GUIDE PÉDAGOGIQUE - Hachette

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ISBN 978-2-216-10802-2 

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et Code pénal, art. 425). 

© Éditions Foucher, Vanves – 2008

Anglais Sup 

New Starting Up, manuel destiné aux étudiants de 

BTS tertiaires, d’IUT, d’écoles de commerce et de 

formation continue, permet d’atteindre deux objectifs 

essentiels : 

• la maîtrise des compétences fondamentales dans 

le domaine de la communication en anglais ; 

• la réussite aux épreuves d'anglais des divers examens. 

New Starting Up comporte 18 unités de dix pages 

centrées sur des thèmes couvrant le monde socioprofessionnel 

tels que la recherche d’emploi, le 

temps de travail, les ressources humaines, les relations 

du travail, les types d’entreprises, la culture 

d’entreprise, le mercatique, la publicité, la gestion de 

marque, la distribution, les nouvelles techniques de 

vente, le développement durable, l’interculturel, la 

consommation, les transports et le tourisme, l’éthique, 

l’Europe, la mondialisation et l’argent. 

Chaque unité est structurées en trois parties : 

• Zooming on pose la problématique du thème 

abordé et favorise le développement progressif et 

complémentaire des quatre compétences fondamentales 

de la communication. 

• Business Contacts a pour objectif le développement 

des compétences requises dans une situation 

professionnelle. 

À l’écrit : apprendre à écrire un CV, une lettre de 

motivation, de rappel ou de demande de renseignements, 

organiser une réunion ou un voyage, déclarer 

un accident de travail, faire une note de service, lancer 

un nouveau produit, passer une commande ou 

envoyer un communiqué de presse... 

À l’oral : compréhension d’ordres, de consignes, prises 

de messages téléphoniques, participation à une 

conversation ou à une réunion professionnelle... 

• Keys to Success prépare aux épreuves orales et 

écrites des examens. 

Pr éface 

• Test yourself permet une évaluation des acquis de 

l’unité. On trouvera le corrigé des épreuves de cette 

partie en fin d’ouvrage pour une auto-correction. 

• Exam paper est une préparation soutenue aux 

différentes épreuves écrites des examens avec des 

conseils méthodologiques pour l’essai, la version, le 

compte-rendu... 

New Starting Up favorise le travail autonome. 

• Words Apart regroupe le lexique nécessaire à la 

compréhension et à l’exploitation des supports proposés 

dans l’ensemble de l’unité. 

• Prompts fournit les structures de base permettant 

de s’exprimer de manière idiomatique. 

• Language at work conduit à une consolidation 

raisonnée et progressive des savoirs grammaticaux. 

• Writing encourage la remise en forme écrite des 

acquis lexicaux et structuraux de l’exploitation des 

documents. 

New Starting Up propose une grande variété de 

supports textuels, auditifs et iconographiques, et 

contient de nombreuses annexes : précis grammatical, 

liste des verbes irréguliers, de mots de liaison et 

de sigles, et repères civilisationnels avec cartes. 

Les CDs, compléments indispensables du manuel, 

comportent tous les exercices de phonologie et de 

compréhension des enregistrements ainsi que les 

textes. 

Le Guide pédagogique présente les objectifs de 

chaque unité et explicite la démarche pédagogique. 

Il fournit le corrigé intégral et détaillé de toutes les 

activités écrites et orales et de tous les exercices de 

grammaire, les scripts de tous les enregistrements, 

différentes suggestions d’exploitation pédagogiques 

ainsi que d’éventuels prolongements. 

Préface 3

4 Sommaire 

So m m a i r e 

Unit 1 Getting a job ................................................ 5 

Unit 2 Working time ................................................ 11 

Unit 3 Human resources .......................................... 19 

Unit 4 Industrial relations .......................................... 25 

Unit 5 Running a company ....................................... 35 

Unit 6 Corporate culture ........................................... 41 

Unit 7 Marketing ..................................................... 49 

Unit 8 Advertising ..................................................... 59 

Unit 9 Brand managing ........................................... 65 

Unit 10 Retailing ....................................................... 71 

Unit 11 Sustainable development ............................ 79 

Unit 12 Intercultural management ............................ 87 

Unit 13 Consuming ................................................. 95 

Unit 14 Travelling .................................................... 105 

Unit 15 Business and ethics ..................................... 111 

Unit 16 Europe ........................................................ 123 

Unit 17 Going global ............................................... 129 

Unit 18 Money matters ........................................... 137 

© Éditions Foucher

© Éditions Foucher 

Zooming on (pp. 10-13) 

pages 10-11 

Un i t 1 Get ti n G a Jo b 

Cette première unité pose les jalons de la recherche d’emploi, du lexique lié aux techniques de prise 

de contact lors de l’entretien, aux structures utiles pour la rédaction d’un CV. La sensibilisation 

aux méthodes de recrutement les plus modernes fait partie des objectifs de l’unité. 

1. gender pay gap by 2085 

L’objectif de cet article est la sensibilisation aux différences 

salariales entre les hommes et les femmes. La 

notion de « gender » est à élucider afin de brasser des 

idées reçues et des opinions personnelles concernant 

l’inégalité dans le monde professionnel. Un travail de 

« scanning » peut être proposé afin de repérer les données 

chiffrées pour en faire un tableau. 

1. This article deals with the question of minority 

groups – the disabled, the poor, the disadvantaged, 

and of non-minority groups – the non-disabled, 

and mothers with young children. The issue is 

pay discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, region, 

and sector of employment. Discrimination is 

found mostly in desk jobs, such as secretarial or 

administrative jobs. 

Men and women in the UK do not always earn 

the same pay for the same job. According to the 

statistics, women in certain regions are more 

underprivileged than others: in the East Midlands, 

the pay difference is 17% whereas in London this 

difference is only 7%. 

In terms of job discrimination, there are specific 

groups of people who suffer more; namely, mothers 

with young children, who have 45% less chance of 

being hired than a man. Another group that has fewer 

advantages in today’s society are the disabled: their 

unemployment rate is 30% higher than someone 

who has no physical handicap. Even though people 

have the same qualifications, they do not seem to 

have the same opportunities. 

2. Dress for success 

Cette activité de compréhension écrite et d’exploitation 

de document iconographique permet d’introduire le lexique 

vestimentaire ainsi que les adjectifs les plus adaptés 

au monde professionnel. Le document visuel permet 

d’élucider le lexique suivant : attire, a suit, a tie, a blouse, 

a pantsuit, hosiery, make-up. 

1. The question of how clothes are worn gives a 

message to prospective employers: a conservative 

style versus a radical or trendy look, whether the tone 

is neutral, colours are toned down and dark, discreet 

rather than bright. Candidates are urged to adopt a 

traditional mode of dress. In other words, you needn’t 

show your personality or individuality through your 

choice of clothing. 

There are a number of similarities between the two 

tables: both men and women should have a neat 

professional hairstyle and wear very little jewellery. 

What should stand out are your personality traits, not 

your perfume or your white socks! Being professional 

is a question of being low-key. To play down colours 

and styles is to be professional. 

3. Find your competitive edge – 

and use it 

Ce document de compréhension écrite et d’expression 

orale permet de rebrasser les modaux et d’élargir la 

notion de professionnalisme. Le lexique du comportement 

professionnel peut être élucidé en amont: a firm 

handshake, eye contact, body language, opening line. 

1. You should do your homework before going to an 

interview. For example, you need to find out what 

you can about the company. You must discover why 

you are better than other candidates. If you can 

introduce yourself briefly and clearly, you will be 

easier to understand and more apt to make a good 

first impression. You mustn’t forget the importance 

of eye contact. If you can’t remember what to say, 

that means you will have to learn a few opening lines 

by heart. 

Unit 1 – Getting a Job 5

4. A job interview 

Cette activité de compréhension orale a comme objectif 

l’identification du rôle d’un conseiller de recrutement et de 

plusieurs stratégies de réussite de l’entretien d’embauche. 

Script de l’enregistrement 

Rory Taylor, operations manager at Syringa Automotive 

Recruitment, offers some advice on how to conduct 

yourself when being interviewed by a prospective 

employer. 

Benjamin Calloway: How should I get started? 

Rory Taylor: Request clear directions to the interview 

venue, the name of the person who will see you, and 

the phone number – you may need it en route. 

If the company is unknown to you, do some research 

(via the internet or some other way). 

Prospective employers are impressed by candidates 

who have taken the trouble to learn about their 

company. The recruitment consultant should be able 

to provide you with information to get you started. 

BC: Can you give me some tips? What should I avoid 

doing? 

RT: Of course I can! Remember the employer is 

gauging your responses, and envisaging you in 

the work environment. Don’t chat unnecessarily 

and think before you reply to questions. Answer 

questions clearly, to the point, without being too 

abrupt. Positive eye-contact is important. 

BC: And in terms of follow-up? 

RT: Liaise with your recruitment consultant as soon 

as possible after an interview, don’t leave it up to him 

or her to follow up. If the client calls the consultant, 

he will be impressed to learn you have already 

contacted the agency, offering feed-back and vital 

information. 

BC: I’m afraid of launching a discussion about 

salary. 

RT: Don’t be too eager to launch into salary 

negotiations during the interview. Create the 

impression that you need a career rather than a 

job. Tell the interviewer that if you are appointed, 

you would appreciate the firm making you an offer, 

rather than you requesting a package. 

BC: How will I know if I’m the best candidate for 

the job? 

RT: Unfortunately, time does not allow them to 

phone you regularly to tell you they have no news 

for you. But you can take it for granted that as 

soon as an opportunity arises, they will call you 

immediately when there’s news. 

BC: Any last words of wisdom? 

RT: A thank you is much appreciated, and consultants 

enjoy hearing how you like your new job. 

6 Unit 1 – Getting a Job 

1. The recruitment consultant is like a mentor – 

someone who has experience and who will guide you 

before and after your interview. The consultant gives 

advice to candidates, critiques their performance by 

giving feedback, and provides necessary information 

to help them succeed. 

2. The interviewee should give short answers and not 

carry on or stray from the point. He or she should be 

polite and maintain eye contact. 

3. Thanking your consultant is an excellent idea! 

Getting back to the consultant after the interview by 

phone or personal contact is a way to give a positive 

impression to your future employer. 

REPORTING 

Cette activité permet aux élèves de comparer les 

stra tégies d’embauche avec leurs idées personnelles 

concernant la réussite professionnelle. Les réponses 

devraient s’appuyer sur les notions évoquées dans les 

activités précédentes afin d’opposer « luck » et « preparedness 

». 

Getting a job is being at the right place at the right 

time – your appearance counts, and so does your 

attitude. Looking good on paper is not enough (a 

top-class CV), knowing how to seize opportunity 

means knowing which strategies work and why (eye 

contact, a firm handshake, being short and to the 

point in answering questions, following up with a 

consultant). Dressing for success means having a 

professional presentation and a positive attitude. You 

can get the job if you are not only in the right place 

at the right time, but have the right techniques and 

behaviour to seize the opportunity. 

portrait of an artist (pp. 12-13) 

Cette activité de compréhension écrite a comme objectif 

de fournir le témoignage d’un jeune femme entrepreneur 

qui a dû se forger une identité et une crédibilité dans 

un monde professionnel présentant les mêmes difficultés 

que celles rencontrées lors de la recherche d’emploi. 

FIRST STEPS 

Ces exercices permettent d’émettre des hypothèses sur le 

contenu de l’article et de répondre aux questions en WH-. 

1. The title suggests that the text could describe 

the life and the work of an artist. 

2. The visual represents pictures of the artist’s work. 

By looking closely, we can read the name of the artist, 

Joyce Wan. The Chinese characters suggest that the 



art or the artist may be of Chinese origin. As the visual 

looks like a postcard, we may be able to introduce the 

term “greeting card”. This terms appears in the text 

on l. 11 and the other art products follow (soft goods, 

infant clothing, tote bags, artists’ notebooks). 

3. a. Ms Wan is a 29 year-old Chinese-American 

artist whose inspiration came from her childhood. 

b. She is the head of her own company, “Wanart”, 

located in Hoboken, New Jersey. She sells her art 

at museum shops, stationery stores and online on 

wanart.com. 

MOVING ON 

Ces exercices peuvent être preparés à la maison ou en 

classe. 

1. Joyce Wan got the idea for her company by 

observing her own familiar surroundings. She found 

images in her family life, and during her childhood. 

She also noticed that there was a need for greeting 

cards on the market. 

2. a. “to take me seriously” (l. 4); “people would 

question me about my experience” (l. 6), “they really 

liked them” (l. 19). 

b. “a hard time” (l. 4); “I realized that there was a big 

hole in the market” (l. 22); “it is like baring your soul”, 

“it was so hard” (l. 33). 

3. Her family, her Chinese-American heritage, Asian 

themes that were contemporary, Chinese zodiac 

figures, her childhood, her home. 

4. A museum shop, a stationery store, online. 

5. • Joyce grew up in Boston. 

• She worked after studying architecture. 

• It has taken Wan time to be able to sell her own 

work. 

6. a. playful / b. convincing others that she was 

competent / c. telling your innermost secrets. 

7. Joyce Wan, a 29 year-old Chinese-American artist, 

is also a fledgling entrepreneur. Having observed 

various Asian themes and images around her since 

her childhood, she started making greeting cards. 

When she discovered a niche market for such cards, 

she started her own company, Wanart. Although her 

designs were successful, selling them was difficult – 

people thought she was young and inexperienced. 

Now, she has her own website and a bright future 

ahead of her. 

8. J’ai eu beaucoup de mal à faire en sorte que les 

gens me prennent au sérieux. À un tel point que 

j’ai fait imprimer la mention « PDG » sur ma carte 

de visite, mais je l’ai ensuite retirée car les gens me 

posaient des questions sur mon expérience », dit-elle. 

Cela ne représente qu’un des nombreux défis auquel 

cette jeune artiste et jeune femme d’affaires doit faire 

face tous les jours. 

WRITING 

Cette activité mélange la rédaction personnelle, le 

rebrassage du lexique étudié ainsi que la synthèse des 

éléments essentiels du texte étudié. Il peut faire l’objet 

d’une évaluation de la production écrite ou un devoir 

à la maison. 

LANGUAGE AT WORK 

Il s’agit d’exercices grammaticaux, lexicaux, et phonétiques, 

s’appuyant sur le texte, son lexique, et son sens. 

1. [ch] – challenge, architecture, Chinese, research, 

chain, chance, cheer, charming 

[sh] – inertia, capricious; [k] – architecture, characteristic, 

Christmas, chaos 

Enregistrement 

Challenge / architecture / Chinese / research / 

inertia / characteristic / Christmas / chain / chaos / 

chance / cheer / capricious / charming. 

2. Cet exercice vise à la creation de noms en utilisant 

des suffixes. 

hardship, hardness, seriousness, inspiration, 

salesmanship, sleeplessness, imagination, creativity, 

marketability. 

3. Cet exercice permet d’affiner l’utilisation de « like » et 

« as ». 

a. Many of her designs look like figures from the 

Chinese horoscope. 

b. As images often have a hidden meaning, they are 

useful. 

c. Several museums, such as the Smithsonian, are 

interested in Wan’s work. 

d. Wan feels like a child when people judge her 

inexperience. 

4. a. Joyce a commencé à se faire ses propres cartes 

de vœux quand elle était jeune. 

b. Elle a arrêté de travailler pour le cabinet d’architecture 

en 2003. 

c. Bien qu’elle ait du succès, elle n’apprécie pas le 

fait de travailler seule tous les jours. 


5. a. Joyce made people believe she was competent. 

b. She had the distribution carried out by a subcontractor. 

c. She could not make herself understood by everyone. 

d. Was she able to get her work sold by the Boston 

museum? 

BUSinESS ConTACTS 

(pp. 14-17) 

Ces deux double pages ont pour objectif la mise en 

œuvre des cinq compétences du CECRL. Les activités 

s’appuient sur des situations professionnelles authentiques 

– synthèse de documents, rédaction d’un curriculum 

vitae, contact téléphonique. 

1. Analysing recruitment 

methods (pp. 14-15) 

Les étudiants lisent les documents afin de dresser un 

bilan des méthodes de recrutement. En faisant le tri, 

ils exposent des points positifs et négatifs pour chaque 

méthode retenue. Cet exposé prend la forme d’une interaction 

orale. 

YOUR TASK 

The different search methods: newspaper ads, 

referrals, internships (Doc. 1); the video resume (Doc. 

2); teleporting your CV (Doc. 3); in-house training 

(Doc. 4). 

One of the most effective methods is an internship. 

The advantage of an internship is that you actually 

gain experience and insight on the job. Being inside 

a company enables you to meet your co-workers 

and work as part of a team. According to the texts 

(Doc. 1 and 4), nothing can replace practical 

experience such as in-house training. You can also 

see how the company works. But, the drawback is 

that you are a beginner, and may make mistakes. 

This could dissuade your boss from hiring you 

permanently. Nonetheless, if you can think on your 

feet, doors will begin to open for you, and you could 

be given additional responsibilities. 

One of the least effective methods is the video 

resumé. According to the text, one candidate for 

an entry-level position became the laughingstock of 

Wall Street. Indeed, his resumé stood out from the 

pool of applicants, but made him look ridiculous 

rather than glamourous. Although new technology 

8 Unit 1 – Getting a Job 

opens up new opportunities, it can also close doors 

if one is not careful. 

2. Writing your CV (pp. 16-17) 

Cette activité de rédaction d’un CV s’appuie sur des 

documents authentiques qui devraient être lus et écoutés 

afin d’éviter les écueils les plus répandus dans une 

telle rédaction. Après la discussion, le CV qui sert de 

modèle peut être exploité à la maison dans le but de 

peaufiner son CV. 

Being a “geek” can help you land that job 


CV writer and job-hunting coach Gerard le Roux 

says a client who landed a job recently wrote about 

his “stroke of genius” in preparing a CV that helped 

to get this result. 

Le Roux says that in writing a CV for this client, he 

had described him in the opening page as a “geek“, 

which was the person’s own description of himself, 

and why he thought he would be a good prospect 

for that particular job. In his email to Le Roux, he 

reported that his CV “got quite a few smiles and 

generated interest from all the right people“. Le 

Roux says a job applicant might question whether 

it’s appropriate to use “slang” in a formal document 

like a CV, or whether this might be judged to be 

“too casual” or “unprofessional” by a prospective 

employer. 

In this specific case it worked because the employee, 

a leading cell phone manufacturer, was actually 

looking for a “geek”, he explains. 

A “geek” is defined on the website www.wikipedia. 

org as “a person who is fascinated, perhaps 

obsessively... with technology, especially computing 

and new media”, he says. 

“We included that definition in the CV as it 

expressed perfectly, in a unique and unconventional 

fashion, what the employer was looking for. It drew 

attention because it wasn’t ‘average’, and it matched 

their needs.” When an employer’s need is met by a 

closely matching offer on the part of the applicant, 

the candidate stands a great chance of landing the 

job, he says. 

“A CV is a sales document and it isn’t wrong to be 

unconventional or different. “If information matches 

the needs of the reader and is relevant, it should be 

in there – prominently,” he advises. 



KEyS To SUCCESS 

(pp. 18-19) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

new world of networking (p. 18) 

Les corrigés se trouvent page 190 du manuel. 

ExAm pApEr 

looking for a job in a speeddating 

format, complete with 

charm (p. 19) 

L’épreuve consiste en la rédaction d’un compte rendu en 

français à partir d’un document en anglais ainsi qu’une 

production écrite en anglais. 

i. Compréhension 

Ce texte, tiré du site californiaaggie.com, et daté de 

juillet 2007, aborde le thème d’une innovation en 

méthodes de recrutement – le « speed dating ». En 

mélangeant la recherche d’emploi et le « dating » ou les 

rendez-vous galants, cette méthode propose de pouvoir 

faire ressortir les atouts personnels des candidats par le 

biais de la séduction. 

Comment ça marche ? En 15 minutes, des groupes 

d’étudiants triés par centres d’intérêt, se présentent et 

posent des questions à une des sociétés représentées, 

puis s’arrêtent lors de la sonnerie. Ensuite, après avoir 

ainsi interrogé plusieurs des sociétés, il y a une heure 

pour discuter et élargir son réseau relationnel. 

Bien que cette méthode ait été pilotée par de grosses 

entreprises cherchant des diplômés d’écoles de commerce, 

elle ne se limite pas à un genre d’étudiant. 

L’objectif de cette démarche, selon Cathy Wang de 

l’université de Californie à Davis, est de se rendre 

compte du véritable travail lié à une recherche d’emploi 

tout en étant dans un contexte plus décontracté qui 

favorise la relation entre l’étudiant et le sélectionneur 

de l’entreprise. Est-ce la panacée dans la prospection ? 

(184 mots) 

ii. Expression 

1. The pros of speed dating are numerous: this 

technique gives you a chance to be at your best, 

to impress the company. It also enables you to talk 

about other facets of your personal and professional 

life. Overall, it gives you more flexibility and helps 

you to convince. After all, one-to-one contact is far 

better than an anoymous CV. Finally, it gives you the 

opportunity to see several companies in a short time 

period. 

On the other hand, it puts pressure on you to 

perform, so it gives undue advantage to those who 

have “charm”. Therefore, you must know how to 

present your qualities quickly and effectively to 

convince. Since time may be too short and you can 

say something you might regret, practice may be 

the best way to make speed dating an ideal choice 

(136 words). 

2. Les étudiants s’expriment en sélectionnant une des 

méthodes rencontrées dans cette unité, ou une autre, 

afin de prendre une position argumentée très concise 

concernant leur choix. 

I find speed dating to be the most effective method 

because it’s quick; it enables you to use all of your 

personal qualities and not just your CV to get a 

job. I think it is excellent practice for the future and 

avoids more stressful situations such as formal job 

interviews. (51 words) 




Cette double page d’introduction du thème de l’unité est 

centrée sur la durée du temps de travail. 

pages 20-21 

Un i t 2 Wo r ki n G t i m e 

Cette unité développe le thème du temps de travail à travers de multiples exemples concrets 

de la comparaison des horaires de travail en Europe à l’emploi du temps d’un patron 

d’hôtel gallois à l’intérim. 

1. Average weekly working hours 

in Europe 

Cette activité de commentaire de tableaux de données 

chiffrées permet de faire travailler les adjectifs de nationalité 

et les formes de la comparaison. 

1. The Poles are the people who have the longest 

weekly working hours with more than 45 hours per 

week, whereas the Danes have the shortest weekly 

working hours with less than 40 hours. 

2. The figures contradict the usual idea that Europe is 

divided between Anglo-Saxon work ethic typified by 

long working-weeks and the continental employment 

model of shorter working-weeks and greater leisure 

time. Total weekly working time for full-time 

employees in the U.K. is only 1.1 hours higher than 

the EU average and 0.7 hours lower than in the 

Netherlands. 

2. The long-hours culture 

in Britain 

Cette activité vise à faire reformuler les données chiffrées. 

1. It can be said that Britain has a long-hours culture 

because 26% of employees work more than 48 

hours a week and 15% work 60 hours a week. 65% 

of workers do not use the full 60 minutes for lunch 

and the average time for a break is 27 minutes. 

Only 44% of workers use up their full entitlement to 

annual leave. Typically, the average British employee 

puts in a full working day in unpaid overtime every 

week – almost £5,000 in unpaid salary every year. 

Figures from the report written by the Trade Union 

Congress in 2002 paint a grim picture of the situation 

of the “the long hours culture” in Britain. Three 

quarters of working people are not allowed flexible 

hours and two thirds cannot choose when they start 

or finish, which may, for example, prevent parents 

from dropping children off at school. Two out of five 

workers are not even allowed time off for a doctor’s 

appointment or domestic crisis. Many of them would 

like to reduce the hours they work but very few are 

ready to take a pay cut to do so. 

3. Extreme jobs 

Cette activité de compréhension de l’oral vise à faire 

expliciter les difficultés que rencontrent les cadres ayant 

d'importantes responsabilités qui travaillent plus de 

soixante heures par semaine aux États-Unis. 


Interviewer 

How would you define an “extreme job”? 

Ann Hewlett 

You have an “extreme job” if you work 60 hours or 

more a week, with a one-hour commute each way. 

It means leaving the house at 7 a.m. every morning 

and not returning until 9 p.m. And more than half 

of extreme workers work longer hours than that. 

The Center for Work-Life Policy led two surveys 

and dozens of interviews and focus groups which 

show that about 20 percent of the people in the top 

6 percent of income levels in the United States are 

extreme workers. That means 20 percent of those 

who make it to the top are working harder than any 

human can sustain for very long. 

Interviewer 

What are the consequences? 

Ann Hewlett 

Sixty-nine percent say their extreme jobs undermine 

their health. 46 percent say work gets in the way of a 

good relationship with their spouse. And 58 percent 

Unit 2 – Working time 11

say it gets in the way of strong relationships with 

their children. 

Interviewer 

And that must have the consequences on the 

children? 

Ann Hewlett 

To measure what is worrying parents who hold 

extreme jobs, we asked them the question “Has 

your child ever experienced any of the following 

because of the number of hours you work?”. 

Watching too much television? 4 percent of women 

and 35 percent of men said yes. 

Discipline issues due to lack of attention? 38 percent 

of women, 18 percent of men said yes. 

Eating too much junk food? 34 percent of women, 

12 percent of men said yes. 

Interviewer 

It is not just bad for parents: it is bad for 

employers… 

Ann Hewlett 

Close to 50 million employees are affected by a 

problem with their children: they have to leave 

work rapidly when child care fails or spend 

distracted hours at the office knowing a child is 

home sick. Companies need to see the business 

argument against excessive hours. They ought to 

ask themselves what they are doing wrong. If 10 

hours’ overtime is needed to get a job done, there is 

something wrong with the way the job is organised. 

They have a duty to look after people and protect 

them from themselves. 

Interviewer 

And do you see any solutions? 

Ann Hewlett 

Everyone involved in the long-hours debate agrees 

that more flexible working practices are at least 

one solution to the problem. It is what is called the 

agile workplace. And it could include subsidies for 

after-school care and backup care, and the ability 

to telecommute. 

1. You have an “extreme job” if you work 60 hours 

or more a week, with a one hour commute each way. 

It means leaving the house at 7 a.m. every morning 

and not returning until 9 p.m. And more than half 

of extreme workers work longer hours than that. 

20 percent of the people in the top 6 percent of 

income levels in the United States are extreme workers. 

Other characteristics include fast-paced work meeting 

tight deadlines, responsibility for profit and loss, a large 

amount of travel, an unpredictable flow of work, and 

work-related events outside business hours. 

12 Unit 2 – Working time 

2. What these extreme workers love about their jobs 

is the thrill, the meaning, the challenge, the oversized 

compensation packages and the brilliant colleagues. 

3. a. There are negative consequences: 58 percent of 

extreme workers themselves say an extreme job gets 

in the way of strong relationships with their children. 

4 percent of women and 35 percent of men say that 

their child has watched too much television because 

of the number of hours they work. 38 percent of 

women, and 18 percent of men said their child has 

had discipline issues due to lack of attention. And 

34 percent of women, 12 percent of men said their 

child eat too much junk food. 

b. It is also bad for companies because when child 

care fails, employees have to leave work rapidly and 

they spend hours distracted at the office if they know 

a child is home sick. 

c. Sixty-nine percent of extreme workers say their 

jobs undermine their health. 46 percent say work gets 

in the way of a good relationship with their spouse. 

4. Ann Hewlett maintains that the “agile workplace” is 

the solution to the problem. It means flexible working 

hours, subsidies for after-school care and backup care, 

and the ability to telecommute. Companies have a 

duty to look after people and protect them from 

themselves and ought to ask themselves if the job is 

well organised when 10 hours’ overtime is needed to 

get it done. 

5. “It’s the American Dream on steroids.” means that 

“extreme workers” are making their way up the social 

ladder and a lot of money, but they have to spend so 

much time and energy on their jobs that it backfires. 

Just like sportsmen who want to overcome their limits 

and break records by indulging in drugs – speed or 

steroids –, extreme workers are putting their health 

and their family’s balance at risk. 

4. Shorter hours 

Pour cette activité de compréhension de l’écrit, les étudiants 

lisent le texte silencieusement afin d’en prélever les 

informations pertinentes et les reformulent de manière à 

définir la culture du travail en Grande-Bretagne. 

1. The CIPD agrees that there are more people 

working over 48 hours a week in Britain than in 

other EU countries. But it notices that the number 

of those working fewer than 30 hours is also greater 

than in other countries. This is partly because Britain 

has more part-time workers and is less governed by 

collective agreements. 



2. People choose to work long hours because 

there’s a social as well as an economic value to work. 

Research suggests that people do not necessarily 

want to spend less time at work and more time with 

their families. 

REPORTING 

Les étudiants seront encouragés à poser la question 

à leurs proches à la maison et en classe et à établir 

des statistiques qui seront présentées et étudiées 

en classe. Les résultats seront notés au tableau, puis 

dans les cahiers, afin d’en préparer une synthèse individuelle 

soit en travail à la maison soit en évaluation 

en classe. 

gerry’s working day (pp. 22-23) 

Cette activité de compréhension de l’écrit pourra être 

préparée individuellement à la maison et reprise en 

classe. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. Les étudiants décrivent le dessin afin d’anticiper le 

thème du texte. 

In the picture, we can see a man wearing a white 

shirt and a red tie trying to keep his balance on 

a plank rolling on a cylinder while carrying his 

wife and their baby on his shoulders. He seems 

overworked and under pressure. They are juggling 

with a calendar, a handset, a suitcase, a tennis racket 

and an alarm clock. 

It shows that he has no time for anything and must 

try to juggle all his activities at the same time: 

work, family life and leisure time. He is the typical 

breadwinner. 

So the article must be about somebody who has a 

very busy working life. 

2. First name: Gerry, 

Surname: Wilkinson, 

Age: 53, 

Place of residence: Rhayader, Wales, 

Job: hotelier, he owns and runs a hotel, 

Hobbies; spending time with his grandchildren, 

walking in the countryside, watching TV, 

Marital status: married, 

Wife’s job: she does the accounts. 

MOVING ON 

Les activités proposées mènent progressivement de la 

compréhension globale à la reformulation de l’implicite. 

1. Gerry is a dedicated hotel owner, who spends 

all his time working. He is available 24 hours a day 

seven days a week and does menial tasks around 

the hotel that keep him constantly busy. What is 

so stressful for him is being available 100% of the 

time. 

2. a. “Grab a bite” means eating some food 

quickly. 

b. “I’m on my feet” means standing. 

c. “On the fly” means quickly. 

d. “Pull back” means withdraw or retreat. 

e. “I’m always on call” means I’m always available 

when called. 

f. “Unwind” means relax. 

3. Ginger Cockerham must be a kind of psychologist 

who helps stressed business people reorganize their 

lives. 

Ginger Cockerham is the vice-president of the 

International Coaching Federation and one 

of America’s top practitioner who coaches to 

overworked employees. Now 65, Ginger was once 

a farmer’s wife in Arkansas. When farming went into 

recession she worked as an English teacher and later 

ran a property tax consultancy while raising four 

children. In the early 1990s, inspired by a business 

seminar, she enrolled in a coaching course and 

became a protégée of Thomas Leonard, the man 

credited with founding the coaching phenomenon 

in the States. She says coaching is about listening to 

someone “not just for what they say, but for what 

they don’t say. It’s not telling someone how to run 

their business or do their job, but giving them clarity 

so that they can find their own way forward.“ 

4. Gerry says the process of mapping out how he 

spends each day has been a real wake-up call for 

him. It has given him clarity about what is not 

working in his life – such as being available 24 hours 

a day seven days a week, and keeping constantly 

busy. It is being available almost 100 per cent of the 

time that is so stressful to him. 

5. Gerry committed to scheduling a day to spend 

time with his grandchildren without interruption. 

Also, he put on his calendar a day away with his 

wife without any mention of their business to enjoy 

being together. 

He also committed to saying “no” to three things 

that he was doing at the hotel. 

6. Gerry should say “no” to doing what the staff 

should do – laying the tables, cleaning the bar, 

etc. Gerry should say “no” to running the morning 


shift and preparing cooked breakfasts for the guests 

because he has two chefs who can do it. 

Gerry should say “no” to cleaning up breakfast and 

let the staff do it. 

Gerry should say “no” to grabbing a bite when he 

can and having lunch on the fly, and eat at regular 

hours instead. 

7. Nous avons discuté de ce qu’il acceptait de 

s’engager à faire tout de suite. Il a dit qu’il allait prévoir 

une journée pour passer du temps avec ses petitsenfants 

du matin au soir. Il a aussi dit qu’il réservait une 

journée avec sa femme pour profiter d’être ensemble 

sans jamais parler du travail. Il m’a dit qu’il m’enverrait 

un courriel pour me raconter ce qui s’était passé durant 

ces deux journées libres et ce qu’il a décidé qu’il ne 

ferait pas. 

WRITING 

Cette activité d’expression écrite peut servir d’évaluation 

des acquis de la double page soit en travail individuel à la 

maison soit en temps limité en classe. Les étudiants seront 

encouragés à exprimer leur opinion personnelle. 

As I see it, a good work/life balance is necessary to 

succeed in life. 

Achieving a work/life balance is obviously much easier 

if you live “in abundance”. This means being realistic 

about financial planning, rather than amassing great 

riches, 

People should understand they have permission 

to put themselves first – to have a pedicure or a 

massage, to take a Friday afternoon off, a daily walk, 

or plan a holiday. Taking time out for yourself is not 

being indulgent, it is essential if you are going to 

stay fresh and passionate about what you do. It’s 

not about being perfect. It is about looking after 

yourself. 


Les exercices conduisent à une consolidation des savoirs en 

phonétique, lexique et grammaire. 

1. Cet exercice de phonétique porte sur la prononciation 

de mots proches graphiquement, donc souvent sources 

d’erreur. 


The letter i is pronounced [ai] find / right / Ohio / 

outside / designed / ice / directly / private / time / 

mightily / survivors / life / irony / like / idea / liability / 

primary / finance. 

The letter i is pronounced [i] in tennis / different / 

brings / equipment. 


2. Les étudiants se reporteront à la liste des verbes 

irréguliers. 

a. Every night, he lies awake worrying. 

b. He lays the table three times a day. 

c. They’re laying a new carpet in the hall. 

d. I’ll kill him if I lay my hands on him. 

e. He lay all the blame on the staff. 

f. The hardest part still lies ahead of him. 

g. He should lie back and relax. 

h. He’s laying money aside for retirement. 

i. Because of falling orders, the company laid off 

workers. 

3. Les étudiants se reporteront à la Modalité dans le Précis 

grammatical. 

a. You don’t have to work so much, you can rest a 

little. 

b. You don’t have to leave at once. Dinner is at 8:00, 

there’s plenty of time. 

c. You mustn’t drive so fast there’s a thirty m.p.h. speed 

limit. 

d. You don’t have to tell Gerry what running a business 

is like! 

e. We mustn’t say anything about his retiring. It’s a 

secret. 

4. Il n’est pas nécessaire que tu saches ce qui va se 

produire et c’est mieux de ne pas savoir parfois. Gerry, 

je veux que tu sois très prudent dans les jours à venir. 

Des gens vont peut-être essayer de te tirer les vers du 

nez, mais ils ne doivent pas y parvenir. Il se passe de 

drôles de choses dont je ne dois pas parler, même à 

toi. 

5. a. Do I have to leave a deposit? No you don’t 

have to. 

b. He doesn’t have to do this boring work. 

c. You don’t have to work so much if you don’t like it! 

d. You mustn’t spend so much time at work. 


(pp. 24-27) 

Les deux doubles pages de Business Contacts ont pour 

objectif le développement de compétences requises dans 

des situations professionnelles : fournir des informations 

sur le travail temporaire et rédiger sa lettre de couverture 

(cover or covering letter). 



1. providing information 

(pp. 24-25) 

Afin de s’informer sur le travail temporaire, les étudiants 

lisent tous les documents de la double page et prennent 

des notes de l’enregistrement avant de répondre 

aux questions. On pourra trouver des informations 

supplémentaires sur les sites Internet www.tempo. 

co.uk, www.aligtintheatic.com/door, et www.soprate. 

fr et www.manpower.fr. 

Depuis quelques années le marché du travail temporaire 

connaît une croissance rapide en France. 

Il est le premier en Europe et le second dans le 

monde après les États-Unis, avec deux millions 

d’actifs représentant en équivalent plein temps de 

570 000 postes. Selon la Dares et le Sett – Syndicat 

des entreprises de travail temporaire qui fédère 

plus de 500 entreprises, soit 90 % du chiffre d’affaires 

de la profession – le nombre d’intérimaires 

aurait doublé entre 1998 et 2004. Ainsi, en 2004, 

le taux moyen d’utilisation de l’intérim c’est-àdire 

le rapport entre le nombre d’intérimaires et 

la population active – s’élevait à 2,1 % en 2004, 

contre 5 % pour le CDD. Il y a 850 entreprises 

d’intérim en France représentant un chiffre d’affaires 

de 87 millions. 

YOUR TASK 

1. Temping offers many benefits. It gives greater 

control over your working life – you can choose if 

and when you would like to work as well as for which 

companies. It allows you to work for and experience 

different companies, industries, working cultures 

and management styles all in a relatively short 

period of time. It gives the chance to test oneself 

in different working environments and work out 

your relative strengths and weaknesses. It provides 

the chance to develop new skills through exposure 

to different systems and processes. Temping can 

provide you with the opportunity to work flexibly 

until you can make a decision. Temping might be 

a way to get to work for a desirable company when 

no permanent positions exist. By getting a foot 

in the door you will be well placed to apply for a 

permanent position when one becomes available. 

2. There are several difficulties linked to temp 

work. First of all, temp jobs fail to bring health 

benefits, pensions and life insurance. Second, most 

temps believe that a temp job is an open door to 

a permanent job, which is hardly ever the case, so 

they feel disappointed. 

3. The regulations concerning working time in 

Britain are a maximum of 48 hours per week and 

4 weeks of paid annual leave after 13 continuous 

weeks of work. For night work there is a maximum 

of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. 

An interview with Sarah Horowitz, founder 

of Working Today, an association of temps 


Interviewer: Statistics show that the use of 

temporary workers has surged 400% since 2000 in 

the U.S. How can you account for it? 

Sara Horowitz: Well you see firms are thrilled with 

the savings and flexibility temporary workers offer, 

even if they find it more difficult integrating many 

flexible workers into their workforce, and motivating 

them. 

Interviewer: And why do people choose to temp? 

Sara Horowitz: The ranks of the temps are filled 

with plenty of people who enjoy the variety and 

flexibility of temp work. And for the highly skilled 

worker, the pay and job availability are quite good. 

Interviewer: And are there any problems? 

Sara Horowitz: First of all, temp jobs fail to deliver 

many of the perks Americans have come to expect, 

such as health benefits, pensions and life insurance. 

Few temporary workers are offered health insurance 

or pension benefits. And even among large temp 

agencies which do offer benefits, the number of 

hours to get them is too high – the equivalent of 

twenty-five 40-hour weeks. 

Interviewer: Are there any other difficulties? 

Sara Horowitz: After the lack of benefits, the most 

common complaint among temporary workers is 

what is often called the “Gateway Myth”. That’s 

the idea that a temp job is an open door to a 

permanent job. For some it works out that way. 

But for many, it’s a long hopeless process that ends 

in disappointment. For many temps, the hope of a 

permanent job keeps them in a temp situation that 

is less than satisfactory. And after a while they feel 

they are being used. 

Interviewer: Is anything being done to improve the 

situation? 

Sara Horowitz: Well, several associations have 

been created that aim at defending the rights of 

temp workers. They offer health plans, legal advice 

and shared information with their members. They 

have crafted a code of conduct and are trying to 

convince local temp agencies to sign on. What we 

need now is a full-scale policy to ensure that workers 

who choose temporary employment don’t lose their 

rights under federal labour law. 


4. Reed.co.uk finds the job that really matches people’s 

skills at good rates of pay and provides training on 

software packages and personal development, financial 

advantages, parties, services (e-mail and fax) and help 

with bank accounts and taxes. 

5. Temps are judged mainly by the same criteria that 

permanent employees are: hard work and getting 

tasks done. But temping presents unique challenges 

that require qualities such as punctuality, maximising 

time and not losing it chatting on the phone or surfing 

the Internet since temps are paid by the hour. 

Temps should also learn as many new skills as possible 

to work in various environments and always ask for 

work or clarification on what they should be doing. 

And, most importantly remain confident in their 

abilities. 

Pour compléter le thème sur le travail intérimaire de 

manière humoristique, on pourra faire étudier le document 

ci-dessous. 

Hell’s Temp 

A few years ago – more like five or six now, I guess – I’d 

been looking for work and had walked into this temp 

agency and after taking all these aptitude tests and 

lying about my job experience, well, out of the blue 

this temp lady is asking me if I’d consider working in 

Hell. 

The swing shift: 2:30 to 11:00 P.M. Monday through 

Friday. It paid $9.50 an hour, and those days you just 

didn’t walk into a good paying job like that, especially 

one in the service sector, so I said sure. 

I have no idea why Hell was hiring temporary minions 

back then or if they still do. At the time I wasn’t 

curious, I was just looking for work. It was June or 

July – maybe the regular minions take their vacations 

then. Or maybe it was a normal thing. A lot of places 

hire temps just to keep from paying benefits and 

pensions and stuff. Maybe that’s what it was. 

And I don’t know why the temp lady felt I was qualified 

to be one of Hell’s Minions, even on a temporary 

basis. Maybe it was all the supervisory experience 

I’d lied about on my résumé. Maybe I just looked 

desperate. 

Anyway, the lady at the temp agency gives me an 

address and tells me to be there the next day at 2:30. 

Sharp. And bring a pitchfork, she said. Well I didn’t 

have one lying around the apartment, except this 

little four-foot red plastic one that had been part of 

my daughter’s Halloween costume. So I figure I’ll take 

that. 

So I go to work the next day – got there at 2:30. 

Sharp. – and introduce myself to the supervisor. 


“What is this?” he says, and rips the toy pitchfork 

out of my hand. Before I can even explain, he tosses 

the pitchfork over the safety rail and into the fiery pit 

where it bends and then melts into thin air. “What 

do you think we’re runnin’ here, an amusement 

park? Now you be here tomorrow, on time, and with 

a pitchfork. And I want those tines sharp, do you 

understand?” 

I went home and thought about it. He and I weren’t 

going to get along. First impressions are very important 

at a new job, you know. And to be honest with you, I 

wasn’t sure I was cut out for this line of work. 

I called the temp agency and told the temp lady that 

sulfurous gases made my skin break out in a rash. She 

said she was sorry to hear that and that she’d call me 

if anything else turned up, but I could tell she didn’t 

mean it and you could tell she didn’t buy the stuff 

about the skin rash, either. 

Still, I was glad to be done with the whole thing. 

2. Writing a cover letter 

(pp. 26-27) 

L’objectif de cette double page est de fournir aux étudiants 

les éléments leur permettant d’écrire la lettre de couverture 

qui accompagne désormais un CV. 

Katherine Jay October 15th, 2008 

935 W 43rd St., #6C Human Resources 

New York, NY, 10036 Brahmin Entertainment 

10 Fourth Avenue 

New York, NY 10001 

Good morning, 

I am actively seeking an executive assistant 

opportunity in a demanding, fast-paced multi-tasking 

office. My four years of executive experience at Lambert 

Warner have equipped me with a multitude of skills, 

and I would like to continue my growth at Brahmin 

Entertainment. 

Throughout my career I have demonstrated for 

my employers an exceptional facility for meeting 

organizational objectives and demands. In addition 

to my secretarial skills, I am an adept event planner, 

having served as the director of the Lambert Warner 

Christmas Ball for the last two years. My skills as a 

hostess have often been used by employers; I was the 

only executive assistant entrusted with client greeting, 

tour leading, and other hospitality services. I am certain 

I would prove to be an asset at Brahmin Entertainment 

as well. 



If my abilities meet the needs of Brahmin 

Entertainment, I would greatly appreciate the 

opportunity of speaking with you personally at your 

earliest convenience. Thank you for your time. 

Sincerely, 

Katherine Jay 


(pp. 28-29) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

Jobs for the disabled (p.28) 

Une proposition de correction de cette évaluation sommative 

se trouve page 190 du manuel. 

ExAm pApEr 

Smart moms, hard choices 

(p. 29) 

L’évaluation proposée ici est conforme à l’épreuve écrite 

du BTS MUC (Management des Unités Commerciales) de 

2 heures. L’usage du dictionnaire bilingue est autorisé. 


Au travers de vingt-sept articles et témoignages de 

femmes, le livre Mommy Wars montre à quel point 

la question de savoir si une mère de famille doit 

rester à la maison s’occuper de ses enfants ou aller 

travailler demeure controversée. 

Mais ce débat émotionnel cache la réalité économique 

: soixante-quinze pour cent des femmes avec 

un enfant à l’école primaire ont un travail ou en 

cherchent un. Ce chiffre passe à quatre-vingt pour 

cent quand les enfants ont plus de douze ans. Seules 

les mères de milieux aisés peuvent se permettre 

de rester à la maison, généralement des femmes 

de moins de vingt-quatre ans ayant fait des études 

supérieures. 

Après avoir connu une progression dans les années 

soixante-dix et quatre-vingt, le nombre de femmes 

qui travaillent diminue. Mais ce phénomène reflète le 

durcissement du marché du travail plus qu’un choix 

personnel d’élever ses enfants, puisque l’on trouve la 

même évolution chez les femmes sans enfants. 

Même les mères au foyer satisfaites de leur choix 

n’écartent pas l’éventualité de retourner travailler en 

cas de besoin. (175 mots) 


1. The figures given in the table, describe a bleak 

situation for women around the world. They show 

that only 47.9 per cent of women at work are in wage 

and salaried employment. And the poorer the region, 

the more women work as unpaid contributing family 

members or low-income own-account workers. 

Women are still more unemployed than men. Whereas 

the female unemployment rate is 6.6 percent, 

unemployment among men is at 6.1 percent. Only 

half of the working-age women over the age of 

15 actually work, whereas more than seven in ten 

men do. 

There is evidence that wage gaps persist. Women still 

earn 90% or less of what their male co-workers earn. 

Almost half of women are stuck in the lowest paying 

jobs in agriculture and services or receiving less money 

for doing the same jobs as men. (144 words) 

2. Women are often stuck in the informal economy 

with insufficient legal protection, little or no social 

protection, and a high degree of insecurity. Promoting 

decent work as a fundamental instrument in the 

global quest for gender equality will go a long way 

in raising incomes and opportunities for women and 

lifting families out of poverty. 

Women should be given the chance to work 

themselves and their families out of poverty through 

creation of decent employment opportunities that 

help them secure productive and remunerative work 

in conditions of freedom, security and human dignity. 

Otherwise, the process of feminization of poverty will 

continue and be passed on to the next generation. 

Access to education and education levels are still far 

from equal. 60% of school drop outs are girls: they 

often have to leave school to help in households or 

to work. 

To conclude, creating adequate decent and productive 

work for women is possible, but policy-makers not 

only need to place employment at the centre of social 

and economic policies, they also have to recognize 

that the challenges faced by women in the world of 

work require intervention tailored to specific needs. 

(189 words) 



pages 30-31 

Un i t 3 Hu m a n reSourceS 

Ce chapitre cherche à mettre en avant le rôle prépondérant des ressources humaines 

sans lesquelles une entreprise est vouée à l’échec. Le « management » d’aujourd’hui 

doit être accompagné et épaulé par un département des ressources humaines efficace et fiable. 

Les ressources humaines couvrent de vastes domaines dont nombre d’entre eux sont évoqués 

dans ce chapitre : les conditions de travail, la formation, les syndicats, le recrutement 

et licenciement, l’évaluation, les salaires, la parité. 

Zooming on 

(pp. 30-33) 

1. you’ve got to laugh! 

1. The survey shows how important it is for employees 

to feel happy in the workplace. 

Employees want to be looked after, if not “pampered” 

by their employers. 

2. The atmosphere, the company values and all sorts 

of extra-curricular activities play a very important 

role according to an HR at an educational software 

company. 

For Chris Munday, it is mainly the social aspects of 

working that matter. He gives the example of a really 

memorable summer party given by his company, to 

which the staff had been invited. 

2. on the job training 

1. OJT enables employees to broaden their skills 

thus contributing to increase productivity. OJT also 

provides them with a coach to help them in their “on 

the job training” program me. 

2. Lifelong learning encompasses learning for personal, 

civic and social purposes as well as for employmentrelated 

purposes. It takes place in a variety of 

environments in and outside the formal education and 

training systems. Lifelong learning implies investing in 

people and knowledge; promoting the acquisition of 

basic skills, including digital literacy; and broadening 

opportunities for more flexible and innovative forms 

of learning. The aim is to provide people of all ages 

with equal and open access to high-quality learning 

opportunities, and to a variety of learning experiences, 

throughout Europe. Education systems have a key role 

to play in making this vision a reality. Indeed, the 

Communication stresses the need for Member States 

to transform formal education and training systems in 

order to break down barriers between different forms 

of learning. At the Lisbon European Council in March 

2000, government leaders set the EU a 10-year mission 

to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledgebased 

economy in the world, capable of sustained 

economic growth with more and better jobs and greater 

social cohesion. Lifelong learning is a core element 

of this strategy, central not only to competitiveness 

and employability but also to social inclusion, active 

citizenship and personal development. From Europaeducation 

and training. 

3. Why trade unions are powerful 

in las Vegas! 

1 & 2. Las Vegas is a “promise for easy money’, not 

particularly a place for unions! 

Yet the place is said to be inhabited by a “young and 

footloose population” working on contemporary 

contracts that do not necessarily cover the staff. It 

is therefore important that they obtain protection. 

The example given here is that of carpenters! It 

seems important that this profession gets protection 

and covers employees by dint of unions. It is a new 

kind of “unionism” though, with a “missionary 

approach”. 

4. Selling equipment to monitor 

workplaces 


AT&T plans to introduce a nationwide program 

today that gives owners of small- and mediumsize 

businesses some of the same tools big security 

companies offer for monitoring employees, 

customers and operations from remote locations. 

Unit 3 – Human resources 19

Under AT&T’s Remote Monitor program, a business 

owner could install adjustable cameras, door sensors 

and other gadgets at up to five different company 

locations across the country. Using a Java-enabled 

mobile device or a personal computer connected to 

the Internet, the owner would be able to view any 

of the images in real time, control room lighting 

and track equipment temperatures remotely. All the 

images are recorded on digital video, which can be 

viewed for up to 30 days. 

“It is Big Brother, but in this day and age, you need 

these type of tools” for theft protection, weeding out 

false accident claims and other risks, said Beaux Roby, 

owner of a chain of five Mama’s Café restaurants and 

two banquet halls in Texas. Mr. Roby has been using 

the system for nine weeks as part of a pilot program. 

