chapters with two examples each, and one weekly session is enough to raise the mark.

How do I use this theme in the Bac STM 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.