“You have fraudulent claims from customers that trip 

and fall and things like that,” he said. 

The system can detect break-ins and monitor 

employees who “are just sitting around on the clock 

not doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Mr. 

Roby said. In one instance, he said, a worker seen 

operating a meat slicer without wearing protective 

gloves was reprimanded. For businesses, digital video 

monitoring at multiple sites is added. “It’s a unique 

and affordable option for a small business that wants 

to keep in touch with various locations,” said Steve 

Loop, executive director for business development at 

AT&T. “It saves them a lot of time in their day from 

having to physically go to all of their locations.” 

© New York Times, November 14th, 2007, 

by Janet Morissey. 

1. The pros are that the cameras offer a protection 

and control of the quality of the service. It is also here 

to spot a theft or a fake complaint. The cons are that 

it means surveillance of the employees who are spied 

on. 

2. Big Brother is mentioned here because of the 

cameras which spoon on people, watching their 

every move and denouncing bad behaviours such as 

laziness at work. 

REPORTING 

The previous articles put forward different ideas that 

could very well contribute to making the atmosphere 

in the workplace very good, if not ideal. 

Laughing, having a social life, enjoying extra-curricular 

activities, benefiting from “on the job training” with 

a personal coach who helps you enlarge your career 

prospects, being covered by unions could all be assets 

contributing to good working condition. However, 

20 Unit 3 – Human Resources 

employees could easily do without cameras in the 

workplace! 

How to lose your job on your 

own time (pp. 32-33) 

Cette double page pose un problème particulier et 

moderne relativement inquiétant puisqu’il s’appuie sur 

un fait réel d’une jeune femme dont on a refusé l’embauche 

et le diplôme en raison d’une photo publiée 

sur sur sa page personnelle sur internet. Les sites tels 

que Myspace, Facebook et les blogs sont de nouvelles 

sources d’espionnage par les entreprises et représentent 

désormais de véritables dangers pour le recrutement. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. The article deals with recruiting (a). 

2. The threat concerns off the job activity (b). 

MOVING ON 

1 & 2. Henry Ford created a “Sociological 

Department” to snoop on people. It is compared 

here with Internet and special sites like Myspace and 

Facebook that play the same role. 

3. What Henry Ford implemented was a complex 

system with inspectors visiting employees (although 

never the highest–level managers!) at home to test 

their ability to work by investigating their drinking 

habits, hobbies etc. Today there is no use resorting to 

this kind of device since it is easier and faster to visit 

employees’ pages on the internet. 

4. This expression tends to say that your personal life 

should almost look like your professional life, that is to 

say you shouldn’t show too many signs of bubbling 

vitality outside work. Unrestrained activities could 

harm your professional life. Therefore it sounds more 

reasonable to maintain some kind of “amorphous” 

attitude in your extra-curricular activities. 

5. a. Wrong. All but the highest level of management. 

(l. 5) 

b. Right. They remain very vulnerable. 

c. Right. They can be dismissed only for “cause”. 

d. Wrong. It’s none of the companies’ business. 

(l. 19) 

6. a. likely (l. 1); b. delighted (l. 1) ; c. dig for (l. 

6); d. amused (l. 7); e. fail (l. 9); f. dismissed (l. 14) ; 

g. trial (l. 26). 



7. It may change your career. (a) 

8. Stacy Snyder’s case is a landmark. (a) 

9. En l’absence de toute protection renforcée des 

travailleurs, le fait de mettre en ligne des mots mal 

choisis ou même une simple photographie peut 

entraîner des conséquences dommageables sur 

l’évolution de la carrière. 

Stacy Snyder, âgée de 25 ans, diplômée dans le 

supérieur à l’université de Millersville, constitue un 

exemple dont on peut tirer un enseignement. 

Elle a introduit un recours courant avril auprès de la 

cour fédérale pour se plaindre du fait que ses droits 

à la libre expression, tels que prévus par Premier 

Amendement, avaient été violés. 

Aucune date de jugement n’a été retenue. 

WRITING 

The case of Ms Snyder seems a landmark. Personal 

disclosure is the norm on social networking sites. 

Yet one may wonder where the line is finally going 

to be drawn. Data about people is already recorded 

and kept by a lot of services and people’s lives 

examined. Should employers also take part into this 

surveillance? 

It seems preposterous to have to hide from your 

employers outside your professional activity. It is none 

of their business. 

I find it paradoxical to ask and obtain protection, 

coaching and help from HRMs and cope with 

surveillance of your private life by your company! 

How can you manage to establish a nice atmosphere 

in the workplace when your freedom of expression 

is not respected? I think that what is disclosed on 

the net will necessarily be one day overlooked, first 

because it doesn’t make sense and second because it 

is such a widespread habit now that I don’t see how 

companies could indulge to spend time into this. 

I am sure HRMs have better roles to play. (75 words) 


1. administration, uninhibited, supervise, sociological, 

department, investigators, information, 

professional, 

consequences. 

collective, vulnerable, bargaining, 


Administrators / uninhibited / supervise / sociological 

/ department / investigators / information / 

professional / collective / vulnerable / bargaining / 

consequences. 

2. Suppose Henry Ford was brought back to life? (b) 

and “if” (b) 

3. the highest-level managers were the only ones to 

be visited (b) and “except” (c) 

4. Were (H Ford) brought to life; would be delighted; 

are (no longer) needed; are punished; are covered; 

can be dismissed; to be drawn; are broken; had been 

violated; has been set. 

5. was given / be laid off / displayed / will be / find / 

swears / she is not going to. 

6. a. Si elle avait deviné les conséquences de son 

acte, elle n’aurait même pas envisagé de le faire. 

b. Nous aurions du la prévenir à l’avance de ne pas 

faire usage de ce type de site. Elle n’aurait pas été 

épiée. 

c. Je préfèrerais que vous ne l’affichiez pas avant de 

nous l’avoir montré. On ne sait jamais. 

7. a. They say she could be laid off without being 

given the chance to defend herself. 

b. Your private life could be spied on if you are not 

careful enough. 

c. He was sentenced although he had done nothing. 


(pp. 34-37) 

1. retaining employees 

(pp. 34-35) 

Il est important que les entreprises comprennent que de 

nos jours, elles ont intérêt à développer des politiques 

de rétention du personnel afin de permettre une fidélisation, 

un suivi du travail et une meilleure productivité. 

Les étudiants travailleront en groupe et répondront 

aux questions posées dans l’ordre afin de bien prendre 

conscience des problèmes que peuvent rencontrer des 

entreprises victimes d’un fort roulement du personnel. 

YOUR TASK 

1. Dans le document 1, certaines raisons (plus ou 

moins importantes) occasionnant des départs de 

salariés sont données : 

– they are not happy with their jobs, 

– they can succeed elsewhere, they are so talented, 

– they don’t want to stay in a company too long, 

– they are offered a better job. 


Le questionnaire que les étudiants seront amenés à 

concevoir pourra tenir compte de ces éléments. 

2. Les valeurs données dans le document Morale not 

money pourront également être réutilisées lors de la 

conception du questionnaire. 


Morale and money 


– Have you heard about this business consultant 

who gives tips on motivating staff? 

– No, tell me about it. 

– He advocates a communicative and a humane 

approach. His idea is that communication is the clue. 

He says one has to listen to workers. The recognition 

of workers as individuals is what matters. And if 

possible one should try to involve workers in the 

running of the firm 

– I’m sure this time he’s exaggerating! 

– No, believe me, staff should be given access to 

training, and when it comes to motivating workers 

it’s job satisfaction that counts, not money! 

See, what matters for workers is that their 

achievement is recognized and praised. What they 

want to know as well is how they are going to 

be promoted. That’s why the Human Resources 

Manager’s got to talk to them and assess them as 

often as possible. See, they need to feel that they are 

part of a winning team. 

He is convinced, and I believe he’s right, that the key 

to success is to make sure the goals and ambitions of 

the company match those of the employees. 

– I wonder if what you both say is realistic, but I 

quite like what I’ve heard so far! His philosophy is 

that “unity brings strength!” and I go along with 

that. 

Document 3. matching people 

to jobs 

a. Le site Monster peut aider l’employeur à sélectionner 

des candidats afin d’obtenir la meilleure adéquation 

possible entre le poste et le postulant. 

Take control of your candidate search 

Monster’s Resumé Search gives you the power to 

proactively select the most qualified candidates for 

your jobs. No more waiting for the perfect person 

to apply. No more reviewing countless unqualified 

resumés. Instead, you’ll have instant one-click access 

to candidates who meet the exact requirements of 

your jobs. 

Managing resumes When you conduct a search, 

you’ll see a list of qualified resumés, including top 

level information like the job seeker’s most recent 

job title, employer, and desired “target job.” You can 

choose a brief or detailed view and sort your results 

by resume title, location and posting date. 

Rating and sorting candidates Once you’ve saved 

favourite resumés, you can use Monster’s resumé 

rating tool to easily rank candidates based on how 

qualified they are for a given job. 

b. Les documents suivants permettent d’apporter des 

éléments supplémentaires sur la façon de garder son 

personnel. 

Matching people to jobs also means an analysis 

of the major job requirements (identified in the 

job description and performance plan) and related 

knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

It is the responsibility of supervisors and managers to 

utilize available resources to shortlist, train, qualify, 

and develop their employees. 

An example of employee retention strategy: 

1. Assess the organization, 

2. Hold people accountable, 

3. Measure what is important, 

4. Increase employee ownership and involvement, 

5. Build relationships and create a positive first 

impression, 

6. Devise intervention strategies. 

http://www.highretention.com/ereport-strategy.html 

3. Finding and hiring top talent has never been 

tougher than it is today, but retaining star performers 

is tougher still. Unfamiliar with the psychology of 

work satisfaction, managers reward their best 

employees handsomely and assume they’re happy. 

But when these employees leave, as they frequently 

do, managers conclude that there was nothing they 

could have done to prevent the departure. That’s 

where they’re wrong. What’s often missing from top 

performers’ jobs are responsibilities that coincide with 

their “deeply embedded life interests.” 

A manager can help uncover an employee’s life 

interests by probing, observing, and applying a little 

psychology. That done, manager and employee can 

customize work with job sculpting – a process that 

matches the employee to a job that allows her deeply 

embedded life interests to be expressed. 

• Ask employees to play an active role in job 

sculpting, perhaps by having them write about their 

views concerning career satisfaction – an excellent 

starting point for a discussion. 

• In some cases sculpting can begin simply by 

adding a new responsibility. An engineer who has 

a deeply embedded life interest in counselling and 

mentoring might be asked to plan and manage the 

orientation of new hires. 



• A change in assignment provides another 

sculpting opportunity. A salesperson with an interest 

in quantitative analysis might be given new duties 

working with market-research analysts. 

• Good sculpting results when a manager listens 

carefully and asks questions. 

Assessing yourself (pp. 36-37) 

L’évaluation fait partie intégrante de ce que le département 

des ressources humaines se doit de préparer avec 

les salariés. 

Les étudiants doivent, dans les taches qui leur sont 

confiées, aider les salariés à se positionner dans l’entreprise, 

leur vie personnelle tout en réfléchissant à leurs 

attentes. 

Un travail de groupe est recommandé. 

Les documents suivants apportent des éléments complémentaires 

à ceux proposés dans le manuel de l’étudiant. 

YOUR TASK 

1. We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: 

If you’ve got ambition, drive, and smarts, you can rise 

to the top of your chosen profession – regardless of 

where you started out. But with opportunity comes 

responsibility. Companies today aren’t managing 

their knowledge workers’ careers. Rather, we must 

each be our own chief executive officer. Simply put, 

it’s up to you to carve out your place in the work 

world and know when to change course. And it’s 

up to you to keep yourself engaged and productive 

during a work life that may span some 50 years. To 

do all of these things well, you’ll need to cultivate a 

deep understanding of yourself. What are your most 

valuable strengths and most dangerous weaknesses? 

Equally important, how do you learn and work with 

others? What are your most deeply held values? And 

in what type of work environment can you make 

the greatest contribution? The implication is clear: 

Only when you operate from a combination of your 

strengths and self-knowledge can you achieve true – 

and lasting – excellence. 

“Key ideas”, the Harvard Business Review, by Peter F. Drucker 

Document 3. The kaleidoscope 

strategy 

Organizing your achievements and goals in this 

framework will help you understand what you’re 

seeking from a certain activity. You can stop 

measuring a job only by how happy it makes you or 

calculating a business success only in terms of your 

ability to achieve mastery. Instead, you’ll see how 

one task fits into a larger context. And you’ll be able 

to gauge what kind of emotional rewards you can 

realistically expect from an activity. If you expect 

your achievement goals to bring you happiness, you’ll 

stunt your performance from the start. If you don’t 

put achievement in its place, however, you’ll trap 

yourself in workaholic restlessness. 


(pp. 38-39) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

Wages rise in China (p. 38) 

Voir corrigé dans le manuel de l’étudiant page 190. 

ExAm pApEr 

The feminine critique (p. 39) 


Les conseils donnés aux femmes dans le monde du 

travail semblent d’une grande rigidité pour des effets 

de toute façon identiques, à savoir que la femme est 

perçue avec des à priori qui n’ont pas évolué. 

Les défis lancés aux femmes sont impossibles à relever. 

Quelques exemples concrets montrent qu’une 

personnalité forte et affirmée chez une femme passera 

pour de l’agressivité, voire de la masculinité. À 

l’inverse une personnalité en harmonie avec le genre 

féminin sera vue comme peu compétente. Comment 

la femme peut elle donc remporter cette victoire 

sur les préjugés ? Il lui reste le choix entre se faire 

apprécier mais pas respecter ou l’inverse. C’est bien 

entendu sur cette perception que les efforts doivent 

être portés à l’avenir pour avoir une chance de faire 

évoluer la position des femmes dans le monde du 

travail. Des programmes portant sur du conseil aux 

entreprises sont mis en place pour lutter contre la 

discrimination. 

(154 mots) 


Ce passage extrait de l’article The Feminine Critique 

montre l’effet du ‘dress code” lors des recrutements. 

Peter Glick, a psychology professor at Lawrence 

University in Appleton, Wis. is the author of one study, 


in which he showed respondents a video of a woman 

wearing a sexy low-cut blouse with a tight skirt or 

a skirt and blouse that were conservatively cut. The 

woman recited the same lines in both, and the viewer 

was either told she was a secretary or an executive. 

Being more provocatively dressed had no effect on 

the perceived competence of the secretary, but it 

lowered the perceived competence of the executive 

dramatically. (Sexy men don’t have that disconnect, 

Professor Glick said. While they might lose respect for 

wearing tight pants and unbuttoned shirts to the office, 

the attributes considered most sexy in men — power, 

status, salary — are in keeping with an executive 

image at work.) But Professor Glick also concedes that 

much of this data — like his 2000 study showing that 

women were penalized more than men when not 

perceived as being nice or having social skills — gives 

women absolutely no way to “fight back.” “Most of 

what we learn shows that the problem is with the 

perception, not with the woman,” he said, “and that 

it is not the problem of an individual, it’s a problem 

of a corporation.” This accumulation of data will be of 


value only when companies act on it, she said, noting 

that some are already making changes. At Goldman 

Sachs, the policy on performance reviews now tries 

to eliminate bias. A red flag is expected to go up if a 

woman is described as “having sharp elbows or being 

brusque”. “Examples should be asked for, the context 

should be considered, would the same actions be 

cause for comment if it was a man?” In fact, Catalyst’s 

next large project is to advise companies on ways 

they can combat stereotypical bias. And Professor 

Glick has some upcoming projects, too. One looks at 

whether women do better in sales if they show more 

cleavage. A second will look at the flip side of gender 

stereotypes at work: hostility toward men. 

After reading this extract it is obvious that stereotyped 

ideas are still there and that dress code is important 

in the recruitment process, for both men and women 

(maybe even more for women). 

Of course other factors play an important role in 

the recruitment process, to quote only one, I would 

insist on how much your commitments match your 

convictions. 




pages 40-41 

1. Skills and needs, 

an outdated recipe? 

Un i t 4 in d uS t r i a l r e l at i o n S 

Les sujets abordés dans cette unité ont pour cadre les liens négatifs et positifs qui se tissent à 

l’intérieur de l’entreprise : les besoins, les différences, les luttes, les soutiens, les influences qui 

contribuent à la bonne santé de la structure et participent à l’investissement de ses employés. 

Cette iconographie met en évidence le besoin de travailler. 

L’anonymat de la personne est voulu (anybody) afin 

de cibler le texte qui devient une mini compréhension 

écrite où le repérage sera facilité par les répétitions et le 

contraste. Le lexique est un tremplin à l’imagination et 

à l’inférence. 

1. The scene must be situated outside, in a town, 

since we can see high buildings in the distance and 

old ones on either side of the street. It seems the 

street is under repair and as it is a black and white 

photo, I think it was taken long ago. 

2. The main character is a man but we cannot 

describe him very precisely given that his back is 

turned to the photographer. Nevertheless, judging 

by the clothes – a hat and coat – I am sure it is a man. 

He is carrying a billboard on his back on which I can 

read a long caption revealing he is a job-seeker. He 

highlights his professional skills and family needs so 

as to land a job more easily. 

1. The figures used in the message written on 

the billboard are “3” which is repeated five times 

and “one” which is not repeated but reinforced by 

“only”. 

2. First, the man underlines that he worked in three 

different positions so he is able to perform different 

tasks. He can speak three languages so he has got 

communication skills and probably degrees in this 

field. He defended his country for three years so he 

is a good citizen who did his duty, maybe during 

the Second World War since the photo is extracted 

from Die Zeit, a German paper. He must have a 

family since he has three children he must provide 

for. Finally he speaks about his problem: he has 

been jobless for three months. As a matter of fact, 

getting a job is the goal of his message. 

3. There is a paradox between what the man is 

able to do and needs on the one hand and his wish 

on the other hand. The repetition of the figure 3 

is meant to multiply his skills and needs and so 

express the emergency of the situation: in spite of 

his degrees, he is jobless. Though he has a family, 

he is unemployed. He only wants one job whatever 

it is. 

4. I sincerely think the man on the street must be 

moved when reading this CV. How is it that he got 

into such dire straits? One may wonder how a man 

like him can survive. How is it possible to get up 

every morning and dream about the future? There is 

a feeling of injustice, it is revolting. 

2. Ethnic minorities on the brink 

Cette compréhension orale est une mise en situation 

d’une réalité : l’inégalité des salaires. Ce sera l’occasion 

de multiplier les arguments et d’en débattre en 

exposant le point de vue du chef d’entreprise et celui 

de l’ouvrier. 

1. The journalist raises the issue of salaries. Not only 

is the pay different between a man and a woman, but 

inside the same gender there are pay gaps according 

to racist principles. Of course this discrimination 

is all the more obvious as the people concerned 

perform the same job. 

2. According to statistics, for the same job, a woman 

earns 17% less than a man and 28% less if she 

belongs to an ethnic minority. The bottom salaries 

are earned by black and Asian women. 

Unit 4 – Industrial relations 25


Journalist: So what lies behind such huge differences? 

Well, Jenny Watson chairs the Equal Opportunities 

Commission. Jenny, why did you decide to look into 

this. 

Jenny: Well, all the evidence we had suggested to us 

that there would be differences and we were hearing 

very strongly from women themselves that actually 

they wanted us to look at this and they wanted us to 

look at what they described as a lower glass ceiling 

for ethnic minority women, a bigger pay gap and 

also very different attitudes to women at work and we 

decided that was something we should be doing. 

Journalist: And what sorts of jobs did you look at? 

Were you looking across the board? 

Jenny: We are. This pay gap research is part of a bigger 

package of research which includes a very big survey 

of young women from ethnic minority communities. 

I think the first evidence looked at this number of 16 

year olds and also a survey of experiences in work 

of women under 35 so actually it does paint a very 

disturbing picture with very different experiences 

about what’s going on in the workplace. 

1. Firstly, I think Jenny investigated this topic because 

she chairs the Equal Opportunities Commission, 

that is to say she has been appointed to the head 

of an organization in charge of defending the rights 

of workers, so as to put them on an equal footing 

whatever their gender or nationality. Secondly, she 

feels involved as a woman and wants to speak for 

women and break that glass ceiling that prevents them 

from being promoted to top jobs. 

2. The categories of workers in unfair positions are the 

following: young women from ethnic minorities, in 

particular those aged 16 and under 35. 

3. Women still waiting 

in the boardroom 

Outre la manipulation des chiffres et les études 

comparatives, ces statistiques ouvrent la porte du culturel 

avec des informations sur la situation de la femme dans 

le monde du travail dans différents pays. La géographie – 

carte à l’appui – doit aussi contribuer à un enrichissement 

lexical en liaison avec le pays, la langue, la nationalité, 

etc. 

1. First of all, let’s say that this bar chart analyses the 

position of women in different countries. It suggests 

that the top positions remain male occupations. A 

second survey reveals that working part-time is a 

female activity. Yet there are differences from one 

26 Unit 4 – Industrial relations 

country to another. These studies were conducted in 

the different continents in February 2006. For Europe, 

the journalist has singled out The U.K., Sweden, 

Germany, The Netherlands and Italy; he also gives 

figures about the European Union. For America, he 

has selected The U.S. and Canada. For Asia, we have 

Japan, and finally we are informed about Australia. 

Regarding the figures, it is surprising to see that 

nearly half American women work and nearly 50 per 

cent chair top jobs whereas Italian working women 

represent a third of the labour force and few carry 

out decision-making jobs. Concerning part-timers, 

the figures are even more explicit: for example in the 

European Union, the number of female part-timers is 

five times higher than their male counterparts. 

2. If we consider the first bar chart, we can note that 

women represent less than half of the work force 

even if in the US and Sweden – which ranges first – 

they nearly reach 50 %. We can note that Germany 

is representative of the global trend since the figures 

concerning German working women are roughly the 

same as the world average. I find it difficult to explain 

such discrepancies even though it is taken for granted 

that in Mediterranean countries, like Italy, women are 

supposed to stay at home and take care of the family. 

In the other countries, more women work because of 

proper social regulations – retirement age changes 

from one country to another. Of low birth-rates, fewer 

babies means more time devoted to one’s career. 

Of longer careers, staying longer on the job means 

higher rewards. And of longer life expectancy, senior 

workers are more and more efficient and reliable with 

experience. 

The second bar chart underlines the high percentage 

of female part-timers. It is striking to see the high 

number of people working part-time in Japan and 

Australia; this may be the result of a concentration of 

the population in the urban areas that can’t provide 

everybody with full-time activities. There are twice 

as many male and female part-timers in Australia as 

in the US. Canada ranks third with eleven men in 

one hundred that work part-time while twenty-seven 

women in a hundred work part-time. So, figures 

vary widely according to the country, its economy, 

geography and working and social policy. 

REPORTING 

Once, people were attracted to working in developed 

countries. Today hardly a week passes without layoffs 

from some major company, which is downsizing, 

restructuring and outsourcing. The number of job 

opportunities dwindles and it seems that though 

the baby-boomers retire, no solution is found. The 



generation to come hoped to substitute for the 

retirees, to work in new sectors of activity, to take 

advantage of the scrapping of European frontiers. 

Actually, joblessness remains the core issue of the 

twenty-first century. We can blame high technology 

for operating with fewer workers. We can accuse 

governments of opening frontiers to poorer nations. 

We can charge medicine with longer life expectancy, 

so with people working longer. We can reproach 

current employees for working overtime. Nobody has 

the solution, and the European dream is still a long 

way away. Even big companies have to move abroad 

to keep up with their rivals, to stay alive. I do share this 

pessimistic view, but I hope that I can land a job I like, 

and adapt to the European reality. 

Help your workers (p. 42) 

Cette compréhension écrite a pour but d’entraîner les 

étudiants à une méthode : repérer, classer, faire du sens. 

Ces activités pourront être distribuées en fonction du 

niveau des étudiants : par exemple, repérer les lieux 

pour les étudiants en difficultés et les éléments positifs 

pour ceux plus à l’aise. Classer ensuite en fonction de la 

nature des mots, de la famille lexicale, par association 

d’idées. Enfin reformuler, gérer les outils linguistiques, 

utiliser des « gap-fillers », convaincre, etc. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. At the start, Mr Bigari was running McDonald’s 

franchises in Colorado Springs, then he became a top 

McDonald’s franchisee. 

2. Mr Cameron was the restaurants’ owner who met 

Mr Bigari one day and asked him about his prospective 

strategy to counteract the success of Taco Bell which 

had set up nearby, thus endangering the future 

of his business. He advised him to take care of his 

employees, not to reduce their vacations, and to give 

them opportunities to be promoted, to improve their 

status. That became the key of Mr Bigari’s success. 

3. In this article, we can note that the boss is closely 

related to his staff. As a matter of fact, Mr Bigari 

plays the role of a manager, but he is also involved 

in his workers’ everyday lives. He helps them, shares 

their problems, gives them solutions. He wants them 

to be efficient on the job. He doesn’t want to lose 

customers because his employees don’t feel good. 

He motivates them by paying attention to their wellbeing. 

As a consequence, the workers don’t feel like 

leaving the place and Mr Bigari maintains a stable and 

reliable workforce. 

4. Mrs Debra Powell ran one of Mr Bigari’s restaurants 

and was one of his employees who benefited from 

his help. In fact, Mrs Powell was divorced and had 

five children, so she absolutely had to have a job 

and more money. Mr Bigari advised her to follow 

his programmes McFamily Benefits. Some time later 

she was able to open a bank account, get a loan, 

buy her P.C., and even a car, which would have been 

impossible a few months earlier. 

MOVING ON 

1. The title sounds paradoxical because “helping” 

implies financial support, so how can a company 

make more money by giving money? 

2. At the start, Mr Bigari’s outlet was a lame duck 

because a new restaurant had set up in the area and 

McDonald’s couldn’t compete given that the prices 

were much lower at Taco Bell’s. That’s the reason why 

Brent Cameron, the managing director visited Mr 

Bigari to find a solution. 

3. Mr Bigari noted that his staff was not stable, 

many moved to another workplace; they didn’t come 

regularly, so he couldn’t rely on them. Finally, he 

thought that the solution to retrieve the money he 

lost was to suppress paid vacations. 

4. I think this solution was a mistake because the 

workers would have seen this decision as a punishment, 

a penalty. If this regulation had come into force, the 

employees would have seen the company as a prison, 

their jobs as hard labour without any rewards, and 

they would have contributed to the franchises’ death. 

Without sharing profits, they would never have felt 

involved in the company’s success. 

5. True or false. 

a. False: “Mr Bigari said he got the message.” (l. 19) 

b. False: “It was a message that stuck with him even 

after Mr Cameron died.” (l. 20) 

c. True: “small emergency loans.” (l. 23) 

d. True: “to keep his employees on the job.” (l. 23) 

6. Mr Bigari wanted to keep the same employees. 

He wanted them to work together with a view to 

defending the corporate image. He wanted them to 

feel like working for a company that was going to 

help and reward them. 

7. This policy benefits both his employees and his 

outlet. Let’s pick out “resolve the problems of the 

working poor”, “day care”, “transportation”, “small 

emergency loans”, “pay their rent”, “buy tires”, for 

the employees. Let’s pick out “reduce employee 


turnover”, “increase profit”, “see the benefits”, 

“motivated to work harder”… 

8. On the one hand, McFamily Benefits consists of 

providing staff with financial support to help them 

solve problems and live better. It may be regarded as 

a kind of charity. On the other hand, as the borrowers 

are the company’s workers, they are compelled to 

stay in the company and work harder to refund their 

loans. So, they can’t resign. 

9. I agree that McFamily Benefits is a business within 

a business. Actually there is the traditional company 

called McDonald’s in charge of welcoming and 

catering for customers, and McFamily Benefits that 

plays the role of a charity or a works committee in 

charge of the personnel’s comfort. 

10. Lending money generates a feel good relationship 

because you come to the rescue of poor or helpless 

people. Giving them the opportunity to overcome 

difficulties is rewarding. In addition, you lend them 

money for the company’s sake, so it is twice as 

rewarding. Yet in this policy there is an underlying 

purpose that eventually makes the workers feel better 

but dependent; and, to my mind, maybe it’s the bad 

side of this corporate culture. 

11. I do think that Mr Bigari’s scheme represents 

positive help for those who have to cope with divorce, 

large families, a sudden death, or unemployment. 

Financial support can solve problems and make 

the worker-manager relation even closer and more 

humane. Yet, from the moment when the employee 

signs his loan contract, he or she becomes dependent 

on his/her boss, on his/her company. He/she can’t 

look for another job: a life-long contract is included in 

the deal. 

12. De tels projets ne tournaient pas dans sa tête 

une dizaine d’années auparavant, lorsqu’il décida de 

perpétuer la pratique de M. Cameron consistant à 

accorder à ses employés des prêts personnalisé sur 

des petites sommes à court terme et sans intérêt 

pour les aider à payer le loyer, acheter des pneus ou 

satisfaire à des besoins immédiats. 

WRITING 

Working means doing one’s best to earn one’s living 

and to make the company stronger. Both employers 

and employees need each other. They must work 

together. The better they work, the stronger the firm, 

the better the pay. Yet, I don’t think I could work 

for a company that manages my bank account, my 


expenses and my earnings. My private life and my 

corporate life are two different things. Regarding my 

earnings, sure, the company knows how much I earn, 

so does the tax collector! But imagine the situation 

if my boss checked my expenses! He would scan my 

bank statements, tell me I shouldn’t spend my money 

on this or that, blame me for buying a new car or new 

clothes. I don’t think I could be any more loyal to my 

boss because he lent me money. I am not ready to be 

blackmailed because I needed money once in my life. 

I am not the one to be dependent on an employer. I 

want to manage by myself and be free to change jobs 

if need be. 


1. Les cinq catégories sont 2 voyelles « longues » [u:], 

[:], 3 voyelles « courtes » [i], [u], []. On ajoutera la 

semi-voyelle [w] qui aura sans doute été associée à 

[u:]. 

[u:] menu, reduce, continue, computer. 

[:] turnover, purchase. 

[i:] business. 

[] cut, stuck, customers, understand, budget. 

[u] pull. 

[w] persuade. 

2. Le but et de déterminer le rôle des suffixes. 

Un franchiseur / un franchise – un tuteur (formateur) 

/ un stagiaire – un employeur / un employé – partir 

en retraite / un retraité. 

3. a. to raise. b. is rising. c. pay-rise. d. raised. 

4. a. who. b. which. c. whose. d. that. 

5. a. On dit que M. Bigari est un véritable patron, 

il travaille côte à côte avec les smicards. 

b. Durant la même période, sa marge bénéficiaire 

s’est accrue de plus de trois points. 

6. a. He wishes to reduce expenses (/cut costs) 

by eliminating (/suppressing) paid vacations. 

b. By opening credits the workers would improve 

their standard of living. 

c. Thanks to their boss, they had job security. 

d. The workers had to be motivated in order to avoid 

absenteeism. 

e. He helped him/her open a bank account and buy 

a computer on credit. 




(pp. 44-47) 

Ces pages ont pour fonction de se familiariser avec le 

sujet abordé par le biais d’un lexique spécifique mais 

aussi à une méthodologie transférable. L’écriture d’une 

lettre de réclamation requiert à la fois un lexique approprié, 

des structures de communication (convaincre!) et 

une présentation normalisée de la lettre. 

1. Writing a letter of complaint 

(p. 44) 

YOUR TASK 

1. What I denounce (cons): 

• I live faraway from the store. It’s an hour’s ride from 

home. I depend on public transport. I find it hard to be 

on time. 

• I can’t afford to use my personal car since travelling 

expenses are not included in my salary. 

• I often work overtime for no extra money. I stay 

after closing time. 

• I have had the same pay for three years. My position 

is still the same. My work is not assessed fairly. 

• Some tasks are hazardous. I use cutting tools. 

Insulation is not standardized. 

• Hygiene should be checked more frequently. 

Cleanliness is far from being respected. 

What I look forward to (pros): 

• Having a flexible timetable would give me the 

opportunity to avoid rush hour, to take my kids to 

school, to be prompt. 

• Getting a bonus, earning more, being promoted 

would motivate me. 

• Taking blocks of time off would contribute to a 

better family life. 

• Sharing in the profits would involve me more in the 

store image. 

• Doing my job without Big Brother checking how 

long my breaks are. 

• Choosing the day off I need, and having an equal 

chance of taking vacation in summer. 

2. Letter of complaint. 

• Respecter la mise en page (layout), l’utilisation des 

« opening salutations » (Dear sir,), « closing salutations » 

(« Yours sincerely »). 

• Reprendre à son compte les choix effectués dans l’exercice 

précédent. 

– d’abord présenter le problème (I am very sorry to 

inform you that …), 

– ensuite suggérer des solutions (I am sure that 

working flextime would suit both you and me), 

– enfin souhaiter un arrangement (I hope you will 

look into this matter as soon as possible). 

ACTING OUT 

Les éléments proposés dans l’activité 1 (What I denounce, 

What I look forward to) seront repris en ajoutant des 

informations plus concrètes donc plus convaincantes. 

Par exemple : 

• Every morning I have to get up at 6, wake my 

children up at 7 and be at the bus stop at 8. Last week 

there was a strike and I was late on the job. If I could 

start later I would manage better. 

• With work blocked together I wouldn’t lose so 

much time. Imagine, every Monday I work two hours 

in the morning and three hours from 3 to 6 p.m. 

• Last month I had to draw up the inventory till 7 

p.m., and I had to phone the baby-sitter to tell her I 

would be late. I also had to pay her an extra £20. Who 

cares? 

2. reporting an example 

of positive discrimination (p. 44) 

Il semble cohérent d’utiliser le document iconographique 

pour la mise en situation de l’activité finale. Cinq éléments 

sont à disposition: Olympic rings, The Union 

Jack, The symbol of the pound, women workers, a 

stadium under construction. Ce patchwork permet de 

répondre aux questions « Where? Who? What? Why? ». 

Des références culturelles supposées ‘acquises’ doivent 

répondre à la question “When?” 2012. 

La lecture de la consigne avec les mots clés tels que 

« Manpower » et « female workers » doit orienter plus 

précisément la constitution de ce dépliant. Les Jeux 

olympiques de Londres en 2012 sont l’occasion pour les 

femmes de trouver un emploi. 

L’enregistrement est le témoignage de Helen Walsh qui 

grâce aux Jeux olympiques a décroché un emploi manuel 

habituellement réservé aux hommes. 


“Now the London Olympics will create thousands of 

direct design and construction jobs over the next six 

years as the rush is on to get the city ready for the big 

event. The Secretary of State for Education and Skills, 

Alan Johnson, has announced an investment of £20 

million to train women to take part in the job. 

How easy is it for women to get into industry now? Helen 

Walsh is a carpenter; she explains how she got in. 


Helen: It wasn’t difficult because I was on an 

apprenticeship so, you know, I was already 

employed, if you like, I know now though because 

the apprenticeship schemes don’t work for women 

over 25 then it’s actually quite difficult for women 

to find enough work experience to make themselves 

employable because you tend to go into the trade at 

a slightly older level. To be honest, construction isn’t 

sexy, you know, no young girl’s going to think about 

going into construction because nobody offers it to 

them at school for a start, and there’s nothing in 

the media which actually shows women working in 

construction; construction has a very negative image 

in terms of health and safety, in terms of attitude, but, 

you know, a few women are going to be attracted to 

it. It’s well-paid and we can work overtime and make 

more money. The Olympics is actually a bonanza for 

us, more women should join us. 

Things that put women off working in manual 

trades is the macho image of a guy carrying a 

girder or a ladder or carrying couples of bricks, you 

know that’s part of construction but it’s only such 

a small part.” 

The making of the leaflet 

L’objectif de l’activité est de transférer les savoirs et 

savoir faire sur un support publicitaire : on veillera au 

respect des consignes (contenu iconographique pertinent), 

à la formulation adéquate : slogans invitant 

les femmes à postuler, l’utilisation d’impératifs « Apply 

right now! », de formes emphatiques « Do believe in 

your skills! », à la mise en page normalisée, à la justification 

du choix de chaque élément. Il faudra aussi 

inclure des arguments de persuasion, de contenu 

(salaires, promotions), d’effets de style (répétitions, 

allitérations, etc.) 

3. reporting cases 

of discrimination (p. 45) 

YOUR TASK 

1. Examples from Document 1 

a. Both men and women are hit by sexual discrimination 

when they apply for jobs. 

b. There are set ideas according to which jobs are 

considered as women’s jobs or men’s jobs. 

c. On average, the salaries are far lower for the same 

job when the employee is a woman. 

Examples from Document 2 

a. Eastern European immigrants jeopardize the future 

of young Europeans. 


b. They take the jobs for which young Europeans are 

trained. 

c. They contribute to increasing unemployment. 

Immigration hits young too 


Immigrants from Eastern Europe have pushed young 

people out of work and have caused some wages 

to rise, despite hopes that they would dampen low 

inflation, Barclays Capital, the City investment bank 

claims. 

In a report, Immigration and the UK economy, 

published yesterday by Barclays Capital, the bank’s 

analysis suggests that the Bank of England may have 

to tighten monetary policy more than previously 

thought, as it shows that any loosening in the labour 

market caused by the influx of about 600,000 migrants 

over the past two years has now faded away. 

The report debunks some of the optimism around 

the decision to allow citizens of Poland and nine other 

new EU nations immediate rights to work in Britain. It 

finds that unemployment has risen by 2.7 percentage 

points, or some 124,000 among 18 to 24-year-olds 

over the past two years, a much sharper increase than 

in any other adult age group…It seems reasonably 

safe to say that this rise has been the result of the 

inflow of 183,000 migrants of this age. 

From The Times, October 26, 2006 

2. Writing a press article 

Le but sera d’adopter un style convaincant en tenant 

compte du lecteur mais aussi une méthode de rédaction 

: partir de faits concrets pour soulever un problème, 

informer sur les causes, envisager les conséquences. Les 

étudiants devront garder à l’esprit que tout article de 

presse est d’abord un moyen d’information et ensuite un 

tremplin pour réagir. 

Propositions de titres : 

“Enough is enough”, “Same opportunities for all? 

–Not yet!” / “Everybody on an equal footing? – Still 

tomorrowland!”/ “Jobs: long is the road to equality”, 

etc 

Proposition d’article : 

Visit a company at work! Watch the staff! Check the 

payroll! Now knock on doors. Sure, if you open the 

secretary’s office, you will find a woman at the desk. 

Now, ask to meet one of the engineers working there, 

I bet it will be a man. A survey released last week 

revealed that Human Resources Boards are reluctant to 

hire women for positions that are usually held by men. 

The same letter of application will get a positive or 

negative answer depending on the applicant’s gender. 

Theoretically both have the same opportunities and 



qualifications but jobs are actually offered to men or 

women according to subjective criteria. Why so? 

Our society has increasingly adopted stereotypes and 

widened segregation in the workplace. Is the weaker 

sex unable to do jobs it has been trained for? Can’t 

motivation and intellectual performance make up for 

this negative image? Shall we continue entertaining 

this recurrent prejudice? 

I don’t think it is the right way to bridge the gap 

at a time when men and women are on the same 

footing at school, get the same degrees and target 

the same jobs. Deceiving teenagers about their 

prospective working lives contributes to reinforcing a 

divide, a break, or segregation. We have examples of 

successful women and men as politicians, managers, 

doctors, engineers, so why not trust the individual 

with objectivity. 

It is high time job centres listed objective criteria of 

selection regardless of sex, colour and other skindeep 

specificities. So, employers beware! WE are 

watching you! 

ACTING OUT 

L’oralisation des arguments en faveur d’un équilibre 

dans le recrutement, voire d’une justice au moment de 

l’embauche doit mettre l’étudiant dans la peau d’un 

avocat. Le thème choisi ouvre les portes d’une interaction 

orale (arguments pour / arguments contre). 

Quels sont les besoins ? 

a. Dans un premier temps, l’étudiant assurera sa 

plaidoirie en s’appuyant sur : 

b. Du lexique lié à la défense, au soutien (to defend, 

to back, to support), à la justice (illegal, unfair), à 

l’accusation (to blame, to charge, to reproach), à la 

conviction (I am sure, convinced, persuaded), à la 

désapprobation (to disagree, to disapprove), etc. 

c. Une formulation s’ouvrant sur des solutions (should 

open, ought to hire), des réactions (What a shame! 

How stupid!) sans oublier les « gap fillers » qui rendent 

le degré de conviction plus efficace. 

d. Dans une seconde étape, il sera intéressant de soulever 

des arguments contre pour créer une interaction 

orale au sein de la classe. Par exemple : postes à responsabilités 

= présence indispensable / congés de maternité, 

vie familiale ; emplois nécessitant des capacités physiques, 

des servitudes, etc. 

4. Downsizing or rightsizing? 

(pp. 46-47) 

Cet exercice de compréhension écrite a pour but, dans 

un premier temps, d’associer un titre avec le contenu 

d’un paragraphe (repérage de mots-clés, de lexique 

positif ou négatif, de concret et d’abstrait, recensement 

de vocabulaire spécifique.) 

YOUR TASK 

1. 

4. Value 

experienced 

employees 

2. Track 

productivity 

3. Look 

for signs of 

“wrongsizing” 

6. Educate 

your staff 

1. Benchmark 

staffing 

levels 

8. Offer 

incentives 

7. Don’t 

reward the 

wrong people 

5. Consider 

part-timers 

2. Prompts 

1. a. to / b. with / c. for/ d. after / e. for. 

2. a. advise / b. ask / c. have been / d. to give / 

e. earning / f. motivated / g. agree. 

3. Il s’agit maintenant d’utiliser les outils mis en 

évidence dans les deux tâches précédentes pour rédiger 

quelques lignes répertoriant les « Guiding values » de 

l’argumentaire qui en découlera. Il serait bon de découper 

les paragraphes choisis en lignes pour faire appa raître 

une sorte de « recette », solution aux problèmes. 

Par exemple si le premier paragraphe est retenu : 

• It is necessary to count the hours worked by the 

staff in a week. 

• As every worker is supposed to work 40 hours a 

week, divide the number of hours by the number of 

employees 

• It is a bad idea to count the number of employees 

and multiply by 40 hours a week because the result 

doesn’t correspond to effective work. 

• A comparison with a similar and successful 

competitor must be drawn to check the payroll of 

both companies. 

• The conclusion will probably be: the company 

should be more productive with the number of 

workers it employs. 

• The solution may be: either there will be more 

layoffs or there must be higher production, otherwise 

the company will close down. 

4. L’utilisation des « Prompts » pp. 46-47 semble un 

passage obligé. Il s’agit pour l’étudiant de préparer le 

discours devant le Conseil d’administration en reprenant 

les arguments répertoriés dans les tâches précédentes à 

son compte : 

• d’abord, exposer le problème : 

a few weeks ago, I was informed by your CEO about 

… 

• ensuite souligner d’où vient ce problème : 

day after day I have checked the working time of each 

employee … 

• enfin suggérer des solutions : 

If a profit-sharing policy is adopted, the staff will work 


etter and be more productive, so more profitable 

for the company. 

If you put the right employee in the right place, 

the higher returns will boost the company. 

ACTING OUT 

Il s’agit d’oraliser le discours préparé dans la tâche 

précédente. Quels sont les besoins ? 

Connaissance du sujet (cf. Your task 1, 2, 3 et 4). 

Les outils pour effectuer la tâche : le lexique pour 

convaincre (cf. Acting out p. 45). 

La méthode (mise en évidence des faits, des causes et 

des conséquences : cf. Your task 4) 

S’ajouteront des stratégies spécifiques : la phonologie 

(intonation, prononciation, accentuation) et la subjectivité 

du discours avec l’emploi de gap-fillers (That’s 

exactly what’s going to happen), (I mean / that’s 

to say)(in short)(you definitely need)(I actually 

think) etc. 


(pp. 48-49) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

A strike too many (p. 48) 


ExAm pApEr 

Accused over clothing factories 

standards in Bangladesh (p. 49) 


British supermarkets hit the news of the Guardian 

Weekly published on July 20, 2007. 

Allegations that three major discount retailers in Britain 

are breaching international labour standards has led one 

of the three, Asda – Britain’s second largest supermarket 

chain – to launch an investigation into the working 

conditions of its Bangladeshi garment suppliers. 

Even though all three have signed the Ethical Trade 

Initiative set up to protect the rights of employees, there 

is evidence to suggest that these guidelines are not 

being adhered to, and that the majority of employees 

are overworked and underpaid in a bid by the factories 

to reach their quotas stipulated by the retailers. 

There are also eye-witness accounts of physical and 


verbal abuse, intimidation tactics, and unlawful 

dismissals by the supervisors within the factories – all 

in direct breach of international laws, and all giving a 

bad name to the three British retailers. The problem 

is that investors will always look for the largest profits, 

whatever the cost to the workers, and so the wages 

must be kept low to stay in business. 

I personally find it revolting to sponge on miserable 

people to make money. It is necessary to regularly 

check on whether or not the standards are complied 

with by subcontractors. When looking for suppliers 

abroad, managers know labour costs are lower, so 

why be so hypocritical? (210 words) 

ii. Traduction 

Les employés des usines fabriquant des vêtements 

pour George à Asda, Tesco et Primark ont avoué 

que leur salaire était si bas que, malgré 80 heures de 

travail hebdomadaires, ils avaient du mal à subvenir 

aux besoins de leur famille. On a aussi fait état de 

maltraitance et d’incivilité de la part des surveillants 

et de cas d’ouvriers renvoyés pour avoir pris un congé 

de maladie. 

iii. Expression 

1. Though by law Western countries have to adhere to 

certain criteria when trading with other countries, they 

can still exploit the fact that employees in developing 

countries, having a lower standard of living, will accept 

proportionally much lower wages and work longer 

hours than those in developed countries. Western 

countries will also exploit a Third World country’s need 

for dependable business by demanding the cheapest 

possible product− at the expense of the welfare and 

rights of the worker− as a means of gaining the highest 

possible profit margin. (88 words) 

2. Contract: to be signed by both Employer and 

Employee: 

a. The employer and all employees have the right to 

form and operate or have access to trade unions, free 

from discrimination or intimidation of any kind. 

b. All employees will have proportional set wages 

which will conform to standards set by Bangladeshi law, 

and will be equal to or higher than a “living wage”. 

c. All employees will have regular compulsory breaks 

during work hours. 

d. All employees will be entitled to accumulative 

paid sick leave and paid vacations every year, to be 

taken at any time within reason and with suitable 

notice beforehand, and without fear of intimidation 

or repercussion of any kind from the employer. 



e. All employees will have a set limit of voluntary 

overtime hours, and all overtime hours must be paid 

at a rate of time-and-a-half. 

f. Employees and employers will abide by an 

appropriate professional code of conduct, free from 

discrimination, intimidation or harassment of any 

sort, and all will have access to advice, counselling, 

and complaint third parties where they can try their 

case should they feel this is not true. 

g. All employers and employees have the right to 

work in certified conditions that will not impede one’s 

health, safety or well-being, and will be provided with 

appropriate tools to ensure they may complete their 

tasks, and ensure their safety. 

h. The factory will be subject to regular safety and 

health checks to protect the employers and employees 

and any infringement of proposal 7, and any found 

will be rectified before any further work is done in 

said conditions. 

i. Unfair dismissals are not allowed, and any dismissal 

may be tried by a third party at the request of a former 

or current employee or employer to be deemed fair or 

otherwise. Due warning of two months must be given 

of a dismissal, and sixth months’ worth of wage in 

advance should the employer terminate the contract. 

j. The progress of employees and employers will be 

monitored regularly by a third party to ensure the 

above proposals are being adhered to. (340 words) 




pages 50-51 

Un i t 5 ru n n i n G a co m Pa n y 

Cette unité a pour but de sensibiliser les étudiants au monde de l’entreprise en les familiarisant 

avec les différents types de sociétés, leur infrastructure, leur gestion, leur organisation, leur personnel 

et leur quotidien. Production, expansion, diversification, mobilisation de moyens 

donnent un panorama des objectifs ciblés par toute entreprise dynamique. 

1. nose to the grindstone 

1. This document is a drawing or rather a cartoon 

designed by a French artist whose signature can be 

seen in the bottom right-hand corner, J.F. Batellier, a 

name that sounds French. It represents a big company 

where many employees are at work. It is inside and 

we can note several floors where clerks are sitting in 

front of their computers. 

On the top floor, there are two men talking together 

while looking at the staff working. One man holds 

a file labelled “DRH”, which is the French acronym 

for “Direction des Ressources Humaines” that is to 

say “Human Resources Management” in English. The 

other man must be the manager and says “I have 

a dream ..substituting them for Chinese workers or 

machines but keeping them as clients”. 

We can note that while his employees are working 

hard, he keeps his hands in his pockets and 

contemplates laying them off. He considers investing 

in machines (computers, tool-machines) or hiring 

Chinese workers at low cost in order to make more 

money. But he also wants his workers to stay loyal and 

buy his products. This drawing gives a bitter image 

of the boss only interested in profit by any means. By 

the way, if we look down at the bottom floor we can 

also read “Panneau Syndical” at the top of a board 

designed for Trade Union information. 

2. The beginning of the caption reminds me of Martin 

Luther King’s speech delivered on the steps of the 

Lincoln Memorial, Washington on August 28 th , 1963. 

This reference sounds strange from the manager’s 

mouth where he is ridiculed by the cartoonist. 

3. The boss wishes to buy machines or hire Chinese 

workers and replace his employees. He wishes he 

could make more money. He wishes his former workers 

would become his future customers. He wishes to pay 

lower salaries. This caption reminds us of the saying 

“You can’t have your cake and eat it”. 

2. Small firms prefer flextime 

1. Small firms prefer flextime to make life outside 

work easier. For example, clocking in and clocking 

out earlier can reduce the time a worker spends 

commuting. Avoiding traffic-jams saves time, stress 

and fuel, and proves to be profitable both for the 

worker and the company. 


“I’m happy as long as there’s always someone here 

to talk to customers. Small firms work like extended 

families and have a lot of trust. I think it’s important 

for people to have a life outside work. Small and 

medium-sized businesses live or die by the quality 

of their people and recruiting and retaining good 

staff is essential. One of the reasons people like 

to work for smaller firms is that they can have a 

better quality of life. And if they have flexibility 

around when they work, they are more likely to be 

focused, motivated and productive. It’s important 

that staff are flexible for the employer because it can 

be difficult to accommodate suitable hours and man 

the business at key times.” 

The Mail on Sunday, January 28th , 2007. 

1. The advantages this employer finds in flextime 

work are the following: 

• It makes the firm stay open longer. 

• It increases the number of employees available at 

any time. 

• It strengthens the relationship between employees, 

who know who is in charge of the firm at any time 

of the day, and who are made responsible for their 

choice. 

Unit 5 – Running a company 35

• It improves the quality of family life and consequently 

of working life, which curbs staff turnover. 

• It creates a friendly atmosphere upon which the 

manager can rely if working more is made necessary. 

2. In his interview, when the manager uses the phrase 

“like extended families”, he means that if the manager 

trusts his workers, his workers will trust him. Moreover, 

when a company is small, everybody knows each other 

and everybody knows they play a role. Each worker is 

a necessary link: they are all responsible for the success 

or failure of the firm. 

3. I am sure that a few decades ago this comparison 

would have been to the point, but today, it is another 

story. Indeed, in a family firm, the main actors are 

dependent on an image, on a history, and therefore 

struggle to keep up with rival firms. This is not the case 

with small firms which are regularly endangered by 

new and better opportunities offered by competitors. 

Their workers are easily attracted by these incentives. 

Small firms also experience ups and downs in front 

of new giants. When the ship sinks, nobody wants to 

get drowned. Profits come first, human feelings are a 

distant second. 

3. America’s top 8 companies 

in 2007 

1. The leader of America’s top 8 private companies 

in 2007 is called Koch Industries from the name of its 

CEO, Charles Koch. The parent firm is located in the 

town of Wichita in Kansas. It specializes in chemicals, 

energy and technology, and employs eighty thousand 

workers. Its turnover rose up to 90 billion dollars last 

year. 

2. Goods: Koch Industries, Cargill, Chrysler, Publix 

Supermarkets, Mars. 

Services: GMAC, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & 

Young 

3. If we cast a glance at the places where the respective 

headquarters are situated, we can note that four of 

them are situated on the Atlantic coast: New York, 

Florida and Virginia. Three have set up in the north: 

Michigan and Minnesota. The parent firm is the only 

one to be in the centre, in Kansas. 

Service companies are grouped around big cities 

and employ around 300,000 people whereas 

goods companies are dispatched in different areas 

and employ 480,000 people or so. I can note that 

service companies focus chiefly on money matters, 

so the towns of New York and Detroit are concerned. 

36 Unit 5 – Running a company 

Chemicals are produced far away from big centres. 

I can add that no Pacific state is rated in this study. 

REPORTING 

I must admit my opinion is divided when it comes 

to choosing between a job in a small medium-sized 

company and a job in a large one. I think that each 

offers advantages but also presents drawbacks. 

On the one hand of course it seems that working for 

a large firm opens up new opportunities and faster 

promotions. It is likely to grow and thus offers job 

security: large companies seldom go bust. On the 

other hand, the employees are so numerous that 

nobody knows each other. Everybody comes to make 

a living and that’s all. Nobody is interested in you. The 

working conditions may be hard even though the pay 

is good. 

To the contrary, working in a family company 

represents an everyday challenge. Everybody knows 

everybody and feels involved in the success of the 

firm. Everybody depends on good management and 

devotes their time to finding solutions and boosting 

the profits. The historical background also plays an 

important part in keeping the company alive and 

competitive: it is a heritage shaped by each every 

generation in their own way. The working conditions 

include trust. The staff are ready to work overtime 

without pay when necessary. A family company is part 

and parcel of every worker’s life. 

Finally, I believe that working in a family company 

would suit me because I couldn’t accept to be a 

number in a large firm. I would like to be free and have 

my say in the running of my workplace. I feel ready to 

give my own methods and ideas to contribute to the 

success of my business. 

Tony ryan, founder of ryanair 

(pp. 52-53) 

FIRST STEPS 

1. a. family background: “one of four children” (l. 7); 

“his father died of a heart-attack when he was 18” 

(l. 8-9); his grand-father had been a station master” 

(l. 13). 

b. professional background: “he had ambition to go 

to university. But” (l. 7-8); “he joined the national flag 

carrier, Aer Lingus …as a management trainee” (l. 15); 

Tony Ryan founded Ryanair” (l. 1). 

2. Tony Ryan decided to run a business of his own 

because first “transport was in the family blood” (l. 12) 

and second he wanted to develop and market “a big 

ticket product” (l. 22). 



3. He founded a low-cost airline company based in 

Shannon, Ireland. At first it was called Guinness Peat 

Aviation from the name of the bank that granted him 

a £45,000 loan, then it became Ryanair. 

MOVING ON 

1. This press article entitled Tony Ryan, founder 

of Ryanair is taken from The Times and was written 

on October 5 th , 2007. Tony Ryan’s recent death has 

prompted this flashback on the man and on Ryanair’s 

birth and growth. 

2. 1956: Tony Ryan was hired as a management trainee 

by Aer Lingus, the national Irish airline company. 

1974: he found his motivation while watching a street 

vendor. 1986: he founded Ryanair. 1993: Michael 

O’Leary took over the company from Tony Ryan. 

3. It was just a “single 15-seat passenger aircraft”, 

that is to say he only owned one plane and could only 

transport 15 passengers. 

4. Tony Ryan liked school. / When his father died, 

he had to work. / Tony Ryan was Irish. 

5. a. He had to support his family. 

b. Everybody worked in transportation companies. 

c. He found a job in a state-owned airline company. 

6. He invested £5,000 from his own account and 

got a £45,000 loan from a bank called Guinness Peat 

Group located in London. 

7. The marketing device referred to in this extract hits 

a service. The Managing Director, Michael O’Leary 

decided to do away with catering. 

8. In fact, on the one hand, by offering flights without 

food or meals the company expected to save money. 

On the other hand, by selling duty-free goods, it 

planned to turn this activity into profit. 

9. TRANSLATE 

Il se plaisait à dire que l’idée de monter une affaire 

à son propre compte lui est venue un soir de 1974 

pendant qu’il observait le soin extrême déployé par 

un marchand ambulant en alimentation originaire du 

sud-est de l’Asie qui s’activait pour préparer et vendre 

ses articles. 

WRITING 

I think that low-budget airlines have been severely 

debunked. They have been blamed for their lack of 

security: cheap air-tickets meant hazardous flights. 

In fact, pilots were blamed for having fewer flying 

hours so therefore poorly trained. The aircraft used to 

be second-hand, and though they were bought from 

national airline companies, they were said not to offer 

safety standards. Some competitors even pretended 

that the planes were not serviced regularly. These 

attacks should have deterred passengers from using 

these companies, but these accusations proved 

to be wrong. There are no more crashes in these 

companies than in national ones, and they are much 

cheaper. I sincerely think that the ticket-price has 

played an important role in the growth and success 

of companies like Ryanair or EasyJet. Millions of 

people choose these airlines every year and I am not 

at all prejudiced against them. I only wish they could 

increase the competition and make the tickets even 

cheaper. (160) 


1. Focus on the letter “o”. 

[ :] [aυ] [əυ] [] [ :] 

cost founded Tony, 

grow, low, 

go 

one, blood four, 

transport 

2. Un avion de tourisme / une compagnie aérienne 

à bas prix / une crise cardiaque / la personne qui 

subvient aux besoins de la famille / un chef de gare / 

un gestionnaire stagiaire. 

3. a. would have founded. b. to work. c. making; 

d. said. 

4. a. in. b. to. c. from. d. of / about. 

5. a. Pendant des dizaines d’années il a rêvé 

de rendre les voyages aériens accessibles. 

b. Depuis 1986 des milliers de gens choisissent 

Ryanair. 

c. Le PDG voulait casser le prix des billets. 

6. a. He has been working for British Airways 

since 1990. 

b. He set up / settled in London 10 years ago. 

c. It was a family-owned business bought out by 

a Japanese trust. 

d. As his turnover was dwindling / dropping / 

decreasing / plummeting, he has decided to sell 

to the highest bidder. 



(pp. 54-57) 

1. Within a company (pp. 54-55) 

YOUR TASK 

1. Il s’agit de repérer les fonctions des différents 

acteurs de l’entreprise et de mettre en relation les noms 

et les positions occupées en utilisant une formulation 

complète et en explicitant les fonctions de chacun. On 

demandera aux étudiants de choisir 4 ou 5 postes dans 

le document 1. 

Exemple : 

Helen Stewart is responsible for the Human Resources 

Department, that is to say she is in charge of hiring 

and firing employees. 

Lyn Klaser is at the head of the Market Research 

Department. Her job consists of spotting prospective 

markets and selecting which is best for the 

company. 

2. Le plan demandé doit correspondre à des critères de 

logique. On doit retrouver une cohérence au niveau de 

la communication au sein de la structure en terme de 

besoins et de services. Il semble évident, par exemple 

que le bureau de l’assistante de direction doit être situé 

à côté de celui du patron. La répartition pourra faire 

l’objet d’une justification orale. L’évaluation portera 

aussi sur la lisibilité du plan (couleurs, ventilation des 

responsabilités en secteurs, groupements de fonctions, 

pôles d’activités, etc.) 

3. Le document 2 cible particulièrement une entreprise 

de transport du type « Fastlink ». 

• Le but de cette activité est de répertorier les emplois 

du document compatibles avec l’activité de cette entreprise 

et au besoin d’en ajouter. 

• Une fois l’inventaire terminé, on insistera sur la 

communication de l’information afin de déterminer la 

fonction de chaque employé. Par exemple : on pourra 

supposer qu’il y aura « a Human Resources Manager », 

on reprendra les éléments donnés en tâche 1. Si l’on 

rajoute (comme suggéré dans le document 2), « the 

mover », il conviendra de repérer les détails de sa fonction 

dans ce même document 2 : “The mover can be 

entrusted with packing your belongings before loading 

them into the truck; this is optional. Should you need 

boxes to pack your things, you can use those from 

stores.” 


ACTING OUT 

Cette activité doit permettre de vérifier l’assimilation 

des acquis de cette séquence : 

• En terme de savoirs : connaissance d’une entreprise, 

des fonctions et des individus. 

• En terme de savoir-faire : capacité à informer, communiquer, 

interagir. Les « prompts » des pages 54 et 55 

faciliteront cette étape. 

La mise en place de ce « Acting out » : 

Les besoins : un plan au rétro projecteur, des visages 

d’employés virtuels (confection d’un diaporama), avec 

un « question-time » à la fin ou en cours de la présentation. 

L’évaluation de cette tâche finale devra tenir compte 

de 6 critères essentiels qui auront été exposés aux étudiants 

préalablement. 

• La quantité d’informations : combien de temps la 

visite guidée a duré. 

• Le réinvestissement lexical et grammatical et son 

appropriation. 

• La prononciation des mots mais aussi l’intonation 

et le volume sonore. 

• L’efficacité du discours : l’information passe ou 

non. 

• La cohérence des idées, la logique : aptitude à 

déterminer un plan. 

• L’autonomie : compenser l’inconnu, être capable de 

répondre ou de préciser. 

Une autre activité finale pourrait être la confection 

d’un « commercial » pour promouvoir cette société de 

transport : diaporama avec voix off, par exemple : 

“Moving? Relocating? Then removal may be 

an issue. Let Fastlink handle all your transport 

needs and make your family’s move or relocation 

that much simpler. We are the preferred removal 

company of many major movers and moving and 

relocation services. Fastlink is the name to remember 

when you, your family or friends are moving or 

relocating. Our exceptional record for safety and 

customer satisfaction assures the transportation of 

your belongings will be simple, safe, and virtually 

effortless. Let our staff put your mind at ease by 

custom tailoring our services to meet your exact 

needs, and handling all the details. Please take the 

time to fill out our form to receive a free quote for 

the transportation of your goods. We are confident 

you will join the many other satisfied customers who 

use Fastlink time after time and recommend us to 

their friends.” (145) 



2. informing of a new business 

(pp. 56-57) 

A customer’s testimony 


“One of my favourite places to shop is a discount 

clothing store in my town, Causeway Mall. The store 

sells both new and used clothing, but everything is 

in good condition, and the prices are unbeatable. 

All of the clothing is hanging on racks for you to 

see, and there are sections for children, men, and 

women’s clothing. If you find something you like, 

you can try it on in the dressing room. If it doesn’t 

fit, or you don’t like the way it looks on you (e.g., it’s 

too tight or baggy on you), then you can just return 

it to the rack. A price tag on the clothing indicates 

its price, but if you find a flaw in the clothing, you 

might be able to receive an additional discount. 

The store will also alter your clothing for a small fee. 

Once you’ve decided on the items you want, you 

can purchase everything at the checkout counter. 

The store accepts cash, debit and credit cards, and 

personal checks. If you decide later that you want 

to return something, you have two weeks to return 

it to the store, with the receipt, for a full refund or 

store credit.” 

1. 

Positive arguments 

www.Discountstores.com 

Document 1 Document 2 

“New and used clothing” 

“Everything is in good condition” 

“The prices are unbeatable” 

“All the clothing is on racks for 

you to see” 

“There are sections for children, 

men and women’s 

clothing” 

“You find a flaw …an additional 

discount” 

“The store can alter your clothing 

for a small fee” 

“The store accepts cash, debit 

and credit card and cheques” 

“You want to return something… 

a full refund 

or store credit.” 

“Small keyring cards are often 

used for convenience” 

“the purchaser is entitled to a 

discount …or an allotment of 

points” 

2. Le visionage au vidéoprojecteur favorisera le repérage 

des mots utiles. Il semble opportun de différencier le lexique 

spécifique à la communication (« we take pleasure 

in … ») et celui spécifique au thème abordé (« new premises 

»). Il sera bon de faire aussi repérer les termes liés à 

la correspondance commerciale (« enclosed herewith ») 

ainsi que la mise en page de l’ensemble. 

3. La mise en œuvre doit témoigner de l’appropriation des 

outils répertoriés dans les activités précédentes. 

• Choisir un logo, imaginer une adresse. 

• Dater le document. 

• Donner le nom du destinataire. 

• Reprendre la structure du document référence : 

– les raisons de ce courrier : « We take pleasure in 

informing you that your New Causeway Mall will 

open in California Avenue next week » ; 

– les raisons du changement : « As our customers 

deserve it, we have decided to revamp our store 

with better products and services » ; 

– les avantages : « Next Saturday will be the opening 

day. Sale bargains, slashed prices especially for 

you » ; 

– les precisions sur le jour d’ouverture : « We shall be 

opening at 9 a.m » ; 

– les contacts à venir : « We are looking forward to 

seeing you soon ». 

• Terminer la lettre. 

• Pièces jointes (articles sacrifiés, un plan, etc.). 

ACTING OUT 

L’entretien va s’articuler sur trois points : le document 1 : 

les magasins à marges réduites; le document 2 : les cartes 

de fidélité, le document référence : la délocalisation. 

• Underline the assets of discount stores: cf. activité 

1 document 1. 

• Pinpoint the advantages of adopting loyalty cards: 

cf. activité 1 document 2. 

• Anticipate the prospective extra profits of 

relocating: cf. activités 2 et 3. 

L’oralisation et l’interaction 

Les besoins : 

La mise en scène de cet entretien nécessite une 

préparation de deux rôles. Se cantonner à un jeu de 

questions / réponses ne doit être qu’une première 

étape. La conversation doit aussi contenir des demandes 

d’explication, de précision, de clarification. Par 

exemple : 

Manager: So, John, did you manage to list the assets 

of our discount clothing store? 

John: Yes, here it is. After a survey conducted on a 

hundred customers, the first reason why they attend 

our shop is because the prices are unbeatable. 

Manager: Do you mean they don’t care about 

quality? 

John: Not at all. They just mean they care about 

prices first. 


Manager: And you sampled men, women, 

teenagers …? 

John: That’s right. I interviewed 50 women, 30 men and 

20 teenagers. I thought that would be representative of 

an average shopper. 

Manager: You’re perfectly right. 

… 

John: I have also asked shoppers about loyalty cards. 

Have they got one? What they expect from them, how 

many cards they have, and so on. And I concluded that 

we could resort to this device to attract more people. 

Manager: In other words you think we should use one, 

don’t you? 

John: That’s exactly what I mean. 

… 

Manager: I understood that relocating uptown should 

bring us more customers. Could you explain about 

that? 

John: Yes, of course. When I contacted the people 

doing their shopping in the commercial centres around, 

everybody said they were ready to welcome a discount 

clothes store there. 

Manager: Did they say why? 

John: Sure. As you can imagine they told me about 

all the difficulties they currently meet when they go 

downtown: parking their cars, losing time, spending 

more etc. 

Manager: I see. I will think things over. 


(pp. 58-59) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

Working hand in hand (p. 58) 


ExAm pApEr 

“Autonomy helps create 

young CEos” (p. 59) 


This document is a press release adapted from The 

New York Times published on July 7th 2007. The title 

“Autonomy helps create young CEOs” suggests that 

young people are given the opportunity of managing 

companies when they are free to act in their own way. 


Among developed countries, the phenomenon of young 

people starting up a business is mostly prevalent in the 

US, according to a study by the Global entrepreneurship 

Monitor. This may in part be due to the autonomy 

granted to Americans at a young age by their families 

and by a less-than-disciplined school system, and in 

part to the philanthropic spirit of American culture. 

In addition, the mass marketing available in the US 

may condition young adolescents into understanding 

the way successful business is run, and some of them 

may also profit from the trend of wealthy people who 

support potential young entrepreneurs in achieving 

their American dream. 

Apart from being extremely wealthy and successful, 

the entrepreneurs Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Ben 

Casnocha all have another thing in common. They all 

began their American Dream while still in their teens. 

Ben, ranked as one of America’s top entrepreneurs in 

2006 by BusinessWeek, began with the help of investors 

interested in his business concept, by undertaking 

market research on his potential clients. He was only 

fourteen when he started up the very profitable Webbased 

Comcat Inc. 

To conclude, I would add that Ben is one example of many 

who have become successful in their business pursuits, 

spurred on by a society that encourages competition, 

commercialism and personal economic growth. 


Comme il le raconte dans son livre, Ben avait 14 ans 

quand il a mis en route sa SARL Comcat, un site Internet 

au service des administrations locales dans le cadre 

de la gestion de la clientèle. Certaines personnes de 

valeur en pleine activité, probablement impressionnées 

par ce jeune homme, décidèrent de soutenir son initiative. 

Il fit aussi appel à des subventions sans apport 

personnel pour faire décoller son entreprise et l’aider à 

financer sa version bien à lui du rêve américain. 



pages 60-61 

Un i t 6 co r Po r ate culture 

Cette unité développe le thème de la culture d’entreprise à travers de multiples exemples 

dans des secteurs économiques différents : Black Diamond, AES, Southwest Airlines, Disney, 

Google, Amy’s Ice Cream, No Sweat, SmugMug... 

Zooming on 

(pp. 60-63) 

La double page d’ouverture permet de lancer le thème 

de l’unité et de fixer les concepts nécessaires pour l’appréhender. 

Elle favorise le développement progressif et 


de la communication et fournit le lexique de base qui 

apparaît dans les supports ou elle permet de les analyser 

et de les commenter. 

The term “corporate culture” is used to describe the 

values and beliefs within a company. It also refers to 

the way a company behaves towards its employees and 

customers. Some companies favour efficiency, others 

innovation, product quality, ethics or environmental 

concerns. Yet some types of corporate culture can be 

detrimental to a company, for instance if it focuses 

on internal politics rather than on the customer; or 

on just numbers rather than on the product and the 

people who make and sell it. 

1. “All i know is that it’s 

part of our corporate culture.” 

Cette activité de description et d’analyse d’un dessin 

humoristique permet de faire définir ce qu’est la culture 

d’entreprise. On fera utiliser le présent en –ING, to look 

+ V-ING. 

1. In the cartoon, two men are sitting at similar 

desks facing each other in an office. They are 

similarly dressed and wearing the same unexpected 

checkered, oversized caps, which make them 

look more like clowns than executives. They look 

puzzled. 

2. The humour stems from the contrast between the 

neat office and the executives’ comical caps. 

3. The employee’s answer: “All I know is that it’s part 

of our corporate culture.” seems to be the answer to 

the question: “Why on earth are we wearing such 

ridiculous caps?”. It is an ironical comment on the 

corporate culture imposed on the staff in many firms 

that set very strict dress codes and sometimes impose 

uniforms. 

2. Companies need a strong 

culture 


lisent silencieusement l’article afin d’en tirer les 

informations permettant de définir un type particulier de 

culture d’entreprise. 

1. The company’s name: Black Diamond Equipment, 

Place: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 

Economic sector: rock-climbing equipment. 

2. The company recruits sport’s enthusiasts who use 

its products, capitalizing on their passion. 

3. The basis of the company’s corporate culture 

is that every employee does product research and 

development 

The message is: “You and your co-workers are our ideal 

customers, so satisfy one another and yourselves.” 

3. Uncovering a company’s 

corporate culture is 

critical for job-seekers 

Dans cette activité de compréhension de l’oral, les étudiants 

écoutent entretien avec Randall S. Jansen afin 

d’en tirer les informations pertinentes. 


Interviewer 

Why should job-seekers care about a potential 

employer’s corporate culture? Aren’t there more 

important factors to consider, such as the job itself, 

salary and bonuses, and benefits? 

Unit 6 – Corporate culture 41

Randall S. Jansen 

These factors are indeed important, but increasingly 

career experts are talking about the importance of 

a fit between employee and employer in terms of 

culture. A corporate culture guides how employees 

think, act, and feel. So, if the employee “fits” the 

company’s culture, it can make the difference 

between success and failure in the job search. 

Interviewer 

How does a company’s culture affect you? 


In many, many ways. First there is the hours you 

work per day, per week, and if there are options such 

as flextime and telecommuting. Then the amount 

of time outside the office you will be expected to 

spend with co-workers. 

Then, the office space you will get is important: Is 

it a cubicle or a window office? What are the rules 

regarding the display of personal items? 

Of importance too is the work environment, that 

is to say how employees interact, the degree of 

competition, and whether it’s a fun or hostile 

environment – or something in between. And 

the interaction with other employees, including 

managers and top management. 

You need to think of the dress code, including the 

accepted styles and the habit of casual days. 

Number five are the training and skills development 

you will receive, which you need both on the job 

and to keep yourself marketable for future jobs and 

employers. 

Last but not least are the onsite perks, such as break 

rooms, gyms and play rooms, day-care facilities, 

and so on. 

Interviewer 

How do you uncover the corporate culture of a 

potential employer? 


The truth is that you will never really know the 

corporate culture until you have worked at the 

company for a number of months, but you can 

get close to it through research and observation. 

You can review the company’s annual report. Some 

Websites provide key information and feedback 

from company employees. Some companies discuss 

their corporate culture on their Website and some 

have even developed corporate blogs that contain 

commentaries from employees or CEOs! 

1. When you are looking for a job, you need to take 

into account eight elements of a corporate culture: 

First there are the hours you work per day, per 

week, and if there are options such as flextime and 

telecommuting. 

42 Unit 6 – Corporate culture 

And the amount of time outside the office you will be 

expected to spend with co-workers. 

Then, the office space you will get is important: Is 

it a cubicle or a window office? What are the rules 

regarding the display of personal items? 

Then, the work environment, that is to say how 

the employees interact, the degree of competition, 

and whether it’s a fun or hostile environment – or 

something in between. 

And the interaction with other employees, including 

managers and top management. 

Then, you need to think of the dress code, the 

accepted styles and the habit of casual days. 

Then there is the training and skills development 

you will receive, which you need both on the job 

and to keep yourself marketable for future jobs and 

employers. 

Last but not least are the onsite perks, such as break 

rooms, gyms and play rooms, day-care facilities, and 

so on. 

2. It is difficult to know a corporate culture until you 

have worked at the company for a number of months. 

But to uncover a company’s corporate culture you 

can do research about the company’s annual report. 

Some websites provide key information and feedback 

from company employees. Some companies discuss 

their corporate culture on their Website and some 

have even developed corporate blogs that contain 

commentaries from employees or CEOs. 

4. Companies’ statements about 

their corporate culture 

Les étudiants lisent les trois descriptions de culture d’entreprise 

pour les définir. Puis ils préparent les arguments pour 

défendre celle qui leur semble le leur convenir le mieux. 

AES Corporation is a global company that cares for 

the environment. Technicians negotiate contracts, 

machine operators order replacement parts 

themselves, which means everyone has responsibilities 

and shows initiatives. 

Southwest Airlines’s corporate culture is turned 

towards its employees’ satisfaction and well-being. 

Employees must have a positive attitude and a 

good sense of humor lending themselves to causes 

and being interested in performing as a team. 

Communication is an important thing. Everybody, 

from the CEO to the gate attendants, makes sure that 

customers have a good time and that airplanes get 

unloaded and reloaded fast. 

W. L. Gore & Associates is a global company that 

encourages hands-on innovation. Teams organize 

around opportunities and there are no chains of 



command. They communicate directly with each other 

and are accountable to fellow members of our multidisciplined 

teams. Associates (not employees) commit 

to projects that match their skills with the guidance 

of their sponsors (not bosses) to offer personal 

fulfillment while maximizing their contribution to the 

enterprise. This environment combines freedom with 

cooperation and autonomy with synergy. 

REPORTING 

Cette activité vise à faire reformuler les acquis de la 

double page sur la notion de culture d’entreprise et 

d’encourager les étudiants à s’exprimer sur ce sujet. 

Les arguments seront notés au tableau, puis dans les 

cahiers, afin d’en préparer une synthèse individuelle soit 

en travail à la maison soit en évaluation en classe. 

A well-known Harvard business review paper identified 

four types of culture. 

The power culture is found in autocracies where the 

boss is a leader rather than a manager. Often he is the 

founder of the organization and works by hunch and 

intuition rather than by logical reasoning. He tends 

to have little time for argument and discussion. He 

usually is someone who dominates the organization 

and whose values dominate the company. 

The personal culture is like an oligarchy run by 

consensus among small groups of individuals where 

their personal values are reflected. Decisions are 

made collectively, but these may be quarrelsome 

places to work in on the other hand. Good examples 

of personal culture are professional partnerships and 

hi-tech firms founded by a group of people pooling 

their expertise. 

Role cultures are bureaucracies where things tend 

to get done by the book and the emphasis is on 

system, stability, proper procedures and other such 

things. They’re often extremely hierarchical and the 

way a thing is done may even be valued more highly 

than achieving results because bureaucracies thrive 

on order, neatness, and categories. 

And finally there is the task culture. That’s a 

technocracy, where what people achieve matters 

more than how they achieve it, and hierarchy is poorly 

defined. That’s true of hi-tech firms and management 

consultancies where intellectual discussion and 

analyses are an important basis of the work that is 

done. 

How Bob iger unchained Disney 

(pp. 62-63) 

Cette activité de compréhension de l’écrit sera préparée 

individuellement à la maison et reprise en classe. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. Les étudiants lisent le paratexte pour présenter les 

références de l’article. 

This document entitled How Bob Iger unchained Disney 

was published in the issue of BusinessWeek dated 

February 5th, 2007. 

2. Les étudiants décrivent et analysent l’image afin 

d’anticiper le thème du texte. 

In the picture we can see two characters standing 

on a beach with the sea in the background. From 

the clothes they are wearing we can deduce the 

scene takes place in the 17th or 18th century. The 

young woman on the left-hand side is wearing a 

hat with a spike and the man on the right-hand side 

a tricorne. They are Johnny Depp as Captain Jack 

Sparrow and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swan in the 

movie At World’s End – the third film in the Pirates of 

the Caribbean series. 

3. Les étudiants sont amenés à anticiper le contenu de 

l’article à partir du titre. 

The title indicates that the article is about the way Bob 

Iger has freed the Disney corporation from the culture 

imposed by the previous CEO, the notoriously difficult 

Michael Eisner. Since he was named CEO in the spring 

of 2005, Iger has abolished the Politburo-like strategicplanning 

unit created by Eisner and encouraged 

executives to be more entrepreneurial. “My role is to 

create a vision and strategy and then lead people in the 

direction. But I allow them to get there on their own.” 

MOVING ON 



1. Disney’s new CEO: 

a. first name and surname: Bob Iger, 

b. failings: false modesty of a media-trained CEO, 

Qualities: he prefers to hover in the background, 

letting the limelight stream over his lieutenants. He 

rules by consensus. He surrounds himself with smart 

people. 

2. “A can-do culture” means that people are 

encouraged to take initiative and are convinced that 

if you want something it is possible to do it. It gives 

young talent the freedom to experiment. It means 

putting good people in jobs and giving them room 

to run. 

3. Iger took his style of management from a legendary 

figure, Thomas S. Murphy, founder of CapCities, an 


American media company best known for its surprise 

purchase of the much larger American Broadcasting 

Company in 1985. 

An example of Iger’s management style is when he 

gave Ann Sweeney all the freedom she needed to 

revamp the network’s future by coming up with an 

ABC site where viewers can get TV shows whenever 

they want. A month after their discussion, Bob Iger 

announced the initiative at Disney’s annual meeting. 

4. a. “to hover in the background” means to remain 

unnoticed. 

b. “Iger dropping by her office” means he came 

unexpectedly into her office. 

c. “His parting words” means what he said when he 

left. 

d. “to lure eyeballs” means to seduce the audience. 

5. Disney owns ESPN, ABC and it has a deal with 

Steve Jobs and the Pixar crew. 

6. Iger wants to boost the company’s online sector. 

He manages to do so by featuring social networking 

and streamed TV shows on the new site 

The target audience is young kids and their families. 

Disney is capitalizing on the family vibe. 

7. TRANSLATE 

Sweeney, chef de ABC, se souvient du jour où Iger est 

passé dans son bureau peu de temps après avoir pris 

la direction pour discuter de l’avenir de la compagnie. 

Elle lui a suggéré de mettre sur pied un site de la 

chaîne ABC où les téléspectateurs pourraient avoir 

des programmes télé quand ils le voudraient. « Nous 

avons eu une discussion vraiment intéressante sur la 

manière de construire son propre réseau en ligne, 

raconte Sweeney. En partant il m’a dit : Faites vite ! 

Un mois plus tard, il annonçait cette initiative à 

l’assemblée annuelle de Disney. » 

WRITING 


des acquis de la double page soit en travail individuel à 

la maison soit en temps limité en classe. 

Founded on October 16th, 1923 by brothers Walt and 

Roy Disney as a small animation studio, the Walt Disney 

Company has become one of the biggest Hollywood 

studios and owner of eleven theme parks and 

several television networks, including the American 

Broadcasting Company (ABC). It is the second largest 

media and entertainment corporation in the world, 

after Time Warner, with 137,000 employees, $35.51 

billion in revenue, $7.827 billion in operating income 

and $3.832 billion in net income in 2007. 


Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt 

Disney franchise encompassing a theme park ride, a 

series of films and spin-off novels as well as numerous 

video games and other publications. As of August 

2006, Pirates of the Caribbean attractions can be 

found at four Disney theme parks and their related 

films have grossed more than US $2.7 billion. 


Les exercices conduisent à une consolidation des savoirs 

en phonétique, lexique et grammaire. 

1. Strong suffixes -ic, -ity and –tion determine the 

place of the stress on the syllable before last. 

‘corporate / corpo’ration 

e’lectron / elect’ronic 

enter’tain / enter’tainment 

‘legend / ‘legendary 

noto’riety / no’torious 

‘person / ‘personal 

‘steady / ‘steadily 

‘strategy / stra’tegic 

‘technology / techno’logical 

2. a. Paradoxically, loose-reign management gets 

better results than authority. 

b. It is theoretically possible but is not likely to 

happen. 

c. The staff is made up of mainly smart young 

people. 

d. He was undoubtedly the best candidate so he got 

the position. 

e. I wasn’t there. So I don’t know what actually 

happened. 

f. The director cannot talk to you. He is currently 

having talks in LA. 

g. Obviously a company cannot function without a 

strong corporate culture. 

h. She can hardly expect a pay rise. 

3. a. a computer-drawn picture, 

b. far-reaching consequences, 

c. a hard-working CEO, 

d. a fast-moving company, 

e. a well-equipped business executive. 

4. a. un PDG formé aux medias ; 

b. des marques de portée mondiale ; 

c. des programmes télé sur les réseaux de sociabilité 

transférés par Internet en continu. 

5. a. an America-shot movie, 

b. well-paid employees, 

c. an easy-going self-made man, 



d. narrow-minded leaders, 

e. a home-made movie, 

f. a dark-eyed, nineteen-year-old CEO, 

g. a time-consuming, well-known exercise. 


(pp .64-67) 

Les deux doubles pages ont pour objectif le développement 

des compétences requises dans des situations 

professionnelles : présenter la culture d’une entreprise et 

rédiger un mailing. 

1. presenting a company’s 

corporate culture (pp. 64-65) 

Les documents présentés sur la double page sont tirés 

du site de Google www.google.com. 

YOUR TASK 

3. Many businesses claim to be family-friendly, but 

Google takes the concept literally. Walk into any of 

its offices and you’re likely to see children playing 

with Lego sets or eating with their parents in the staff 

canteen. 

“I went to our Zurich office the other day and the 

first thing I noticed at the entrance was five prams,” 

says Liane Hornsey, director of HR in Europe, the 

Middle East and Asia. “It’s been a Google approach 

from day one that we are completely supportive of 

people having families and in all of our offices you 

will often find children of various ages. It isn’t even 

noticed, and they are welcome in the staff canteens. 

It’s not unheard of for people to go home at the end 

of the day, get their kids and bring them back for 

dinner.” 

Word is getting around that Google is a great place to 

work: globally, the company fields 1,300 applications 

a day. “There’s genuinely a belief from the founders 

that your working life takes up a lot of your time 

and it’s only right and fair that people have the 

opportunity for work-life balance,” Hornsey says. In a 

Google office you’re likely to come across employees 

playing Connect Four or ping pong. And they don’t 

have to wear suits: “People are encouraged to reflect 

their individuality.” 

The perks of working at Google range from free 

food to subsidised gym membership and time off 

for environmental projects or charity work. It sounds 

more a way of life than a job, and it’s a wonder that 

anyone ever leaves the company. “Our attrition rate 

is very low and I’m hugely proud of that,” Hornsey 

says. 

“Our employees say it’s just a fun place to work where 

they can have their say. The most important premise is 

that anybody can have a great idea and anybody can 

run with that idea.” Fun is a word that comes up time 

and time again when talking to Googlers. This year, 

the company gave free bicycles to its staff – mainly 

for environmental reasons, but Maxine Kohn, head of 

internal communications, jokes that it was “possibly 

to counter all the fantastic food and drink”. 

“We let people come up with ideas for what would 

make a great benefit,” Kohn says. “A couple of people 

in London came up with the idea of meditation and 

Pilates, so we introduced that. We offer all the usual 

benefits, but the icing on the cake is responding to 

what people ask for.” 

Stephanie Hannon, a product manager, joined Google 

in the US three years ago. She is just back from 

four days “locked in a conference room” in the Swiss 

mountains with 20 colleagues. While many people 

would balk at such an idea, these Googlers enjoyed it 

so much that they’re planning to go again. “We came 

up with 15 new ideas,” Hannon says. “We all felt it 

was something really special.” 

Document 2 google Doodles 


Interviewer: How did you come to draw design 

logos for Google? 

Dennis Hwang: I got an internship at Google in 

2000. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who founded 

the company, found out that I was an art major 

in college. They said “Hey Dennis, why don’t you 

give this a try?” And I’ve been manipulating the six 

letters in the Google name ever since. 

Now, I am in charge of all Google’s webmasters. 

Designing the logos is only about 20 percent of my 

job – but that doesn’t mean it’s not a lot of work! 

Interviewer: What are your favorite doodles? 

Dennis Hwang: My favorite is the birthday series 

honoring Michelangelo, Picasso, Van Gogh and 

other famous artists. Having been a student of art 

history for a long time those are a little bit more 

personal. Of course, trying to mimic the style of a 

master is always difficult and humbling, so it does 

take a lot more time to do those, but it’s also a lot 

more fun. But, like any proud parent, I can’t say 

which one is my favorite. I don’t think I could pick 

just one. They’re all special in their own little way. 

Interviewer: How do you decide which events to 

cover? 


Dennis Hwang: We meet with a small group of 

googlers a few times a year. We talk about interesting 

holidays that are coming up, or various international 

holidays or any current events or news events that 

we think are cool and geeky or googly in some 

sense and then we just sort of give it a go. But we 

also take users’ opinions into account. People email 

me from all over the world to ask for new designs. 

I did a logo for the Persian New Year after a large 

online campaign. The National Library Day design 

was a huge hit among librarians across the whole 

country. They even sent me library-related cool toys 

and hats! 

2. Writing a mailing 

(pp. 66-67) 

YOUR TASK 

1. The main characteristic of Amy Miller’s corporate 

culture is to sell entertainment along with ice cream. 

She organizes special nights when employees wear 

pajamas or masks to create fun. They perform and 

juggle with their serving spades, tossing scoops of ice 

cream to one another or break-dancing. 

To create and nurture that culture Amy got the right 

people and has them behave inventively with selfinitiative. 

Document 2. The white-paperbag 

test 


Interviewer: How do you send your cultural 

message to employees? 

Amy Miller: Our corporate culture is what makes us 

different. From the day employees show up looking 

for a job, they find out about it. Instead of a formal 

application form, they get a plain white paper bag 

along with the instructions to do anything they 

want with it and bring it back in a week. Those who 

just jot down a phone number will find that Amy’s 

isn’t really for them. But an applicant who produces 

something unusual from a white paper bag tends 

to be an amusing person who will fit in with our 

environment. 

Interviewer: And how do job-seekers react? 

Amy Miller: Some applicants have used the bags 

to create cartoons, board games, works of art, 

and elaborate parodies. One job seeker turned his 

bag into an elaborate pop-up jack-in-the-box and 

became a scooper. During busy weeks, applicants 


turn in half a dozen or so white paper bags! There 

are plenty of creative people out there – and that 

creativity is what I really put a premium on. This 

process ensures that our employees will never 

hesitate to go that extra mile to put a smile on 

YOUR face. Occasionally, though, I have had to rein 

in some folks. We had employees three high on 

one another’s shoulders, throwing ice cream across 

Guadalupe. I had to stop letting our employees 

throw ice-cream across the street, because it was 

very dangerous. 

Interviewer: How are you going to celebrate the 

anniversary of the company? 

Amy Miller: Customers will enjoy free ice cream, 

just for the asking, at every store from noon to 4:00 

p.m. We will also host a carnival for the public. 

Proceeds will benefit the future Children’s Medical 

Center of Central Texas. My stated goal is I want 

Amy’s to last 100 years and I won’t be here to see it. 

But I want it to last 100 years. My son, Henry, will 

be 80 then! 

3. The mailing 

Amy’s Ice Creams 

Amy’s Ice Creams stores are celebrating 

the company’s 25th anniversary. 

600 N Lamar Ste 1012-B 

Austin, TX 78703-5317 

Phone: (512) 480-0673 

Dear Madam, dear Sir, 

Spread across three Texas cities, Amy’s Ice Creams 

now counts ten stores that did $4.2 million last year, 

while scooping out some 100,000 gallons of ice 

cream. 

Come and celebrate the company’s 

25th anniversary. 

We are convinced that you will enjoy savouring 

Amy’s 300 flavors of ice cream and fruit ices among 

which Mexican vanilla, sweet cream, and for the truly 

Texan, Shiner Bock. 

We would like to invite our loyal customers to 

find out how much they contribute to the family 

atmosphere. 

Come to our shops, not because you are hungry, 

but to share a moment with your family, cheer 

yourself up and to celebrate. 

Take a few minutes to complete the enclosed form 

and send it to us today – in return we will deliver free 

ice-cream. 

Amy Miller 




(pp. 68-69) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

no Sweat (p. 68) 



Zander Sebenius said the term “social entrepreneurship” 

means making money while solving a social 

problem. 

Along the way, the students and No Sweat have 

garnered support from a variety of places, from Jewish 

Voices for Peace and the American Jewish Committee 

to the Islamic Institute of Boston. Despite the fact 

that many of the groups fall on different sides of the 

issues, Sebenius said, they all agree that increasing 

the jobs available in Palestine may help, and certainly 

cannot hurt. Even the Israeli and Palestinian foreign 

ministries have agreed on this; both have given active 

support to the No Sweat initiative. 

ExAm pApEr 

Blogs (p. 69) 


du BTS MUC (Management des Unités Commerciales) 

de 2 heures. L’usage du dictionnaire bilingue est autorisé. 


Le site www.computerworld.com fait état d’une nouvelle 

tendance aux États Unis : le développement des 

blogs d’entreprise. Il donne l’exemple de SmugMug, 

une société qui a lancé un site de partage de photos 

en ligne, dont le co-fondateur et président, Chris 

MacAskill, dit qu’il a compris qu’il ne suffisait pas de 

s’auto-féliciter sur son blog d’entreprise, mais qu’il 

fallait dire la vérité, aussi déplaisante soit elle. 

Nombreux sont ceux qui s’étonnent de la liberté de 

ton des cadres de SmugMug sur le blog, qui attire 

beaucoup de visiteurs parce qu’il reflète la culture de 

l’entreprise. D’autres font remarquer que c’est une 

forme déguisée de marketing. 

Néanmoins, pour avoir du succès, il est essentiel que 

le blog ne soit pas de la publicité directe. 

Selon Chris MacAskill, un blog permet à l’entreprise 

de se donner une image plus « humaine », à condition 

qu’il soit fait en accord avec le service juridique 

et celui des relations publiques. Il doit permettre une 

discussion réaliste sur les tendances et les problèmes 

du secteur économique, même s’il est difficile d’y 

faire face. (178 mots) 


La notation prendra en compte le respect des consignes, 

la correction grammaticale, la richesse lexicale et 

la variété des structures. 

Blogs are often used merely to post static marketing 

materials as an extension of companies’ web sites. 

Now, a growing number of businesses are opening 

up their blogs to provide an outlet for the same kind 

of uncensored commentary and interaction that have 

made personal blogs such a popular medium on the 

Web. 

At such companies, executives or full-time in-house 

bloggers are writing posts. Although the goal is still 

to raise the profile of a company, the new-style blogs 

often tackle unconventional topics that may not have 

an obvious effect on businesses’ bottom lines, such as 

public funding for research on Alzheimer’s disease. 

Blogs require companies to turn conventional 

marketing wisdom on its head by investing time, 

effort and money without the promise of a tangible 

return on investment. 

To be successful, blogs should be anchored by a 

genuine voice and offer readers content that is free of 

“marketingspeak.” 




pages 70-71 

Un i t 7 ma r keti n G 

Ces deux premières pages visent à montrer une nouvelle façon de consommer : 

les clients ne veulent plus seulement acheter, ils veulent aussi vivre une expérience en même temps. 

Les trois textes illustrent ce thème. On peut les donner à préparer à la maison 

ou les faire découvrir en classe car ils sont courts et l’un d’eux 

sert de support à une compréhension orale. 

1. A new atmosphere 

in the English bio market 

On peut commencer par exploiter la photo, seule et faire 

une révision des noms liés à la nourriture et plus précisément 

aux fruits et légumes, ainsi que des endroits où l’on 

peut acheter ces articles. On peut aussi lancer « What 

can you make with these products? » 

Puis on peut passer aux deux premières questions. 

1. The name of the store is partly visible on a carpet on 

the floor. It is called “Whole Foods”. They sell fresh fruit 

and vegetables, they are grocers. Although the place 

looks like a supermarket, it could also remind people of 

a market because of the way the food is displayed. 

Moreover, we can notice on the big bag of beets in the 

foreground, they sell good quality products, organic 

ones, so certainly quite expensive ones, too. 

2. The items are carefully stacked with a nice 

arrangement of colours, alternating between green 

and a brighter colour. The products are very attractively 

displayed so that people will feel like buying them. 

There must also be some spotlights on top of them in 

order to enhance the colours. 

Faire ensuite découvrir le texte. 

1. The two places mentioned in the article are Texas 

and Britain. 

The point in common between the two is the shop 

called “Whole Foods” which started out in Texas and is 

now extending abroad, to Britain. 

2. This firm sells what is called “fancy food” in the 

US, that is, luxury, hyper fresh, organic vegetables and 

fruit. They have certainly had market studies made 

before opening an outlet in Britain and only in rich 

neighbourhoods can people afford to buy such food. 

They also had to open a shop in a place where 

people were educated food-wise, and wanted to pay 

attention to the food they buy and eat. 

3. The real originality of the store doesn’t lie in the 

type of food or the display of the different items, but in 

a new concept: shopping for food as an adventure. 

People usually think of shopping for food as a chore. 

So to surprise and attract customers to the shop they 

decided to turn shopping for food into an attraction, 

or entertainment, even an adventure. 

Not only do they create an atmosphere of festive 

market in their stores but they also offer tasting 

stations, and more strangely, special nights during 

which you can try and meet your soul mate, or be 

massaged, or study meditation. All this appeals to 

young, rich, hard working people who find it difficult 

to meet people and who are usually stressed out. 

This idea seems very remote from vegetable buying, 

but it will thrill young and wealthy people. 

2. The blind leading the blind 


Rev. Spielmann, along with four blind colleagues, 

raised money from local businessmen and the city 

council and, in late 1999 opened the Blind Cow 

Restaurant in an old church building. He wanted to 

provide jobs for blind people and offer sighted people 

an opportunity to experience a world without sight. 

The idea is so popular that 37 year-old Rev. 

Spielmann is being urged to open branches of the 

Blind Cow. The restaurant has already been visited 

by several “concept” designers from New York and 

Los Angeles… 

Unit 7 – Marketing 49

Mr. Schaffner said: “People thought it would be just 

a novelty and would wear off, but we are booked 

solid for months ahead for the evening sessions, and 

most lunchtimes are packed to our capacity of sixty 

as well. Both sighted and blind customers are willing 

to wait to experience what is perhaps the oddest 

dining adventure in Europe. 

“Blind” dates are a big hit at the Blind Cow, and 

several dating agencies arrange for people to meet 

in the total darkness of the restaurant where they 

can ask questions and be themselves without once 

seeing the person opposite. Later, if they choose, 

they can reveal themselves in the lighted lobby. 

The popularity of the Blind Cow is growing, making 

it a hot destination for locals and visitors alike. 

The menu is a la carte and a dinner including starter, 

entrée and dessert is around $32.00. Drinks are 

extra. 

Musical events are often held at the Blind Cow, 

including regular programs called ’Blind Monday’s 

for special guests’ The musical offerings range from 

classical to folk to modern. The musical evenings 

cost between $38 and $55 for dinner and concert, 

without drinks”. 

Dans un premier temps, faire découvrir le thème du 

texte en faisant lire le court paragraphe page 71. 

Faire exprimer où cela se passe et pourquoi des objets 

sont interdits. 

Faire commenter rapidement le nom du restaurant aussi 

et montrer la double originalité du lieu. 

Ensuite, faire écouter la partie enregistrée en leur demandant 

de prendre des notes sur ce qu’ils entendent. Puis 

travailler les questions posées à l’oral. 

Cet exercice peut également être donné en devoir en 

classe. 

1. Five people are at the origin of the project. The 

leader seems to be Rev. Spielmann. Together with four 

other blind colleagues, he got the idea of opening a 

restaurant of a special kind. The restaurant is totally in 

the dark, so that sighted and blind people meet on an 

equal basis. More precisely, he wanted sighted people 

to experience what it is like to be blind. 

The second aim of the enterprise was to provide work 

for blind people. 

These five entrepreneurs raised money for their 

project by asking businessmen and the town council. 

It all started in 1999 in an old church building. 

2. It has become a marketing concept through its huge 

and quick success. In addition it is going to be exported 

to the US after several concept designers been to see it, 

and are ready to buy the concept from its inventor. 

50 Unit 7 – Marketing 

3. They are already trying to diversify the concept by 

organizing special nights like “Blind Date” evenings 

where people who don’t know each other meet for 

the first time through an agency that rents the place 

for the evening. 

They also organize musical events with different 

programmes: classical, folk or modern music. They 

have a package price for the music and the meal. 

3. Shoppers at these stores urged 

to loiter, not buy 

1. Samsung’s New York store is very unconventional 

since it is a store in which you cannot buy a single 

product. You can only go there to look at the Samsung 

items and try them, fiddle with them, or get a lesson 

on how to use them. 

2. It is different because it is not based on the notion 

of buying and selling. It relies on the experience it can 

offer to potential customers, transforming itself into 

a kind of theatre or even theme park where people 

can watch demonstrations and learn how to use the 

products. 

3. It works because potential customers love to 

be able to touch and use items freely, to get to 

know a product before owning it. So far it has 

been proven by market studies that the people 

who go firstly to this demo store, then go to their 

local electronics retailer and automatically ask for 

the Samsung product that they have tried before. 

Furthermore, they are often ready to spend more 

than they intended, buying an upgraded version 

of the item they first intended to buy, because 

having tried it, they want it and are prepared to 

make the financial sacrifice. They have had the time 

to imagine themselves with this product and they 

can’t wait to own it and use it. 

4. Ici, les étudiants peuvent donner leur avis mais ils 

doivent essayer de l’argumenter à chaque fois. 

YES: it must be really fun to discover new products 

and be able to try them or learn how to use them as 

well as seeing the whole range and deciding on the 

one that corresponds best to the way you intend to 

use it. My aim would be to try the different articles 

in a range to see which one corresponds best to my 

taste and financial situation. 

NO: I’d rather not waste my time and be tempted to 

spend more money than I should. I can learn to use 

it by myself or with the help of my friends. With the 

Internet, you can see the different products before 

going to the store. 



REPORTING 

Cet exercice peut-être un « homework » et quelques 

élèves seront donc ensuite interrogés à l’oral en classe. 

Ils devront présenter leurs conclusions devant l’ensemble 

de la classe. 

Ou bien on pourra demander aux étudiants de se mettre 

en groupes de deux ou trois et de préparer le compterendu 

en classe puis un représentant de chaque groupe 

le présentera aux autres. Cette activité peut ensuite 

amener à un « débat » ou du moins une discussion des 

diverses idées présentées. 

This new concept of experience marketing is successful 

for several reasons. 

First, because it makes shopping less boring, 

especially everyday shopping or shopping for food. 

You go to a pleasant store and you don’t only buy, 

you do something more: meet people, enjoy relaxing, 

experience a new adventure, learn something new 

each time and thus you broaden you experience. 

You can discover something you didn’t know before 

and try freely something you’ve wanted to try for 

a long time, and at the same time you can share 

people’s experience of life. 

I suppose it could be tried almost anywhere because 

you can always devise an experience with any kind 

of product. 

For example you could imagine people trying cars at 

a car dealer’s in order to feel the car and choose the 

one which best corresponds to the person’s needs. 

Or you could imagine a person who wants to buy an 

oven, trying to bake a batch of cookies in it before 

deciding if it’s the oven he/she wants to own. 

Same thing for sports equipment: you can imagine 

stores with areas where you can try sports or different 

types of equipment for one given sport, or special 

sports nights during which people discover a sport or 

try playing at a higher level, with better equipment 

than what they already possess. 

Maybe it would be more difficult for clothes, but 

some designers could offer the possibility to clients to 

try their new collection and walk on a podium with 

them or try them for a week and then buy what they 

want from it. 

In and industrialized, post-modern Western countries, 

people need new incentives to buy, because they 

quickly get bored and blasé with the standard way of 

purchasing things. 

Volume control (pp. 72-73) 

Ce texte va permettre aux étudiants de découvrir une 

relativement nouvelle technique de marketing basée sur 

les sens et en particulier sur l’écoute et la perception des 

sons. 

Ce n’est donc pas un texte général mais un document sur 

une technique particulière. 

On peut décider d’aborder ce texte par une révision (type 

brainstorming) de vocabulaire sur les cinq sens et sur les 

mots du même champ sémantique. 

Ensuite, on peut aborder le texte directement en cours ou 

le donner à lire à la maison en demandant aux étudiants 

de répondre aux questions de la partie « First steps ». 

FIRST STEPS 

Ces questions très générales peuvent permettre à des 

élèves un peu plus faibles de faire une phrase, ensuite 

reprise et améliorée par d’autres jusqu’à obtention d’une 

phrase correcte qui pourra être prise en note comme 

modèle du genre. 

L’exercice qui consiste à présenter un texte est très 

scolaire et très réglementé mais il peut en même temps 

rassurer les étudiants et les former à la toute première 

partie de leur oral d’examen. Il faut insister sur le fait 

qu’ils utiliseront toujours les mêmes expressions et qu’il 

leur sera donc facile de ne pas faire de faute dans leur 

présentation ce qui est extrêmement important pour un 

début d’épreuve orale. 

La présentation doit toujours renseigner sur la nature du 

document, ne pas oublier de mentionner s’il comporte une 

illustration et de quel type, sur la source (c’est l’occasion 

de faire un point sur les principales publications anglosaxonnes), 

l’auteur, sa date de publication et son sujet 

général. 

1. This text is a press article taken from the famous 

American weekly news magazine Time. It also includes 

an illustration showing the main character of the text. 

It was written by Theunis Bates and published on the 

2 nd August 2007. 

It deals with (/it is about) the use of a selling technique 

based on sound aiming at boosting up the sales and 

profits of stores mainly. 

2. The country involved in the text is England because 

the main person mentioned, Julian Treasure, is in a 

London café at the beginning of the article. He is in 

fact, at the head of a Sound Agency in London. 

3. This man is sitting in a café, or snack bar, alone at 

a table. He seems to be waiting for his order and he 

looks somewhat bored or not pleased. Next to him, 

someone we can’t see is holding a loudspeaker, so we 

can guess that the noise must be quite unpleasant, 

disturbing or even deafening. 

4. If we associate the picture with the title of the 

article “Volume Control” we may well think that this 

article deals with the noise level in cafés or bars (which 


is often too high) and what can be done to curb it or 

control it in order to improve customers’ comfort. 

5. His job must consist of controlling the noise level in 

public places like bars. 

It could be done in several ways: through the law or 

with the help of a professional consultant, or scientist. 

Therefore this man could be a representative from 

the State, checking on the enforcement of the law 

related to sound/noise control in public places, to fine 

them perhaps, if they don’t respect the law. Or he 

could be a consultant analysing the different noises 

he hears in order to advise the owner of the place on 

how to create a better atmosphere (removing invasive 

noise and rescoring unappealing music), or he could 

be a scientist or a doctor analysing the influence or the 

effect of noise on people’s health. 

MOVING ON 

Il faut rappeler aux élèves où se trouve Julian Treasure, 

c’est-à-dire dans une grande ville et donc les mettre en 

situation d’imaginer des bruits familiers pour eux aussi. 

Cela pourrait aussi être l’occasion de rappeler la notion 

de forte probabilité avec les modaux, expressions et 

adverbes qui conviennent (must, be likely to, bound to, 

certainly, surely, probably…). 

1. A café in a big city is often crowded and full of 

noise. In his Soho bar, Julian certainly hears loud music, 

a babble of tongues, the rumble of talking, screams 

and laughter and shrill cell phone tunes. 

On top of that he is also likely to hear the shouts of 

waiters and barmen, the coffee percolator, maybe the 

roar of extractor fans, the rattling of chairs, the chink of 

bottles and glasses, and perhaps the click of pool balls. 

2. He must think so because all this combined noise 

is very tiring and almost unbearable, therefore people 

won’t linger in the place. This means no second orders 

and therefore a loss of profits. The owner could earn 

more money if the sound atmosphere of his place was 

more agreeable. 

3. So far, two other senses have been used in 

marketing: they are sight and smell. 

4. 

Sense N° 1: SIGHT Sense N° 2: SMELL 

• Alluring displays to attract 

the customers’ eyes 

• Nice packaging to lure the 

clients into buying 

Bright and beautiful colours 

Spotlights on products 

• Special presentations 

to attract the eye 

(ex.: bulk ice cream) 


• Fresh coffee smell 

• Nice odour of biscuits 

• Flavour of freshly baked 

bread or pizza 

• Fragrant flower 

or plant scents 

• Pleasant fruit fragrances 

5. 

Sense N° 3: SOUND / HEARING 

Soothing mix of classical music 

Slow music 

Gentle ambient noises 

Universal hits that people always love listening to 

or national hits 

Bird’s chirping 

6. With the two remaining senses, marketers could 

devise new selling techniques. 

We are now dealing with touch and taste. 

TOUCH: we could imagine shops where customers 

could touch the articles and learn how to use them; for 

example it could be applied to all new technological 

devices or musical instruments. Touch could also be 

used for fabrics that you could touch before deciding 

which one you want for your next coat or dress. 

TASTE: tasting-stations could be installed in different 

kinds of shops (food of course, but also drinks, and 

cosmetics). You could imagine getting a free trial on a 

new product or trying this new product on the spot, 

in a kitchen or a bar that would be part of the store. 

You could cook it or make a cocktail yourself. 

7. The different types of outlet using this new sound 

technique as a kind of audio interior design are mostly 

stores and chain stores, for example toy stores and 

cafés, bars and restaurants. 

But we could imagine other places like hotels, stations, 

pharmacies, trains and buses. 

8. a. TRUE: “few have focused on the smart use of 

sound. But that’s changing.” (l. 12-14) 

b. FALSE: “time-pressed consumers will force 

businesses to focus more on the total sensory 

experience.” (l. 33-34) 

c. FALSE: from lines 17 to 25 + “slow is good” 

(l. 27) + “an unhurried consumer is exactly what 

retailers want…” (l. 30-32) 

d. TRUE (l. 20-25) 

e. TRUE (l. 33-35) 

9. TRANSLATE 

En 2005, par exemple, l’Agence du Son a fait changer 

la musique dans une chaîne britannique de 

magasins de jouets, remplaçant les comptines et 

autres chansons pop pour enfants par de la musique 

classique relaxante. Cette chaîne de jouets avait 

pensé que ses magasins s’adressaient en priorité 

aux enfants, dit Treasure, tout en oubliant que le 

pouvoir d’achat, c’est les parents qu’ils l’ont et que 

ces parents ne voulaient pas être bombardés de 

chansons idiotes telles « bêê, bêê le mouton noir » 

(ou, le chat de la mère Michel). Une fois la nouvelle 



musique installée, ils ont pu revendiquer une augmentation 

des ventes de 10%. 

WRITING 

Cet exercice peut-être donné à faire à la maison et 

ramassé ensuite ou lu en classe devant les autres, ou 

en devoir en classe en fin d’étude du texte. Cela peut 

permettre de vérifier l’acquisition du vocabulaire de la 

leçon ainsi que des différents arguments étudiés grâce au 

texte de départ. 

Report on the Soho café in London 

I came to your café at different times of the day and on 

different days. 

Here are the main remarks I can make on the sound 

atmosphere of the place. Generally speaking, your 

“soundscape” is too brutal. 

First of all, the music is much too loud, especially 

during the day when most people come to the café to 

have lunch, often speaking to other people or spending 

a few relaxing moments. 

This music is also too much of one kind, targeting only 

the very young customers. 

The noise linked to the furniture or machines is also too 

obvious and intrudes too much on people’s privacy 

and conversations. 

Your staff are also too loud, as a result of course, of the 

high sound level in the whole café. 

Here is what I would advise you to do in order to 

improve your “soundscape” and create a more pleasant 

atmosphere thus luring people into staying longer and 

consuming more. 

Devise a better music mix, targeting the different age 

groups and different sorts of people that mainly come 

to your place. This is something I could help you do 

since I used to be a DJ. It’s easy for me to pick melodies 

and music that suits different kinds of people. 

Change some of your machines: the extractor, 

maybe the percolator, put some felt patches under 

the furniture, tables and chairs; finally, offer your staff 

some training sessions to teach them how to make less 

noise while serving the clients: avoid shouting, don’t 

throw things, lay the bottles and glasses more gently 

on the tables, don’t bang the doors… 

In the end you could try and reduce the noise made 

by cell phones by asking people to use their silent, 

vibrating or meeting modes. 

Should you need further comments, do not hesitate to 

contact me again. 

I remain at your entire disposal. 

Sincerely, 

Julian Treasure 


1. 

[u:] [] [ə] 

Julian – brutal – 

tune 

Cup – hurt consultancy 

2. Insister pour que les élèves ne traduisent pas mais 

fassent des phrases explicatives contenant un lien 

d’opposition. 

coffee (l.1)/café (l.2): coffee is the liquid you drink 

whereas a café is the place where you can have a 

coffee. 

second (l.4)/second: second in the text means 

another one after the first one, but second is also a 

very short unit of time. 

head (l.4)/head: head in the text means the manager, 

the director of the company but head can also mean a 

part of the body. 

smart (l.12)/smart: smart in the text means clever, 

intelligent but it has another meaning which is 

“elegant”. 

3. a. The sound of music must be relaxing if you want 

customers to take their time and buy more. 

b. There was so much noise in the background that 

clients couldn’t hear each other. 

c. The volume control button must be kept low. 

d. An audio tape is going to be played over and over 

in the store. 

e. This idea of sound control sounds very good 

to me. 

4. a. The idea of using sound in an appropriate way is 

quite new. 

b. But in America, they have experienced (/have 

been experiencing) it for a few years now, quite 

successfully. 

c. People’s biorhythms often react to the sounds 

around them. 

d. Marketers have known for a long time that sound 

alters emotions and behaviour. 

e. With new music in the store, sales have jumped 

up by 10 % 

5. a. Julian Treasure, qui dans les années 70 et 80 

était musicien, a une grande expérience de l’effet du 

son sur les gens. 

b. De nos jours, les gens sont habitués à faire leurs 

courses au milieu de toutes sortes de bruits (/dans 

une ambiance très bruyante). 

c. Toutes sortes de sons sont utilisés afin de 

multiplier (/de gonfler) les bénéfices. 


6. a. Sounds can make people’s mood(s) change. 

b. Julian’s job consists of changing the soundscape. 

c. Il will make your products sell more (/better). It 

will pump up your sales. 

d. It will make people stay longer (/people will feel 

like staying longer) and thus they will consume more 

(/they will buy more/they will have another drink). 


(pp. 74-77) 

Ces deux pages ont pour but de faire découvrir un 

nouveau système d’enregistrement et de paiement en 

supermarchés et en même temps de montrer à quel 

point il est important pour ces distributeurs de connaître 

leurs clients le plus finement possible. 

Toutes les activités proposées correspondent à ce que 

devront faire de nombreux étudiants dans leur vie professionnelle 

: élaborer un questionnaire, l’administrer 

et le décortiquer et enfin écrire un mémo à l’attention 

de son patron. 

Il est conseillé de partager la classe en groupes qui 

recevront chacun une tâche à remplir puis le mémo 

peut être établi ensemble en classe ou individuellement, 

à la maison ou en devoir sur table. 

1. getting to know the consumer 

better and better (pp. 74-75) 

YOUR TASK 

1. Quelques pistes pour le questionnaire. 

Generalities 

Name + surname 

Age 

Marital status 

Family situation 

How many times a week do you shop? 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 

How much do you sped on average each time you go 

to the supermarket? 

About the system 

Have you found it easy to use? 

How long did it take you to use it perfectly without 

assistance? (one try – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – more) 

Did you find it convenient? 

Why? What was the most difficult thing to handle? 

– The touch screen, 

– the scale, 

– the scanning system, 


– the paying system, 

– the coupon acceptor. 

What are its main advantages? 

– Less waiting time: yes/no, 

– more privacy: yes/no, 

– more fun: yes/no. 

What are the main drawbacks of the system? 

Would you definitely adopt it? 

Would you appreciate to get personalized information 

on the screen of the machine? ( special promotions, 

new products, more points on your fidelity card, a 

possibility to order delivery at home. 

Faire remplir ce questionnaire aux étudiants jouant les 

personnages types. 

En même temps, établir les rapports sur les différentes 

façons d’acheter de chaque personne type. Diviser la 

classe en groupes qui s’occuperont chacun d’une personne 

type. 

Bien étudier chaque cas proposé et imaginer les types 

de produits achetés par chacun d’entre eux. En faire 

une liste dans un premier temps. Cela va permettre de 

revoir du vocabulaire. 

Puis, étudier la périodicité donnée pour chacun des 

achats (once a week, twice a week, once a year, three 

times a month…), si les gens achètent des marques ou 

non (brands or not, brands or the store’s own labels), 

s’ils sont fidèles (loyal customers) et sur quels articles. 

3. Suggestion de mémo 

– On the whole, people are very satisfied with the 

handheld self scanning system (75%). All of them 

said the machine was very much user-friendly. 

– For all of them, it means less waiting time at the 

check out and more privacy. 

– However, for half of them, this way of doing 

things lacks human contacs and 25% of them do 

not appreciate having to do all the operations by 

themselves (choosing, weighing, scanning, paying, 

bagging). 

– Concerning the shopping patterns, the information 

we can get through the system is extremely useful 

and detailed customer profiles are now possible. 

– We can know with great precision who buys what 

and how often, but we are also able to analyze the 

paths the customers walk in the shop. 

– Therefore, we will soon be able to personalize 

the offers we make them, depending on their 

preferences 

For example, one of the testers always bought bags 

of chips and immediately after, he went to the beer 

shelves to buy “bud light”. 

Thus, we could decide, either to offer him a discount 

on his “bud light” or one on another beer brand to 

urge him to change his habit if it serves our interests. 



Conclusion 

All these data collected on customers through the 

machine offer us endless possibilities to improve on 

our marketing skills and it could pump up our slaes by 

10% to the very least. 

2. marketing surveillance 

(pp. 76-77) 

L’activité proposée ici sera sûrement très utile à tous 

les BTS s’occupant de commerce ou de techniques de 

marketing. 

Les panels de consommateurs et les questionnaires sont 

des choses très classiques à connaître. 

Les activités proposées pourront parfaitement se faire par 

groupes de deux ou trois personnes, qui essaieront chacun 

de définir le portrait d’un client potentiel et de sa famille. 

D’autres groupes pourront travailler en même temps sur 

l’élaboration du questionnaire. 

Ensuite il faudra organiser une séance de rencontre 

entre les clients potentiels, incarnés par des étudiants 

et les administrateurs du questionnaire, qui le feront 

remplir et qui pourront aussi faire un petit entretien avec 

le possible client. 

À la suite de tout cela, on pourra faire écrire un mémo , 

par groupes ou individuellement déterminant si ce nouveau 

service a de l’avenir ou non. 

Voici quelques possibles portraits mais qui n’ont rien 

d’obligatoire. 

N°1: Diane Hardy, single mother of two children of 

10 and 12 has a good but demanding job in an 

advertising company where she works long hours 

and is never back home before 8 pm. 

Children : one girl, one boy going to school during 

the day. The school is very close to their home and 

they have many friends living around where they 

often go after school. 

They do extra curicular activities three times a 

week from 4to 6pm (tennis, football, rugby, music, 

theatre). 

Their mother always want to know where they are 

and she could think that this monitoring system via 

cell phones could replace the nanny she often takes 

from 4 to 8pm. Especially now that the children are 

getting older. 

N°2: James and Katie Drummond, both working 

and he, travelling a lot. They also have many social 

activities, on their own or together and they belong 

to local associations. 

They have one boy of 13, Leo who is very autonomous, 

but he also has friends that his parents don’t really 

like. He goes to a private school but he has problem 

at school because he doesn’t work enough. 

He also plays football at a local club 3 times a week 

and he likes to hang around with his mates. 

N° 3: Kevin Reynolds, 49 ( from the text). He is a 

real estate appraiser, is here in the morning to take 

the children to school but does long hours in the 

evening. 

His wife, Pamela, 38, is a nurse who works mostly on 

the afternoon shifts ( from 5 to 1am), so she is not here 

when the girls have finished school. 

They have two daughters, Helen, 8 and Emma, 4 who 

both go to school until 5pm, doing extra curricular 

activities there. 

Twice a week they go to a friend’s house. 

N° 4: Henry Thomas is a widower of 41 years old 

with two boys of 10 and 11 ( Robert and Eddie). 

He is a lawyer who runs his own small firm. 

Has the time to take the boy. 

S to school in the morning and then has someone 

coming to his homebetwen 5.30 and 8 pm. 

But his sons come back from school alone with some 

friends and at the week end they often want to go 

out with friends, paly football with them in the park, 

when their father really wants to stay at home and get 

some rest. 

So they often argue because he is anxious something 

might happen to them. 

Quelques pistes pour le questionnaire 

Name & surname 

Date 

Email 

Age bracket (Déterminer des âges en prenant le 

questionnaire de la page 76 comme modèle mais en 

l’adaptant un peu, par exemple, enlever la catégorie, 

moins de 18 ans.) 

Gender 

Marital status [single, married, divorced, widow(er)] 

Job 

Working hours / you / your partner 

Number of kids 

Age 

Gender 

School hours 

Extra curricular activities / how often / how far from 

home / number of hours per session, per week 

Do you have an easy access to the Internet or not? 

Can you keep your cell phone on all the time or not? 

How much would you accept to pay for this child 

monitoring service? 

How did you find out about us? 

ACTING OUT 

Laisser du temps aux étudiants pour apprendre les personnages, 

puis les placer dans une situation précise qui 


pourrait être de faire partie d’un panel pour la société 

Verizon, ou dans un magasin pour acheter ce service et 

le faire installer sur le portable de leur enfant. 



(pp. 78-79) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

They’re making money 

from your kids (p. 78) 


ExAm pApEr 

Starwood hotels explore 

Second life first (p. 79) 


Cet article, tiré de la revue Innovation, écrit par 

Reena Jana fut publié le 23 août 2007. 

La journaliste a choisi un thème très à la mode : 

l’univers virtuel de Second Life, mais décrit ici une 

collaboration particulière entre les hôtels Starwood 

et Second Life. 

Starwood possède plusieurs chaînes d’hôtels connus 

comme les Sheraton et a décidé « d’ouvrir » un hôtel 

prototype sur Second Life afin de le tester avant de 

le construire dans la réalité. 

La population de Second Life, peut apprécier sa 

conception, se déplacer à l’intérieur, dans les chambres 

et les espaces communs. 

Starwood leur demande ensuite un feedback précis 

sur un blog ce qui leur permet de décider des modifications 

nécessaires. Ce projet virtuel est économique 

car les modifications ne coûteront pas un sou 

et la construction ne commencera sur le terrain que 

lorsque le projet semblera abouti. 

Ces hôtels seront construits aux Etats Unis, puis, par 

centaines dans le monde. 

Cet outil de marketing interactif sur Second Life restera 

utilisable même quand les vrais hôtels seront 

construits, mais le véritable défi sera d’attirer des 

clients en chair et en os. 

Le monde réel s’appuie de plus en plus souvent sur le 

virtuel pour exister et prospérer. 

Sera-ce la tendance du x xi e siècle ? 


1. a. Created in 1999 and run by San Francisco’s 

Linden Lab, Second Life is a 3D digital universe with 

a growing population of more than a million people. 

This is an alternate virtual world where people do 

every day things like in real life: they can buy land, 

build homes, make friends and run businesses, 

play sports, watch movies. They pay for a range of 

everyday goods and services. They even have their 

own currency, convertible into American dollars. 

People also create avatars and give them names, then 

they navigate them through Second Life, moving 

them from one place to another, meeting other 

avatars, with whom they can communicate through 

instant messaging. 

But now, it is also attracting big businesses which 

use it to sell or test their products, to look for new 

employees (ex.: Sony; Adidas, Nissan…). 

1. b. Ici la réponse doit être personnelle et il serait 

amusant de leur laisser un peu de temps pour voir quel 

genre d’avatar il s se construisent. On peut leur faire lire 

leur réponse à la classe, si on aime prendre quelques 

risques . On peut leur indiquer un début de réponse assez 

général puis ils pourront enchaîner sur leur avatar. 

In this virtual universe, people can create any kind of 

avatar or alter ego. There is no limit and they can set 

their imagination working on all kinds of possibilities: 

humans but also furry animals or dragons! Generally 

people tend to create someone totally different from 

the real person they are. Many also change sex. 

Here is an example: 

In real life, the nearly 40-year-old Giordano has 

thinning hair, is 5 feet 6 inches tall, slightly overweight 

and sometimes stutters during job interviews. 

In the virtual world of Second Life, he’s a strapping 

6-foot-plus, muscular man named BellagioChef with 

a bushy head of hair and oodles of confidence when 

he comes face to face with a recruiter. 

1. c. Thank you very much for inviting me to spend a 

night in your brand new Starwood loft-style hotel on 

Second Life. 

First of all I want to say that I love the place, so my 

commentary will be on the whole very positive. 

However, I do have a few more negative remarks on a 

few details that would need some modifications. 

I was impressed by the clean architectural lines of the 

building, resembling a big steel and glass boat from 

the outside. 

It is extremely spacious and you hardly feel inside 

when you get in. Indeed, the huge glass panes, the 

high ceiling and the indoor waterfall are great ideas. 



You feel you have got all the space in the world. 

The outdoor setting is also great with its funnilyshaped 

swimming pool and huge comfortable seats 

around the pool. The islands of exotic vegetations 

also provide a welcomed shade and some green to 

look at, while the other islands provide everything 

you need, food, drinks, you name it! 

However, I didn’t so much like the furniture in the 

common areas. Although the draped fabrics are nicelooking, 

the pieces of furniture look too minimalist 

and straight to me. I would have enjoyed big and 

deep couches, larger tables and a more sophisticated 

kind of floor. 

Also in the bedroom I think the colours are not well 

chosen. It it mostly grey which is too dull and sad, I 

think. Why not choose a brighter, happier colour and 

change the colours on every floor? 

Finally the bed is also a little too small and why not 

put some water beds? They are such fun! 

Bye for now, 

Christopher Norris 

2. Cette activité pourra être l’occasion pour chaque 

étudiant de réaliser son CV en anglais. Ils pourront aller 

sur Intenet pour regarder quelques modèles avant de se 

lancer. 

Cela peut être donné en préparation à la maison puis 

retravaillé en cours. 

Leur CV pourra ensuite leur servir de modèle de base 

pour celui demandé dans l’exercice. Il conviendra 

peut-être d’insister beaucoup sur les langues parlées, 

les voyages effectués, les expérience avec la clientèle… 

(pour un stage ou job d’été). 

On pourra aussi inventer un programme d’études 

dans l’hôtellerie s’il s’agit d’une recherche d’emploi 

principal et fixe. 

Motivation letter (pour un emploi fixe et prin cipal) 

On supposera que le candidat ou la candidate à cet 

offre d’emploi est français(e). 

April 25th , 2008 

Dear Sir, 

I am about to get my diploma from the Paris Hotel 

School with Honours and I have read your ad on 

Second Life. 

Your project of opening and running a loft-style 

hotel in this virtual universe totally fascinated me. 

I am myself a second lifer and I have been 

experiencing this new universe for six months, 

now. Therefore, I have built some experience in this 

virtual world and I perfectly know how to move in 

it, how to do all sorts of things in it including how 

to communicate with other second lifers. 

I would be delighted to be part of this testing and to 

be able to give you all the feedback you need. I am 

convinced that my studies, my good command of 

English, and Spanish and my knowledge of the hotel 

business will be of great advantage to you. 

I am available straight away and I would be more 

than pleased to undergo an online interview, should 

you retain my application. 

Do not hesitate to contact me any time. In the hope 

of hearing from you soon, 

Yours, sincerely 

Benoît Sardin 



Zooming on 

(pp. 80-83) 

Les pages 80-81 mettent l’accent sur l’intrusion, parfois 

subliminale de la publicité dans notre vie et montrent 

l’impact que cette dernière exerce sur notre pouvoir de 

décision et d’achat. 

1. Ads before all 

Un i t 8 adv e r t iSi n G 

L’incontestable pouvoir et le rôle prépondérant de la publicité dans notre vie de tous les jours 

et dans le monde des affaires sont les thèmes principaux de ce chapitre. 

1. The advertising campaign is essential here. These 

people are so proud of it that they have forgotten all 

about the product. This is where the humour of the 

cartoon lies. 

2. The chairman’s main concern is to have a beautiful 

ad campaign no matter what product is to be 

advertised. This, of course, shows the undisputed 

role of advertising, without which no product can be 

successfully launched on the market. 

3. Firms usually devise products to meet the 

expectations of potential customers. They also think 

about packaging, means of distribution, price and 

services. 

2. The benefits and pitfalls 

of selling products by word 

of mouth 

1. Selling by word of mouth means “telling” to 

everyone you know what you think of the product! It 

allows a firm to create a “buzz” around a product and 

to analyze the kind of response it generates. 

It first started with Tupperware products; they tried 

to blend the social and economic to their business 

advantage. 

The advantages are that potential buyers get personal 

feedback from those who know the product, including 

advice. 

The main drawbacks are that if the product has bad 

publicity, or is no good according to those who know 

it, it stands absolutely no chance of being bought. 

It is of course difficult for marketers to control this 

type of advertising, although to them it represents 

“unpaid” advertising. 

3. incentives to turn your cars 

into billboards 

1. Car wrapping allows you to drive a car without 

spending money. Actually you can even make 

money! 

For marketers, it means ‘free publicity” and also the 

possibility to advertise their brand throughout town, 

at any time of the day. 

2. It covers the largest mass market audience possible. 

It is opposed to targeted advertising. 

3. This question is a personal choice. 

4. Are you an ad-addict? 

Les étudiants devront repérer les mots-clefs entendus 

dans les publicités enregistrées afin d’identifier le thème 

principal de chacune d’elles. 


1. Furniture 

Furniture village is celebrating ten years of success 

and it’s all thanks to you. There is 20% off all the 

well-known brands this week-end only, plus as 

much as 50% off some items. To say thank you 

to you, there is a chance to win a free Ford Focus. 

Furniture Village is celebrating, so will you be. Come 

soon and join us having fun. You’ll like what you 

find. Call 800-032-2257. 

2. Weight Watchers 

It’s not just what you lose that matters, it’s what you 

gain. Members soon notice the difference. 

− I can now go into shops and buy clothes because 

I like them and not because they fit me. 

− It’s easier because we all eat the same food at 

home. 

With Weight Watchers there’s no forbidden food 

and no weighing or measuring. So why wait! 

Call 035-236-0945 today and find out how much 

you could gain. 

Unit 8 – Advertising 59

3. Renault Clio 

You see it, the new Renault Clio with the £499 

credit deposit but £500 cash back, power steering, 

airbags, remote control CD player, and tinted glass. 

You’re not dreaming. Take Renault Clio Grand. Get 

the driving force behind you. Drive safe Renault! 

4. Thomas Cook 

− Oh! It’s lovely here. It’s ever so warm and everyone 

is ever so friendly. 

− Was it one or two weeks you were looking for? 

You can have it at Thomas Cook. Not only can you 

get up to 30% off, but a free week-end break for 

two in the UK. So now even booking feels like a 

holiday. Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it! 

For week-end breaks only, meals must be purchased. 

REPORTING 

Cette activité permet de réfléchir à l’impact que la publicité 

peut avoir sur tout un chacun. Il semble judicieux de 

s’interroger sur ses éventuels méfaits et bienfaits, tout en 

s’appuyant sur des exemples précis. 

Advertising is definitely an insidious form of 

brainwashing. It interferes with our everyday life (TV 

and radio commercials, newspapers and magazines, 

billboards in the streets, in shops, on the internet, 

leaflets in our mailboxes) There is not a single day 

without pressure put by admen aimed at influencing 

our choices. 

Yet advertising is necessary to inform us about new 

products. 

It is difficult to say to what extent advertising really 

infringes on our rights to decide freely. Only our 

personal experience can determine whether we 

have ever been in a position where we have been so 

influenced by ads that we have been tempted to yield 

to the strength of their arguments. 

Some examples should be given here. 

Company will monitor phone 

calls (pp. 82-83) 

Ces deux pages permettent un travail de compréhension 

de l’écrit plus approfondi que l’on pourra demander aux 

étudiants de préparer à la maison puis qui sera repris 

en classe.. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. The article deals with how to target phone users. 

(b) 

2. The main problem is infringing on consumers’privacy. 

(b) 

60 Unit 8 – Advertising 

MOVING ON 

Des questions plus précises sur le lexique, la structure de 

l’article, les idées sous-jacentes contenues dans ce passage 

vont permettre de s’assurer de la compréhension 

détaillée du texte. 

1. 1-a; 2-g: 3-b; 4-c; 5-a; 6-e; 7-d. 

2. a. Right. Companies like Google scan e-mails 

users’in-boxes. (l. 1) 

b. Wrong. [They] dial any phone number and chat 

away. (l. 4) 

c. Wrong. Unlike Internet phone services that charge 

by the length of the call, Pudding Media offers calling 

without any call charges. (l. 6) 

d. Right. Typically they were doing something else. 

(l. 16) 

e. Right. Consumer-brand companies are increasingly 

trying to use data about people. (l. 23) 

f. Wrong. Advertisements will only arrive during the 

call. (l. 30) 

3. Pudding Media uses phone calls to log data just as 

Google does. Because Pudding Media felt concerned 

with consumers’ privacy, they preferred to record old 

conversations/ not to keep records of any phone calls 

rather than the latest ones/ they only relate to current 

calls to be more discreet. It would be inappropriate 

/ it filters out words to send ads just by examining 

explicit words. Pudding Media is also paying for free 

calls in exchange for cell phone carriers’ technology / 

offering the technology to cell phone carriers to allow 

their customers to enjoy free calls in exchange for 

watching ads. 

4. scrutinize: scan / eager to: willing to / connect: 

plug in / tax: toll / show: display / enable: allow / 

pertinent: relevant. 

5. TRANSLATE 

Alors que le service d’appel n’est opérationnel pour 

l’instant que sur ordinateur, M Maislos y a vu, dit-il, 

un usage possible sur les téléphones portables. 

La société offre la technologie aux opérateurs de 

la téléphonie mobile afin de donner à leurs clients 

la possibilité de bénéficier d’appels gratuits en 

échange d’une consultation simultanée de publicités 

« ciblées » sur leurs écrans. 

WRITING 

The impact of advertising has been a matter of 

considerable debate. Here the question raised is 

people’s right to privacy with this kind of advertising. 

Just like billboards in traditional advertising clutter 

and deface the beauty of the landscape, online and 



target advertising is proving to be more of an assault 

on our senses and more annoying than entertaining 

or informative in nature. It has the potential to annoy 

customers who do not want to be bothered by 

advertisements. 

The other aspect pertains to individual privacy. 

Customised advertising is a great idea from a 

marketer’s perspective. But there seems to be a 

growing awareness and movement towards respecting 

one’s privacy, which is currently being violated by 

unsolicited telemarketing calls on mobiles. How can 

it be appealing to internet users to realise that their 

conversations are monitored? 

Can’t we avoid being inundated by ads? Can’t we 

decide to veto unsolicited ads or consider them as 

“spam”? 


1. [] ads 

[i] message 

[e] any 

[ə] media 

[ei] trade, related 

[εə] software 

[a:] a r e 

[ai] dial 

[ə] typical 

2. On the adjective: typically, substantially, 

simultaneously, carefully, contextually; on the verb: 

increasingly. 

3. autant: as / contrairement: unlike / pendant: during 

/ pendant que: while / soit: either / alors que : as / afin 

que: so that / en retour de: in exchange for. 

4. a. They refused to let them ø monitor their phone 

calls but they allowed them to read their emails. 

b. Of course, they were willing to pay less but couldn’t 

ø accept to be spied on in their intimacy. 

c. Nobody can make people ø do something they are 

reluctant to do. 

5. a. Will consumers accept to have their conversations 

tapped? 

b. Users’ behaviours are spied on and monitored. 

c. Unfortunately advertising seems to infringe on 

consumers’ private lives. 

6. a. Tandis que le logiciel de la société écoute 

subrepticement les conversations, il filtre les mots 

explicites pour sélectionner les publicités. 

b. La société offre la technologie aux opérateurs de 

la téléphonie mobile afin de donner à leurs clients 

la possibilité de bénéficier d’appels gratuits en 

échange d’une consultation simultanée de publicités 

« ciblées » sur leurs écrans. 


(pp. 84-87) 

Ces deux doubles pages ont pour objectif de placer les 

étudiants en situation professionnelle. Elles leur proposent 

de se prêter à exécuter des tâches qu’ils peuvent 

être amenés à retrouver lors de leurs stages ou plus tard 

dans leur vie professionnelle. 

1. launching an advertising 

campaign (p. 84) 

YOUR TASK 

1. La société Skincare a besoin de trouver des solutions 

à court terme afin de relancer les ventes de ses produits 

cosmétiques. Différentes options sont envisageables et le 

choix de l’étudiant est déterminant quant à la démarche 

qu’il adoptera pour mener à bien sa campagne 

publicitaire. En effet, il est primordial qu’il y ait parfaite 

adéquation entre la cible, l’affiche, le slogan, le support 

médiatique,le budget alloué... 

Des choix clairs sont donc à opérer avant la conception 

de la campagne publicitaire. Cela peut consister 

à décider de ne cibler par exemple qu’une catégorie 

restreinte de femmes susceptibles d’acheter les produits 

plutôt haut de gamme proposés par Skincare, sachant 

que cette clientèle sera attentive aux références, tests en 

laboratoire, témoignages... ou encore de s’intéresser à 

une cible plus jeune et d’axer alors la campagne sur des 

produits bon marché et faciles à utiliser pour lesquels 

une publicité plus percutante sera souhaitée. 

Quels que soient les choix des étudiants qui pourront, 

bien sur, travailler en équipe pour cette activité, quelques 

conseils peuvent être ajoutés. 

• It would not be a good idea to target men because 

it would take too much time and energy to build 

a campaign directed at them, which might even 

require the launching of a specific line of products. 

The company needs cash and market share in the 

short term. 

• What the company also needs is to rebuild its 

brand image, increase awareness of the brand among 

consumers and reassure consumers of the quality and 

reliability of the products. 

A careful approach has to be defined (see recommendations 

in doc. 1). 


• The advertising media have to be carefully chosen. 

TV commercials, for example, are very expensive and 

are often said to target the average forty to fifty-year 

old housewife more than anybody else. Moreover, 

a costly campaign does not necessarily mean a 

successful one. Magazines must be carefully selected 

according to age and social category of the readers 

(Biba, She, Cosmopolitan, Twenty...). 

Of course online advertising has revolutionized the 

advertising industry, (popup, flash, banner, email 

advertising...) introducing interactive advertising 

where consumers can respond to surveys and become 

part of the advertising message (see doc. 2). 

2. Some more golden rules could be added to 

document 4 (p. 85) to help the students write the 

report to the company in which they have to explain 

their intentions and expectations. 

1. One prime-time second on television may cost 

more than £300. Think of the cost of a hundred 

30-second adverts. 

2. Don’t tell the wrong story to the wrong people. 

3. The receiver can use a printed message at his own 

pace (not true with TV). 

4. Sell the beautiful hair. Not the shampoo (nice feet, 

not shoes: Bata). 

5. Use “What” not, “How” (approach and appeal). 

6. Stick to your company’s image. 

7. Adapt your message to the buyer’s profile (not Liz 

Taylor for youngsters). 

8. Arouse emotion (use of images). 

9. Competition is harsh; differentiate! 

10. Don’t shock people – it’s bad selling practice. 

Use humour, effectiveness will be multiplied. (the 

Benetton Syndrome). 

2. put your name on it! (p. 85) 

YOUR TASK 

1. We would like to know more – e.g. prices, time for 

delivery – about the full range of advertising gifts that 

can be personalised with our company name. Please 

send us your fully detailed catalogue asap. 

2. We would also appreciate receiving details about 

your conditions and special offers and we look forward 

to doing business with you. 

Describing an ad (pp 86-87) 

Cette double page propose un travail précis confié à 

l’équipe de marketing de Score qui doit se pencher sur le 

choix d’une affiche publicitaire. 

62 Unit 8 – Advertising 

Une analyse rapide de la publicité de la page 87 permet 

de repérer les techniques utilisées par les publicitaires de 

la ligne de vêtements de sport de Nike. 

YOUR TASK 

a. Nike’s ad (p. 87) shows a famous athlete in full 

page. It’s a close up. The colours are bright. The 

black athlete stands out well against a light green 

background. The athlete’s profile shows the aerodynamic 

movement of her body. Her hair, hands, legs 

convey an impression of movement and speed. She’s 

a runner and a winner. 

b. Now the body copy and the slogan seem to 

convey another message, that of non-sportswomanlike 

attitudes! 

c. The target would then not be women who 

unremittingly practise sports but rather everyday 

women and even worse, women who use make up, 

go to yoga and enjoy going out! and who hate to be 

told to practice sports when they think they have no 

time for that! 

d. The catch phrase contrasts with the visual and is 

provocative. 

e. The devices used in this Nike ad resort to celebrity 

endorsement, humour, provocation, fun and joke, 

energy and success. 

Les étudiants se positionneront sur le type de publicité 

qu’ils auront choisi d’adopter sans oublier de justifier les 

raisons de leurs choix qu’ils résumeront dans le mémo et 

le compte-rendu oral qu’ils devront soumettre au directeur 

marketing. 


(pp. 88-89) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

Advertising and sexism (p. 88) 

Voir le corrigé proposé dans le manuel de l’étudiant 

p. 192. 

ExAm pApEr 

Selling television sets by 

turning up the glamour (p. 89) 


Philips lance une campagne publicitaire pour un poste 

de télévision à écran plat qui s’avère être innovatrice, 

voire révolutionnaire. L’idée est de présenter un petit 



film qui sera montré dans des magasins de grande 

marque de mode et bijouterie. 

Philips veut se différentier en montrant un appareil 

électronique comme un objet de luxe et de surcroît 

féminin, ne faisant appel ni aux pixels ni à la 

performance, dont les hommes sont friands, mais au 

raffinement, à la qualité et l’effet « glamour ». 

Le pari que fait Philips comporte des risques. Tout 

d’abord les concurrents sur le marché sont réels, de 

plus il est à craindre que les clients ciblés par Philips 

ne préfèrent faire des produits Lanvin, Baumer leur 

priorité ! (122 mots) 


a. The Gucci family uses a slogan that is meant to 

explain the quality/price ratio of their products. 

Gucci is a famous luxury brand whose notoriety is 

unchallenged. Yet, the high prices of their products 

can be explained, not only by the prestige but also by 

a warranty of the quality of its products. It entails an 

excellent after-sales service. It also means that Gucci’s 

image has got to be flawless and that Gucci’s clients 

need to be pampered. 

b. c. Of course not all products deserve this slogan 

as we live in a world of disposable items that are just 

goods to be discarded, whether we are talking of pens 

(biros), razors. A lot of ads insist on the possibility of 

changing and customizing our belongings. Watches 

are a good example of items that can easily be 

renewed just as furniture (e.g. Swatch, Ikea). Also 

bargains are often successfully advertised, regardless 

of the quality of the product. 

d. It is therefore very important to choose a slogan 

that is adapted to the product and its functionality. 

Slogans should also be innovative and original to 

have a strong impact on the targeted audience. 

(193 words) 




pages 90-91 

Un i t 9 br a n d m a n a G i nG 

Cette unité développe le thème de la gestion d’une marque à travers de multiples exemples 

tels que Starbucks, David Beckham, adidas, Leh Berry ou Lady Diana… 

La double page d’ouverture lance le thème de l’unité 

et permet de fixer les concepts nécessaires pour l’appréhender. 




apparaît dans les supports ou permet de les analyser et 

de les commenter. 

Brand management is reputed to have been created 

at Procter & Gamble with the McElroy memo, a 

three-page internal memo. While working on an 

advertising campaign for Camay soap, McElroy 

became frustrated because he needed to compete 

with other P&G soap products in addition to 

the products produced and distributed by rival 

consumer goods producers, such as Lever and 

Palmolive. His memo detailed why P&G should pay 

more attention to Camay and other P&G brands 

instead of concentrating resources on its flagship 

product, Ivory. In this way, each brand’s qualities 

would be distinguished from every other brand’s, 

leading to “product differentiation”. 

A brand is a promise that enables people to take 

shortcuts to make decisions. The brand causes image 

associations, sets expectations, and leads to changing 

levels of consumer trust. By controlling the image to 

set positive, attainable expectations and consistently 

meeting said expectations, the brand can be selfdefined 

in a positive image. 

1. Brand top 10s in 2007 

1. Microsoft has been voted the U.K.’s number one 

brand by the public. 

The survey of media and marketing experts did not 

even put Microsoft in the top 10. They voted Google 

top, followed by Apple and then the technology 

group’s iPod. 

2. Coca-Cola, Google and the BBC are in both the 

public and experts’ top 10 lists. It highlights the 

strength and rapport with the consumers of these 

well-established brands. 

3. BBC, BP, British Airways, Guinness, Cadbury, 

Tesco and Waitrose are British. Most of the others are 

American. 

4. Google and eBay are Internet brands. The BBC 

operates in the media sector. Microsoft and iPod, 

operate in the technology sector. Coca-cola, 

Guinness, Cadbury, Tesco and Waitrose in the food 

and distribution sector. 

5. Cette activité sera l’occasion pour les étudiants de 

préparer les questions, de rassembler les réponses et de 

les commenter. 

2. gender and generation gaps 

Dans cette activité de compréhension de l’écrit, les étudiants 


informations nécessaires. 

1. The difference between men and women’s brand 

choices is that women clearly rate prefer-quality 

lifestyle brands while their male counterparts choose 

more everyday functional brands 

2. What sets generations apart is alcohol. The 18-24 

category included Smirnoff, Bacardi and Jack Daniel’s 

in its top 10. The over-65s voted traditional brands 

including Wedgwood, Parker and Clarks into their top 

10, but also picked Google and Nike. 

3. Starbucks is leaving 

the Forbidden City 

Cette activité de description d’image permet de faire 

anticiper le sujet de l’article. 

1. From the form of the roofs of the buildings, we 

can guess the photograph was shot in China. The 

buildings make me think of a pagoda or some kind of 

temple or palace. 

Unit 9 – Brand managing 65

2. However the man in the foreground looks 

Caucasian. And he is drinking out of a cup bearing 

the Starbucks logo. 



informations permettant de définir un type particulier 

de culture d’entreprise. 

1. Starbucks closed its outlet in Beijing’s Forbidden 

City due to protests that began as soon as the outlet 

opened criticizing of its presence in a World Heritage 

Site. 

2. The popularity of the brand among Chinese 

consumers reflects the rapid development of civil 

society in China and the existence of an advanced 

phase of consumerism based on refinement and 

superior taste. 

4. rui Chenggang 

Cette activité de compréhension de l’oral permet de faire 

analyser le changement d’attitude des Chinois vis-à-vis 

des marques occidentales. 


Interviewer 

As an anchorman for China’s biggest TV network, 

you have led an online petition campaign against 

the presence of Starbuck in the Forbidden City. 

500,000 Chinese signed it. How do you explain 

such success? 

Rui Chenggang 

Since 2000, Starbucks has operated within the 

walls of the 600-year-old city. It tramples over 

our Chinese culture. 70% of the people surveyed 

by the local media said they would rather not see 

the Starbucks sign next to the Hall of Preserving 

Harmony. Throwing out Starbucks from a site of 

immense historic importance is a sort of cultural 

revolution. 

Interviewer 

And there’s the problem of price… 

Rui Chenggang 

Even for middle-class Chinese, Starbucks is a barely 

affordable luxury. A medium latté costs 22 renminbi 

or $2.65, which is enormous if you know that the 

monthly disposable income of an average threeperson 

household is only $143. Drinking coffee in 

public is only a lifestyle, an attitude. People don’t 

go there for the coffee. They go there to present 

themselves as modern Chinese in a public setting. 

Interviewer 

And what is your next target? 

66 Unit 9 – Brand managing 

Rui Chenggang 

American Express sponsorship signs. I really loathe 

them. The introduction to every site says, “Made 

possible by American Express.” It is as if the Mona 

Lisa had a label saying, “Made possible by the 

People!s Bank of China.” It is not acceptable! 

1. For the Chinese, Starbucks tramples over Chinese 

culture when operating within the walls of the 600-yearold 

city, a site of immense historic importance. 

2. The next brand Rui Chenggang wants to target is 

American Express because it posts sponsorship signs 

everywhere. 

3. Les étudiants seront encouragés à s’exprimer et 

confronter leurs opinions sur ce sujet d’actualité et à 

utiliser I agree / disagree with… 

He says that having Western logos and slogans 

splashed on ancient Chinese buildings is as if the 

Mona Lisa had a label saying, “Made possible by the 

People’s Bank of China.” 

REPORTING 




Globalization has developed dramatically since World 

War II with the emergence of a large scale consumer 

society in most Western countries, the lifting of 

trade barriers worldwide and the development of 

communications. 

In an ideal world, with globalization, each country 

would provide what other countries lack – food 

products energy, water, skilled workers or executives. 

But in reality it makes the exploitation of cheap labour 

in poorer countries possible, through outsourcing. 

Another problem is that of controlling the origin of 

a product: the larger the scale, the more difficult it 

gets to control possible abuses, to trace the origin of 

infected meat or genetically modified organisms. 

Standardization is also a threat for the culture of each 

country: the same food products, clothing items 

and books or films are found in shops all over the 

world. The film industry is living proof of what awaits 

societies around the world if globalization is not 

counterbalanced. 

Yet, it should be borne in mind that citizens and 

governments worldwide do not have the choice 

to accept or refuse globalization. Therefore the 

question is how to find an acceptable version of it. 

The problem is to determine who is going to decide 

how to regulate globalization since many conflicting 



elements have to be considered: governments, 

companies and their lobbies, workers, consumer 

groups, and trade unions. 

The task ahead will be to find a common ground and 

establish exceptions when necessary. Such a complex 

issue asks for elaborate answers that have to be put 

into question regularly and considered in the long 

term. The challenge is to devise social frameworks 

and environmental measures which each society 

recognizes as fair and is ready to submit to, so as 

to ensure globalization whose repercussions mean a 

better life for everyone on this planet and including 

future generations. 

Brand it like Beckham 

(pp. 92-93) 

FIRST STEPS 

1. Les élèves utilisent le paratexte pour présenter le 

document. 

This article, written by Chris Isidore, was published on 

the site CNNMoney.com on July 6th, 2007. It is entitled 

Brand it like Beckham, which is the title of a book by 

Andy Milligan about the way “Brand Beckham” was 

built, which is in turn a parody of the title of the 

comedy by Gurinder Chadha, Bend It Like Beckham, 

that explores the world of women’s football in West 

London. 

2. In 2006, David Beckham endorsed adidas, 

Motorola, Pepsi and Gilette. 

In the picture we can indeed see former England 

captain David Beckham, with the Motorola logo 

behind him, displaying his golden mobile phone 

during a promotion at Optus telecommunications in 

Sydney on November 28th, 2007. 

3. Paragraph 1: Beckham’s future in the U.S. is paved 

with gold. 

Paragraph 2: Beckham is already a superstar in the 

U.S. 

Paragraph 3: The major league Soccer expects to 

make a lot of money out of Beckham. 

MOVING ON 


individuellement à la maison et reprise en classe. Les 

activités mènent progressivement de la compréhension 

littérale à la reformulation de l’implicite. 

1. a. £20.5 million is what Beckham’s deals are 

worth a year. 

b. $41.3 million is the same amount in dollars. 

c. $250 million is the money that his contract, which 

includes a share of ticket and merchandise sales, could 

net him in five years. 

d. $5.5 million is his base salary for 2007, a MLS 

record. 

2. a. Adidas, Walt Disney’s, ESPN and Motorola are 

the companies Beckham endorses. 

b. Los Angeles Galaxy is the professional soccer team 

Beckham joined in July 2007. 

c. The Home Depot Center is a soccer-only stadium 

that seats 27,000 spectators. It is located on the 

campus of California State University in Carson, 

California, and is home to MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy. 

3. a. Right. “He’ll likely be on the cover of major U.S. 

magazines and papers, as well as leading sports reports 

and other television news coverage.” “He is already 

having an economic impact on U.S. professional soccer 

before his first game here.” (l. 5-7) 

b. Wrong. “David Beckham will soon be seen in 

U.S. commercials for Adidas, Walt Disney’s, sports 

network ESPN and cell phone maker Motorola.” 

“Beckham is already one of the top athletes in terms 

of endorsements, with the Times of London estimating 

his deals are worth £20.5 million a year.” (l. 27-29) 

c. Wrong. “That’s about the same pay the Yankees’ 

Alex Rodriguez is getting over ten years.” (l.31) 

d. Wrong. “Beckham’s first game, an exhibition 

match on July 21 against British team Chelsea, has 

already sold out the Home Depot Center.” (l. 34) 

4. a. “Endorsements” means that Beckham publicly 

declares his personal support of brands. 

b. “Merchandise sales” are sales of products bearing 

a brand name or logo. 

c. “Sales could net Beckham $250 million” means 

that he could earn $250 million from the sales. 

d. “Wind up being a bargain” means Beckham will 

eventually bring in more money than he costs. 

5. TRANSLATE 

On verra bientôt David Beckham dans des publicités 

à la télévision américaine pour Adidas, Walt Disney, la 

chaîne de sports ESPN et le fabriquant de téléphones 

portables Motorola. Il sera vraisemblablement sur la 

couverture des principaux magazines et journaux américains, 

ainsi que le sujet de reportages sportifs importants 

et d’autres informations par la télévision. David 

Beckham a déjà un impact économique sur le football 

professionnel aux États-Unis avant qu’il n’y ait joué son 

premier match, au moment où il rejoint le Club des Los 

Angeles Galaxy de la Major League Soccer. 



1. Cet exercice de phonétique porte sur la prononciation 

du -s final. 


The letter -s is pronounced [s] in sports, reports, 

cups, athletes, endorsements. 

The letter -s is pronounced [iz] in celebrities, 

Yankees. 

The letter -s is pronounced [z] in commercials, 

magazines, papers, fans, Americans, flirtations, 

superstars, years, Times, deals, sales. 

2. Cet exercice vise à faire repérer des mots appartenant 

au même champ lexical. 

a. commercials, 

b. television news coverage, 

c. endorsements, 

d. cashing in with, 

e. a share of sales, 

f. a bargain, 

g. increased revenue, 

h. it is sold out. 

3. Cet exercice vise à l’appropriation de la structure avec 

be likely to. 

a. Beckham is likely to be on the cover of magazines. 

b. He is likely to be a popular player. 

c. He is likely to boost ticket sales. 

d. He is likely to sponsor brands. 

e. He is likely to be a bargain for Galaxy. 

f. MLS leaders are likely to be very happy with the 

deal. 

4. a. He is likely to be very happy with the deal. 

b. Tickets sales are likely to increase. 

c. We are likely to buy a Galaxy T-shirt. 

d. Players are likely to go on a training session. 

e. They are likely to get on well. 

f. They are likely to have bought their tickets. 

g. He is likely to complain if he does not get a rise. 

WRITING 

Cette activité d’expression écrite, faite soit en travail 

individuel à la maison soit en temps limité en classe, 

permet une évaluation des acquis de la double page. 

La note prendra en compte le respect du sujet et du 

nombre de mots, la correction grammaticale ainsi que 

la richesse du lexique et des structures. 

Plenty of soccer stars endorse products but few are 

recognizable names worldwide. Beckham has the 

potential to become famous throughout the whole 

world as he tops the list of the highest-earning soccer 


players and earns from endorsements more than any 

other player in the game. 

Beckham struck a deal with Gillette for $9 million over 

three years. He has also pitched sunglasses for the 

Police, clothes for U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer, soft 

drinks for Pepsi and mobile phones for Vodafone, in 

addition to being one of Adidas’ top stars. 

Beckham is now putting his name behind his own 

enterprises. He founded a soccer academy in his native 

East London and a Beckham line of male fragrances is 

in the works. The inexorable move from pitchman to 

brand is under way. 

Beckham also has a presence. The polishing of his 

image coincided with his marriage to Victoria Adams, 

the former singer known as Posh Spice, putting him 

at the heady nexus of music, soccer and fashion. 

Moreover, his metrosexual image goes down well in 

Asia, especially among teenage girls in Japan, where 

he got rock star treatment during the 2002 World Cup 

finals. Asia generates a quarter of his endorsement 

earnings. 

However, the U.S. remains the nut to crack for an 

individual who wants to be a global brand. Unlike 

Lacoste and Fred Perry, most Americans have never 

seen Beckham play and have no interest in his sport. 

Beckham’s long-sought U.S. ad campaigns, bolstered 

by a 2002 movie (Bend It Like Beckham), a Vanity 

Fair cover and his new beauty products deal, move 

Beckham the brand into a make-or-break phase. In 

America his celebrity precedes him – can he outlast 

his playing days and actualize a brand that analysts 

have estimated to be worth $375 million? 


(pp. 94-97) 



professionnelles : choisir un nouveau logo pour une 

société et écrire une lettre pour le lancement d’un nouveau 

produit. 

1. Designing a logo (pp. 94-95) 

Les étudiants lisent tous les documents de la double page 

afin de pouvoir concevoir un logo pour CleanWorld, une 

société spécialisée dans le recyclage des ordures. 

YOUR TASK 

1. The logos are for Gaz de France, Unilever, BP and 

EDF. 



Gaz de France produces, transmits, distributes and 

sells gas, electricity and services in Europe. Unilever 

is an international manufacturer of leading brands 

in foods, home care and personal care. Formerly 

known as British Petroleum, BP is the world’s third 

largest global energy company. EDF is an electricity 

supplier. 

Their logos are abstract drawings referring to the 

company’s philosophy. In the Gaz de France logo, the 

sphere in relief expresses well-being and gentleness. 

The green embodies the ecological properties of 

natural gas, as well as hope for the future. The white 

inside represents light, transparency and lightness. 

The turn symbolises the product, which comes from 

the ground. The blue is the colour of continuity and 

the heritage of the company. The logo is rooted in 

nature, like natural gas, the energy present in the deep 

rhythm of the planet. It also expresses the industrial, 

high-tech expertise of the company. 

The new Unilever logo is an expression of vitality. 

Each icon within the logo represents an aspect of 

the company: the sun, the tea leave, the sea, the 

drop of water, and the palm tree recall nature and 

its fragility but are also symbols of growing. As the 

bee refers to bio-diversity and hard-work, recycling is 

part of the company’s commitment to sustainability. 

The heart and the hand represent love, care and 

sensitivity. The clothes and the hair represent looking 

good. The spices, flavours and the flower represent 

fragrances and creams. The snowflake is a symbol of 

transformation. The spoon and bowl refer to tasting 

good and cooking. And there are many others icons 

such as the double helix of DNA, the sparkle… 

BP’s logo, the Helios, was inspired by the image of a 

sunflower: a living organic form, reflecting commitment 

to more environmental ways of producing energy. 

Named after the Greek god of the sun, the Helios 

combines the imagery of petals and leaves with a burst 

of radiant yellow that reminds us of the greatest energy 

source of all. Just as importantly, the Helios is a pattern 

made of interlocking shapes: like BP, it is a single entity 

created by many parts working as one. 

The old EDF logo, designed in 1987, no longer met 

new requirements, so EDF created a new symbol more 

representative of its values, which reflects current and 

future aspirations as a modern company that unites 

the global and the local, humanity and diversity. 

2. For the CleanWorld logo, it is better to choose 

green which refers to what is natural; white to refer 

to purity; yellow to evoke energy, friendliness and 

give an impression of warmth and well-being; and 

blue which is peaceful, refreshing and associated with 

water. 

I would avoid red, which symbolizes danger and 

interdiction and black which is the symbol of death. 

3. Les étudiants dessinent un logo pour CleanWorld et 

justifient leurs choix. 

2. launching a new product 

(pp. 96-97) 

L’objectif de cette double page est de fournir aux étudiants 

les éléments leur permettant d’écrire une lettre 

circulaire pour annoncer le lancement d’un nouveau 

produit. Ils commencent par lire informations sur le nouveau 

produit (Documents 1 et 2), et étudient le document 

de référence avant de composer leur propre lettre 

en utilisant les Prompts. 

Puis, ils écoutent l’enregistrement (Document 3) pour 

préparer un appel téléphonique de relance, qu’ils font 

ensuite par paire. 

3. M. S. Dhanota, president of Leh Berry. 


The company has a sizeable presence in the packagedjuice 

market. We plan to enter the nectar sector by 

the end of 2007. Leh Berry nectars are nutritious 

and made without adding any preservatives. We 

aim at becoming one of the country’s top juice and 

nectar brands in the near future. We are stepping up 

production with the intention of making juices into 

a $6.6 business and capturing around 5 to 8 % of 

the market by the end of the year. 


(pp. 98-99) 

La double page fournit un entraînement aux épreuves 

écrites de l’examen final. 

TEST yoUrSElF 

Dianabilia takes over (p.98) 



About the picture 

The picture is that of a collectible doll created to 

celebrate the 10th anniversary of Diana’s death in 

a Paris car crash on 31 August 1997. This life-like 


plastic figurine went on display at the Washington 

D.C. Collectible Doll and Teddy bear Show. It shows 

the late Princess of Waless in a light-blue designer suit 

with handbag and bouquet accessories. 

ExAm pApEr 

The baby’s called what? (p.99) 


du BTS MUC (Management des Unités Commerciales) de 

2 heures. L’usage du dictionnaire bilingue est autorisé. 


Le Times de Londres a publié en juillet 2007 un article 

de Stefanie Marsh sur une nouvelle tendance : 

celle qu’ont les parents de choisir un nom pour leur 

enfant comme on choisit celui d’une marque parce 

qu’ils pensent que cela peut leur donner une personnalité 

et par conséquent un avantage certain dans 

la vie. 

Le directeur de la société qui a inventé les noms de 

HobNob, Prozac et Mach3 soutient que les parents 

donnent des noms originaux à leurs enfants parce 

qu’ils veulent qu’ils réussissent dans la vie en se 

démarquant des autres par leur prénom. 

Un professionnel conseille aux parents de ne pas 

révéler leur choix à d’autres, de penser en termes de 

cible et d’attendre que l’enfant soit né pour choisir 

son nom car c’est ce qui va déterminer sa personnalité. 

Pourtant la journaliste conclut de manière ironique 

en rappelant que certains noms de marques sont 

des échecs, que les parents n’ont pas les moyens des 

services de marketing, et que de nombreux prénoms 

sont des erreurs regrettables. (172 words) 



la correction grammaticale, la richesse lexicale et 

la variété des structures. 


1. In Britain, traditional names still dominate the top 

ten, such as Olivia, Thomas, Jessica, William, Emily 

and Daniel. Yet, there seems to be a new mania for 

original names that stems from a cult of individualism 

and the Internet. Other parents follow the trend for 

“nature” and “animal” baby names and choose names 

such as “Fox” or “Scorpio”. 

The influence of celebrities is also important. In 2006, 

the name of the Beckhams’ youngest son, Cruz, 

experienced a 245 % rise in popularity, the name of 

Angelina Jolie’s adopted son, Maddox, rose 88 places; 

the name of Britney Spears’s youngest son, Jayden, 

rose 16 places to number 68 and the name of Steven 

Gerrard’s daughter, Lexie, by 234 %. (117 words) 

2. If you look up a name in a book of babies’ names 

you’ll find their “meaning”. Davids are said to be 

studious, Abigails not to respect traditions, Natalies 

are thought kind and caring… 

But psychologists question the extent to which 

first names actually matter. There seems to be 

no correlation between the popularity or social 

desirability of a given name and academic or social 

achievement. The probability of the positive effect 

of a name is as great as that of a negative effect. And 

a name is unlikely to be a significant factor in most 

children’s development. 

No one can predict whether a name will be consistent 

with a child’s or a teen’s view of herself or himself. If 

the name doesn’t reinforce her or his sense of self, 

she or he will be unhappy with it and may even feel 

alienated from parents or peers because of it. 

Ultimately, self-esteem and the esteem of the world 

dictate the degree to which we hold our name dear. 

Like our vocation or hometown, we tout our name 

as a distinguishing mark if it fits. If it does not, we 

might say, that like an inaccurate horoscope, we do 

not believe in that stuff anyway. We will change our 

name, disregard it or consider it just a synonym for 

“me”. (218 words) 




pages 100-101 

Un i t 10 retailinG 

Cette unité répertorie les nouvelles techniques de vente mais aussi le rôle de chaque acteur 

de la distribution : des producteurs aux consommateurs en passant par les fournisseurs 

et autres intermédiaires qui définissent les stratégies commerciales. 

1. The call of the wild 

Les deux photos mettent en évidence l’opposition entre 

les grandes surfaces commerciales et le magasin de 

proximité. Outre les références linguistiques pour souligner 

cette opposition, l’information sur les principales 

chaînes commerciales peut apporter un complément 

culturel à ce premier contact. 

1. We are presented with two colour photos 

showing two stores. On the one hand, the front of 

one of Tesco’s stores, the famous British supermarket 

chain, and on the other hand, the shop window of 

a small outlet called Pilton Stores. Obviously these 

contrasting photos are meant to suggest advantages 

and drawbacks. The super store displays an ad, “we’re 

open 24 hours”, that is to say, it never closes; shoppers 

can come at any time, whereas the little shop round 

the corner is exceptionally “open for festival”. 

Extra information: Tesco was founded by Jack 

Cohen, who sold groceries in the markets of London’s 

East End from 1919. The Tesco brand first appeared 

in 1924. After Jack Cohen bought a large shipment 

of tea from T.E. Stockwell, he made new labels by 

using the first three letters of the supplier’s name and 

the first two letters of his surname forming the word 

“TESCO”. 

2. Advantages provided (tableau 10-1) 

Tableau 10-1 

Small retailers Super stores 

The customer: 

They know their customers better than anyone. 

They are used to seeing the same people shopping everyday 

at the same time. 

They know what they consume, and how much they usually 

spend. 

They are able to give them advice. 

There is friendly communication with the customers. 

They are trustworthy and understanding. 

They can deliver the shopping for free. 

In villages they can even serve you outside of opening hours. 

The location: 

It’s no use driving to the shop as it’s near by. 

It is convenient to old people. 

Customers don’t waste their time in traffic jams. 

The products: 

They are useful when you need only one thing. 

Selected items are regularly restocked. 

Different items are discounted on a weekly basis. 

The customers: 

They operate on a self-service basis. 

The location: 

The ‘One-stop-drive-in supermarket’ provides free parking, and 

every kind of food under one roof. 

It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional 

grocery store. 

Other advantages include ease of parking, and frequently, the 

convenience of shopping hours that extend far into the 

evening. 

The products: 

Its basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods 

under a single roof at relatively low prices. 

It is a departmentalized self-service store offering a wide variety 

of food and household merchandise. 

A supermarket typically stocks meat, produce, dairy produce, 

and baked goods. Its departments have shelf space reserved 

for canned and packaged goods as well as for various non-food 

items such as household cleaners, pharmacy products, and pet 

supplies. 

Most supermarkets also sell a variety of other household products 

that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), 

household cleaning products, medicine, and clothing. 

Supermarkets usually outlay massive amounts on newspaper 

and other advertising, and often present elaborate in-store displays 

of products. 

There are weekly and even daily promotions. 

Unit 10 – Retailing 71

2. Cyber monday 

Le troisième volet de la distribution après les magasins 

habituels, est ici le commerce en ligne. On pourra 

aborder ce thème en faisant référence aux achats par 

correspondance – « mail order selling » – par téléphone 

– « phone selling » – pour mettre en évidence le parallèle 

entre l’évolution de la technologie et son appropriation 

par les acheteurs et les vendeurs. 

1. Cyber Monday is the name given to the Monday 

after Thanksgiving, a holiday after the fourth Thursday 

in November in the US. Actually it refers to people 

who order their presents online. Instead of wasting 

their time buying and queuing in stores, they check 

the goods and prices then select them on the net 

from their offices. The word “Cyber” concerns this 

kind of communication on the Internet. Thus they 

save both time and money and avoid the traditionally 

crowded stores before Christmas. 


Online spending during the holiday season was 

up a reported twenty-five percent over last year. 

ComScore estimates that online holiday spending 

will reach almost twenty-five billion dollars. 

Online selling makes it easier for businesses to react 

to changing conditions. It costs less to change the 

advertising on a Web site than in stores. 

Physical stores remain by far the most popular 

places to shop. But electronic commerce continues 

to grow, and not just at Christmas time. In the 

three-month period ending in September, it made 

up almost three percent of all retail sales in the 

United States. 

But wherever selling takes place, the holiday season 

means intense competition. For example, demand 

for flat-panel televisions has jumped recently. 

Competition has pushed down prices for these 

popular thin TVs. The Best Buy Company reported 

selling some at a loss to avoid losing market share to 

big competitors like Wal-Mart and Circuit City. 

1. Figures: 

• A 25% rise corresponding to 25 billion dollars 

compared to the previous holiday season. 

• Online selling accounted for 3% of American 

sales. 

2. Online buyers’ peak: 

• Last July, August and September, that is, the 

holiday season. 

• At Christmas time. 

72 Unit 10 – Retailing 

3. Economic advantages of online shopping over 

physical stores. 

• It costs less to change the advertising on a Web 

site than it does in stores. 

3. Has online shopping entered 

the dot calm era? 

Ce dernier document de la double page va permettre 

de boucler la boucle. En effet, les données de cet histogramme 

montrent que finalement les achats en lignes 

sont en perte de vitesse et sont loin de représenter la 

majorité des transactions aux États-Unis. Les raisons 

seront répertoriées puis mises en forme afin de déterminer 

les atouts de chaque procédé de vente. 

1. This bar-chart shows a steady decline in online 

sales. In fact the four blue bars represent actual data 

listed from 2004 to 2007. We can note online sales 

have been dwindling since 2004. The yellow bars 

are projections up to 2011, and the drop seems to 

continue. If 2004 accounted for 25 per cent of the 

growth, 2007 painfully reached 15 per cent and 2011 

is expected to top at 8 per cent or so. That’s why the 

title reads “dot calm era” instead of “dot com era”. 

1. Online shopping versus traditional shopping: 

The booming market of online shopping is currently 

dropping for several reasons. First, shopping in front 

of a screen is surely not as fast as people pretend. 

It takes time scrolling web-pages, choosing items, 

keying in codes, etc. And when it is completed, 

the “onliner” must still wait for his purchase to be 

delivered. Maybe some have been deceived and never 

got their items, or others have been disappointed 

because the articles didn’t correspond to what they 

expected. Shopping from home means staying at 

home and meeting no one. Many people are not 

prepared to virtual shop. 

2. The retailer’s viewpoint. 

Traditional shopping gives people the opportunity to 

escape their office life; they can drive or walk to the 

shops, see things, try out clothes, hold goods in their 

hands, ask assistants questions or advice. They can 

exchange what they buy and get refunded at once. 

The retailer can put an item aside for the customer to 

pick up the next day. 

Online shopping is convenient insofar as people 

don’t move from their home or office. They can do 

their shopping at any time, night or day. A wide 

range of products is displayed and the prices can be 

compared. Some sales are called auctions, that is to 

say the highest bidder will actually get the “thing”. 



3. The customer’s viewpoint. 

Shopping in a store has probably become one of 

the consumer’s main habits. Shopping on Saturdays 

is a plague and people waste their time very easily. 

When consumers are asked about small shops, they 

answer “too expensive!” Designers have realized that 

shoppers go to supermarkets for the great choice and 

for the money. The negative point was the time they 

waste shopping. So today, supermarkets of the same 

brand present a similar layout inside wherever they are 

located. Thus customers don’t have to trek through 

the alleys before finding what they were looking for. 

There are good bargains when shopping online, 

especially when it comes to second-hand stuff. Rockbottom 

prices are very attractive even if we don’t really 

see what is sold. Buying a second-hand computer may 

be economical but what if it doesn’t work? People 

are often reluctant to give their credit card number 

knowing that the money will be withdrawn before 

they get their buy. 

REPORTING 

If I just consider the thing I am looking for, I am 

convinced that the solution is online shopping. So 

many sites compete with each other that what I don’t 

find on one will be on the other. But I must admit that 

it often takes time. Visiting sites is time-consuming 

because I happen to be attracted to other sub-sites, so 

I visit new virtual shops that I hadn’t planned to visit. 

I sometimes even forget what I was looking for at the 

start. But though I can find things easily that doesn’t 

mean I am always satisfied with my purchase. Once 

I bought a CD online; Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. 

When I got it, it was scratched; I had lost 10 pounds. 

After clicking on “Buy now” I often think twice and 

decide to give up and look in real shops first. To my 

mind online shopping is another way of buying, but 

we can’t make do with this device as a substitute for 

the traditional way. (168 words) 

Supplying Britain’s corner shops 

(pp. 102-103) 

Ce support cible tout particulièrement le rôle joué par 

les fournisseurs dans le processus de distribution. Intermédiaire 

par excellence, le fournisseur se doit d’être un 

intervenant averti afin de ne pas fragiliser sa situation 

de dépendance. Ici, Sir Anwar, self-made man, donne 

l’image de l’immigrant « who started from scratch » mais 

qui n’a pas adopté une politique de parvenu. Ménager 

producteurs, grossistes, commerçants mais aussi concurrents 

fait aussi partie de la panoplie du fournisseur qui 

réussit. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. This document is a press article taken from The 

Times released on July 21 st , 2007 and entitled 

“Supplying Britain’s corner shops”. It underlines the 

role intermediaries– more precisely suppliers– play in 

the distribution chain, and their skyrocketing success. 

2. “Bestway” is a cash-and-carry chain and a big 

private business in Great Britain. As the title reads, it 

supplies mainly Britain’s corner shops. 

3. Sir Anwar’s marketing strategy falls into three 

points: 

• First, he decided to reduce his profits by 6 

percentage points. 

• Second, he encouraged the retailers he supplied to 

cut their profits by the same figure. 

• Third, as a result, the customers took advantage of 

these reductions, were satisfied and bought more. 

Consequently, the customers needed more goods, 

so the retailers ordered more and Bestway supplied 

more and increased its turnover. It was a win-win 

strategy. 

4. The name Bestway sounds appropriate to this 

service company. It refers to the quality service it 

provides. It is the best supplier available in Britain. 

The very name of “Bestway” invites wholesalers and 

retailers to choose this business because it sounds 

reliable: that means it complies with the orders, the 

quality, the delivery time, and the prices. 

MOVING ON 

1. Bestway’s manager is a Pakistani called Sir Anwar 

Pervez. He is seventy-two years old and arrived in 

Great Britain when he was twenty-one. He started as 

a bus conductor. Now he is a rich man, and Bestway’s 

headquarters mirrors his wealth. We can note that he 

is called “Sir” and not “Mr”, so he must have been 

awarded this title by the Queen for his work and 

success. 

2. 72: it is Sir Anwar Pervez’s age when the article was 

written in 2007. 

21: it is Sir Anwar Pervez’s age when he emigrated 

from Pakistan to Great Britain. 

£543m: it is what his business represents in cash. 

50: it is the number of warehouses – where goods are 

stocked– owned by Bestway. 

3. a. the criteria the Indian prefers, 

b. his car is worth the money it cost, 

c. he will close down, 

d. he had to overcome lots of difficulties. 


4. Path to success. 

a. As a man: “a former bus conductor” (l. 10); “I am 

a millionaire now” (l. 18); “he– with his family– is 

worth an estimated £543 million.” (l. 19) 

b. As a manager: “There is marble everywhere, luxury 

wallpaper” (l. 4), “the Mercedes saloon” (l. 5). 

c. As a businessman: “Britain’s second biggest cashand-carry 

operator” (l. 12); “acquisition” (l. 28); “it 

bought Batleys” (l. 30); “keeping the management, 

head office and brand” (l. 36). 

5. In fact, suppliers have so far been playing 

secondary roles in the retailing sector; they used to 

work as subcontractors depending on wholesalers 

and retailers. Today, supermarket chains have their 

own suppliers and it is very hard for small shops 

to compete when overheads include supplying 

services. At the start, Sir Anwar found the support 

of Asian immigrant retailers who saw him as one of 

their kin. But today, Asians feel less and less involved 

in the retailing sector and Bestway has to target new 

loopholes to keep working. Buying out competitors 

and merging with others has revamped the image 

of supplying, and enabled Bestway to stay in the 

lead. 

6. In January 2005, Bestway bought another 

supplying business, called Batleys. It seems that 

it took some time before the conditions were 

eventually settled by both companies. The deal 

was struck for £100 million. More warehouses were 

included in the bargain, so Bestway could cover a 

wider area in its distribution. 

7. Sir Anwar behaved as a good manager in this 

merger since he bought the business but didn’t 

alter the staff. He even kept the name of “Batleys”. 

He was aware that some wholesalers and retailers 

were used to resorting to Batleys and that it would 

take time to change these habits. He didn’t want 

to lose these new customers simply by reshuffling 

responsibilities. 

8. Sir Anwar is sandwiched between producers 

and retailers, or wholesalers and retailers and this 

position is uncomfortable because he must take into 

account both positions to draw a profit. I think he 

found the solution. His conception of sharing rebates 

is paradoxically profitable: producers, wholesalers, 

retailers and suppliers earn less but consumers 

save more. So the shops supplied by Bestway 

are patronised by a greater number of shoppers 

therefore more money is spent, so more goods are 

ordered with everybody finally profiting from the 


system. The snag is to check that everybody shares 

in the profits. 

9. TRANSLATE 

Sir Anwar pensait pouvoir se débrouiller avec une 

marge de 4 % et faire bénéficier de la différence à 

tous ceux qu’il fournissait (ce qui leur permettait de 

reporter sur leurs clients cette même économie). 

Ça a marché. Vers le milieu des années 80, Bestway 

disposait de 6 entrepôts. « Quand j’ai débuté, tout 

le monde répétait, ‘il va faire faillite’. Mais maintenant 

je suis milliardaire. » 

WRITING 

Managing a supply business can’t be as easy as it 

seems. Seen from the outside it carries out three main 

tasks: loading, transporting and unloading. Of course 

the company and its delivery-men are responsible for 

the goods they transport, the waybills they complete, 

the schedule they set. But they also depend on two 

clients, the wholesaler and the retailer. The former 

must first agree with the latter before resorting to the 

supplier. Then the supplier must agree with each of 

them to corner the market. So, I think that suppliers 

must be very patient to be competitive and set prices 

which suit everybody. They all need each other and 

they all meet difficulties in keeping their businesses 

working. We can point out the current issue of raising 

oil prices. Should the supplier pass the rise on to 

the retailer who would pass it on to the consumer? 

I think that rules must be fairly established, and 

communications must be transparent. Nobody can 

sponge off the others without eventually losing 

something. (170 words) 


1. 

business 

success 

embarrass 

supplying 

allowing 

expanding 

Asian 

indian 

Pakistani 

conductor 

operator 

sector 

2. maison mère / papier-peint / directeur / grossiste 

/ entrepôt. 

3. a. used to be; b. are used to dealing; c. is used to 

meeting; d. used to compete. 

4. a. a seventy-two year-old manager; b. a sixwarehouse 

chain; c. a 1.7-billion-pound turnover; 

d. a fast-growing chain. 

5. a. Il a procuré des postes dans l’entreprise à toute 

sa famille. 



b. Il subviendra à leur besoin tant qu’il dirigera 

Bestway. 

c. Cela fait plus de 20 ans qu’il approvisionne les 

magasins de proximité. 

d. Généralement il approvisionne les magasins dans 

les 24 heures qui suivent les commandes. 

e. La pile n’est pas fournie avec la lampe. 

6. a. He takes advantage of his holidays in Madrid 

to meet his Spanish counterparts. 

b. He benefits from (/enjoys) his holidays, he does 

deserve them. 

c. His boss profits from his secretary’s devotion. 

d. The company benefits from the positive economic 

situation. 


(pp. 104-107) 

1. Conducting a survey 

(pp. 104-107) 

Cette double page intègre les activités d’opposition et 

de comparaison précédemment mises en œuvre afin 

de constituer une recherche sur un nouveau procédé 

de vente : les distributeurs. 

YOUR TASK 

1. Ce questionnaire devant cibler un échantillon de 

20 personnes, il faudra, préalablement au questionnement 

spécifique, s’informer sur chaque personne 

interrogée. Donc, au départ, des renseignements tels 

que l’âge, le sexe, la profession, lieu de résidence, 

situation familiale, sont impératifs (un retraité célibataire 

de 70 ans habitant en campagne sera de toute 

évidence peu intéressé par l’installation d’un distributeur 

automatique ! Il ne sera donc pas représentatif 

d’une tendance et ne sera pas retenu dans le sondage.) 

L’imprimé à concevoir va s’articuler sur 5 points : 

Les points de vente fréquentés : sélectionner par 

exemple « supermarket », « corner shop », « discount 

stores », « online shopping », « phone shopping », 

« mail shopping », « vending machines »… 

Associer le lieu et la fréquentation, d’abord avec une 

question fermée : 

• Do you do your shopping in supermarkets? Yes / 

No. 

Puis une question ouverte et plusieurs occurrences de 

réponse : 

• How many times each month do you go there? 

Once a month / twice a month / once a week / etc. 

• Have you ever bought from a vending machine? 

Yes / No. 

• What did you buy? A snack / a bottle of water / 

etc. 

Le produit : sélectionner plusieurs produits. Penser que 

votre enquête porte sur l’éventualité d’installer des 

distributeurs automatiques, donc choisir des produits 

stockables dans ces appareils. Par exemple : « bottles 

of soda », « snacks », « CDs & videos », « perfumes », 

« nappies », « pet-food ». 

Associer le produit avec le lieu, d’abord avec une question 

fermée : 

• Would you be ready to buy perfume from a 

vending machine? Yes / No. 

Puis une question ouverte pour affiner la réponse : 

• Where do you usually buy perfume? 

Les prix: sélectionner des prix à associer aux produits 

précédemment répertoriés. £1, £2, £3, £10, £20, £50. 

Il s’agit de tester si les personnes sondées sont au courant 

des prix habituellement pratiqués (sous-entendu, 

ce sera plus cher avec un distributeur). 

La qualité: il n’est pas question ici de mettre en doute 

la qualité de tel ou tel produit, mais de lister les a 

priori qui feraient que le distributeur ne serait pas rentable. 

Associer des produits avec des points de vente : 

Where would you rather buy chocolate? supermarket 

/ corner shop / vending machine 

Where would you rather buy fruit? supermarket / 

corner shop / vending machine 

etc. 

Les cibles : quels sont les produits susceptibles d’être 

commercialisés par l’intermédiaire d’un distributeur? 

Quels sont les critères de ces choix? 

Souligner par exemple les avantages d’un distributeur 

en rédigeant une liste à numéroter par ordre d’importance 

pour la personne interrogée : 

It works 24 hours a day / it’s no use queuing up / it 

is regularly supplied / it is set near public places / it 

is easy to use. 

Utiliser le document 3 pour inventorier les désavantages 

de ce même procédé : 

There are no discounts / No two-for-one promotion 

/ No promotion / No sales bargains / No card 

payment etc. 

Terminer l’enquête par une question du type: 

Would you use a vending machine if the store was 

closed? 


2. Recenser les résultats favorables et défavorables et 

ensuite déterminer les raisons de ce choix. D’autres 

options de démarches sont tout aussi acceptables. 

3. Le contenu de cette lettre dépendra évidemment du 

résultat du sondage. Il suffira de mettre en forme les 

chiffres obtenus. Quelques exemples : 

• As required I have surveyed a sample of twenty 

people. Here are the results and my conclusion. 

• In twenty people surveyed, eight would like to 

see more vending machines outside shops. 

• Twelve said vending machines are convenient, 

etc. 

• My conclusion is that the population is not 

ready to use this kind of device yet, so it won’t be 

profitable for our chain. 

ACTING OUT 

Après un court compte-rendu des résultats, le responsable 

mettra en avant les éléments négatifs qui ne permettent 

pas à cette innovation d’aboutir (ou le contraire). 

Des suggestions seront proposées et discutées. 

• Focus on the existing customers. You know 

Sainsbury’s customers better than anyone. You 

know why they do their shopping at Sainsbury’s. 

Use this information to create offers that are most 

valuable to them. A vending machine though 

labelled Sainsbury’s, is merely a machine. 

• I have collected the customers’ feedback. It’s 

interesting to learn how your customers are dealing 

with the recession and how your store could help 

them. Ask them what types of specials they would 

like to see. Vending machines don’t offer specials! 

• Focus on the neighbourhood. With record high 

gas prices, people are likely to drive less. Allocate 

some of your marketing budget to current and 

potential customers who live close to your store. 

They don’t care about a machine that will sell them 

something they can find inside at a lower price! 

2. Weighing up the pros and 

cons (pp. 106-107) 

Il s’agit de voir si c’est le besoin qui a créé ces technologie 

de marché ou si ce sont ces technologies qui ont 

créé le nouveau consommateur. 

1. prompts 

1. a. which; b. which; c. which; d. what. 

2. a. insert; b. select / choose; c. press; d. wait; 

e. help. 


2. Different types of retailing 

Document 1 : Online green publishers 


Josh Bernoff: “The number of companies 

advertising green stuff will explode in the next 

couple of years. And having an established company 

behind is a good way to kick something like this 

off. Sprig.com features stories in five categories: 

food, fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle with 

videos liberally mixed into each section. In the 

beauty section, for instance, a video features an 

eco-friendly manicure and pedicure, while in the 

food section visitors can watch organic cooking 

demonstrations.” 

Jeanie Pyun: “We’re targeting this to the 95 percent 

of people who want to be five percent green not the 

five percent of people who want to be 95 percent 

green.” 

Betsy Scolnik: “The National Geographic Society 

will also introduce a new site on Monday, green. 

nationalgeographic.com. That site will include 

more than 2,000 pages of environmental news, 

how-to videos and tips on eco-friendly travels and 

activities. It will appear as the new “green” site. 

We’ve definitely seen more and more advertisers 

interested in this type of content. It’s thrilling to us 

that everybody’s interested in the planet – finally.” 

The International Herald Tribune, April 23rd, 2007 

• It’s about online services in the US which bank on 

environmentally friendly products. More and more 

companies are entrusted with producing adverts 

meant to sensitize people who feel increasingly 

concerned with an organic, “green” world. 

Document 2 : The convenience of online 

shopping 

• It’s about the growing number of shopping sites 

on the net and the items that are bought that 

way according to a British paper. First, it is due 

to broadband having improved communications 

and connections. Then, buying online is convenient 

because it saves time and people can be informed. 

Some articles sell well online (computers, gifts) 

whereas clothes are usually bought from physical 

shops. Both means are useful: the consumer chooses 

onscreen and buys downtown. 

Document 3 : My blog about vending machine 

chips 

Script of the recording 

Anyway, I inserted my pound and waited. As 

advertised, you got a 45 second countdown as they 



were prepared. Then you wait for the red light at 

the bottom to stop flashing before you remove the 

cup. The red light dutifully flashed before stopping, 

and I warily looked for a cup. None was to be seen. 

Then I saw the bottom of a cup in the roof of the 

dispenser. As I pulled, loads of chips jammed in and 

the cup came through as well. The cup itself was 

three cups together, and inside were something like 

six or seven individual chips at the bottom of the 

cup, none of which seemed to have been especially 

heated through. 

A pound wasted, and my suspicions about the 

possibilities of a chip vending machine remain wellfounded. 

• It’s about a vending machine that makes and sells 

chips. This blog relates the story of a consumer who 

tested vending machine chips at Norwich station. 

This machine is supplied by McCain’s and cooks 

chips on demand. As a matter of fact, the endproduct 

is not very successful. 

Document 4 : Why people shop by mail order 

• It’s about mail ordering and the advantages it 

offers, the service it brings, the help it gives. It is 

often associated with online shopping since most 

mail order shops have sites on the web. 

3. Design a blog 

Il s’agit de rédiger un “blog”, donc une expérience 

personnelle afin de souligner le côté positif ou négatif 

de l’un des 4 systèmes de vente présentés dans ces 

pages, le document trois servant de modèle. 

ACTING OUT 

Le but de cette activité est de défendre un système 

de vente et de recenser ses atouts en reprenant les 

éléments positifs donnés précédemment. 


(pp. 108-109) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

The great Wal-mart of China 

(p. 108) 


ExAm pApEr 

plug-and-pay toys 

are the latest fashion (p. 109) 


This article was released on July 23 rd , 2007 in the 

International Herald Tribune. The title “Plug-and-pay 

toys are the latest fashion” seems to target both 

games and hi-tech. 

Fashion, the Internet and the familiar Barbie have all 

been combined as a new-age play and advertising ploy 

from toy giant Mattel. It uses a combination of virtual 

and real-world merchandise as a more effective strategy 

for today’s computer-savvy generation of children. 

At BarbieGirls.com, pages of games, virtual shops 

and online chat can only be accessed by plugging 

Barbie in to a docking station. The more accessories 

that are bought for Barbie’s use in a real-world store, 

the more access one has to virtual products online. In 

this way, Mattel has avoided the need to have a credit 

card handy when buying virtual products online. It 

has also meant a switch from the way products are 

marketed. Where before Mattel used its twenty-two 

or so websites primarily for advertising, the websites 

have now been transformed into potential moneygenerators 

in their own right. 

Mattel’s new-age Barbie is only one example of toy 

companies opting for physical turned virtual toys. These 

companies realize the advantage of tapping into the 

shifting interests of their young customers, and indeed it 

has already proven to be a very profitable strategy, here 

in the information age. (210 words) 

ii.Version 

Une nouvelle poupée à l’honneur dans les rayons des 

magasins cette semaine, c’est une chose banale à beaucoup 

d’égards, mais celle-ci affiche aussi des spécificités 

peu communes. Cette Barbie, plus petite et avec moins 

de formes que sa cousine de série, fonctionne comme un 

lecteur MP3. Lorsqu’on lui branche les pieds à sa station 

d’accueil, elle ouvre des pages de jeux, des boutiques 

virtuelles, des options de conversations en ligne sur le 

site BarbieGirls.com. 

iii. Expression 

a. Using a brand image to sell by-products is lucrative 

because it has the potential to increase sales many 

times, which wouldn’t have been the case with the one 

product alone. It also has an exponential potential in 

how many by-products can be devised and marketed 


under the same brand. Familiarity breeds trust in a 

certain brand making the transition to new products 

easier for clients who are used to buying a certain 

brand, hence the by-product is more likely to also be 

bought. Everyone is familiar with the Barbie brand, for 

example, and the consumer transition into a virtual, 

docking-station Barbie, is smoother than it would 

be for a docking-station doll without a brand name 

and without a very well known corporate image like 

Mattel. 


b. I think that the plug-and-pay method could 

potentially make young customers dependent on the 

product, more so than they would otherwise be with 

a traditional real toy. This is because the docking 

system works on a reward system, and the more you 

buy, the more you are rewarded online. It further 

encourages buying and entices young inquisitive 

minds because of competition with others who may 

already have been rewarded more, and the infinite 

possibilities of the accessories and applications one 

can have online means that there is always something 

new and exciting. 



Un i t 11 SuStainable develoPment 

Cette unité présente le thème du développement durable sous de multiples aspects : l’empreinte 

écologique, le co-voiturage, les aquariums, les emballages écologiques, la protection du paysage de 

l’Angleterre, la pollution atmosphérique dans les grandes villes… 

Zooming on 

(pp. 110-113) 

La double page d’ouverture permet de lancer le thème 

de l’unité et de fixer les concepts nécessaires pour l’appréhender. 




apparaît dans les supports ou permet de les analyser et 

de les commenter. 

Sustainable development 

(pp. 110-111) 

1. Sustainable development quiz 

Les étudiants réalisent le test, puis comparent leurs 

résultats avec ceux de leurs camarades, avant d’écouter 

l’enregistrement pour vérifier leurs réponses. 

The mission of the Earth Institute at Columbia 

University is to mobilize science, education and public 

policy to achieve a sustainable earth. 

1. The Brundtland Report was drafted in 1987 

by the World Commission on Environment and 

Development, established by the United Nations 

in 1983 to “solve the problems of environmental 

protection without harming the economy.” Twentytwo 

national representatives were involved in 

the writing of the Report, which is widely hailed 

as the definitive document outlining sustainability. 

The report helped mainstream discussions about 

sustainable development into mainstream policymaking. 

The Brundtland Report led to development of 

a UN Conference on Environment and Development. 

2. One of the main elements of sustainable 

development is equity between the present and 

the future: ensuring that future generations will 

be able to enjoy a quality of life that, at the very 

least, equals that which is enjoyed by those living in 

wealthier nations. Likewise, the environmental impact 

of economic activity is one of the main hindrances 

of sustainable development, and economists and 

scientists are constantly looking to decrease these 

negative impacts, or the externalization of costs. 

3. Gross domestic product is an instantaneous 

measure of the size of a nation’s economy, including 

government and consumer expenditure, investment, 

and net exports. Economic growth in some countries 

with high gross domestic products is often not 

sustainable because resources for production are 

being severely depleted. For example, oil-exporting 

nations in the Middle East have inflated GDPs due to 

high consumption at high prices. Wealth per capita, 

however, is plummeting due to increasing demand 

and decreasing supply. An increase in aggregate 

supply is directly reflected in GDP, as are increases 

in consumer prices. Decreased domestic production 

is depicted in GDP, but does not contribute to its 

inflated value. 

4. China invests the most towards sustainable 

development. In fact, the Chinese government 

has proposed that voters evaluate political leaders 

by the new “green GDP” which takes into account 

environmental externalities. Its growth rate per capita 

of genuine wealth, defined as domestic investment 

plus education expenditure minus natural depletion, 

is 8.33. This figure is more than ten times the index 

of the United States. Likewise, its growth rate of 

per capita gross domestic product is a towering 

7.77. China has spent a fortune in recent years on 

education, from primary to university level, which is 

a driver of rapid economic growth. Moreover, it has a 

wealth of natural resources that are being depleted at 

a slower rate relative to other countries. India has the 

second-highest growth rate of genuine wealth per 

capita at 2.96. 

5. Biodiversity plays a key role in nature by maintaining 

ecosystem functions and providing resilience from 

catastrophic events, such as hurricanes and epidemics 

Unit 11 – Sustainable development 79

Average extinction rates of birds and mammals in the 

fossil record are in the order of 0.003 species per 

year. That means that the current extinction rate, as 

measured in the last 100 years, is 333 times greater 

than the background rate of extinction. 

6. According to the UN Task Force on Hunger, 

“hunger hotspots” are defined as subnational units 

where the prevalence of underweight children under 

age five is greater than or equal to 20 percent. Sub- 

Saharan Africa has 204 million hungry people and is 

the only region of the world where the prevalence 

of both general undernourishment and children’s 

underweight status are increasing. The highest rates 

are among landlocked countries and those with a 

large part of their population in the interior. The 

dismal forecast in increasing hunger reflects civil war, 

macroeconomic mismanagement, commodity price 

shocks, and natural disasters such as droughts and 

floods. 

7. Since the 1990s, global catches have levelled 

off for the first time in human history, even though 

fish-capture technology has never been better. Cod 

has declined by 99.9% since the 1960s. Contrary to 

popular belief, fish farming does not help save wild 

fish – many of the fish that are farm-raised, including 

salmon, are fed with meal derived from wild fish 

species. 

8. The rate of global average sea-level rise during 

the twentieth century has been around 1.7 to 1.8 

mm/yr, and over the last decade, the trend has been 

closer to 2.5-2.8 mm/yr. Collected data has shown 

that the average rate of sea-level rise has been greater 

during the twentieth century than in the nineteenth 

century. At present, the rate of relative sea-level rise in 

New York City is 2.75 mm/yr, faster than the average 

global sea level rise, which is probably due to ongoing 

regional sinking. In Antarctica, a thinning of the ice, 

particularly from the West Antarctic ice sheet within 

the last few years may be adding another 0.44mm/yr 

to sea level rise. 

9. According to Global warming ing to the United 

Nation’s 2005 Human Development Report, the 

average life expectancy of a person living in sub- 

Saharan Africa is 46.1 years. This represents the lowest 

life expectancy of any region in the world, and a stark 

contrast to the average of about 78 years in highincome 

countries of the Organization for Economic 

Cooperation and Development (OECD). The country 

with the highest life expectancy is Japan at 82 years, 

and the country with the lowest is Swaziland with 

80 Unit 11 – Sustainable development 

32.5. Sub-Saharan Africa’s stunted life expectancy is 

the result of a variety of factors, including extreme 

poverty, high rates of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other 

diseases as well as conflict and hunger. 

10. HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are 

decimating millions of people every year, most of 

whom are children and adults in their prime. The 

total number of people who succumb to one of these 

diseases is equivalent to about 70 percent of New 

York City’s entire population. Many people infected 

with one of the “big three” are also co-infected with 

a second “big three” disease. According to the World 

Health Organization, tuberculosis accounts for up to 

a third of AIDS deaths worldwide. Every year, nearly 

8 million people contract tuberculosis and 5 million 

are infected with HIV, while a staggering 500 million 

people are infected with malaria. 


1. The Brundtland Report 

2. All of the above 

3. Depletion of natural resources 

4. China 

5. 333 times 

6. 100,000 

7. 75% 

8. 6.7 to 7.1 inches 

9. 46 years 

10. 5.6 million 

2. 2005 World consumption 

The Ecological Footprint (EF) was created by William 

Rees and Mathis Wackernagel in the mid 1990s as an 

indicator of the sustainability of the human economy. 

It is a means of gauging humanity’s impact upon 

the natural environment, a standardized measure 

of the consumption of renewable resources. EFs are 

based on the conception that it is possible to measure 

humanity’s impact upon the natural world through a 

simple accounting of the resources consumed. 

1. This thematic map shows two variables; coloration 

indicates reserve (green) and deficit (red) of national 

biocapacity and area indicates absolute consumption 

of biocapacity. The area of each country has been 

distorted to represent its ecological footprint. 

Countries which appear larger than normal are 

consuming more than their fair share: the US, Japan 

and Great Britain… 

Countries which appear smaller are consuming less 

than their share: Canada, Africa, Russia. 



3. Carbon offsets 

Dans cette activité de compréhension de l’oral, les étudiants 

écoutent un entretien avec Mary Taylor afin d’en 

tirer les informations pertinentes. 


Mary Taylor, a campaigner with the energy and climate 

team at Friends of the Earth. 

Some people worry that every time they drive a car 

or take a plane they spew tons of greenhouse gases 

into the atmosphere. So they pay companies to 

help make the world a little greener. It has become 

a budding market where individuals can buy and 

sell rights to offset “carbon footprints” from their 

personal activities. Pop stars, chief executives and 

politicians boast how they offset carbon emissions 

by planting trees or investing in renewable energy 

projects, many in poorer countries in Africa, or in 

India. They have helped generate huge publicity for 

these carbon offset trading companies. But what 

is good for the carbon offsetting business is not 

necessarily good for the environment! 

First it is an unlicensed industry. There’s no common 

regulator to police the projects and companies 

pledging to decrease emissions, so these companies 

have come up with rules and practices that are not 

what customers expect. Let’s take the example of 

the company called Climate Care! It has linked up 

with Land Rover, to help this maker of sports utility 

vehicles offset its own emissions. Climate Care also 

helps purchasers of new Land Rovers offset their 

first 72,000 kilometers of driving. So in the end, 

the programme helps sell larger cars with higher 

emissions and thus contributes more to global 

warming. 

But even worse, these initiatives actually prolong 

consumers’ dependence on oil, coal and gas and 

therefore slow the changes aimed at coping with 

global warming. What these companies are allowing 

people to do is carry on with their current behaviour 

with a clear conscience! 

Customers should be focusing more on cutting 

emissions in the first place. 

1. Mary Taylor says the carbon offsetting business 

is an unlicensed industry so there is not a common 

regulator to police the projects and companies 

pledging to decrease emissions. So that offset 

providers have come up with rules and practices that 

are not what customers expect. 

2. She suggests customers should focus more on 

cutting emissions in the first place. 

REPORTING 

Cette activité vise à faire reformuler les acquis de la 

double page sur la notion de développement durable 

et d’encourager les étudiants à s’exprimer sur ce sujet. 




Can car-pooling help save 

the earth? (pp. 112-113) 


individuellement à la maison et reprise en classe. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. Les étudiants lisent le paratexte pour présenter les 

références de l’article. 

The article entitled Can car-pooling help save the earth? 

was written by Steven Levy and published in the April 

23rd, 2007 issue of Newsweek. 

2. Les étudiants sont amenés à anticiper le contenu de 

l’article à partir du titre. 

The title Can car-pooling help save the earth? suggests 

some people believe that sharing car trips can help 

reduce petrol consumption and thus reduce carbon 

dioxide emissions. 

3. The words connected with protection of the 

environment are: “spared the world 10 pounds of 

carbon dioxide” (l. 3), “driving Earth to ruin with 

toxic emissions” (l. 7), “saving fuel and cutting costs” 

(l.8), “the threat of climate crisis” (l. 19), “eager to 

win greenie points” (l. 20). 

MOVING ON 



1. a. GoLoco is a web service allowing people to 

share car rides to save fuel and cut costs. 

b. It is based on the idea that the more people sign 

up to GoLoco, the better the chance that someone is 

going to the same place you are. 

2. a. “Car-pooling” means travelling several people 

in one car. 

b. “Social networking” is a group of people with 

similar interests who interact for mutual support. 

c. In the text, “to ride” means to be carried in a car. 

3. GoLoco’s founder’s first name: Robin, 

Name: Chase, 


Age: 48, 

Former business: a Web-based car-rental service 

Zipcar. 

GoLoco lets drivers and riders use the Web to turn 

solitary rides into shared ones, saving fuel and cutting 

costs. 

4. a. Right. “75 percent of all auto trips transporting 

only one human” (l. 6). 

b. Right. “driving Earth to ruin with toxic emissions” 

(l. 7). 

c. Wrong. “saving fuel” (l. 8). 

d. Right. “cutting costs.” (l. 9). 

5. The three difficulties she anticipated were a fear of 

strangers, managing to find rides and a feeling that 

the effort really wasn't worth it. 

6. The safety issue is solved by “framing”. 

The connection problem will be solved by a growing 

online network where members routinely post their 

intended commutes, trips and errands. 

The third difficulty is no longer valid: awakened by 

the threat of climate crisis, lots of people are now 

eager to win greenie points. 

7. 

1. You sign up for GoLoco. 

2. You submit a picture. 

3. You share information about yourself. 

4. You give a list of groups you belong to. 

5. You speak into your computer mic to describe your 

favourite breakfast. 

6. You indicate what other Olos you trust enough to 

ride with. 

7. You write reviews of riders’ behavior. 

8. You accept or pass on potential riders. 

8. TRANSLATE 

Kate Sydney ne m’avait jamais rencontré, mais elle 

ouvrit la porte de sa Nissan de 1998 sans hésitation 

pour que je puisse aller à Target avec elle. Le trajet 

ne prit pas longtemps, mais il économisa cinq kilos 

de dioxyde de carbone pour le monde. Multipliez 

ce montant par des millions et vous avez l’une des 

raisons pour lesquelles Robin Chase a monté GoLoco, 

un service sur Internet qui utilise le système de mise 

en réseau de groupes pour créer instantanément des 

possibilités de co-voiturage. 

WRITING 


des acquis de la double page soit en travail individuel à 

la maison soit en temps limité en classe. 


First, it cannot be denied that the public and 

governments have become aware of the fact that 

global pollution is a real threat to nature’s balance, 

as testifies An Inconvenient Truth, the documentary 

film by Davis Guggenheim (released in France 

under the title Une Vérité qui dérange) about Al 

Gore’s environmental crusade around the world to 

raise awareness on Global Warming (http://www. 

climatecrisis.net). 

But it is ethically impossible for Western countries, 

which have polluted the air, water and soil since the 

beginning of the Industrial revolution, to impose rules 

they have not respected on developing countries 

whose economies are still very fragile. 

Yet there is no reason why past errors should be 

repeated and global solutions that respect every 

country’s diversity should not be found. For instance, 

rivers and nuclear power stations produce half of 

Sweden’s electric power without greenhouse gases, 

and with its abundant rains, Sweden can produce 

wheat or rape crops for alternative fuels, unlike big 

energy consumers like the United States, India and 

China. 

To conclude, we may wonder whether there is a 

consistent and efficient solution to global warming 

apart from trying to limit human activities detrimental 

to the environment and enforcing sustainable 

development. 


Les exercices conduisent à une consolidation des savoirs 

en phonétique, lexique et grammaire. 

1. Script de l’enregistrement 

The group -ea is pronounced 

[e] in threat, breakfast, 

[a:] in heart, 

[:] in Earth, 

[i:] in reason, eager, leave, speak, 

[εə] in bear, 

[iə] in fear, really, hear, 

[ei] in great, 

[i:ei] in create, 

[i:] in reaction. 

2. a. You sign up for GoLoco. 

b. You submit a picture. 

c. You share information about yourself from sites like 

Facebook and Flickr. 

d. You give a list of groups you belong to. 

e. You speak into your computer mic to describe your 

favourite breakfast 

f. You indicate which other Olos you trust enough to 

ride with. 



g. You write reviews of your behaviour. 

h. You accept or pass on potential riders. 

3. a. I hope car-pooling will make me richer. 

b. The driver made me wait for an hour! 

c. The company lets drivers and riders choose. 

d. I’ll make you regret being a polluter! 

e. They refused to let me get in the car. 

4. a. Thirty years ago, people didn’t use to use carpooling. 

b. They used to let the Earth go to ruin with toxic 

waste. 

5. Plus les gens s’inscrivent à GoLoco, plus les chances 

de réduire le réchauffement planétaire sont grandes. 

Moins les gens utilisent leur voiture, plus ils économiseront 

d’essence et plus ils réduiront les coûts. 

6. a. Formerly, she used to drive a big car, but she 

sold it to save fuel. 

b. Formerly, people did not use to take their cars to 

go shopping. 

c. When I was young, there used to be a wood here. 

America is no longer what it used to be! 

d. As a child he used to spend all his holidays in the 

country. 


(pp. 114-117) 



professionnelles : concevoir une brochure pour présenter 

une entreprise et envoyer un communiqué de 

presse. 

1. Designing a leaflet 

(pp. 114-115) 

Les documents de la double page présentent le DeepBlue 

Aquarium et le débat autour du bien fondé des aquariums 

pour les espèces vivantes. 

Les étudiants lisent tous les documents et écoutent l’enregistrement 

pour prélever les arguments en faveur et 

contre les aquariums. Puis ils préparent la brochure en 

respectant les consignes et présentent leurs choix oralement 

à la classe. 

An interview with Jane Witherman 


Interviewer: Are whale sharks endangered? 

Jane Witherman, Executive Director and President: 

No, whale sharks are listed as “Vulnerable” 

because of pressures from unregulated fisheries in 

China, India and the Philippines. There is no fishing 

pressure on whale sharks in the Gulf of Mexico or 

the Caribbean Sea. 

Interviewer: Where did the DeepBlue Aquarium’s 

whale sharks come from? 

Jane Witherman: DeepBlue Aquarium partnered 

with Taiwan to bring whale sharks to Atlanta because 

Taiwan is a country dedicated to conservation 

and education. Taiwan fished for whale sharks for 

consumption in the past, but in 2007 it moved from 

a quota of 60 animals to 30. Hundreds of whale 

sharks are taken through unregulated fishing by 

other countries in the region, prompting Taiwan 

to make the conservation initiative to no longer 

fish for whale sharks for consumption in 2008 and 

beyond. DeepBlue Aquarium applauds Taiwan for its 

leadership in conservation in the region, moving from 

a fishing-based economy around whale sharks to an 

ecotourism-based economy around whale sharks. 

Interviewer: How does the DeepBlue Aquarium 

know how to care for whale sharks? 

Jane Witherman: Whale sharks have been in 

aquariums in Asia for decades. While early stages 

of care were in small exhibits with simple practices, 

the Asian aquariums have greatly advanced whale 

shark care. In Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in 

Japan, one of their whale sharks has been on display 

for 12 years. DeepBlue Aquarium took its centuries 

of combined experience in the care of sharks and 

combined it with the knowledge developed by 

the Asian aquariums. The sharing of knowledge 

continues today between DeepBlue Aquarium and 

the five other facilities that care for whale sharks 

in Asia. 

Interviewer: Where does the funding come from 

for the whale shark programme? 

Jane Witherman: The DeepBlue Aquarium is a 

non-profit organization funded by ticket sales and 

donations. Donations to help support the research 

and care of our animals can be made to our 4R 

programme: Rescue, Research, Relocation and 

Rehabilitation. 

2. Sending a press release 

(pp. 115-116) 

A History of the press release 

Ivy Lee, considered to be one of the founding fathers of 

public relations, wrote the first press release in the fall 

of 1906 when the Pennsylvania Railroad experienced 


an accident resulting in the loss of life and destruction 

of property. Instead of hiding such incident from 

the press, Lee convinced the Pennsylvania Railroad 

to release an official statement about the incident, 

promising to answer questions honestly, and provide 

transportation for the reporters to get to the site. 

The news media and public officials were impressed 

by the transparency of Lee’s response and the New 

York Times printed the official statement-cum-press 

release verbatim. The favorable response triggered 

by the Pennsylvania Railroad’s course of action 

was an important factor in changing the corporate 

communications strategies for all other railroads. They 

adopted policies of cooperation with news media and 

responded to reporters’ questions. 

In 1907, Lee wrote a “Declaration of Principles” for 

the profession. Notable excerpts include: 

“This is not a secret press bureau. All our work is done 

in the open. We aim to supply news. 

This is not an advertising agency. If you think any 

of our matter ought properly to go to your business 

office, do not use it. 

Our matter is accurate. Further details on any subject 

treated will be supposed promptly, and any editors 

will be assisted most carefully in verifying directly any 

statement of fact... 

In brief, our plan is frankly, and openly, on behalf of 

business concerns and public institutions, to supply 

the press and public of the United States prompt and 

accurate information concerning subjects which it is 

of value and interest to the public to know about.” 

An interview with Cynthia Hampton 


Interviewer: What is the part your group is 

playing? 

Cynthia Hampton: The group Environmental 

Defense was instrumental in getting McDonald’s 

to give up plastic foam clamshell packages in 1991. 

Four years ago, it devised a calculator that enables 

package designers to compare the weight, recycled 

content and performance traits of about twenty 

materials. Packaging offers major opportunities for 

reducing energy use and greenhouse gases, and 

for saving the $4billion worth of materials that now 

ends up in landfills. 

Interviewer: What changes to packages have 

already been made? 

Cynthia Hampton: Beverage cans are much 

lighter than they were 10 years ago and most use 

recycled aluminum. Deodorants are rarely packed in 

separate boxes now. Shipping cartons contain large 

percentages of recycled fibre. 

Nestlé Waters North America said that it had saved 


about nine million kilograms of paper in the last five 

years by using narrower labels on many bottles. It 

recently switched to clear caps that are more easily 

recycled. And it is rolling out half-litre bottles that 

contain 12.5 grams of plastic, among the lightest 

water bottles around. 

Procter & Gamble has introduced rigid tubes for 

Crest toothpaste that can be shipped and displayed 

on shelves without boxes. 

Interviewer: What is the main problem? 

Cynthia Hampton: Consumer behaviour presents 

its own challenges, since smaller packages can 

appear to be more expensive than those with 

more packaging. Coke recently redesigned its 

classic contour bottles to be lighter and more 

impact-resistant. The new bottle looks smaller. The 

challenge is persuading consumers that they are 

getting the same volume in a better bottle. 

Another example is Estée Lauder: it spent more than 

a year working with aluminium smelters to design 

tubes and caps made from 80 percent recycled 

aluminium. But the recycled aluminium cap does 

not shine up as well as the former. So they cannot 

switch. 


(pp. 118-119) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

How to protect rural England 

(p. 18) 



ExAm pApEr 

Cleaning up the air (p. 118) 


du BTS MUC (Management des Unités Commerciales) 

de 2 heures. L’usage du dictionnaire bilingue est autorisé. 


Un article publié dans The Economist en février 2007 

dénonce le fait que l’air à Londres est plus pollué que 

partout ailleurs en Grande-Bretagne, principalement 

en raison de la pollution par les véhicules à diesel qui 



émettent de fines particules et du dioxyde d’azote 

(NO 2), aggravant les maladies pulmonaires. 

Le maire de la ville, Ken Livingston, envisage de mettre 

en place dans le centre de Londres une « zone à 

faible émissions » (LEZ) surveillée par un réseau de 

caméras permettant de repérer les bus et les camions 

qui ne respecteraient pas les normes européennes en 

matière d’émissions. 

Tout le monde s’accorde sur le fait qu’il faut améliorer 

la qualité de l’air à Londres, mais nombreux s’inquiètent 

de cette solution soit parce que le rapport 

efficacité/coût est très mauvais, soit parce qu’elle ne 

prend pas en compte le fait que les moteurs à diesel 

émettent moins de CO 2. 

Le plus inquiétant est que les automobilistes ne sont 

pas visés, sans doute parce que le maire a compris 

qu’ils en ont déjà assez de payer pour pénétrer dans 

la « zone d’encombrement » de Londres qui vient 

d’être étendue à l’ouest. (190 mots) 



la correction grammaticale, la richesse lexicale et la 

variété des structures. 

1. London’s air is one of the worst in Western Europe 

with 30 to 60 microgrammes of nitrogen dioxide 

and 28 to 38 microgrammes of particulates per cubic 

metre. 

Berlin’s is the least polluted with only 12 to 

25 microgrammes of nitrogen dioxide and 22 to 

31 microgrammes of particulates per cubic metre. 

Traffic-related air pollution is still one of the most 

pressing problems in urban areas. Evidence of the 

adverse health effects of fine particulate matter is 

continuously emerging. Human exposure to increased 

pollutant concentrations in urban areas is high. The 

improvement of air quality is therefore imperative. 

Air quality limit values, which are aimed at protecting 

public health, are frequently exceeded especially in 

streets and other urban hotspots. (119 words) 

2. Making more efficient use of energy is considered 

by many scientists to be the best way to address 

global warming, because there is a potential 

immediate financial payoff in addition to the longterm 

environmental benefit. 

Energy use in buildings accounts for about a third of 

global releases of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. 

In densely populated older cities like New York 

and London, buildings are the dominant source of 

greenhouse gases. Under a plan developed through 

the William J. Clinton Foundation, a coalition of 

sixteen of the world’s biggest cities, five banks, one 

former U.S. president and companies and groups 

that modernize aging buildings has pledged to invest 

billions of dollars to cut urban energy use and releases 

of greenhouse gases linked to global warming. 

Participating banks will provide up to $1 billion each 

in loans that cities or private landlords will use to 

upgrade energy-hungry heating, cooling and lighting 

systems in older buildings. Such upgrades can cut 

energy use and costs from 20 percent to 50 percent. 

But one challenge is that the accelerating building 

boom in fast-growing developing countries means 

that investing in making new buildings energy 

efficient will be far more important in the long run 

than tightening up old ones. (184 words) 



Un i t 12 intercultur al m a n a G e m e n t 

Cette unité présente le thème du développement durable sous de multiples aspects : l’empreinte 

écologique, le co-voiturage, les aquariums, les emballages écologiques, la protection du paysage 

de l’Angleterre, la pollution atmosphérique dans les grandes villes… 

Ce chapitre aborde la notion de multiculturalité. Les 

confrontations entre gens de différentes cultures permettent 

de prendre conscience des difficultés rencontrées 

lorsque les cultures s’entrechoquent. Le monde des affaires 

d’aujourd’hui doit y faire face régulièrement. 

pages 120-121 

1. ikea store 

Zooming on 

(pp. 120-123) 

1. This poster shows a Swedish company, Ikea, 

opening a new store in China. The Chinese opera 

performer with his traditional costume embodies 

Chinese culture. The colourful outfit and the beauty 

of the show that the opera dancer is about to perform 

enhance the importance of Chinese values on that 

opening ceremony. Ikea highly values Chinese culture 

too. Even in the writing there seems to be a perfect 

blend between the word Ikea and the Chinese letters 

underneath (same number of letters, same colours). 

Ikea has set up outlets in a lot of countries now. 

Ikea’s concept, design and even corporate culture 

have appealed to numbers of peoples throughout the 

world. Ikea is a multicultural phenomenon. 

2. It shows that people in China are willing to 

adopt European designs in their apartments. 

As a matter of fact, decorating a home has become 

a cultural phenomenon, driving the creation of the 

careers of Chinese interior designers and a crop of 

home-decor magazines with the latest in European 

design. Also rising urban incomes set off a building 

boom in the late 1990 in Beijing. 

3. It may seem surprising to see the Chinese craze for 

Swedish design when we, in Europe, seem to be so 

eager to import or copy Asian design as well. 

A lot of European interior decoration is Chinese, 

Vietnamese, Japanese inspired. 

4. Thanks to new technologies, tourism, intercultural 

communication, values and travel. 

2. preventing culture clash 

1. Le document ci-dessous répond aux questions posées 

par l’article. 

The consultants’ views 

Three well-known analyses of intercultural management 

by Edward Hall, Geert Hofstede and Philippe 

d’Iribarne illustrate the differences between American 

and French management styles. 

According to Edward T.Hall, intercultural differences 

in communication are based on context, time and 

space: 

• Understanding between people results from the 

combination of information and its context. Some 

cultures have a rich context (close links between 

people, high level of the unspoken/unsaid): these 

cultures are highly “implicit“; other cultures valuing 

communication only when it is very clear in itself are 

said to be “explicit”. 

• For “monochronic” cultures, time is seen as a 

tangible resource coming from the past and going 

into the future: it has value and can be measured in 

itself; for “polychronic” cultures, time is seen as an 

element of several tasks which can take place at the 

same time and which are linked more by relation than 

by time. 

• Interpersonal distance is limited by a sort of 

protective bubble around each person: entering it 

is an intrusion; in some cultures, the bubble is very 

small, in others, very large. 

As compared to the USA, France is a highly 

contextual, polychronic and small-bubble culture 

(tableau 12-1). 

Unit 12 – Intercultural management 87

Tableau 12-1 

Context 

Time 

Interpersonal 

distance 

USA 

According to Geert Hofstede, there are five dimensions 

to assess cultural differences: 

• Individualism (as opposed to collectivism), 

meaning more responsibility and a low level of 

affectivity. 

• A large hierarchical distance, meaning more 

centralization and less participation. 

• High control on uncertainty meaning low acceptability 

of the unknown about the future, leading to 

strict rules and little delegation. 

• Masculinity (as opposed to femininity) as the sign 

of a high level of competitiveness and a value given to 

performance. 

• Long term (as opposed to short term), emphasizing 

the relationship more than immediate results. 

Tableau 12-2 

Individualism 

Power distance 

Uncertainty 

Avoidance 

Masculinity 

Long term 

orientation 

low context 

• like Germany 

• everything must be clear 

• everything is in the 

contract 

“monochronic” 

• time is money 

• exactitude is essential 

88 Unit 12 – Intercultural management 

Americans think that the 

French are… 

• disorganized 

• not sincere 

• not disciplined 

• not focused 

• dispersed 

“big bubble” 

• avoid physical contact • too tactile 

USA 

very high 

• like UK, Netherlands 

• responsibility of the 

manager 

low 

• like UK, Germany 

• social mobility 

• participative 

low 

• like UK, Sweden 

• it is good to take risks 

• the boss does not have to 

be an expert 

high 

• like Germany, UK, Italy 

• individual performance 

Americans think the 

French are… 

• relying too much on the 

group (or the state) 

• cowards 

• authoritarian 

• not enough delegative 

• bureaucratic 

• do not take risks 

• moody 

low 

• profit oriented • underperformers 

France 

high context 

• like Japan 

• a place must be left 

for adaptation and 

interpretation 

• everything is in the 

relationship 

“polychronic” 

• schedule independent 

• you can be late if you get 

a better achievement 

“small bubble” 

• security is being part 

of a group 

French think that 

Americans are… 

• boring 

• disrespectful 

• not creative 

• too much into details 

• bureaucratic 

• arrogant 

and dominating 

Compared to the USA, France is a much more 

hierarchical culture, with again, a strong emphasis 

on the relationship, the feminine, and the value of 

the long term (tableau 12-2). 

Philippe d’Iribarne’s analysis emphasizes the 

concept of «honour» which values unselfishness and 

grandeur. For instance, delegating responsibility and 

then controlling it is considered perfectly normal in 

the USA and absolutely insulting in Spain (and in 

France). 

This is another example of the logic of the contract as 

opposed to the logic of the relationship. 

Useful tip: Responsible? To better understand the French, 

always remember that in France, you rely on the King to 

protect you against any danger, including yourself, like 

France 

high 

• like Germany, Italy 

• loyalty to the company 

high 

• like Belgium, Portugal 

• autocratic 

• each one in his place 

high 

• like Belgium, Spain 

• rules and structures must 

be respected 

• the boss must be an 

expert 

average 

• like Belgium, Spain 

• harmony of relations 

French think that the 

Americans are… 

• selfish 

• only bonus-oriented 

• do not listen to others 

• overfamiliar 

• too aggressive 

• take too many risks 

• overcompetitive 

average 

• market share oriented • not faithful to the company 



parents do with children. A large part of the so-called 

bureaucracy is designed to force you to do things that are 

in your own interest. 

An example: in France, it is very complicated to create 

a company and to hire someone or hire yourself. Why? 

Because you have to comply with many different rules, 

including contributing to public health and retirement 

programs to ensure that, if you’re sick you’ll have the best 

medical care and when you retire, the maximum possible 

pension. It is unthinkable to say: “well, if people do not 

participate in these programs, they won’t benefit from 

them: that’s all ...” ; if someone took this risk and got 

caught, his compatriots would march in the streets “to 

defend his rights”: the collectivity (i.e. the State) should 

have forced him to be protected. 

3. What is left of india’s cultural 

heritage? 


When Vijayendra Rao 24, from India wanted 

to relocate from New York to India. The lure of 

Bangalore was irresistible. Bangalore is a city where 

job opportunities are plentiful, and the population 

is under the age of 25. Yet Bangalore abounds in 

frustrating contrasts. Microsoft and Yahoo logos 

adorn the roofs of office towers, garbage is piled 

high on the street corners of neighbourhoods where 

the real estate prices have increased threefold in as 

many years. 

Newspaper advertisements for high-paying jobs 

and expensive real estate share space with reports 

of rising crime, divorce, suicide rates and recently a 

terrorist attack. 

Still, the combination of outsourced jobs and 

a hip lifestyle has made the city a magnet for 

multinational companies, technology start-ups and 

young professionals. 

Workers in Bangalore’s innumerable call centres are 

trained to speak in “neutral, global accents”. 

Among the attractions of Bangalore are suburban 

housing communities advertised as “Californian 

living”, some with “Balinese aesthetics” or “Venetian 

architecture” where a home may cost as much as 

£1 million – an unimaginable sum in most of the 

country. 

Bangalore illustrates how a city can become so strategic 

to businesses, “so compelling that its negatives could 

be ignored”. 

1. Job opportunities are tremendous. The population 

is very young. The life style is said to be hip and 

attractive to young professionals and multinationals. 

2. It triggers frustration; inflation is high; crime, 

divorce, suicide, terrorist atttack spread. 

3. India’s cultural heritage is threatened in so far as 

the architecture, for example does not respect the 

Indian style. Imitations and copies of European and 

American models are to be found. 

REPORTING 

Cette question appelle une réponse personnelle. Des 

réflexions pertinentes quant à l’adaptation, les efforts, 

la préparation préalable au départ sont attendues. 

To woo Europeans, mcDonald’s 

goes upscale (pp. 122-123) 

Ces deux pages permettent un travail de compréhension 

de l’écrit plus approfondi, que l’on pourra demander 

aux étudiants de préparer à la maison puis sera repris 

en classe. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. This restaurant is a “posh” place, a classy restaurant 

with sophisticated furniture, comfort, facilities 

(internet connection), a greater choice of food. 

2. It’s meant to contrast with the ones we have in 

France, which are very much on the same model. 

MOVING ON 

1. McDonald’s policy focuses on “better food”. (a) 

2. a. Decoration: lime green designer chairs, dark 

leather upholstery. 

b. Food: healthier food, regional food, caffè lattes, 

porridge in GB, soup in Portugal, cheese in France, 

beer in Germany. 

c. Target: more young adults and professionals 

+ children. 

d. Equipment: internet access, rental iPods. 

e. Eating habits in Europe: to favour European tastes, 

fight against obesity, better service and comfort, and 

healthier food. 

3. He first felt that, because of the European sales 

slump, something had to be done. He focused on 

an appealing atmosphere, better food, better service 

because, as a French man, he knew how important 

it was for European people, for example, to enjoy a 

meal in a comfortable and nice restaurant. 

4. a. remodeling; b. attract; c. paying off; d. slump; 

e. annoyance; f. grumpy; g. savor; h. upgrade. 


5. a. the changes are more than cosmetic (l. 12), 

b. they cater to regional tastes (l. 13), 

c. the chain is also adding amenities (l. 14), 

d. the makeover was a European sales slump (l. 16), 

e. the success of makeovers comes with a challenge 

of its own (l. 22). 

6. McDonald’s had to overcome a reputation of selling 

unhealthy food causing obesity, having unappealing 

décor and bad service and imposing too strong an 

American image. 

7. b. McDonald’s policy is “seen as rather flexible”. 

McDonald’s seems ready to change its policy to fit 

other cultures. 

Mc Donald’s wants to take up the challenge. 

8. It means here that the spread of America’s 

leadership is contested. 

9. José Bové is a 47-year-old sheep farmer who 

became a figurehead for anti-globalisation activists 

in France and abroad when he led an attack on a 

McDonald’s restaurant under construction in Millau, 

southern France, in August 1999. A French court of 

appeal has upheld a three-month prison sentence 

imposed on José Bové for ransacking a McDonald’s 

restaurant. 

Although lawyers for Bové and other defendants in 

the case had argued that the action was a symbolic, 

nonviolent protest against multinational corporations, 

one may wonder about the point of devastating a 

place. 

10. When Nike was accused of resorting to child 

labour in Indonesia, the brand was boycotted by 

customers and NGOs. 

11. TRANSLATE 

L’attention portée aux goûts des européens pour la 

cuisine locale a permis à McDonald’s de surmonter 

quelques uns des obstacles culturels auxquels il était 

confronté en tant que chaîne américaine de restauration 

rapide. 

Pendant qu’il était responsable des restaurants McDonald’s 

en France, M Hennequin a fait l’expérience de 

l’opposition que rencontraient les chaînes américaines 

; dès 1999, lorsque José Bové, chef radical de la 

confédération paysanne française a entrepris la destruction 

d’un restaurant McDonald’s pour protester 

contre la déferlante « hégémonie » américaine. 

WRITING 

McDonald’s is trying hard to upgrade its image 

from fast food-chain to classy restaurant that even 


Europeans would choose for a snack. By doing so 

McDonald’s needs to overcome a lot of difficulties 

linked to a junk food reputation and a typical American 

life-style connotation that a lot of young people do 

appreciate in fact. 

McDonald’s popularity among the young for example 

is not only due to the kind of food they can eat 

but also to a 100% American atmosphere they can 

find . For example children love Ronald and enjoy 

celebrating their birthdays with him. 

If McDonald’s takes up the challenge of becoming a 

“more European-like” restaurant, it may very well lose 

its authenticity. 

Is McDonald’s meant to be a sophisticated restaurant 

when customers cannot but eat with their fingers? 

I believe McDonald’s presumptuous idea of becoming 

a classy place is irrelevant, however I think it is 

important that they make efforts to meet the needs 

of foreign customers by customizing their menus, 

service etc. 

Mc Donald’s will always be Mc Donald’s! 

Other groups were also faced with choices when 

going abroad. The following example, though 

slightly different, shows problems of adaptation 

when selling food abroad. Revere’s (Massachusetts, 

USA) diverse community has given rise to a number 

of ethnic restaurants and grocery stores brimming 

with international products from countries such 

as Cambodia, Lebanon, and Thailand. While these 

restaurants and stores provide a taste of home for 

immigrants, they may be confusing for residents 

who want to try new things but cannot read foreignlanguage 

packaging. Should they pay for the 

translation of food labels? 


1. a. [d] simmered, localized, organized, 

b. [t] relaxed, searched, helped, experienced, 

c. [id] sophisticated, started, adapted. 

La règle de prononciation est énoncée dans le précis 

grammatical p. 205 (prétérit simple). 

2. appealing / soiled / well-designed / sophisticated 

/ unsatisfied / willing / modernized, challenging / 

rewarding. 

3. a. To satisfy customers’ tastes, McDonald’s intends 

to modernize and upgrade its restaurants. 

b. Doesn’t McDonald’s run the risk of losing part of 

its notoriety and jeopardizing its image? 

c. McDonald’s has often been accused of selling 

bad/junk food and of being responsible for problems 

of obesity in Europe. 



d. McDonald’s has a challenge to take up in Europe 

to woo its customers and give a wider scope to its 

target (of consumers). 

4. a. Le facteur déclenchant de ce changement est la 

baisse des ventes en Europe à la fin des années 1990, 

suscitée par une inquiétude quant aux risques d’obésité 

et un désagrément face à des employés grincheux 

et un cadre déplaisant. 

b. En qualité de responsable de la chaîne de restauration 

McDonald’s, M Hennequin a cherché dans son 

pays natal qu’est la France, dans les années 90, des 

moyens de rendre la restauration rapide plus attirante 

à un pays de consommateurs préférant le cassoulet 

mijoté et appréciant le fait de savourer un repas. 


(pp. 124-127) 

1. organising a visit 

(pp. 124-125) 

Les étudiants disposent de nombreux éléments dans les 

documents proposés leur permettant d’organiser la journée 

de leurs hôtes comme ils l’entendent. Les documents 

suivants offrent un complément d’information permettant 

un corrigé plus complet. 

YOUR TASK 

Doing business abroad brings people face to face with 

different cultures and practices. Prior to travelling to 

another country it is the norm not to consider factors 

such as differences in meeting etiquette, negotiation 

styles and business protocol. However, it is precisely 

these areas one should be addressing before doing 

business abroad if the success of the trip is to be given 

a better chance. 

A lack of cross-cultural understanding leads those 

doing business abroad to form stereotypes. Common 

terms used to describe Germany include humourless, 

aggressive, distant, stubborn and obsessed with 

details. 

Doing business in Germany is intended to highlight 

some important key areas that one may encounter 

in Germany. 

Organisation: Germans are often uneasy with 

uncertainty, and ambiguity. Socially, Germans 

lean towards conservatism and conformism. When 

doing business in Germany it is possible to notice a 

heavy emphasis on careful planning, consideration, 

consultation and consensus. 

Aversion to risk: The emphasis on conformity 

combined with a fear of the unknown makes 

Germans very apprehensive about risk. Secur - 

ity is guaranteed through risk analysis. 

Written documentation is seen as the safest and 

most objective medium for analysis. 

Communication: Germans value their privacy. 

Mentally there is a divide between public and private 

life. As a result, Germans wear a protective shell when 

doing business. Since intimacy is not freely given, 

this may be interpreted as coldness. Communication 

styles in Germany may be perceived as direct, short 

and to the point. Formality dictates that emotions 

and unnecessary content do not have a place in 

conversation. 

Doing business – Meeting and greeting: Firm, brief 

handshakes are the norm when doing business in 

Germany. When several people are being introduced, 

they take turns to greet each other rather than 

reaching over someone else’s hands. Avoid shaking 

hands with one hand in your pocket. When women 

enter a room it is considered polite for men to stand. 

Doing business – Punctuality: When doing business 

in Germany, remember that punctuality is a serious 

issue. Business people work hard and are under a lot 

of pressure. Germans typically plan their time very 

carefully. It is considered bad etiquette to be late or 

early as it shows disrespect for peoples’ time. 

Doing business – Humour: A common misconception 

is that the German sense of professionalism and strict 

protocol when doing business leaves no room for 

humour. Yet Germans, just as much as anyone else, 

like to laugh so as long as it is appropriate, tasteful 

and in context then humour is acceptable. 

Doing business – Meetings and negotiations: 

Germans plan ahead. Therefore, ensure you book 

meetings at least 2-3 weeks in advance. Meetings are 

functional, formal and usually stick to a set agenda 

including start and finish times. The phrase ‘let’s get 

down to business’ is definitely appropriate for German 

business meetings as small talk and relationship 

building are not priorities. Decisions are made slowly 

and methodically. Do not try to rush proceedings or 

apply pressure. Once a decision has been reached 

minds are very rarely changed. 

Doing business with the Americans 

The U.S. is essentially a nation of immigrants. It is 

a culturally diverse country. American friendliness 

and informality is legendary. People will not wait to 

be introduced and will even begin to speak with 

strangers as they stand in a line, sit next to each other 

at an event, or gather in a crowd. 

Communication style: Americans are direct in the 

way they communicate. They value logic and linear 


thinking and expect people to speak clearly and in 

a straightforward manner. Time is money in the U.S. 

so people tend to get to the point quickly and are 

annoyed by beating around the bush. 

Business meetings: Arrive on time for meetings 

since time and punctuality are important. With the 

emphasis on controlling time, business is conducted 

rapidly. Expect very little small talk before getting 

down to business. If there is an agenda, it will be 

followed. At the conclusion of the meeting, there 

will be a summary of what was decided, a list of 

who will implement which facets and a list of the 

next steps to be taken and by whom. It is common 

to attempt to reach an oral agreement at the first 

meeting. The emphasis is on getting a contract 

signed rather than building a relationship. The 

relationship may develop once the first contract has 

been signed. 

Greetings 

• The hand shake is the common greeting. 

• Handshakes are firm, brief and confident. 

• Maintain eye contact during the greeting. 

Business cards 

• Business cards are exchanged without formal 

ritual. 

• Inviting your business associates out for a meal is a 

nice gift. 

Business entertaining 

• Business breakfasts are common. 

• Business lunches are common and may last two 

hours. 

• The person extending the invitation usually pays. 

• Business is usually not discussed until everyone has 

ordered their meal. 

• Socializing occurs more often after business is 

concluded. 

Prompts 

a. I’m afraid I dont’t quite agree with you. 

b. Why don’t you try to be more realistic! 

c. I believe this not exactly true. I wouldn’t like to 

continue like this. We don’t want to waste time. 

d. Could you check your figures again, please! 

e. I am against the idea. 

f. I am not sure I follow you. There must be something 

wrong. 

2. Writing a memo 

(pp. 126-127) 

Les étudiants doivent effectuer un exercice très précis 

et pour ce faire suivre les recommandations étape par 

étape qui leur sont données. 


Les documents 1 et 2 doivent leur permettre d’éviter les 

plus grosses erreurs. 

About the French! The critical art 

of conversation 


Yes, there’s still time for a café au lait! Excellent! 

With an hour and a half to spare before checking-in 

at Charles de Gaulle airport, I step out from my hotel 

and head south to the historic stone streets of St. 

Germain. I chose an outside table at the Café le Petit 

Pont just across the River Seine from Notre Dame 

Cathedral. The café is a buzz with conversations – 

some between lovers, some between friends, and 

others between colleagues or potential business 

partners. Some are quiet and intimate, while others 

are closer to a form of battle. This reminded me 

of a conversation I observed in a global diversity 

seminar that I had facilitated the day before and my 

big mistake! 

I hadn’t given the participants in the conversation any 

guidelines on how to behave. “Just be yourselves,” 

I said. The conversation started relatively slowly 

with people feeling out each other’s positions on 

the topic and trying hard to be polite, but then 

it quickly changed into a passionate debate. The 

speed with which people adopted positions and 

fought for them was staggering. Gone was my 

advice of the day before – first, listen to understand, 

think, and then speak. No one was listening; people 

were talking over one another to try and shut others 

down and win the argument. Positions were being 

misrepresented in order to score points. People 

stubbornly dug themselves into a rhetorical hole that 

they couldn’t get out of without appearing to lose 

face. I had said nothing about debating or arguing, 

I had just asked them to hold a conversation about 

a work-related topic. 

PROMPTS 

Unfamiliar; relationship; self-awareness; inhibit; 

training; skills; resources; wasting. 

Adopt Avoid 

Asking open-ended questions 

Being objective 

Building on others’ ideas 

Not trying to reach 

conclusions too quickly 

Suspending judgment 

A win-lose mindset 

A “one right answer” mentality 

Being evasive 

Misconstruing the other 

person’s ideas to suit your own 

purpose 

Wanting quick and easy 

explanations 




(pp. 128-129) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

Cultural edge (p. 128) 

Voir corrigé page 193. 

L’exercice de compréhension orale peut être réalisé en 

deux temps. 

ExAm pApEr 

Developing global brand 

ambassadors (p. 129) 

i. Comprehension 

La scène se passe à Tokyo en présence de 3 Japonais 

et un homme d’affaires occidental, ici Monsieur X, 

cherchant désespérément à rentrer en contact avec 

ses interlocuteurs dans le but de faire une affaire. 

Un spectateur observe la scène qu’il décrit comme une 

comédie d’erreurs. En effet X semble accumuler les 

erreurs par manque de préparation, maladresse allant 

jusqu’à la grossière. Même les cadeaux qu’il offre sont 

déplacés, tout comme sa façon brutale et trop rapide 

de s’exprimer amenant les Japonais à ne plus rien comprendre 

et à être finalement agressés verbalement. 

L’observateur en conclut que la grande mobilité des 

hommes d’affaires ne fait pas des ceux ci de bons 

ambassadeurs. (112 mots) 


Ci-dessous quelques conseils supplémentaires généraux 

afin d’éviter les plus grosses erreurs en matière de communication 

interculturelle dans le domaine des affaires. 

Quelques caractéristiques spécifiques au Japon 

Having a poor understanding of the influence of crosscultural 

differences in areas such as management, 

public relations, advertising and negotiations can 

eventually lead to blunders that can have damaging 

consequences. 

It is crucial for today’s business personnel to 

understand the impact of cross-cultural differences 

on business, trade and internal company organisation. 

The success or failure of a company, venture, merger 

or acquisition is essentially in the hands of people. 

If these people are not cross-culturally aware then 

misunderstandings, offence and a break down in 

communication can occur. 

The need for greater cross-cultural awareness is 

heightened in our global economies. Cross-cultural 

differences in matters such as language, etiquette, 

non-verbal communication, norms and values can, 

do and will lead to cross-cultural blunders. 

The Japanese and ‘Face’ 

• Saving face is crucial in Japanese society. 

• If the request cannot be agreed to, they will say, 

'it's inconvenient' or 'it's under consideration'. 

• Face is a mark of personal dignity and means 

having high status with one's peers. 

Japanese non-verbal communication 

• Since the Japanese strive for harmony and are 

group dependent, they rely on facial expression, 

tone of voice and posture to tell them what someone 

feels. 

• The context in which something is said affects 

the meaning of the words. Therefore, it is imperative 

to understand the situation to fully appreciate the 

response. 

• Most Japanese maintain an impassive expression 

when speaking. 

• In crowded situations the Japanese avoid eye 

contact to give themselves privacy. 

Gift-giving etiquette 

• Gift-giving is highly ritualistic and meaningful. 

• The ceremony of presenting the gift and the 

way it is wrapped is as important − sometimes more 

important − than the gift itself. 

• Gifts are not opened when received. 




pages 130-131 

Un i t 13 co nSu m i n G 

Cette unité vise à aborder différents problèmes liés à la consommation : les tendances générales, 

des exemples particuliers de consommation moderne, les difficultés ou les choix auxquels les 

consommateurs doivent faire face, les nouvelles techniques poussant à toujours plus de consommation 

ou l’avenir de celle-ci avec l’exemple des livres. Différents textes ont été choisis pour montrer comment 

les consommateurs orientent aussi les modèles de consommation présents et à venir. 

En abordant tous les documents de cette unité, en classe ou par un travail à la maison, les étudiants 

auront ainsi une bonne idée de cette notion importante. 

Il serait recommandé de faire apprendre par cœur et assez vite, le vocabulaire de la page 131 

et de tester les élèves dessus. 

Le premier exercice, qui doit se faire à l’oral en classe 

va permettre de définir la tendance générale de la 

consommation dans les grands pays émergents et l’on 

pourra d’ailleurs à la fin de l’étude poser la question 

sur la tendance de la consommation en Inde, autre 

grand pays émergent. Pour compléter la réponse faite 

en classe, on pourra donner à lire et à travailler à 

la maison les documents de la page 171 du manuel 

dans l’unité « Getting Global » et renvoyer à la lecture 

complète du très intéressant article de fond publié par 

Newsweek le 28 mai 2007 et intitulé : « The world’s 

next big spender ». 

De même, on pourra encourager les étudiants à aller 

sut Internet consulter le site du McKinsey Institute, très 

complet sur la consommation à travers le monde. 

1. The future face of China’s 

market economy 

Avant l’étude proprement dite, donner le temps aux étudiants 

de découvrir le graphique et ensuite, vérifier qu’ils 

en comprennent bien tous les termes, surtout les faux 

amis tels que « discretionary » ou « apparel ». 

1. Very clearly, the general trend in Chinese peoples’ 

consumption seems to be away from the basic needs 

like food and apparel and more concentrated on 

discretionary items or needs like domestic appliances, 

education and health. 

It means that the consumption pattern of Chinese 

people is following the example set by Western 

countries where this trend is even more marked. 

Faire trouver des exemples précis pour les différentes 

catégories mentionnées et faire nuancer le propos en 

rappelant les problèmes relativement récents de forte 

hausse des prix des denrées alimentaire de base, et bien 

sûr du riz, aliment très important en Chine. 

2. The three sectors that are going to increase the 

most are: housing and utilities, health care and to a 

lesser degree, recreation and education. 

These three sectors become the most important ones 

since more and more people can afford to eat and 

dress properly. Once these needs are fulfilled, they 

look for a more comfortable life, in a nice and big 

enough house or apartment, either rented or bought. 

The next step is to improve their health and thus they 

will spend more on dentistry, braces for their kids, 

nice, fashionable glasses, even cosmetic surgery for 

the most affluent ones. Finally, they will want to profit 

by life and the little free time they have, by travelling 

or going to famous shows and they will want to 

give their child/children the best chances in life, by 

paying for a good education in a private school or in 

a renowned college. 

3. The future average consumer will strongly resemble 

any western consumer of today. 

He will be less stressed by his basic needs in life and 

more intent on living in greater comfort, discovering 

the world and enjoying life in general. The more 

his income increases, the more he will look like the 

average American consumer of today. 

Unit 13 – Consuming 95

2. Buying from charity shops 

Ce document audio permet d’aborder une forme de 

consommation extrêmement populaire en Grande-Bretagne 

où l’on a vu ce genre de magasins se multiplier 

ces 5 dernières années. 

En conclusion de l’étude, il serait bien de leur faire trouver 

pourquoi les gens se tournent de plus en plus vers 

ce type de magasins et s’ils ont remarqué ces magasins 

en France ; leur demander quelle va certainement être la 

tendance (vers une augmentation de leur nombre et de 

leur fréquentation ) dans les années à venir et pourquoi 

on peut penser cela. 

On peut enfin leur citer des noms de magasins de ce 

type en Grande-Bretagne et leur faire faire une recherche, 

un exposé sur l’un d’entre eux (Ex : Oxfam, Cancer 

Research UK, British Heart Foundation, Save the Children, 

Emmaus, RSPCA, Age Concern, Help the Aged…). 

1. We can gather that Sarah Burnett must be a private 

person and a reader of The Guardian newspaper. 

Perhaps she just read an article about charity shops, 

or bookshops, or the price of books and she decided 

to share her personal experience with other readers. 

2. Her latest shopping craze is hunting for secondhands 

books that she might find in one of her four 

local charity shops. She can find many classics there 

or books about gardening for example. 

3. Shopping for books in charity shops offers many 

advantages, the first one being the price, which is 

ridiculous compared to the price paid in a bookshop. 

It is less than 10% of the real price. It is also much 

quieter to buy books there, because there is no 

hype surrounding them. She has no preconceived 

idea about what she is going to buy. Each time is a 

surprise; she just browses and buys what attracts her 

attention. It’s a pleasure to purchase. To her books 

also look more attractive in these charity shops than 

in a classic bookshop. 

4. She will feel very free to do whatever she likes with 

them. If she likes them she will keep them of course, 

but if she gets tired of them, there will be no guilty 

feelings about donating them again. She won’t have 

the impression that she has wasted money. 

5. This new attitude could establish a difference in 

the status of books: the latest will still be found in 

bookshops and the readers will perhaps pay more 

attention to the way they select them, or they will be 

bought for presents or special occasions. 

“Older” books will be purchased in charity shops and 

96 Unit 13 – Consuming 

then just be passed on in many homes. Thus books 

might lose some of their status; people won’t cling 

to them so much as dear objects. They will be shared 

more or dumped more often. 

3. Spending more on cosmetic 

surgery 

Ce court texte illustre une autre tendance de la 

consommation moderne qui auparavant ne concernait 

que la couche la plus aisée de la population mais qui 

aujourd’hui s’est énormément vulgarisée et popularisée. 

La lecture de ce court texte est une bonne occasion 

de revoir les chiffres et les dates, les pourcentages, les 

fausses virgules… 

Les faire s’entraîner en lisant le paragraphe où figurent 

4 grand chiffres et une date. Ne pas hésiter à les faire 

lire et relire jusqu’à ce qu’il n’y ait plus une hésitation 

face à un chiffre à prononcer à haute voix. 

On peut aussi commencer l’étude par une description et 

une analyse de l’illustration qui peut tout à fait permettre 

de faire comprendre le titre du texte et d’élargir le 

vocabulaire médical / social. 

On peut aussi retravailler les suppositions et les probabilités 

en leur faisant imaginer quelles opérations ces 

femmes ont subi, quelles opérations elles feront plus 

tard, quelles sont leurs motivations, le résultat de ces 

opérations (bon ou mauvais) et les réactions de leur 

entourage. 

Le texte et les questions peuvent ensuite être donnés en 

« homework » qui sera repris au cours suivant, ce qui 

permettra de tester le vocabulaire appris. 

1. British people are willing to spend on cosmetic 

surgery because they have the feeling that a “natural” 

physical appearance doesn’t match with their 

image / idea of beauty. 

This image is pervasive in all modern societies and 

is illustrated by thousands of photos of long-legged, 

very thin top models with full lips, or photos of lifted, 

nipped and tucked, wrinkleless celebrities, full of 

botox. A great majority of these people have been 

surgically transformed. 

2. The overwhelming number of pictures found in the 

streets or magazines urge ordinary people to try and 

look as handsome as these famous and “beautiful” 

people. Going on a diet or practicing a sport are often 

considered too difficult and slow to reach this goal, as 

opposed to plastic surgery, especially the botox and 

collagen treatments. 

3. The use of botox and collagen makes these 

interventions more accessible. They are non-surgical 



and therefore less expensive and less risky too. They 

are injected directly into the wrinkle, which makes it 

disappear in a matter of hours, and for quite a long 

period of time. 

4. Wealthy people can afford them very easily, but 

not all the people who resort to cosmetic surgery 

are rich. Some of them save up, or even borrow 

money from their bank, which is a way of getting into 

debt. For some young girls, it can even lead them to 

bankruptcy since these injections must be renewed 

every six months or so. 

REPORTING 

Cet exercice peut-être un « homework » et quelques élèves 

seront donc ensuite interrogés à l’oral en classe. 

Ils devront présenter à l’oral leurs conclusions devant 

l’ensemble de la classe. 

On pourra également demander aux étudiants de se 

mettre en groupes de deux ou trois et de préparer le 

compte-rendu en classe, puis un représentant de chaque 

groupe le présentera aux autres. Cette activité peut 

ensuite être suivie d’un « débat » ou du moins une discussion 

des diverses idées présentées. 

Quelques éléments de réponse 

Before, consumption meant fulfilling basic needs in 

order to survive, to feed oneself and one’s family. 

This way of consuming stresses your social status and 

the improvement of your social position. 

This is roughly where the great majority of Chinese 

and Indian people are today. 

But in more “post modern” societies, consumption 

has once again evolved. 

The main trend remains the growing of goods and 

services consumption over that for basic needs. But 

then, there are more and more niches or fashionable 

ways of spending, no longer linked to age or not so 

much linked to your level of wealth (cosmetic surgery 

is one example). 

Thus, much is spent on appearances and virtual 

services, and less and less on real tangible products. 

However, we should qualify all this with the emergence 

of a world economic crisis and above all a looming 

world food crisis. People may return to older ways of 

consuming, and they may try to spend less on some 

items such as clothes or books from charity shops for 

example. This is particularly obvious in Great Britain 

where this type of shop has been flourishing in the 

last ten years. Why spend £20 when you can have the 

same thing second hand for £1 or £2. 

The tyranny of choice 

(pp. 132-133) 

Cette page présente le premier long texte qui aborde un 

aspect important du thème de l’unité. 

Le texte peut être donné à lire à la maison en préparation 

au cours. Dans ce cas on peut aussi demander aux 

étudiants de faire les premières questions de compréhension 

(First steps) à la maison. Puis le texte peut être 

étudié à l’oral en classe ce qui n’empêche pas d’envoyer 

des élèves au tableau sur certaines questions précises, 

parfois même deux élèves sur la même question pour 

pouvoir comparer leurs réponses et enrichir le cours. 

Ce texte peut également être donné en devoir sur table, 

ou en préparation à l’oral. Il est d’ailleurs enregistré et 

peut donc être utilisé en compréhension orale. 

Les trois questions du First steps permettent à l’étudiant 

de bien cerner le sujet principal du document en faisant 

intervenir différentes approches : un visuel, une analyse 

de mots, une interprétation. L’étudiant pourra aussi 

prendre dès le départ une distance par rapport à l’article 

en décryptant l’opinion du journaliste. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. Most of these items seem to be medicines, pills, 

tablets, all of them freely sold in supermarkets in 

Anglo-Saxon countries. This means you don’t need a 

special prescription to get basic medicines for colds, 

flu symptoms and all kinds of different aches and 

minor health problems. 

2. This lady seems to be hesitant because there are 

too many items of the same product to choose from. 

She certainly came to the supermarket, or pharmacy 

knowing what she wanted to buy, but she surely did 

not anticipate the great variety of products on offer. 

Therefore, she is just standing there, obviously feeling 

at a loss, even a bit foolish, not knowing which one to 

pick. 

3. From the title “The Tyranny of Choice”, we can 

gather that the journalist is going to convey a personal 

message. The word “tyranny” is quite strong and it 

puts the customer in a position of victim. Therefore 

we can guess that he is going to protest against the 

wide variety of products available in our supermarkets 

and beg for less choice but better quality. 

MOVING ON 

1. The place mainly examined in the text is the 

supermarket because this is where the great majority 


of people go shopping and where the range of choice 

is widest. The little corner shop, or convenience 

store cannot offer such a variety of items because 

of space problems and lack of money to invest. One 

particular brand of supermarket is quoted in the 

text: it’s Tesco, which is one of the most popular in 

England. 

Cette question peut être l’occasion de réviser ou apprendre 

les différents types de magasins et les différents noms 

de supermarchés ou chaînes aux USA et en Grande Bretagne. 

US : Wall Mart, Kmart; 

GB : Tesco, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer. 

On peut aussi les inciter à se rendre sur les différents 

sites internet de ces magasins pour mieux se rendre 

compte de ce qu’ils sont. Cela peut se révéler très utile 

pour l’oral car de nombreux articles tombent sur ces 

supermarchés anglo-saxons. 

2. In this article, the journalist contends that today, in 

supermarkets, the choice of everyday products such 

as milk, eggs, jam etc. is too big. As a result, people 

don’t know what to buy anymore and suffer from 

paralysis in front of the shelves packed with hundreds 

of different brands of the same item. Moreover, this 

extensive choice is presented by the government, and 

big business, as a plus for the consumers. 

Les questions qui suivent vont maintenant permettre à 

l’étudiant de rentrer dand les détails du texte. 

3. The nouns referred to by the pronouns are: 

a. it: buying something (l. 5); 

b. us: the customers (l. 6); 

c. us: the customers (l. 18); 

d. they: varieties of ground coffee (l. 21). 

4. The following figures refer to: 

38: number of types of milk; 

30,000: number of the different lines of products in 

a big supermarket; 

300: number of types of olive oils; 

154: number of jam flavours; 

3: number of brilliant olive oil brands; 

107: number of varieties of pasta. 

5. Ici la question est très précise. Il faudra que l’étudiant 

prenne le temps de bien comprendre les différents variétés 

proposées pour chaque produit et qu’il les compare avec 

celles qu’il consomme quotidiennement pour trouver le 

bon type de consommateur. Il faudra certainement aussi 

leur expliquer ou leur faire deviner autant que possible les 

différences entre tous les types de produits cités dans le 

texte pour les œufs, le lait et les confitures. 


Pour les oeufs : « barn » : poules élevées dans un 

sorte de grange, « free range » : poules élevées en 

plein air ; « organic » : bio ; Cotswold Legbar : ? 

Pour les confitures : « conserve » : confiture normale 

; « preserve » : fruits en bocaux ; « seedless » : 

confiture sans grains ou graines, type gelée, « lowsugar 

» : confiture peu sucré, sans sucre ; « highfruit 

» : confiture à haute teneur en fruits » 

Pour le lait : « whole » : entier ; « skimmed » : 

écrémé ; « semi-skimmed » : demi-écrémé ; « Jersey 

» : qui vient de l’ile de Jersey, donc de bonne 

qualité ; « Goat » : de chèvre ; « sheep » : de mouton ; 

« buffalo » : de bufflonne ; « kangaroo » : de femelle 

kangourou. 

6. Supermarkets have adopted this technique of the 

widest possible choice in order to attract as many 

different kinds of customers as possible: from the 

poorest, to the wealthiest, the organic-minded, the 

ones who want to take care of their figures and watch 

their weight, the old and the young… 

If they can lure different segments of the population 

to their stores, they will get the opportunity to make 

some of them loyal and to sell them products other 

than just food items. 

7. 

Advantages Drawbacks 

You can refine your choice. You waste time. 

You can choose your price range. You may feel at a loss and 

somewhat frustrated. 

You can be attracted by the 

presentation, the packaging of one 

particular product. 

You can take better care of your 

health: finding organic products, 

medicines, and vitamins. 

You are manipulated 

by the big distribution 

business and you end up 

buying more than you first 

intended to. 

Too many bad or just 

average types of product: 

on the whole the quality 

of the items goes down. 

8. Cette question doit être très ouverte et il faut laisser 

aux étudiants toute liberté d’inventer le petit test de 

leur choix. L’important n’est pas tant de savoir si ce test 

serait fonctionnel ou professionnellement probant mais 

plutôt de leur faire écrire quelques questions ou mises en 

situation en anglais. Limiter la réponse à deux ou trois 

questions posées. 

Pistes possibles : 

Take the person in front of a shelf offered a wide 

variety of a given item, and ask him/her to choose a 

product in less than thirty seconds. 

Look at what is in the person’s trolley and ask him/her 

to give you at least three reasons why they chose such 

or such an item. 



Observe a person standing in front of a shelf and 

measure the time he/she takes to choose an item. 

9. Consumers now have some power, especially with 

the Internet and personal blogs. 

People can exchange information, impressions 

or opinions on the different products they find in 

such and such a supermarket. As a result they can 

influence other people to buy some products more 

than others, or they can urge people to boycott one 

type of product altogether (for example, cosmetics 

containing unhealthy ingredients or those that are 

being tested on animals). 

This type of action could contribute to the decrease in 

the number of varieties on offer because if some types 

do not sell well, the supermarket will not stock them. 

Governments could also legislate to limit the number 

of varieties of certain products in supermarkets or 

to limit the surface area of these stores because the 

larger they are, the more products they display on 

their shelves. 

10. Cette question est personnelle et il faudra bien 

le faire remarquer aux étudiants afin qu’ils répondent 

le plus sincèrement possible. Il n’y aura donc pas de 

réponse type ou standard, on pourra tout accepter à 

partir du moment ou les motivations ou justifications 

sont apportées. Il conviendra peut-être également de 

préciser qu’on limitera la réponse à deux ou trois produits 

pour chaque cas. 

Eléments de réponse : 

LOYAL 

– Washing powder, one that doesn’t provoke any 

allergy. You don’t want to try another product for 

fear of being allergic to it. Or one day you or your 

mother change washing powder and it has triggered 

an allergic reaction. 

– Shampoo: you have a certain type of hair and 

you have found one brand of shampoo that suits you 

well. 

– Coffee: you are used to a certain taste in your 

coffee and you don’t want to change. 

– Free range eggs: this is more for ethical reasons, but 

you refuse to buy eggs from hens that are bred in big 

batteries where the living conditions of these animals 

are very bad (lack of space, light on all the time, no 

exercise, they have to lay eggs up until their death). 

NOT LOYAL 

– soaps and shower gels: nice perfume, nice colour, 

attractive packaging, advert seen on TV, you feel like 

trying a new one each time you buy one bottle. 

– a detergent: same kind of reasons. 

– a kind of special jam or chocolate… 

11. Quelque soit le rayon, cela nous est arrivé à tous 

(/nous avons tous vécu cela) : une virée de routine au 

supermarché qui finalement nous a pris trois fois plus 

de temps la normale, tout cela à cause d’une gamme 

de choix ridicule dans sa variété, à travers laquelle il 

nous faut nous frayer un chemin. Si tout cela est fait 

pour notre bien, comment cela se fait-il que nous en 

sortions dans un tel état de frustration ? 

WRITING 

Cet exercice peut-être donné à faire à la maison et 

ramassé ensuite ou lu en classe devant les autres, ou 

en devoir en classe en fin d’étude du texte. Cela peut 

permettre de vérifier l’acquisition du vocabulaire de la 

leçon ainsi que des différents arguments étudiés grâce 

au texte de départ. 

Si c’est le premier dialogue que les élèves écrivent, rappeler 

les quelques règles du dialogue en anglais : pas 

de tirets mais juste des guillemets, pas de nom de personnes 

avant les paroles prononcées, mais des verbes 

avec leurs sujets en fin de prise de parole. Cela peut 

d’ailleurs donner lieu à un petit exercice préliminaire où 

l’on donne des phrases de dialogue puis on demande 

aux élèves de retrouver la deuxième partie, en proposant 

une liste de verbes très différents comme « he said, he 

whispered, she announced, he remembered, she started, 

he begged »…Cela est assez ludique et leur montre bien 

la grande variété de verbes utilisable dans l’écriture d’un 

dialogue. 

Possibilité de dialogue : 

“Hi, Mum, I am at the supermarket you know, you 

left me a note this morning, but I have a real problem 

here … » 

“What’s up, my dear,” my mother began. 

“Well, for the milk for example, which type do we 

drink? Whole? Skimmed? Semi-skimmed? 

“You should know that we never use whole milk, 

it’s bad for your father’s heart, so take one bottle of 

skimmed and two of semi-skimmed, OK? 

“Yes”, I replied,” but that’s not all, do you want to try 

the organic type, there is a promotional offer.” 

“Oh, why not, we could see if we can taste the 

difference”, my mother finally agreed. 

“All right, but what about the eggs, now?” I asked. 

“What about them, dear?” 

“Well, there again I am at a loss, there are so many 

different types…” 

“That’s very easy, never take anything else than the 

free range or organic ones, I couldn’t bear thinking 

that we give money to these breeders who don’t care 

about the welfare of their animals, don’t you agree?” 

she asked. 

“Yes, sure Mum, but how do you cope with all this 

everyday? I never thought that shopping for food 


could be so mind-boggling and time-consuming”, 

I concluded. 

“Well, you see, you learn every day. And don’t waste 

time coming home because we must put all this in the 

fridge as quickly as possible”, she warned. 

“OK Mum, bye.” 


1. Pour cet exercice, il me semble intéressant de leur faire 

prononcer ces mots avant d’écouter l’enregistrement. 

Il leur semblera ludique d’appliquer un accent anglais 

ou américain à des mots transparents. Faire trouver 

la meilleure prononciation à priori, puis faire écouter 

l’enregistrement en correction. Ne pas oublier de leur faire 

répéter les mots ensuite pour vérifier que la prononciation 

est acquise. 

2. Pour cet exercice, il s’agit non seulement de leur 

faire trouver la différence de sens mais également les 

différentes nature de ces mots. 

Through: préposition / à travers 

Though: conjonction / bien que 

Faire remarquer que 0 est un équivalent. 

Tough: adjectif / dur, difficile 

Thought: nom ou verbe irrégulier au prétérit simple (la 

pensée / pensait) 

On pourrait rajouter à cette liste : throughout (tout 

au long de), thorough (complet, méticuleux), trough 

(abreuvoir). 

Enfin, bien insister sur la prononciation très différente 

de ces mots. 

3. Commencer par leur faire retrouver la règle de 

grammaire et l’appliquer directement. 

Stupidly ➝ stupid 

Actually ➝ actual 

Vigorously ➝ vigorous 

Supremely ➝ supreme 

4. Il s’agit ici de l’exercice inverse. 

Particular ➝ particularly 

Large ➝ largely 

Possible ➝ possibly 

Active ➝ actively 

Bright ➝ brightly 

Grateful ➝ gratefully 

Typical ➝ typically 

Busy ➝ busily 

Pointless ➝ pointlessly 

Brilliant ➝ brilliantly 

Bien faire remarquer les quelques exceptions d’orthographe 

(possibly, busily), mais sinon on ne fait que 

rajouter « -ly ». 


Enfin, rappeler que certains mots terminés en « -ly » sont 

des adjectifs et non des adverbes : friendly, melancholy 

et que « hard » a une double forme pour son adverbe : 

hard : durement, hardly : à peine. 

5. 

Verb Preposition Translation 

End up Finir par, finir 

complètement 

Wade through Se frayer un chemin 

Get to Arriver à 

Make sense of Comprendre, 

trouver une 

signification 

Deal with S’agir de, 

s’occuper de 

Strive to Faire des efforts 

pour 

Choose from Faire un choix 

parmi 

6. Profiter de cet exercice pour faire le point sur toutes les 

utilisations différentes du verbe « use » et faire apprendre 

par cœur les expressions, une fois trouvées et explicitées. 

a. It’s no use buying so many sorts of olive oil. 

b. He is not used to seeing such a wide range of 

products in one shop. Where he comes from you are 

lucky when there is one type of each product! 

c. If you used logic, you’d find a solution. 

d. They used to have only two or three types of 

honey on offer, now they have twelve of them! 

7. Profiter de cet exercice pour faire une révision complète 

des comparatifs. 

a. Australia is thirteen times bigger than France. / 

Australia is thirteen times as big as France. 

b. He eats twice as much as I do! 

c. The more choice we have, the less we know what 

to take. 

d. The more varieties of milk that there are on the 

shelves, the more we hesitate when it comes to 

deciding what to buy. 

9. Cet exercice sera l’occasion de revoir les différents 

sens du verbe to « make » et l’on pourra faire apprendre 

les différentes expressions par cœur. On pourra aussi 

distribuer une liste d’expressions utilisant « to do » ou « to 

make », car il y a souvent des confusions de faites entre 

ces deux verbes. 

a. Ça n’a pas de sens. 

b. Cela me rend triste. 

c. Il lui a fait acheter cette confiture mais elle ne 

l’aime pas. 

d. Il a été anobli par la reine. 

e. Va faire la paix / te réconcilier avec lui. 




(pp. 134-137) 

1. leasing versus owning 

(pp. 134-135) 

La location de véhicules commence à se développer à 

plus grande échelle en Europe tant et si bien que l’on 

peut maintenant se poser la question de savoir si on a 

plus intérêt à louer sa voiture qu’à en acheter une. 

Les exercices de ces pages vont permettre aux étudiants 

d’aborder ce problème avec des données concrètes 

qu’il devront approfondir jusqu’à créer une situation 

particulière de client changeant de voiture. 

Pour la préparation des clients, leur faire inventer des 

portraits précis, sur leur situation familiale et professionnelle, 

le tout en rapport avec leur préoccupation 

principale : l’achat d’un nouveau véhicule. De plus, 

leur faire établir une liste de questions à poser sur tous 

les aspects financiers de cet achat ( assurance, taux de 

prêt, frais annexes : dépôt de garantie, fais de dossier, 

frais d’enregistrement du véhicule…). 

Leur montrer qu’ils peuvent trouver tout le vocabulaire 

nécessaire dans les textes de la page135. 

YOUR TASK 

1. Designing role play cards 

CUSTOMER N° 1 

NAME: James Stone, 42, sales rep for a pharmaceutical 

firm, married. 

Drives around a lot to visit his potential clients. Does 

30,000 miles per year at least, sometimes more. His 

firm is ready to pay for the car’s insurance, including 

mechanical maintenance. The firm is also ready to 

pay him back for miles done for the firm during the 

week, with a top limit of 32,000 miles per year, and 

to pay 10% of the car price. 

He has got three children and a country house 

about two hours drive away from his home where 

he goes regularly at weekends or holidays. 

Lives in the suburb of a big town so he also uses 

his car to go to the city centre, shopping or to the 

movies. 

CUSTOMER N° 2 

NAME: Rod White, 28, just married, no kids, lives 

in Staten Island and works in Manhattan as an 

adviser in the financial service of a bank, taking the 

ferry morning and evening. But takes his car to go 

shopping or play tennis at the weekend. 

Plans to have two or three kids rapidly which means 

he might move to a bigger house farther away from 

Manhattan. 

Goes to see family three to five times a year thus 

driving about 15,000 miles per year. 

Will have 10% cash for the new car, but will have to 

borrow the rest. 

Pour l’argumentaire des vendeurs, faire travailler les élèves 

exclusivement sur les textes de la page135. S’assurer 

qu’ils les comprennent bien et leur faire faire une fiche 

avec une liste des points importants, soit à mentionner, 

soit pour savoir répondre aux possibles questions des 

clients. 

Faire travailler les « clients » et les « vendeurs » dans des 

coins séparés de la salle afin de garder la mise en situation 

la plus naturelle possible. 

Si les « clients » ont du mal à trouver un portrait ou des 

questions, on peut aussi leur adjoindre un camarade qui 

sera une aide pour la préparation mais qui ne parlera 

pas ce jour-là. 

De même pour les vendeurs. 

Lorsque tout le monde est prêt, faire jouer les scènes 

sans préjuger de rien et laisser le client décider en son 

âme et conscience s’il achètera ou s’il louera sa prochaine 

voiture. 

2. Starting a class action 

(pp. 136-137) 

Cette double page doit introduire les étudiants à une 

notion qui n’est pas encore vraiment passée dans les 

mentalités françaises : celle d’une union des consommateurs 

faces à de grosses firmes, organisations ou 

institutions lorsqu’ils ont été floués. 

Seuls, ils ne parviendraient à rien, ensemble, et aidés par 

des avocats spécialisés, ils ont beaucoup plus de chances 

de se faire entendre et bien sûr de gagner un procès et 

éventuellement recevoir des dommages et intérêts. 

Ce genre d’action commune est très populaire aux USA 

et a été grandement facilitée par Internet qui fournit 

des moyens simples permettant de réunir des gens 

dans un action. 

Elle tend donc à s’étendre dans le monde et en France 

une loi récente va dans le sens du développement de 

telles actions. 

Incitez les étudiants à bien lire les documents des deux 

pages et à aller sur Internet voir et visiter le site donné 

en référence qui fourmille d’exemples. 

Tout cela les aidera à faire les exercices demandés. Cela 

peut donc être un premier « homework ». 

Il serait aussi intéressant de les faire travailler par groupes 

de deux pour faciliter l’invention d’une situation 

particulière et écrire les deux premiers exercices. 


Puis, l’un des deux prendra le rôle de l’avocat dans 

le « roleplay ». 

À la fin des présentaions, on pourra déterminer (par 

vote, pourquoi pas), quel groupe a réussi à inventer et 

présenter le meilleur cas. 

Le roleplay peut aussi donner lieu à une évaluation 

notée des intervenants. 

Situations possibles 

Situation 1: Problem with a flight 

NAME: Lisa Harper 

ADDRESS: Canal Street, 345, 21248 Manhattan, 

New York 

FLIGHT: New York JFK / Portland (Oregon) / 5 

hours 

This trip turned into a nightmare from the start: 

At the check-in counters there was only one person 

dealing with clients out of five counters, which of 

course, started a panic, bags without correct labels, 

one of Lisa’s suitcases didn’t get the right label but 

was left with the label from a previous flight. 

Once in the plane there was an hour-long wait for 

the plane to taxi to its runway. 

Then a terrible storm hit the place and Lisa was 

grounded for five more hours, the aircraft forbidden 

to move. There was hardly any communication 

from the crew, the toilets facilities quickly became 

deficient and there was poor ventilation so that the 

cabin became unbearably hot. 

She only got one drink of water and a little pack of 

nuts. 

When finally they got to Portland, they had to wait 

quite a while to get their bags back. 

Situation 2: Renting a house from a big holiday 

renting agency 

NAME: Robert Cook and family (one wife two kids) 

He was supposed to have rented a 3-bedroom house 

with a garden and a view on the sea and a swimming 

pool in Florida. 

It turned out to be one normal sized bedroom with a 

double room and two cupboard-like bedrooms, with 

one bunk bed in it. 

The garden was not tended to at all, the lawn was 

overgrown and full of weeds, and the swimming 

pool was dirty and smelly. 

In the kitchen, there was old kitchen equipment. 

The view on the sea was not a real one; you had to 

lean from the bathroom window to catch a glimpse 

of the sea. 

The furniture in general was old-fashioned and 

uncomfortable and the TV was out of order. 

When Robert first complained on his own, they only 

granted him a 10% discount, which to him was quite 

inadequate reparation. 



(pp. 138-139) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

gadgets for all of you (p. 138) 


ExAm pApEr 

not bound by anything (p. 139) 

Ce texte fait l’objet d’une étude comme à l’examen. Il 

peut donc être donné en devoir maison ou en devoir en 

classe. 

Bien recommander aux élèves de prendre le temps de 

bien lire les consignes et de ne pas oublier de faire figurer 

le nombre de mots utilisés. 

On peut aussi les renvoyer aux tableaux de méthode des 

unités 7 et 14 qui peuvent les aider dans la rédaction 

de ces exercices. 

Enfin, on peut leur recommander d’aller sur Internet 

consulter des sites sur le phénomène du livre électronique 

ou des « livres » conçus pour être lus sur des téléphones 

portables très populaires au Japon en particulier. 

Voici quelques exemples de ces sites : 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/23/tech/ 

main682569.shtml 

http://www.thegoldenpencil.com/2008/01/22/booksfor-cell-phones-its-really-happening/http://telecompk.net/2008/02/13/reading-books-oncell-phones-can-it-boost-literacy-levels/ 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/technology/ 

circuits/09basics.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 


Le résumé doit suivre la chronologie du texte et ne pas 

contenir de présentation ou une expression de l’opinion 

personnelle. 

Des millions de livres sont actuellement numérisés 

pour Google, ce qui pose la question de leur avenir. 

Les livres vont-ils subir le même sort que les CD musicaux, 

c’est-à-dire disparaître ? C’est peu probable car 

techniquement, il n’est pas du tout simple de transférer 

des livres papier sur un support électronique. 

Certains livres seront certainement lus sur Internet : 

c’est déjà le cas des encyclopédies. Il en sera de 

même pour tous les ouvrages nécessitant une réactualisation 

et que l’on ne lit jamais en entier. 



Les romans fantastiques vont aussi migrer en ligne. 

Cependant, la plupart des livres ne trouveront jamais 

mieux que le support papier car leurs lecteurs veulent 

pouvoir les lire sans interruption, ni distraction 

et en faire des compagnons et des guides à emmener 

partout dans leur vie. (32 mots) 


Pour cet exercice, il serait intéressant que les étudiants 

se projettent 20 ans dans le futur et s’aident du texte 

lu pour créer un exemple de toutes pièce avec un personnage 

inventé, qui porte un nom et se retrouve dans 

une situation où il doit décrire comment il/elle achète 

ses livres. On peut par exemple inventer une interview 

pour un article de journal ou de magazine, ou inventer 

une conversation entre amis. 

Brian, a 20-year-old student is being interviewed by 

Youth & Literature magazine. 

“Brian, you have agreed to tell us about your 

attitude to books, firstly, do you buy all the books 

you read?” 

“Are you crazy? I’m an art history student. Do you 

really believe I could afford to pay for all these big 

and posh books of art? No way, man. I just go online 

and take what’s useful for my study case. When 

I need many pages, I often download the paying 

version of a catalogue, or a recording of a museum 

visit, for example.” 

“What else do you read online?” 

Plenty of things, I guess, encyclopaedia’s articles or 

even recipes, because when I am not studying, I love 

cooking.” 

“So, do you still happen to go to a brick and mortar 

bookshop? 

“Oh yes, but only once in a while, to buy my Mum or 

Nan a present for example, because they still prefer 

the old way of reading, you know, owning a book 

and taking it everywhere with them. Mind you, I 

do like having a book in hand myself, too, especially 

comics, or mangas, or a good thriller for the summer 

holiday to take on the beach.” 

“Thanks, Brian, you’ve been very helpful for our 

survey.” (217 words) 




pages 140-141 

Un i t 14 travellinG 

Cette unité aborde le thème de l’essor du tourisme et des modes de transports les plus en vogue, 

dans la perspective des développements économiques en Asie, et en explorant les tendances les plus 

actuelles. 

1. low-cost airlines in Asia 

L’objectif de cette activité d’expression orale est de synthétiser 

le texte accompagné d’un graphique afin de 

sensibiliser les étudiants à la croissance du transport 

aérien grâce aux phénomènes du transport à bas prix et 

à la bonne santé économique. 

1. In 2002, there were more low-cost flights than 

in 2001, but only by 3-4% around the globe. The 

biggest increase was for flights within North America 

(13,5%). In 2006, for flights within Europe this figure 

trebled going from 6% to 18%. The 2006 increase 

was slight for flights within North America, and 

spectacular for flights within Asia. 

2. Growth has steadily increased for low-cost flights 

within Europe over the years, increasing from 4% 

in 2001 to 22% in 2007, whereas growth for lowcost 

flights within Asia went from 1% in 2001 to 

12% in 2007. Thus, flights in Europe have increased 

almost sixfold, whereas flights in Asia have increased 

twelvefold. 

3. We can conclude from our findings in the graphs 

that low-cost has risen at a rapid rate in Asia, in 

fact twice as fast as in Europe, where the overall 

percentage is the highest. According to the text, 

air travel in general has increased dramatically 

throughout the world. Although it began to become 

popular in Europe, increasing as Europe enlarged, 

it became popular in Asia more recently, thanks to 

tremendous economic growth there. So, we can see 

that the increase in travel is closely linked to the 

political and economic spheres. 

2. Spreading the wealth 

Cet exercice de compréhension écrite propose une prolongation 

du thème precedent ; à savoir, les développements 

touristiques liés à la croissance économique en 

Chine. Il permet de contraster deux tendances – le « lowcost 

» et le marché du luxe. 

1. With the budding middle class Asia, notably China, 

vacationing has become an option. One of the current 

trends is to travel within the home country. Thanks 

to their increased purchasing power, these travellers 

demand better service and facilities. This has had a 

knock-on effect at the level of accommodation and 

amenities – luxury travel is becoming more and more 

prevalent. With 320,000 millionaires in China, the 

market for luxury goods has increased by 28% per 

year, and does not seem to be losing its vigour. 

3. Space: the newest frontier 

in extraordinary travel 

Cette activité de compréhension écrite et d’exploitation 

de document iconographique permet d’introduire la nouveauté 

du voyage dans l’espace et de susciter une première 

réflexion sur l’importance du mode de transport, 

qui sera approfondie plus loin dans l’unité. Les étudiants 

puisent dans leurs connaissances afin de lister quelques 

exemples de voyages typiques et les contrastent avec les 

possibilités les plus inhabituelles de voyager. 

1. Ordinary travel – you take the family car to drive 

to a familiar or new destination, to relax and have a 

change of pace, or you can take the plane to a faraway 

destination to discover a city or a different culture, or 

the train to take a short break in the country. 

Extraordinary travel – riding in the space shuttle at 

the space station simulator, wearing a spacesuit and 

helmet, travelling without leaving your seat via virtual 

travel, or extreme travel. 

2. For some travellers, the means of transport is just a 

way to get from one place to another. They can seek 

the fastest means, or the cheapest means such as 

Unit 14 – Travelling 105

a low-cost flight. For others, the means of transport 

can be a way to enjoy the scenery (trains, a family 

car). For thrill seekers, travelling in the space shuttle 

in a spacesuit can be a vacation in itself. So, the 

means of transport can be either of little or of utmost 

importance. 

4. lost luggage 

Pour cette activité de compréhension orale, les étudiants 

écoutent l’enregistrement dans son ensemble avec les 

questions sous les yeux. Les questions suivent l’ordre du 

texte. L’exercice a pour but de repérer les informations 

essentielles du document sonore. 


Mr Egeli: My parents and I recently traveled between 

Los Angeles and Istanbul on British Airways. Three 

of our checked bags were misplaced by the airline. 

We reported our loss when we arrived in Istanbul 

and British Airways promised to send our luggage 

to our home address. But after two weeks the airline 

said they could not find our bags and sent us a claim 

form. 

Troubleshooter: What did they ask you to do? 

Mr Egeli: They asked us to provide receipts for all 

our missing items, but we didn’t have the receipts 

for our belongings, since it had been at least six 

months since we bought them. British Airways 

told us to contact the merchants and get duplicate 

copies of the receipts. We did, and faxed them to 

the airline. It’s been four months and we still haven’t 

heard a thing from them. Would you help us? 

Troubleshooter: British Airways should have 

delivered your luggage to you while you were in 

Istanbul. When it didn’t, it should have reimbursed 

you promptly for your lost property. Under the 

Montreal Convention, British Airways is liable for 

the destruction, loss or damage to baggage up to 

1,230 euros. 

Mr Egeli: If there are rules, then I don’t understand 

why the system doesn’t work. 

Troubleshooter: The system you describe for 

tracking lost luggage is one of the most complainedabout 

aspects of British Airways’ North American 

operations. I’ve heard from many exasperated 

passengers who tried to navigate British Airways’ 

bureaucratic maze of fax numbers, unresponsive 

phone agents and paperwork requirements. Many 

tell me that they just give up in despair. 

Mr Egeli: So what can I do now? 

Troubleshooter: My best advice is to never trust 

an airline with your luggage. Ever. First, make sure 

you aren’t packing anything that isn’t covered 

106 Unit 14 – Travelling 

by its contract of carriage -- the legal agreement 

between you and the airline. That usually includes 

cameras, electronics or anything fragile. For the 

rest, make sure you have a receipt (or can readily 

find a receipt). 

Mr Egeli: But will I get reimbursed for the lost 

luggage this time? 

Troubleshooter: I contacted British Airways for you. 

It reviewed your case and mailed you a $2,900 

check to cover your loss. 

Source : CNN.com 

1. First, Mr Egeli told the airline company about his 

lost luggage. Then, two weeks later, having heard 

nothing, he contacted them again. He was told to 

get receipts for the merchandise and fax them to the 

airlines, which he did. 

2. Normally, an airline delivers your lost luggage to 

your destination. In this case, it was Istanbul. If they 

can’t deliver the lost luggage, they agree to reimburse 

you up to 1230 euros. 

3. Travellers can protect themselves by never trusting 

anyone with their baggage. In other words, travel 

light and avoid packing any electronic goods or 

others items not covered by the carriage contract. 

REPORTING 

Dans cette activité d’interaction orale, les étudiants sont 

amenés à émettre leur point de vue personnel sur ce 

sujet. Ils préciseront leurs goûts et leurs motivations en 

s’appuyant sur les textes précédents. 

For me, travelling is essential. It is a way to get away 

from it all, whether it is from the routine of my parttime 

job and studies, or from the places I know all 

too well. It is a way to discover new cultures and 

new landscapes. What I like best is seeing something 

completely different– a stunningly beautiful coastline, 

incredible architecture, and gorgeous colours– 

knowing that I will keep this memory forever. That’s 

what is most important to me, since these mental 

pictures and experiences are something that no one 

can ever take away. For me, it is important to travel 

far away, and I love taking the plane because the 

takeoff is exciting, and in a matter of hours I have 

changed continents and time zones. I would be 

interested in travelling to Asia, to experience India 

and China, places I have read so much about and that 

are developing at a very fast pace. Luxury is not that 

important to me, but if I had the means of travelling 

the way I wanted, I would obviously enjoy a four-star 

hotel with a huge swimming pool! 



Finally, my expectations are that I would learn more 

about other people in the world by taking part in 

their daily life. A travel journal would be a good idea 

in order to keep a record of my impressions. 

Slow is beautiful (pp. 142-143) 

FIRST STEPS 

Avant de lire le texte, les étudiants sont invités à réagir 

au document iconographique pour émettre des hypothèses 

sur le thème abordé dans l’article. Ensuite, ces 

exercices peuvent être faits en classe afin d’assurer la 

bonne compréhension des informations essentiels (WH- 

questions). 

1. This is a feature article taken from Newsweek 

magazine, dated May 7th, 2007. Entitled “Slow is 

beautiful”. It deals with the phenomenon of slow 

travel, a recent trend. 

2. a. Since working life is busier and busier, holidays 

are more and more important. It is also important 

to take more time off, so longer vacations are 

necessary. 

3. b. The slow traveller is a hard-working babyboomer 

who occupies an executive position (l. 14) 

in a company. He or she probably uses a BlackBerry. 

(l. 3) 

4. 3. This type of travel represents a boon for 

the tourist industry because travel is becoming 

increasingly important. There’s a niche for special 

types of travel; where the means of transport is 

innovative and environmentally sound. 

MOVING ON 

Ces exercices peuvent être préparés à la maison ou en 

classe. 

1. c. to change your lifestyle. 

2. Although both low-cost and slow travel make 

travel more popular, there is a clear-cut difference in 

mentalities. It is paradoxical because low-cost makes 

travel more democratic, that is, more and more 

people have access to travel whereas slow travelling 

makes travel more exclusive, since it is a niche market, 

targeting elite and rich customers. 

3. People want to get back to “the way things were” 

before technology became a key factor in our daily 

lives. New technologies such as the mobile phone, 

the computer, with broadband, instant and non-stop 

communication, have made our lives less relaxed and 

more dependent on technology. 

4. a. Eco-tourism is linked to ecology, so it means 

green tourism, the discovery and protection of 

unspoilt nature. 

b. Sustainable tourism means environmentally friendly 

tourism, one in which the natural surroundings and 

the local inhabitants are respected. 

c. Heritage tourism includes the discovery of 

national historical sites, UNESCO World Heritage List 

monuments for example. 

d. Mass tourism refers to tourism that caters to large 

groups to the most popular and crowded destinations, 

offering short activity-packed visits or packaged tours 

that are considered to be superficial. 

5. a. that does not pollute, 

b. unique type of holiday, 

c. 10-city tour in 10 days. 

6. a. a barge, b. a luxury liner 

7. TRANSLATE 

Toutefois, il est important de noter que les vacances 

plus lentes sont principalement un phénomène 

occidental. Tandis que beaucoup d’Américains et 

d’Européens ont les moyens de prendre leur temps 

et de dessiner leurs propres parcours, les touristes 

des pays émergents essaient d’amasser suffisamment 

d’heures et de revenus pour pouvoir s’offrir le séjour 

classique d’une semaine tout compris. Mais il y a des 

signes qui montrent que le voyage plus décontracté 

commence à s’imposer même dans les marchés 

émergents. Les Chinois urbains prennent des séjours 

d’un week-end à la campagne pour se détendre. Les 

chaînes hôtelières destinées au nombre croissant de 

voyageurs à l’intérieur du pays en Inde et en Chine 

proposent de plus en plus de services tels que les 

spas pour décompresser. 


Il s’agit d’exercices phonétiques, grammaticaux et lexicaux, 

s’appuyant sur le texte, son lexique et son sens. 

1. 


environmentally / primarily / increasingly / leisurely / 

traditionally / eventually / developing / thoughtfully 

/ productivity / phenomenon / sightseers / amenities 

/ traditional / domestic / personalized. 


2. a. stepped off, 

b. takes off, 

c. turn off, 

d. had used up, 

e. was taken over, 

f. to get back to. 

3. a. treehouse, 

b. rice boats, houseboats, 

c. backwaters, seafood, shoreline. 

4. a. Travailler beaucoup permet aux voyageurs de 

s’amuser beaucoup aussi. 

b. Une des meilleures façons de se détendre est de 

passer un week-end à la campagne. 

c. Nous ne savons toujours pas de quelle manière 

les voyageurs asiatiques passeront leur temps ou 

dépenseront leur argent. 

5. a. If the Chinese prefer travelling domestically, it’s 

because they are trying to get to know their country 

better. 

b. Since Americans and Europeans have the time and 

money for travelling, they are becoming more and 

more demanding. 

c. Nowadays, the growth of emerging countries has 

enlarged the market for low-cost travel. 

WRITING 

Cette activité de production écrite mélange les goûts 

personnels avec une activité professionnelle – la description 

d’un produit touristique ciblé. 


(pp. 144-147) 

Les deux doubles pages suivantes permettent aux étudiants 

de mieux appréhender les situations auxquelles 

les professionnels du tourisme sont confrontés. 

1. presenting a brochure 

(pp. 144-145) 

Cette activité de production écrite et de production orale 

met en oeuvre la capacité d’argumenter en reformulant 

les informations essentielles des documents proposés. 

YOUR TASK 

Introduction 

Tourindia, a specialist tour operator with twentyfive 

years of experience introduced the concept of 


backwater tourism on traditional rice boats. It has 

become an eco-tourism project that has already 

convinced the most destructive people to become 

conservationists. 

Assets in Kerala 

Thanks to its particular geographical coastal location, 

with mountains, backwaters, pristine beaches and 

long shorelines, Kerala is one of the top tourist 

destinations in Asia. With the peaceful atmosphere 

and lush landscape, it is a feast for the eyes. Not only 

does Kerala astound us with its scenery, but also with 

its cultural offerings, from Ayurvedic health holidays 

to magical festivals. Your senses come alive with an 

authentic and exotic cuisine. 

Unique in Kerala 

The mix of all the above assets with the unique 

backwater tourism, canals on which you can sail in 

luxury houseboats made the way they used to be. 

Relaxing and authentic, it has everything you need 

for a perfect holiday. 

ACTING OUT 

Pour la production orale, les éléments déjà formulés serviront 

de point de départ pour développer une présentation. 

La carte peut être exploitée afin de donner des 

informations plus précises sur la localisation du Kerala. 

L’activité pourrait prendre la forme d’un pair work, 

(étudiant A pose des questions et étudiant B fournit les 

réponses). Ils peuvent compléter leurs connaissances en 

consultant le site internet. 

A.: Where is Kerala located? 

B.: In India, on the southwest coast. It borders the 

Arabian Sea. 

A.: What about the accommodation? 

B.: You will be comfortably settled in a houseboat, 

which is a traditional rice boat or “Kettuvallam” made 

of local material such as bamboo and coconut fibres. 

There is even a chef on board to make delicious 

seafood and vegetable specialties. 

A.: Why is this project interesting for tourists? 

B.: This tourindia project is a way for tourists to 

participate in the development and protection of a 

fragile eco-system as well as discover stunning nature 

while enjoying an authentic way of life. 

A.: What do I need to know before I leave? 

B.: Try to visit in the off-season or high season to avoid 

the monsoons. For travel wear, hats and sunglasses 

are a must, but remember that temple dress requires 

shoulders and legs to be covered. 



2. Confirming a reservation 

(pp. 146-147) 

En s’aidant de la lettre donnée en exemple p. 147, les 

étudiants rédigeront une réponse en suivant les consignes 

et à l’aide des Prompts. 

YOUR TASK 

Dear Mr Nelson 

Further to your enquiry concerning fifteen single 

rooms for your team members this September, we are 

pleased to confirm your reservation, from Monday, 

10 September 2008 through until Saturday, 15 

September. You will need to vacate your rooms by 11 

o’clock Sunday morning. 

In terms of conference room facilities, please indicate 

which two days you will need and we shall reserve our 

conference hall A for your group. The information you 

requested on transport will be faxed to you. 

We will fax you our group rates, which unfortunately 

do not include a discount, but we will provide 

complimentary coffee for your lunch seminar. 

Should you require any further information, please do 

not hesitate to contact me. 

Yours sincerely, 

Wu Shao-Lin 

Reservations 

ACTING OUT 

Dans cette deuxième activité d’interaction orale, les étudiants 

mettent en scène une conversation téléphonique 

à l’aide des prompts et du document sonore, « Making 

arrangements for a reservation ». L’écoute devra fournir 

des aides lexicales, quelques structures utiles, ainsi 

que l’intonation liée à une conversation authentique. 


Receptionist: Good morning. Hotel Xu Hui. Can I 

help you? 

Customer: Good morning. This is Mr Chesterton 

speaking. I am with the Golfer party scheduled to 

arrive next Tuesday. Unfortunately, I’ve changed 

plans. I’ll be arriving Friday instead of Tuesday. 

Receptionist: I see. The hotel policy considers last 

minute changes to be cancellations. Your room will 

be given to someone else. I’m very sorry. 

Customer: But I’m sure you’d have another room 

available for me, wouldn’t you? 

Receptionist: I’m afraid that we are fully booked 

on Friday. 

Customer: Oh dear. Could you recommend another 

hotel? 

Receptionist: I’ll look into that for you. Would you 

mind holding on a few moments while I check 

availability? 

Customer: I’ll call back later. But if you do find a 

hotel, I’ll confirm my booking by email within 48 

hours. 

Receptionist: Fine. Thank you for calling. I’ll look 

into it for you as soon as possible. Have a good day. 

Customer: Thank you so much, goodbye for now. 


(pp. 18-19) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

road to Everest (p. 148) 

Voir corrigé à la page 194 du manuel. 

ExAm pApEr 

Window seats (p. 149) 


This feature article dated May 5th 2007, from Newsweek, 

deals with the surprising new phenomenon of websites 

creating realistic dream holidays, so much so that 

people are tempted to substitute real vacations for 

virtual ones. What are the advantages and drawbacks 

of travelling without leaving your seat? 

First of all, this kind of travel is not only free in 

terms of cost, but free in terms of time. You can travel 

to the most exotic and enticing beach resort, walk 

through the streets of Hollywood, and see Rome in 

just one day. With romance, splendid scenery, and a 

real change, what more could travellers ask for? 

Secondly, cyber travel does not have all the drawbacks 

traditional travel has. For example, it does not pollute 

the environment, or cause jet lag, or make you queue 

up. The advantages are obvious, which is why 5 

million users of the Second Life game are online. 

Finally, many elements of travel have been 

reproduced, from travel agencies to tour guides, 

creating veritable “worlds” for the online visitor. Even 

the cultural aspect of travel has been included in this 

“continent,” as Second Life considers itself to be. But 

will the virtual replace the real? Time will tell. (202 

words) 



Un nombre croissant d’entrepreneurs, à l’affût de 

la modernité, parient que la réalité virtuelle pourrait 

vite devenir la destination touristique la plus en 

vogue de toutes. En automne dernier, le journaliste 

italien, Mario Gerosa, spécialisé dans le tourisme, 

a lancé Synthravels (synthravels.com), la première 

agence de voyage de réalité virtuelle, qui propose 


des guides branchés et personnalisés pour à peu 

près 30 mondes en ligne, y compris World of Warcraft 

et Matrix Online. Dès lors, le phénomène de guides 

touristiques en ligne a généré beaucoup de bruit 

dans l’espace cyber, avec des entreprises telles que 

SL Voyages et Circuits, Guides Touristiques SL et le 

Guide Circuits/Fun, qui, contrairement à Synthravels, 

se spécialisent chacune en un seul monde, et attirent 

toutes sortes de nouveaux clients. 




pages 150-151 

Un i t 15 buSi n e SS a n d etHicS 

Cette première double page vise à présenter rapidement deux sujets d’actualité posant des problèmes 

éthiques. Il s’agit des OGM et du clonage des animaux en vue de manger leur viande ou de boire leur 

lait. Ces deux sujets font souvent l’objet d’articles dans les journaux ou de reportages à la télévision, 

ce qui facilitera certainement la compréhension et le discours des étudiants. 

Il sera aussi très simple de leur donner une petite recherche à faire sur Internet sur ces sujets, peut-être 

par groupes et en leur donnant des mots clés à l’avance afin de les orienter un peu. 

Ils pourraient aussi faire par groupes, une petite revue de presse bilingue sur chacun de ces sujets 

et la mettre à la disposition de la classe. 

Les documents 1 et 3 peuvent être donnés à préparer à 

la maison avant de les aborder en classe. 

Tous feront l’objet d’une étude à l’oral en cours qui ne 

doit pas être trop longue. 

1. The growing of gmos 

Si ce document n’a pas été donné à préparer à la maison, 

il faudra leur laisser quelques minutes pour le découvrir 

et bien observer les chiffres et leur signification. 

Les OGM sont un sujet très important en Europe qui ont 

fait débat dès leur apparition, alors qu’aux États-Unis, 

leur culture n’a jamais suscité autant d’émotion dans 

la population. 

Bien leur faire remarquer l’appellation de ces cultures en 

anglais en les renvoyant au tableau de vocabulaire de 

la page 151. Cela peut aussi être l’occasion de revoir les 

principaux acronymes et la différence entre le français et 

l’anglais dans l’ordre des lettres. 

La nouveauté dans la dernière décennie, c’est l ‘extension 

de ces cultures à différents pays du monde. 

Commencer par bien leur faire remarquer la période en 

question et leur demander pourquoi elle est importante 

(période clé pour l’augmentation de la quantité et de la 

zone géographique). 

Autre source d’information possible : un livre récemment 

paru, intitulé : Le monde selon Monsanto de Marie- 

Monique Robin chez Arte Editions. 

1. The main trend in the amount of cultivation of 

GM crops is clearly up, even skyrocketing between 

1996 and 2006. Within ten years, these crops have 

increased by almost 100% (from 2 million hectares 

to 98 million). This increase was especially sharp from 

1999 and has been very regular since. 

Cette question peut être l’occasion de revoir les verbes 

ou adverbes décrivant des augmentations ( ou des baisses) 

plus ou moins importantes. 

2. If we look at the table “Global Area” we can see 

that these cultures have been extended to many 

countries. The first one on the list is of course the 

first country where these crops were grown, i.e., the 

USA. But today, many others have invested money, 

time and land into these new products, especially in 

Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. These 

countries have certainly been influenced by their big 

neighbour, the US which has been present in Latin 

America for a long time. The same can be said of 

Canada. But even China has started cultivating them. 

In each of these countries, the increase has been 

exponential (except in China and in Paraguay). It is 

also interesting to notice that Europe is not mentioned 

at all in the table. This is because Europe is being 

much warier about these new crops. They want to 

test them first then wait and see if they are not too 

dangerous for the population to eat. 

3. In France, the cultivation of these crops is still 

regulated, although recently a new law was partly 

voted to deregulate their cultivation (February 

2008). 

The GMO lobbies are very strong and they try to 

influence governments into making it easier for them 

to implant themselves in Europe. 

In France these crops cannot be grown out in the 

open, their areas are very restricted and under 

surveillance. Some GM seeds are prohibited, for 

example the MON810 corn. 

Unit 15 – Business and ethics 111

Voici un extrait d’un historique sur les OGM en France et 

en Europe tiré d’un site appelé www.ogm.org. Il s’agit 

de la synthèse élaborée par le groupe sur les OGM du 

Grenelle de l’environnement. 

Synthèse des recommandations élaborées 

par les membres de l’intergroupe OGM 

Les connaissances et la recherche publique sur les 

incidences des manipulations génétiques doivent 

être renforcées (consensus), notamment en matière 

d’évaluation environnementale et sanitaire de chaque 

OGM< (consensus), ainsi que des moyens d’appréciation 

plus générale, et notamment agronomique, 

sociale et économique, de l’intérêt de chaque 

OGM accord majoritaire). Une ligne pérenne et 

importante doit être réservée à ce sujet à l’Agence 

nationale de la recherche pour les 10 prochaines années, 

nonobstant la recherche accrue sur les autres 

parcours de culture non débattus. 

Une haute autorité unique donnant des avis au gouvernement 

sur chaque OGM doit être mise en place 

(concensus). Elle doit être équipée d’une expertise 

scientifique et pluridisciplinaire, d’une expertise citoyenne 

et de moyens propres, et est chargée de 

coordonner l’évaluation préalable à l’autorisation 

de dissémination (concensus ainsi que la surveillance 

des effets débat sur l’articulation ou l’indépendance de 

l’évaluation et de la surveillance). Elle travaille dans la 

transparence (concensus). Elle ne se substitue pas à 

l’échelon politique qui reste celui de la décision. 

Avant la fin du printemps 2008, l’adoption d’une 

loi traitant des OGM (consensus) créant la haute 

autorité (consensus) et déclinant en particulier les 

principes du libre choix de produire et de consommer 

(consensus) avec ou sans OGM (consensus mais 

débat sur les seuils), du pollueur-payeur (consensus) 

et de la responsabilité (pas de consensus sur les déclinaisons 

pratiques), de non-brevetabilité du vivant 

(consensus sur la non brevetabilité du génome), de 

transparence et de participation citoyenne (consensus), 

d’évaluation préalable et continue de chaque 

OGM (consensus), sur les critères environnementaux 

et sanitaires (consensus), et du développement durable 

(consensuel). 

Par ailleurs, les fortes attentes pour des discussions 

de fond sur l’intérêt sociétal et la justification des 

innovations biotechnologiques doivent trouver une 

arène instituée d’expression et de dialogue. 

Enfin, le groupe s’est entendu sur le besoin d’avancer 

dans la consolidation d’une politique nationale 

sur le gène et les ressources génétiques, à explorer 

par exemple à l’occasion d’un « Sommet international 

ou européen du gène ». 

112 Unit 15 – Business and ethics 

4. Ici deux opinions peuvent être développées par les 

étudiants mais elles doivent être argumentées. 

Yes, we are right: it is always necessary to be very 

cautious with new cultures and products that we are 

all going to eat, sooner or later. More time is needed 

to determine if these crops are safe or not. We must try 

to separate the GM cultures from the rest. We must be 

careful with these multinationals (such as Monsanto 

and others) because they might be looking for profits 

and not considering people’s well-being. Moreover, 

they make the farmers totally dependent on them 

because they can’t get their seeds from anybody else, 

and they have to buy new ones every year. 

No, we are wrong: we should go ahead and have 

new products that could enable farmers to feed the 

world more easily. 

These crops are not really different from the previous 

ones. It’s only a new growing technique that doesn’t 

affect people’s health. 

They allow the use of less pesticide because they are 

made resistant to it. 

They are better crops because they are protected 

from diseases that would otherwise kill them. 

Some of these crops could be made resistant to 

draught and thus grown in desert conditions. 

5. The latest decision has been to keep on controlling 

the implantation of these crops and to totally prohibit 

certain types of GM plants such as the MON810 corn. 

Some crops containing a very small percentage of GM 

plants will still be considered as non GM. 

2. Soya king changes face 

of pampas 

Cet article est enregistré. Il peut faire l’objet d’une simple 

étude en classe ou d’une compréhension orale notée, 

servant d’entraînement à l’épreuve d’oral du BTS. 

On peut recommander la lecture en plus, d’un article du 

Monde du 19 septembre 2007 intitulé : « L’Amazonie 

asphyxiée par le soja » qui se passe au Brésil mais qui 

décrit bien le même phénomène que celui de l’article 

enregistré. 

Avant la première écoute, bien faire remarquer le titre et 

essayer de leur faire dire de quoi il va s’agir et où cela 

doit se passer. Bien leur faire lire les notes de vocabulaire 

également. 

Faire écouter l’article deux fois avant de les faire répondre 

aux questions posées. 

1. The action of this text is set in Argentina (mention 

of the country itself and of the capital city: Buenos 

Aires) and the main character is called Manuel Santos 

Uribelarrea. 



He is the founder and president of a big agricultural 

company, MSU whose activity is based on the 

growing of GM soya. Manuel Santos is what is called 

a soya baron. 

His company owns huge farmlands in Argentina and 

is extending abroad (Brazil and possibly Ukraine). It 

can grow and reap thousands of acres thanks to its 

fleet of high-technology vehicles. 

2. In the text, GM soya crops are said to be very 

efficient at feeding the world; it is an element of 

sustainable development that helped Argentina to 

overcome its terrible financial crisis of 2001 since soya 

is now its most valuable export. 

3. The two main drawbacks are the destruction of 

the forest, leaving only smoke and ashes. It is even 

menacing entire areas of forest that could disappear 

as early as 2010. These crops also force rural people 

to leave the countryside and to go cities where many 

of them live in slums. 

Other possible drawbacks: danger of eating this kind 

of soya; it could mix with other non-GM cultures; it 

will destroy an ancestral social network and cause an 

imbalance between the countryside and urban areas; 

the seed suppliers control everything making farmers 

entirely dependent on them. 

4. The emerging society is typical of modern 

industrialized countries in the sense that agriculture is 

put into the hands of big companies and is no longer 

in those of small producers. These companies end up 

controlling all the agricultural production. 

On the other hand, although society becomes more 

and more urbanized, in the cities not everyone is 

affluent. On the contrary, many people are extremely 

poor and totally lost in this “new world”. The gap 

between the rich and the poor widens, which is 

almost typical of underdeveloped societies. 

We can say it is a society based on money and profitmaking, 

reserved to a very small minority of people 

while the rest of the population will be taken hostage 

by these big companies, dependent on big trusts like 

Monsanto for their country’s prosperity. But how long 

will it last? 

3. We should farm cloned animals 

Les nouvelles bio technologies vont avoir un effet direct 

sur la vie quotidienne de chacun et vont sans aucun 

doute déclencher des débats dans la société, surtout la 

société européenne, toujours plus rétive à adopter ces 

nouveautés sans broncher. 

Il serait bon de faire chercher aux étudiants ce qu’est 

un clonage d’animal, en quoi cela consiste exactement, 

en français peut-être dans un premier temps, puis lors 

de l’explication en français en classe par les étudiants, 

marquer au tableau les mots clés et leurs correspondances 

en anglais. On peut trouver des schémas sur Internet 

qui expliquent assez bien le processus utilisé. 


The GM crops have saved Argentina’s economy – but 

now threaten the survival of its forests. 

The ambition of Manuel Santos Uribelarrea is written 

in big black letters on the sides of machines reaping 

the plains of South America: MSU. 

His company owns more than 100,000 hectares of 

farmland in Argentina and Uruguay, is expanding 

into Brazil and has plans for Ukraine. 

The empire, however, is controversial: it is based 

on soya. 

Speaking to the Observer, at Villa Canas, four hours 

west of Buenos Aires, the founder and president 

of MSU said his company’s drive for efficiency was 

helping to feed the world. “The environmentalists 

are extremists who want to leave everything as 

it is”, he said. “But soya is a great crop. It is an 

important part of sustainable development. We are 

contributing to Argentina and a better world”. 

The company, which concentrates on producing 

and leaves the processing to others, considers itself 

one of the top five growers in Argentina. Soya is now 

by far the country’s most valuable export (before it 

was cattle and grain) and a driver in Argentina’s 

recovery from the 2001 economic crash. 

Food for the world, dashing innovators, national 

economic saviours, there is some truth to that. There 

is, however, a dark side to many soya barons. 

“They are destroying our forests. These large 

companies leave nothing but smoke and ashes”, 

said Oswaldo Maldonado, 48, who lives in a rural 

corner of Chaco, in northern Argentina. 

If deforestation continues at its present rate, 

environmentalists predict that the lower forest 

ranges of the Yungas will disappear by 2010. 

As soya advances, the rural population retreats to 

cities. In Chaco province, three in every four people 

now live in urban areas, many in slums. 

Out in the field, however, the air is thick with dust 

from harvesting. Santos gazed with almost childlike 

delight at the fleet of vehicles traversing the terrain. 

“Look at them. Beautiful”. 

The Observer, June 17th, 2007, 

by Rory Carroll and Oliver Balch. 

1. The main topic of this article is the cloning of farm 

animals such as cows or pigs to permit large-scale 

commercialisation of their meat or their milk. 


2. A cloned animal is an exact copy of the one used 

for cloning. A cloned animal hasn’t been bred in 

the standard sexual way with a mother and a father 

and thus with a combination of genes that would 

be entirely left to “chance”. A cloned animal is manmade 

and all the genes come from the same animal, 

so chance is no longer involved. 

Man first takes a regular cow’s egg and then removes 

all of its chromosomes containing all the animal’s 

genes. These chromosomes are replaced with 

chromosomes taken from a skin cell belonging to the 

adult animal to be cloned. Then, when the egg starts 

dividing into an embryo, it is put into a surrogate 

mother cow. 

3. PROS: some people (such as the creator of the 

first cloned sheep) claim that the meat and milk 

coming from these cloned animals are identical to the 

standard products. They even think that mentioning 

the origin of these products on the labels, for the 

consumer’s information, is not necessary. 

Moreover, they say that these animals could also be 

bigger, leaner and faster growing, therefore more 

profitable, and they could also produce more milk 

than normal because you can select the animals that 

can naturally produce more milk than others. 

On pourrait aussi essayer de faire trouver d’autres 

avantages, comme par exemple de manipuler les gènes 

des animaux clonés pour qu’ils deviennent résistants à 

certaines maladies. De plus les fermiers n’auraient plus 

besoin de bourrer ces animaux d’antibiotiques comme 

ils le font souvent pour en perdre le moins possible. Ou 

on pourrait aussi envisager de protéger les hommes 

de maladies animales comme la maladie de la vache 

folle. 

CONS: more are born with abnormalities (they often 

resemble animals born prematurely. Their lungs are 

not fully developed, or their hearts don’t work well, 

or their livers are full of fat. As they age, some clones 

grow hugely overweight and become bloated). 

Moreover, many cloned animals are still born. 

4. Other possible drawbacks: cloning causes harm 

to the animals involved as it is an incredibly invasive 

surgical procedure. The surrogate mothers could 

have difficulties delivering an abnormal animal or one 

that is too fat, and many more animals have health 

problems than when born naturally. 

Eating cloned meat is a thought that just doesn’t 

sit right with some people who are inexplicably 

disgusted at the idea of eating these cloned animals. 

Many don’t like the idea of a world where identical 

animals are produced like food pellets in a factory. 


5. To refuse to label these products as coming from a 

cloned animal would be totally unethical. Consumers 

have the right to know about the real origin of what 

they eat and drink. 

6. Finally, some people might think that it could 

pave the way for human cloning as well. For the 

moment the cloning technique is not totally effective 

but if cloned animals are produced on a much larger 

scale, the technique would be perfected and thus be 

perfectly adaptable to human beings. 

REPORTING 

Cet exercice est destiné à être donné en sujet d’exposé 

à quelques élèves de la classe qui le présenteront alors 

à l’oral devant leurs camarades mais il peut aussi être 

donné en devoir à la maison, puis ramassé et noté. 

Les étudiants se serviront des choses dites en classe 

durant l’étude des trois documents précédents et ils 

pourront faire quelques recherches supplémentaires 

sur d’autres thèmes touchant à la sécurité alimentaire 

comme les régulations sur les importations d’aliments 

d’autres pays, y compris de certains pays européens, 

ou sur les dangers possibles des OGM selon certains 

scientifiques. 

In America, people have been eating GM food for 

quite a while now, and there has been very little 

protest or debate. Now, a law has been passed to 

allow the consumption of meat and milk coming from 

cloned animals. 

In Europe, governments are not doing things that fast 

because as a rule, people are rebellious and much 

warier about these things than in America. 

Moreover for many Europeans, food is an important 

issue that is not to be taken lightly. 

Therefore Europe and its different members on their 

own have established strict regulations concerning 

what ends up on people’s plates. 

However, this way of apprehending things might be 

reversed soon because of the pressure put by some 

lobbies like the GM ones. In France, they have lately 

put real pressure on the authorities in order to inflect 

the law that was examined in Parliament. This law 

was very strict and they have managed to make it 

more flexible in their interests. 

These lobbies also try to portray opponents to GM 

crops as backward, irrational and uninformed people 

who simply won’t see all the advantages linked to this 

new way of producing food. 

However, these people justify their stance in a very 

simple way: they say that unlike dangerous toys or 

baby car seats, with GM food there is no product 

recall. Once these gene-altered foods are released 

into the environment, there is no way of getting them 



back or of predicting their effect. So if something goes 

wrong in the manipulation of genes, it will go terribly 

wrong and will certainly have terrible consequences 

on people’s health. 

There are already examples of gene foods that have 

gone horribly wrong: the genetically engineered 

super salmon. It grows bigger, faster, but it is also 

deformed. More importantly, there is the case of the 

milk produced by cows injected with the growth 

hormone rBST. The cows do produce more milk but 

this milk contains more of a certain type of insulin 

which at elevated levels can increase the likelihood of 

cancer in humans. 

Finally, some modified genes in plants can transfer 

themselves to non-GM plants in the neighbouring 

fields. So, eventually, there will be no more non-GM 

or organic plants. 

Another worry in Europe could come from some 

food imports, from China for example whose seafood 

exports could well spread risks all over. 

Many of these imports are contaminated with 

carcinogens and excessive antibiotic residues. 

Numbers of fish farms see their waters polluted by 

industrial chemicals so that the fish farmers are forced 

to rely on antibiotic drugs to keep their fish alive. 

Sometimes they want to boost their production and 

they raise too many fish in the same pond making it 

easier for diseases to spread quickly and frequently. 

Their solution is not to take some fish away but to use 

more drugs and antibiotics. 

These residues can, of course, be harmful to 

consumers. (See an article published in The New York 

Times on the 14 th July 2007.) 

As a conclusion, we can say that there are indeed 

reasons to be worried about the food we buy and eat 

in Europe. If, in the future, regulations are not as tight 

as they are now more risk will spread. 

People should ask and campaign for safe, wholesome 

and naturally produced food, and encourage crop 

diversity. Animals should be reared humanely and the 

environment cared for. 

The sweatshop high-street 

(pp. 152-153) 

Cette page présente le premier long texte qui aborde un 

aspect important du thème de l’unité. 

Le texte peut être donné à lire à la maison en préparation 

au cours. Dans ce cas on peut aussi demander aux 

étudiants de faire les premières questions de compréhension 

(First steps) à la maison. Puis le texte peut être 

étudié à l’oral en classe ce qui n’empêche pas d’envoyer 

des élèves au tableau sur certaines questions précises, 

parfois même deux élèves sur la même question pour 

pouvoir comparer leurs réponses et enrichir le cours. 

Ce texte peut également être donné en devoir sur table, 

ou en préparation à l’oral. Il est d’ailleurs enregistré et 

peut donc être utilisé en compréhension orale. 

Les trois questions du First steps permettent à l’étudiant 

de bien cerner le sujet principal du document en faisant 

intervenir différentes approches : un visuel, une analyse 

de mots, une interprétation. 

Ce thème classique « tombe » très souvent à l’examen, 

il est donc essentiel que les étudiants l’aient abordé au 

moins une fois dans leurs deux années de préparation. 

Il peut être l’occasion de revoir le vocabulaire des vêtements, 

de l’exploitation des ouvriers, des conditions de 

vie dans ces pays du tiers monde et de ce qu’y font les 

pays européens ou les États-Unis. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. Bien faire remarquer que le document se compose 

d’un texte mais aussi d’une illustration qui a toute sa 

place ici car elle peut permettre de lancer le sujet, 

de reprendre le vocabulaire de l’esclavage en lui 

rajoutant l’adjectif « modern », de revoir les termes sur 

la longueur des journées, les trois huit et le manque 

de règles sur la durée du travail. 

On peut lancer la question : When was it like that in 

Europe? 

On peut aussi leur faire imaginer pourquoi ces gens 

sont arrivés là, ce qu’ils faisaient avant, d’où ils viennent, 

ce qu’ils font quand ils ne travaillent pas, quel 

avenir ils peuvent avoir, quel avenir ils peuvent espérer 

pour leurs propres enfants. 

En ce qui concerne les marques, on peut penser à 

des marques très connues dans le monde occidental 

et faire parler les élèves sur ce qu’ils savent de ces 

marques, de leur façon de faire fabriquer leurs produits 

( Nike, adidas..) 

Puis, on peut demander aux élèves de rapidement 

scanner l’article pour y trouver des noms de marques 

connues, les présenter rapidement ainsi que le type 

de produits vendus dans leurs magasins. 

2. This article was published in The Guardian (a British 

daily), on the 3 rd September 2007. This newspaper is 

supposed to be leftwing, politically speaking, so it is 

no wonder that this kind of subject is regularly dealt 

with in this newspaper. Denouncing unfairness, the 

exploitation of workers is part of its original mission. 

The countries involved are Britain on the one hand, 

where big brands are selling clothes that are made 

in India where a great part of the population is still 

very poor. 


3. The main problem discussed in this article is the 

exploitation of Indian workers in garment factories 

that mostly work for Britain or famous European 

and American brands such as H&M, Marks and 

Spencer and Gap. Those factories are run by Indian 

intermediaries (Texport Overseas, Gokalkas Export) 

whose only aim is to satisfy their Western clients and 

to make profits. 

4. A sweatshop is a kind of factory where working 

rules concerning the working hours and working 

conditions are not respected. In these places, people 

are usually overworked, the ventilation is bad and 

so are the salaries. Very often, young women and 

children are also employed in these places. 

“highstreet retailers” are brands that sell their goods 

on the high street of a town, therefore they are famous, 

popular and widespread everywhere in the country. 

5. Brands involved: Marks & Spencer, Mothercare 

and H&M are supplied by Gokalkas Exports. Gap and 

Matalan are supplied by Texport Overseas. 

MOVING ON 

1. Here are what the following numbers represent in 

the text: 

13: 13 pence, the hourly salary earned by clothes 

makers in India. 

9: 9 hours: number of hours worked per day at 

Gokalkas Export. 

1.13: £1.13: daily wage paid for a 9-hour working 

day. 

48: number of hours worked by many clothes 

workers. 

15: number of workers who collapsed per day at a 

factory working for H&M. 

12: number of extra hours allowed per week for each 

worker by the ETI code. 

2.50: £2.50: minimum living wage in Bangalore. 

2. True or false. 

a. True. 0.20 euros is the equivalent of 13 pence, and 

£1.13 is roughly 2 euros. 

b. False. They usually work 48 hours a week, which 

can be extended to 60 hours at the most, however, if 

they are exploited, some of them must work twice as 

long as a French worker. 

c. True. “they were often made to work extra hours 

without pay to meet unattainable production targets.” 

(l. 15) 

d. False. “the mostly female workforce was harassed 

and bullied by male production managers and 

supervisors.” (l. 16) 


e. True. “she said up to 15 workers a day collapsed 

and had to be given medical attention.” (l. 19) 

3. 

ETI Code 

Should not often be 

required to work more than 

48 hours a week. 

Overtime should not exceed 

12 hours per week. 

Overtime should be 

voluntary. 

How it is violated 

in these factories 

They claimed they were 

regularly forced to work 

overtime. 

Between 6 and 18 hours per 

week. 

They were forced to work 

overtime. 

4. Yes, there is some sort of control, usually done 

by organizations specialized in people’s rights. For 

example, there is “Civiped” which is an Indian 

workers’ rights group, whose director is interviewed 

in the article. In addition, some trade unions make 

inquiries and reports such as the Garment and Textile 

workers’ union who tried to estimate the minimum 

living wage in Bangalore. 

Some NGOs have also certainly made inquiries in the 

working conditions of people in the Third world. 

We could imagine the Indian State investigating the 

working conditions in some Indian factories as well as 

the foreign and Western firms for whom the garments 

are made. It would be in their interest to check on 

these conditions to keep a decent image among their 

Western clients. 

5. These different brands could first issue public 

statements through their spokesmen saying that they 

have heard of the problem and that they take it very 

seriously. 

They could also initiate audits of all suppliers’ premises 

and could re-audit them at random at another 

moment to make sure they are complying with the 

regulations. 

Another solution is to put pressure on their suppliers 

to pay a minimum or decent wage to their workers. 

They could lead investigations in the allegations of 

harassment and abuse. 

Finally, they should regularly communicate on their 

websites for example, their different initiatives and 

actions to improve the working conditions of the 

workers who make their products. 

6. C’est une question personnelle ici ; il serait bon de 

leur laisser un peu de temps pour réfléchir à ce qu’ils 

peuvent dire concernant leurs réactions possibles. 

On pourrait aussi envisager de faire une liste au tableau 

de toutes les réactions possibles. 

a. your reaction: 

– Upset, extremely shocked, devastated. 

– Will immediately boycott these brands. 



– Will check on their websites if they have something 

on them proving that they care about these workers, 

if they do something for them, if they audit these 

factories. 

– We, as individuals can do nothing really and 

wherever we buy our clothes we will never be sure 

of the conditions in which they have been made. 

Moreover we can’t usually spend too much on 

clothes. 

– It’s for the official organizations and the State to 

put on the pressure, to take measures to stop these 

practices. 

b. Five ways to improve the situation: 

– Start a blog on the subject and share information 

with others. 

– Personally boycott these brands and spread the 

message around. 

– Sign petitions on the Internet. 

– Give money to organizations dealing with these 

problems, like Amnesty International for example. 

– Check how these brands behave towards their 

workers before buying their clothes. 

c. In the past, such a thing was totally impossible 

because there was absolutely no link between 

customers and these different brands enabling any 

sort of efficient action, but today, things are slightly 

different because of the emergence of the Internet. 

With it, people can find information very quickly and 

very easily and this information can be shared all over 

the world in one click. Therefore, big brands tend to 

pay more attention to their ethical image because 

they can lose a lot very quickly if they choose to 

ignore the problem. 

7. Yes, the British government could take some 

action, forcing firms to audit their supplier at least 

once a year, or fix a minimum wage or compel these 

brands to make sure that the ETI code is respected 

for example. Otherwise, they could be fined or these 

companies could be sued. 

8. However things are not simple in this matter 

because if we stop any sort of trade or cooperation 

with these countries and suppliers, these workers 

could be even worse off, having no job, living even 

more poorly in the countryside or as hobos in the big 

cities’ slums. 

Thanks to these factories, the poorer countries can 

develop and maybe some of these people’s children 

will get a better life one day. 

However, controls must be enforced and pressure 

must be exerted all the time to force the people in 

charge to at least verify that a minimum number of 

rules are respected. 

9. TRANSLATE 

Les employés des usines dont les propriétaires sont 

des exportateurs qui fournissent Gap et Matalan, 

ont déclaré qu’on les obligeaient souvent à faire des 

heures supplémentaires, sans être payés plus afin 

d’atteindre des visées de productions totalement 

impossibles. 

Ils ont déclaré que la grande majorité des femmes qui 

compose la main d’œuvre était harcelée et maltraitée 

physiquement par des directeurs et contremaîtres 

hommes, tout cela parce qu’elles ne parvenaient pas 

à atteindre les buts fixés. 

WRITING 

In February 2007, Amu was a 26-year-old young 

woman, full of life and happy to have finally found a 

regular job at Triangle Apparels, a big factory which 

supplied clothes to two big English chain stores. She 

would finally be able to bring home some money so 

that her two children could go to school longer than 

she had. 

However, her happiness was very short-lived because 

she was given no time to adapt to her task, and as 

soon as the first day arrived where she didn’t meet 

the targets she got badly shouted at. She promised 

she would do better the day after, but she kept being 

harassed and verbally sexually abused for twenty 

days because she couldn’t achieve those impossible 

targets. 

Barely three weeks after she was hired, Jagadamba, her 

mother received the terrible news that her daughter 

had hanged herself in the toilets of the factory. 

Now she looks after her two grandchildren, two boys 

of 8 and 6, and she is very angry because nobody did 

anything for Amu who complained about the bad 

treatment. 

She says she would like to do something to prove her 

daughter committed suicide because of her working 

conditions but her employer denies every allegation 

and she says they are too poor to hire a lawyer to take 

up their case and sue this big company. 

What can a poor Indian worker do against these 

powerful people? (241 mots) 

Ce texte est beaucoup plus long que celui demandé dans 

l’exercice, mais on peut toujours raccourcir le début qui 

brode un peu sur l’histoire de cette jeune femme. Il faudra 

garder la deuxième moitié. 


1. Two – of – major – into – factory – workers – who 

– clothes – four – so – low – sometimes – to – on – 

government – food. 


2. Script de l’enregistrement 

launched – supply – inquiries – exceed – voluntary – 

harassed – bullied. 

3. a. high street retailers 

b. allegations 

c. wage 

d. overtime 

e. exporter 

f. supplier 

4. Irregular verb forms 

Paid: to pay / paid / paid / payer 

Were: to be / was-were / been / être 

Told: to tell / told / told / dire, raconter 

Thrown: to throw / threw / thrown / lancer, jeter 

Said: to say / said / said / dire 

Given: to give / gave / given / donner 

5. Six passive forms among the nine given here: 

b. Are being paid 

c. Were paid similar wages 

d. (were) regularly forced to work overtime 

e. workers shall not regularly be required to work 

f. they were often made to work extra hours 

g. the female workforce was harassed and bullied by 

male production managers 

h. clothes were thrown at her face 

i. they had to be given medical attention 

j. all they want is to be treated as human beings 

6. a. Although the textile workers’ union stated that 

a minimum living wage in Bangalore should be £2.50 

a day, it is always less than that. 

b. As long as they don’t do more than 12 hours, they 

can work extra hours. 

c. In spite of some retailers’ efforts to check the 

working conditions in their Indian factories, there are 

still many problems. 

7. a. Un travailleur (ouvrier) a accusé des gardes / des 

hommes de la sécurité de faire le tour des toilettes et 

de harceler les femmes qui s’y trouvaient pour qu’elles 

retournent travailler. 

b. L’exploitations de travailleurs dans des pays en voie 

de développement comme l’Inde est un phénomène 

très courant. 

c. De nombreuses grandes marques ont déclaré que 

de telles méthodes étaient inacceptables et elles ont 

ajouté qu’elles prendraient des mesures afin d’assurer 

de meilleures conditions de travail. 


8. a. The Guardian made (/led) an investigation on 

the salaries (/wages) and the working conditions in 

Bangalore, India. 

b. This investigation revealed terrible conditions as (/ 

similar to) those described in Dickens’s novels. 

c. Globalization doesn’t have only good aspects. 

Many poor workers need to be officially protected (/ 

need to be protected by official authorities). 


(pp. 154-157) 

1. presenting a project 

(pp. 154-155) 

Pour cette double page d’activités, il est recommandé 

soit de faire une introduction générale sur l’Afrique du 

Sud en cours, le drapeau et ses symboles, la géographie 

générale, un rapide compte rendu historique, soit on 

peut donner ces recherches à faire aux étudiants chez 

eux ou en cours avant de faire les activités demandées. 

Il est aussi fortement recommandé de leur dire d’aller 

sur le site de Waitrose pour voir de quelle sorte de 

magasin il s’agit et pour regarder de plus près les pages 

consacrées au projet de commerce équitable au travers 

de leur fondation. 

On peut aussi faire un brainstorming de vocabulaire sur 

la notion de commerce équitable afin de bien connaître 

les mots essentiels sur le sujet. 

YOUR TASK 

Leur laisser du temps pour découvrir les documents s’ils 

n’avaient pas à le faire en travail à la maison. 

Travailler avec toute la classe sur les différents thèmes à 

aborder sur les transparents. 

Une fois que la liste des transparents et de leur contenu 

est faite, diviser la classe en autant de groupes qu’il y a 

de transparents à faire et les faire travailler dessus. 

2. Liste possible de transparents 

a. Le drapeau de l’Afrique du sud et son interprétation ; 

insister sur le symbole de l’agriculture, de la richesse 

de la nature car cette nature et l’agriculture seront au 

centre du projet. 

History and meaning of the flag 

This became the first flag of a united South Africa 

on 27 April 1994, at the same time that South 

Africa held its first democratic elections and Nelson 

Mandela became President. 



Red, white and blue are common in historical flags 

of South Africa, including colonial flags of Britain 

and Holland, while green, black and gold were often 

colours of the African people (green for nature and 

agriculture, black for the black population, yellow 

for gold). Combinations of the colours can be 

interpreted differently according to the people. 

The main design of the flag, the green ‘Y’ starting at 

the flag post and coming together in the centre of 

the flag, can be seen as the coming together of the 

different people of South Africa, who then take the 

road ahead together. 

b. La géographie de l’Afrique du sud, les différentes 

grandes villes etc. Leur faire faire la différence entre 

« South Africa » et « the south of Africa » et essayer de 

placer certaines des plantations mentionnées dans le 

projet de commerce équitable avec Waitrose. 

c. Un court résumé de l’histoire du pays et surtout de 

l’Apartheid, de son abolition et une présentation de 

l’Afrique du Sud d’aujourd’hui et de ses problèmes. 

d. Une présentation de la Fondation Waitrose : voir 

document donné pages 154 et 155 et aller sur le site. 

e. Un transparent sur les différents produits agricoles 

concernés par ce projet : voir tous les textes donnés et 

le site internet. 

f. Quelques chiffres concernant le projet et ce que 

l’on fait pour les gens : voir les textes donnés et le site 

internet. 

g. L’avenir du projet : les possibles nouveaux produits, 

les projets supplémentaires, l’achat de terre pour les 

ouvriers noirs, une conclusion du directeur général 

voir les textes donnés et en particulier celui du haut 

de la page155. 

ACTING OUT 

The people present for the meeting 

– the man or woman in charge of the South African 

project at Waitrose (several persons can be chosen to 

play this part because much will be said by him/her). 

– a few British customers who have been invited to 

the meeting with the South African workers (between 

5 and 8). Find some British names. 

– a few South African workers (between 4 and 6). 

Find a few South African names in the texts and on 

the Internet. 

The meeting 

The Waitrose person welcomes and introduces the 

British customers and the South African workers. 

Casual moments with tea, coffee and biscuits. 

Then the Waitrose person explains the agenda of the 

day. 

a. Presentation of the whole project with the help 

of the overhead transparencies devised earlier by the 

Waitrose person (several students can play this role, 

maybe one per transparency). 

b. Short speech by the South African guests (thanks, 

happy to be here, how the project has changed their 

lives and the lives of all their community, presentation 

of small presents…). 

c. Question time for the British customers and 

answer from the Waitrose person or the South African 

guests. 

d. Brainstorming by everybody for new ideas to 

continue developing the project in the months to 

come. 

e. Then the Waitrose person could announce a short 

film shot in South Africa when he/she was there, and 

then lunch. 

Document 3 : A foundation for the future 


Katco is just one of twenty-four farms now being 

assisted by the Waitrose Foundation – a project 

established by Waitrose and its supply chain partners 

to play a direct role in the black empowerment 

process in South Africa. 

Speak to anybody at Katco, a citrus growing 

cooperative employing 750 people in the small 

town of Fort Beaufort, and it becomes clear that 

lives are changing as a result. 

Historically, the legacy of apartheid left black 

farm workers with the least access to education 

and training. And without skills, there was no work 

outside the citrus season in Fort Beaufort. Workers 

would simply wait for the next season to arrive. 

Now, using funding from the Waitrose Foundation, 

workers are learning skills that will support them 

and their families outside the citrus growing 

season; Women are learning how to sew overalls, 

and mastering the intricate craft of bead working 

while the men are being taught how to make belts, 

bags and sandals. This training is run in tandem 

with classes in literacy and numeracy to help farm 

workers develop the skills needed to run businesses 

and manage their finances. 

Clare Wasdell, the farm’s inspirational finance 

manager, who has helped drive the Waitrose 

Foundation programme forward at Katco said: 

“Imagine what it was like. You worked for six months 

of the year, then you sat at home and you couldn’t 

even get shoes for your kids.” 

Now she talks with excitement about what has 

already been accomplished. The women have a full 

order book for their overalls, and two young men on 

the farm are already looking to establish their own 

leather work business. 


“We have come quite a long way in two years,” she 

said. “This has given them a sense of achievement - 

they are proud of what they do.” 

Behind the new found confidence, there are still 

many challenges facing the workforce here. In the 

Eastern Cape HIV affects more than a quarter of 

the population and many of the farm workers have 

sick relatives. Heavy drinking and marijuana use 

are prevalent. But despite the challenges there is 

still a sense of optimism. “The project has given 

everybody involved hope.” says Clare. 

2. recalling defective items 

(pp. 156-157) 

Pour faire le premier exercice écrit, il est inutile de faire 

faire des recherches avant. 

Les étudiants disposent de toutes les informations nécessaires 

dans ces deux pages pour écrire cette lettre de 

rappel. Il suffira de les orienter un peu vers la fin pour 

leur faire inventer ou trouver un numéro de téléphone et 

une adresse mail que les clients pourraient contacter. 

Avant d’aborder ces deux pages, on peut, livre fermé, faire 

une introduction à l’oral sur Mattel, sur le vocabulaire du 

jouet et sur les choses à faire par une entreprise en cas de 

problème liés à la sécurité de certains de ses produits. 

Marquer des expressions utiles au tableau puis faire 

découvrir les deux pages du livre. 

Cet exercice peut être fait en classe par groupes de deux 

et on pourrait envisager que certains groupes lisent leur 

lettre et d’autres le communiqué destiné aux radios. 

Product recall 

A special safety message to our customers 

In August 2007, MATTEL announced the recall of 

some of its lines of toys. Many different toys are 

affected by this recall, all made at different times, so 

please, make sure you read this message carefully and 

check your house thoroughly for these articles. 

We, at MATTEL are primarily concerned with the 

safety of your children therefore we offer you a total 

refund for all the toys returned. 

It is important to note that some of these toys were 

made and distributed several years ago, so please do 

not hesitate to search the bottom of all the toy boxes 

in your homes. 

Here is the precise list of the toys we urge you to take 

back to a shop where you will be fully refunded on 

the spot. 


53 lines of Polly Pockets Ref. 

Nb: 2142445 - 2142498 

All the Batman toys 

All the Barbie toys 

The complete Doggie Day 

Care series 

All these toys, which were 

made between 2001 and 

earlier this year (2007), 

could have problems with 

loose magnets that could be 

swallowed. 

The Sarge cars These have been found to 

have impermissible lead 

levels and were made 

between May and July this 

year (2007). 

All other China-made toy 

cars 

They may also contain 

excessive levels of lead 

paint. 

So, don’t take any risk and bring them back to your 

nearest toy shop. 

Customers in the UK and Ireland can contact Mattel’s 

free Helpline on 01628 500 303 or email helplineuk@ 

mattel.com or visit the company’s UK website at http:// 

www.service.mattel.com/uk. 

So far, no injuries or accidents have been reported as 

a result of manufacturing problems, but we insist on 

remaining vigilant. 

We are deeply apologetic to anyone concerned. 

In closing, we want you to know that Mattel has 

rigorous procedures and we will continue to be alert 

and unforgiving in the enforcing of quality and safety, 

whatever the cost. 

We appreciate your cooperation, ongoing trust and 

support. 

Sincerely, 

John SMITH 

Communication Manager for Mattel UK 

ACTING OUT 

A radio communication 

Good evening, this is Radio 4! 

We now have a special announcement to make on 

behalf of Mattel, the toy company. 

This is an important safety notice. 

Mattel has learned of a potential safety issue affecting 

specific lines of toys. 

As a precautionary measure, Mattel has decided 

to recall and refund all these potentially faulty 

products. 

Some of them have got loose magnets that could be 

swallowed by children, and others contain too much 

lead paint. 

If you have purchased Polly Pockets or Batman toys, 

they could have magnet problems, if you bought 

Sarge cars or any other Mattel model car made in 

China, or Barbie and Doggie Day Care, they might 

contain too much lead in their paint. 



So check your toy boxes and return any of these items 

to your nearest toy shop where you will get a refund 

on the spot. 

Mattel apologizes to all the people concerned and 

expresses its deep and sincere concern for safety. 

Should you need further information please, call the 

following toll free number: 01628 500 303. 

You can also look at our website www.bbc.radio4.uk to 

find all the information needed on this product recall. 


(pp. 158-159) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

Counterfeit goods, 

a borderless problem (p. 158) 


ExAm pApEr 

How the big five banks 

are learning to reap rewards 

(p. 159) 


Les banques britanniques fournissent de gros efforts 

afin de prouver leur conscience écologique. 

Elles font même mieux que d’autres sociétés dans 

d’autres secteurs et cela leur permet de se démarquer 

les unes des autres. 

Ces efforts écologiques ne sont pas nouveaux, simplement 

on les a intensifiés et surtout rendus plus visibles 

par la publicité. 

Barclays a sorti sa Barclays Breathe Card qui reverse 

50 % des bénéfices à des actions visant à réduire les 

émissions de carbone. 

Mais c’est vraiment HSBC qui est reconnue comme la 

plus verte des banques : elle est à l’initiative du mouvement, 

établissant ainsi une véritable stratégie d’entreprise 

en direction d’associations et de ses clients. 

Cependant, quelques critiques s ‘élèvent à l’encontre 

de ces banques, disant que tout cela n’est que poudre 

aux yeux. 

Il convient donc de bien examiner l’ensemble des investissements 

de notre banque avant de conclure qu’elle 

est sincèrement pro-environnement. (147 mots) 


Les efforts des banques visant à améliorer leur bonne 

réputation écologique, n’est pas un phénomène 

récent. 

En fait de nombreuses banques ayant pignon sur rue 

ont établi des politiques environnementales depuis 

un certain nombre d’années. La différence, c’est 

qu’aujourd’hui elles intensifient leurs efforts. 

Ce changement est reflété par le fait que les cinq grandes 

banques mettent un point d’honneur à annoncer 

leurs efforts publiquement. 

Barclays a récemment sorti une carte Barclays baptisée 

« Respirons » et affirmé que 50 % des bénéfices induits 

par cette carte seraient redirigés vers des projets ayant 

pour but de réduire les émissions de carbone. 



pages 160-161 

Un i t 16 eu ro Pe 

Ce chapitre traite des enjeux auxquels l’union Européenne doit faire face si elle veut, comme le dit 

le Président Barroso, tenir ses engagements en matière d’emploi, de santé, de standards sociaux 

et environnementaux, de recherche, d’éducation, et de relations commerciales et sociales saines... 

Zooming on 

(pp. 160-163) 

1. The economic consequences 

of the rise of English 

1. The advantages are that, especially when meetings 

are at lower levels and when they gather a huge 

diversity of nationalities, the common language is 

English. It makes communication easier. 

2. The drawbacks are that it does not represent the 

European Union and it gives an unfair advantage 

to English-speakers, not only in terms of arguing 

in debates but also in terms of jobs, as they are 

much more likely to be employed in Brussels than 

non English-speaking applicants. Translators may also 

soon be out of a job if English is the only language 

used in debates. 

2. Europe’s baby shortage starts 

to move Eastwards 


We are in Prague’s main shopping street . 

Jelena and her two friends are pushing their 

newborns in strollers and getting emotional as they 

describe their desire for more children. 

“Having children here is expensive, and there is no 

structure: no service, no baby-sitting, said Jelena, 

who is on maternity leave. “It would be nice if there 

were still nurseries, like when I was a child,” she said 

referring to free Communist-era child care. 

After a long decline, birth-rates in European countries 

have reached a historic low, as potential parents opt 

for few or no children. European women, better 

educated and integrated in the labour market than 

before say that there is no time for motherhood and 

that children are too expensive anyway. 

The result is that if birth-rates remains this low, there 

will be a shortage of 20 million workers by 2030 in 

Europe. 

Immigration from non-European countries, already 

a highly contentious issue in much of the European 

countries, would not fill the gap. 

Throughout Europe women have delayed having 

children or opted out completely. But it is most 

recent in Eastern Europe, where Communist-era 

state incentives that made it economical to have 

children – from free apartments to subsidized childcare 

– have been phased out while prices have 

skyrocketed. 

European Union statistics put the rate at 1.2 children 

per women in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Latvia 

and Poland, far below the rate of 2.1 needed to 

maintain population. 

Western Europe is already suffering but Eastern 

Europe is faced with a plummeting birth-rate 

combined with emigration to Western Europe for 

work, made easier by membership in the European 

Union. 

Elizabeth Rosenthal. From The New York Times. 

Sept 9th 2006. 

1. Jelena complains about the few facilities offered to 

mothers of small children in Prague. She regrets the 

time when young women could dream of having many 

children without fearing the expenses it would entail. 

2. The situation in Czechoslovakia is that women 

are better skilled and educated and have entered 

the job market. Prices have increased together with 

a booming economy. Having children costs a lot 

of money. Women feel they cannot afford to have 

several children and believe they have other things to 

do at the moment. It would be a waste of time and 

money to indulge in motherhood. 

3. A lot of Eastern people, including women 

have emigrated to Western countries since their 

membership in the European Union. 

Unit 16 – Europe 123

3. The EU treaty. What lisbon 

contains 

1. There will be an influential foreign policy 

spokesman at the European level with a political role 

and even money at his disposal. 

2. The Charter of Fundamental Rights will be given 

legal force, that is to say that civil rights will have to 

be respected. 

REPORTING 

Cette question est une question très souvent posée qui 

appelle une réponse personnelle bien entendu mais doit 

aussi entraîner une réflexion sur ce que peut apporter la 

citoyenneté européenne. 

Why Europe loses in the global 

competition for talent 

(pp. 162-163) 

Cette double page permet de poser certains problèmes 

auxquels l’union européenne est confrontée. Ici, l’accent 

est mis sur la situation du marché de l’emploi et la fuite 

des cerveaux. 

Une étude précise du texte permettra d’évaluer la 

compréhension des étudiants ainsi que leur degré de 

réflexion. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. b. The article is about the European labour 

market. 

2. b. For Europe the main problem is attracting 

workers. 

3. Africans and Asians consider it a magnet, while 

highly-skilled engineers, technicians, doctors don’t. 

MOVING ON 

1. First paragraph: High-skilled workers head for 

Europe. 

Second paragraph: Australia experiences a shortage 

of skilled workers. 

Third paragraph: Only valid migrants could obtain 

the card. 

Fourth paragraph: The blue card will be the like the 

green card. 

2. a. banging / b. keener / c. rely on / d. gaps / 

e. provide / f. suitable / g. swap / h. threat. 

124 Unit 16 – Europe 

3. The low-skilled workers are desperately looking for 

jobs whereas the highly-skilled find Europe ageing, 

unattractive, lacking dynamism, and stuck with harsh 

immigration policies. 

4. c. They would choose another destination. 

5. Germany, Great Britain and Australia; first because 

they have mastered the English language perfectly 

and can find better opportunities (job opportunities 

and salaries) in English-speaking countries and also 

because they find that Europe lacks dynamism. 

6. They prefer to work outside Europe in the USA or 

Australia for example because they can get better 

salaries and they are not confronted with ageing 

natives who haven’t got the right equipment, skills 

and dynamism. 

7. TRANSLATE 

Tout d’abord, beaucoup de gouvernements européens 

sont jaloux du contrôle de la politique d’immigration 

qu’ils exercent et résisteront à tout effort 

d’harmonisation entrepris par Bruxelles. Il faut se 

méfier des éventuels vétos en provenance de l’Allemagne 

et de la Grande Bretagne. 

Et quand bien même la carte faciliterait l’entrée cela 

ne rendrait en rien l’économie des pays européens 

plus attractive en soi. 

WRITING 

This sentence makes you wonder! 

Indeed the trend in a lot of European countries is to 

send home immigrants (Sangate, today’s policy in 

France) although it seems clear that we are going to 

desperately need a workforce in the years to come. 

This is due to low birth-rate figures, the ageing 

populations, and the brain drain, as seen previously. 

This concern does not seem to strike home though, as 

most European governments seem to adopt the same 

policy, that is controlling migration policies. 

It reminds us of times when France, for example, 

desperately resorted to North African workers to do 

the jobs of French workers who simply wouldn’t do 

them or couldn’t do them. 

It’s high time governments started thinking before 

acting. It is probably a good idea that EU institutions 

make more efficient decisions to reach a consensus. 

Hopefully the Lisbon Treaty will help. (142 words) 


1. [d] unemployed, skilled, qualified 

[t] equipped, launched 

[id] talented, educated, boosted 




Skilled / educated / employed / talented / equipped 

/ qualified. 

2. a. had known, would not have chosen, 

b. had been, would have had, 

c. made, would. 

3. a. anywhere, somewhere, 

b. nowhere, 

c. anywhere, somewhere. 

4. Member, ageing, budgetary, global, welfare, 

enlargement, criteria. 

5. a. Although he’s got no diploma, he wants to work 

in the USA. 

b. He was advised to work somewhere else as he was 

low–skilled. 

c. She was highly qualified whereas he was low 

skilled. 

6. a. Tant que vous n’enfreignez pas la loi, vous 

pouvez rester. 

b. Vous pouvez rester à condition d’être en possession 

d’une carte verte. 

c. Si vous avez/à condition d’avoir une carte verte 

vous êtes le/la bienvenu(e) pour travailler ici. 

d. Même si vous n’avez (pas) de passeport, vous 

pouvez passer la frontière. 

e. Contrairement à ses voisins, ce pays d’Europe est 

devenu intolérant. 


(pp. 164-167) 

1. internship in Europe 

(pp. 164-165) 

De nombreuses facilités sont maintenant offertes aux 

étudiants souhaitant effectuer leur stage dans un pays 

européen. 

Commission stage 

All the European Institutions (mostly located in 

Brussels) and EU agencies offer paid and unpaid 

traineeships. The EU commission runs the biggest 

scheme. The Commission Stage (Internship) scheme 

selects around 600 stagaires (interns) twice a year. 

The EU Commission is divided into 39 directorates 

each focusing on a particular area. The commission 

stage is 5 months long. Stagaires are not limited 

to the experience within the Directorate they are 

working in. The Traineeships Office which manages 

the Commission stage scheme, organizes visits to the 

other Eu institutions and bodies. 

The stage/internships at the Commission depends 

on the candidate skills and knowledge. Most Stages/ 

internships are in Brussels, Luxembourg there are also 

stages in Commission representations and even fewer 

in Commission delegations around the world. 

Internship 

An Internship at the European Commission does 

not evolve in a full time job as a Eu official with the 

Institutions. To become an EU Official consult the 

official EPSO website or EU Concour (Eu-Exams.com 

offers tutorials and tips on passing the EU Concour). 

The Networking done during the internship will help 

them get a full-time job once they pass the concour 

and are awaiting appointment. The EU institutions 

internship will also help in getting used to Brussels 

and making the decision if you want to move from an 

internship to a full-time job in the European capital. 

Here are a few sentences that the students could 

use when phoning or writing their letter of application: 

• Good morning/afternoon, my name is.... 

• Pleased to meet you; shall I introduce myself? 

• Let me first explain the reasons for my choice; why 

I am intersetsed in the job offer; I will then proceed 

with my motivations. 

• I remain at your disposal for any further details you 

may need. 

Some of the following requirements might also be 

of use to apply for the work placement: 

• Both good written and spoken English, 

• Native French speaking, 

• Conversational Spanish, 

• Good telephone manner, confident and outgoing 

personality, 

• Basic computer literacy (MS Office), 

• Enthusiastic team player, 

• Knowledge of Marketing/Business, 

• Previous work experience in an office environment. 

Document 3. Frequently asked 

questions 


What is a placement agreement? 

You will be required to provide us and the hosting 


usiness with a placement agreement (convention 

de stage) before starting your placement. A 

placement agreement defines your status as a 

trainee undertaking a placement as part of studies, 

and states the job description and dates of the 

placement. It is signed by you, your university and 

the hosting business. Ask your placement officer for 

a form, most academic institutions have them. 

Can I apply? 

All placements are open to any EU undergraduate, 

or graduate studying for a further degree, with a 

valid EU, EEA or EFTA passport. 

Your academic institution must cover you with a 

placement agreement for the whole duration of the 

placement. 

How much do I get paid? 

The payment varies, but typically the allowance 

is around £500 (750 euros) per month. This is 

intended to cover your accommodation and basic 

living expenses. 

Student grants may be available; ask your placement 

officer for more details. 

What about accommodation? 

Some of the host businesses will help find 

accommodation, but mostly it is your responsibility. 

Internet is a helpful tool too. 

When will I know if I got the job or not? 

The processing time varies. Typically it takes around 

four weeks before you get the final answer. 

2. your first job abroad 

(pp. 166-167) 

Les étudiants font le choix de travailler dans un pays 

européen. Pour ce faire, ils doivent lire attentivement 

les documents proposés dans le manuel, auxquels 

peuvent être ajoutés les éléments ci-dessous, censés 

leur donner davantage de précisions sur leurs droits et 

conditions de travail. Ils feront ensuite le choix d’une 

destination et justifieront leurs préférences et motivations 

par écrit. 

Dans un deuxième temps, ils choisiront une annonce 

sur le site d’Eures et prépareront une simulation d’entretien 

à l’oral. 

Ces deux activités peuvent s’envisager en travail de 

groupe. 

Here are a few more documents the students could 

read before participating in a mobility initiative. 

Free movement within the EU – a fundamental 

right 

Free movement of people is a basic pillar of the 


single area the European Union (EU) has been 

building since its creation. It is acknowledged as 

a fundamental right for EU citizens. Thanks to the 

rising social and human dimension of the European 

area, the right to free movement has since been 

extended to include all categories of citizens, to 

dependents, to students and to those who are no 

longer economically active. Since the integration 

of the Schengen Acquis into Community law, the 

notion of “free movement” is used in two senses. 

First, in the traditional sense of free movement and 

secondly in the sense of being able to cross the 

internal borders without undergoing checks. 

EURES helps workers to cross borders www. 

europa.eu.int/eures 

About living and working 

The information on living and working conditions 

in the EURES Job Mobility Portal is provided by the 

public employment services in the EEA countries 

and Switzerland with the aim of providing a concise 

overview of practical, legal and administrative 

matters of importance when considering moving 

to a particular country. More detailed information 

can be obtained by following the links to other 

Internet sites, or from organisations and contact 

points mentioned in the text. 

Labour market information, which is also provided 

by the public employment services, indicates at 

national and regional levels the sectors where there 

is a significant imbalance between labour demand 

and job demand in both the shorter and longer 

term. General descriptions of the national and 

regional labour markets are also to be found in this 

section. 

Living and working 

In order to be able to make informed decisions 

about mobility, job-seekers and employers need 

information on a wide range of practical, legal and 

administrative questions. The EURES Job Mobility 

Portal provides information tools which aim to give 

help and support when considering moving to or 

recruiting from another country. 

The Living and Working Conditions database 

contains details on a number of important issues 

such as finding accommodation, finding a school, 

taxes, cost of living, health, social legislation, 

comparability of qualifications, etc. 

Another valuable information tool is the Labour 

Market Information section, containing information 

on current trends on the European labour market by 

country, region and sector of activity. 



Document 3. Hints and Tips 

Script du document 

What practical things do I need to consider? 

Living and working in another European country can 

present some challenges, such as adapting to a new 

culture, working in a foreign language environment, 

and familiarising yourself with unfamiliar tax and 

social security systems. You can best prepare 

yourself by being well informed about the country 

of your choice. Your own personal qualities and 

determination also play a role in finding a job, as of 

course do your qualifications and knowledge of a 

foreign language. 

Before you start your job search, it is important 

to realise that it is not necessarily easier to find a 

job abroad than it is in your home country (the 

overall European Union unemployment rate is still 

high). Try to find as many details about the firm 

as you can, as success may depend on your ability 

to demonstrate how well you would fit into their 

structure and meet their requirements. You should 

apply by letter, giving your qualifications, experience 

and the reasons for your particular interest in the 

firm. Alternatively, many companies have their own 

online recruitment sites where you can sometimes 

submit an electronic application form. 

Document 4. Testimony 

of a student on his return 


Hi everybody! 

I have a lot of interesting things to tell you about! 

I’ve just come back from my internship in Finland. It 

was such a rewarding experience. 

I learnt so much! 

The first week was mainly about organizational 

stuff and getting to know the company, finding out 

about my colleagues and the projects I was going to 

work on. My manager worked out an onboarding 

plan and gave me a list of people whom I should 

work with. He said he wanted me to get a broader 

understanding of the whole business I was in. During 

the second week I finally started on my project 

work. At my internship, all my colleagues were from 

different countries—a few Italians, a French woman, 

and a British man. They all shared a tiny office and 

went to lunch together, which brings me to my next 

point. With future travel in mind, I realize that I’ve 

learned a lot about people, working conditions and 

my own adaptability to the working world. It was 

just great – everyone was patient and spent a huge 

amount of time helping me. I realized that I could 

even talk to senior managers who were surprisingly 

nice to me. I couldn’t believe senior managers would 

take the time to talk to an intern!). 


(pp. 00-00) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

Work moves to jobseekers 

(p. 168) 

Voir le corrigé dans le manuel de l’étudiant page 195. 

ExAm pApEr 

microsoft is yielding 

in European antitrust fight 

(p. 169) 


Le géant Microsoft vient d’accepter la décision européenne 

de partager ses données informatiques avec 

ses concurrents. Cette décision vient après de longues 

années de combat pendant lesquelles Microsoft, 

ayant plusieurs fois refusé de se plier aux contraintes 

européennes, s’était vu infliger des amendes considérables 

à payer. 

Les conséquences sont importantes pour le marché 

de l’informatique. En effet on s’attend à une baisse 

de prix pour les consommateurs et des progrès au 

niveau des logiciels. 

Le partage des données ouvre le marché et permet à 

la concurrence d’exister. 

C’est un succès pour la communauté européenne 

(Mme Kroes en particulier), qui s’interroge même 

aujourd’hui sur la pertinence de réclamer à Microsoft 

le paiement des amendes supplémentaires. 

(116 mots) 


1. Free competition rules the markets today in 

Europe. Therefore there shouldn’t be any reason why 

a giant should have the monopoly of a market. 

Anti–trust laws were created for that reason, so I don’t 

see why they shouldn’t be abided by. I find it only fair 


that the European Commission sentenced Microsoft 

for having imposed its monopoly for so long. 

2. The foreseeable consequences are that, by opening 

the market to competitors, prices will inevitably 

fall and innovative products or software will have a 


chance to emerge and be launched. Worldwide effect 

is expected. 

This could also be a landmark for other big brands 

(examples could be given here) wanting to stifle 

rivals in order to have the monopoly of the market. 

(124 words) 




pages 170-171 

Un i t 17 Go i n G Glo ba l 

La mondialisation n’est pas seulement une affaire d’échange de denrées, de délocalisation ou de 

rentabilité, c’est aussi une activité commune, une complémentarité, une interchangeabilité qui réduit 

les distances mais aussi les différences nationales et culturelles. En tant que citoyen du monde, chacun 

est responsable et fier de son œuvre ou coupable et punissable de ses actes. 

1. A genuine global patchwork 

Ce montage témoigne de la participation de nombreux 

pays à la réalisation de cet appareil. Il conviendra de souligner 

l’intérêt commun à partager de tels marchés sur 

le plan économique (apport d’argent) et social (création 

d’emplois) mais aussi politique (ouverture de frontières) et 

rapidité d’exécution (utilisation des fuseaux horaires pour 

fonctionner 24h sur 24.) 

1. Ten countries contributed to building the prototype 

of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The European 

countries were Sweden, France, Italy and The United 

Kingdom. North American countries such as Canada 

and the United States had their say too, as well as the 

Asian countries South Korea, China and Japan. Australia 

also worked on this mock-up. 

Engineers in Japan built the wings, Koreans added the 

raked wingtips, Brits refined the Rolls Royce engines, 

while Italians and Texans fitted the horizontal stabilizer 

and centre fuselage. I definitely think this prototype is a 

genuine global patchwork as pointed out in the title. 

2. I wouldn’t have imagined that a Boeing could have 

been made by so many countries. I thought that Boeing 

was representative of the United States as Airbus is 

representative of Europe. The national identity of their 

planes is disappearing. 

Extra information: 70 per cent of the Dreamliner, 

which is due to take to the skies this year, is being built 

outside the States. 60 % of the production work on the 

Airbus A350 due to launch in 2010 will be done outside 

continental Europe. 

3. Aerospace companies take advantage of: 

• specific skills offered by different countries, 

• cheaper labour force, 

• the opportunity of working around the clock on the 

same project, 

• the availability of huge factories, 

• the high demand in jobs, 

• lower taxes abroad, 

• technological advances to work together. 

As a consequence: 

• they save time, money, and contribute to helping or 

boosting other countries’ economies. 

• they also make other countries dependent at the 

start and likely to compete with them in the near 

future. 

2. india is outsourcing outsourcing 

La délocalisation du travail implique compétence, adaptabilité 

et flexibilité de la part de l’entreprise qui a cette 

charge. Ces centres de sous-traitance de services restent 

le monopole de pays à la recherche de débouchés. Mais 

peu à peu l’implantation géographique qui était une 

contrainte au départ, est devenue plus souple et ouvre 

même les portes des pays demandeurs. 

1. What is outsourcing? Outsourcing takes place when 

an organization transfers the ownership of a business 

process to a supplier. The key to this definition is the 

aspect of transfer of control. This definition differentiates 

outsourcing from business relationships in which the 

buyer retains control of the process, or in other words, 

tells the supplier how to do the work. It is the transfer of 

ownership that defines outsourcing. In outsourcing, the 

buyer does not instruct the supplier how to perform its 

task, but instead focuses on communicating what results 

it wants to buy. It leaves the process of accomplishing 

those results to the supplier. 

• Here is an example of printing services that are 

outsourced and that are contracted. 

Contracted: The buyer says it wants 500 copies of the 

product. The buyer tells the supplier what kind and 

weight of paper to use, what method to use in binding 

Unit 17 – Going global 129

the product (staple, glue, clips, brads…), how many 

people should be working on the project, etc. 

Outsourced: The buyer says it wants 500 copies of 

the product and it needs to be first-rate quality, bound, 

produced at a cost that is lower than what it costs the 

buyer to do it in-house, and accomplished faster than it 

could be done by the buyer in-house. The supplier then 

decides how to accomplish such things as quality, lower 

cost, speed, what type of paper and binder to use, etc. 

Today outsourcing is changing because the countries 

that used to be entrusted with these tasks are changing. 

They get richer and therefore market their service for 

higher salaries. As many countries resort to outsourcing, 

the outsourcing companies are required to speak 

several languages, a specificity that must be financially 

rewarded. So now the trend is to set up outsourcing 

businesses in other countries that can compete with 

India, the cradle of outsourcing. 


[…] The future of outsourcing is to take the work from 

any part of the world and do it in any part of the world. 

[…] Indian companies are hiring workers and opening 

offices in developing countries themselves, before 

their clients do. […] Infosys, the Indian technology 

giant, seeks to become a global matchmaker for 

outsourcing: any time a company wants work done 

somewhere else, Infosys wants to get the call. 

[…] Most of Infosys’s 75,000 employees are Indians, 

in India. […] The company argues it can clone its 

Indian back offices in other nations. […] Some analysts 

compare the strategy to Japanese penetration of auto 

manufacturing in the United States in the 1970s just as 

the Japanese learned to make cars in America without 

Japanese workers, Indian vendors are learning to 

outsource without Indians. 

Such is the new outsourcing: 

• […] A company in the United States pays an Indian 

vendor 7,000 miles away to supply it with Mexican 

engineers working 150 miles south of the United 

States border. 

• In Europe, too, companies now hire Infosys to 

manage back offices in their own backyards. 

– When an American manufacturer, for instance, 

needs a system to handle bills from multiple 

vendors supplying its factories in different European 

countries, it turns to the Indian company. 

– The manufacturer’s different locations scan the 

invoices and send them to an office of Infosys, where 

each bill is passed to the right language team. 

– The team verifies the orders and sends the 

payment to the supplier while logged in to the client’s 

computer system. 

130 Unit 17 – Going global 

– More than a dozen languages are spoken at the 

Infosys office, which is in Brno, Czech Republic. 

1. Infosys is an outsourcing business in India that 

employs 75,000 workers. These workers are chiefly 

Indians but Infosys claims that it can open offices 

anywhere in the world and hire any workers on the 

spot. 

2. Language abilities are paramount at Infosys as in 

any outsourcing company because they deal with 

companies located all over the world. So even if English 

seems to be the passport to doing business, other 

languages are often required to communicate, manage 

tasks properly and stay in the lead. 

3. india’s consumer boom 

Ce dernier document de la double page est constitué de 

données actuelles et de projections sur la situation économique 

de l’Inde. Cette étude cible trois domaines : le 

pouvoir d’achat en Inde, le pouvoir d’achat dans le monde 

et à quoi correspondent les dépenses en Inde. 

1. This prospective study was reported in Newsweek 

on May 28, 2007. It is about the incredible rise of 

the Indian economy. It consists of four graphs which 

highlight this evolution from 2005 to 2025. 

2. The first bar chart represents total Indian consumer 

spending, that is to say, how much the Indians spent 

in 2005 and how much they will spend in 2015 and 

in 2025. We can note that they will spend more than 

twice as much in 2015 and four times more in 2025. 

We can deduce that if they spend more and more this 

means that they will earn more and more. 

3. The second bar chart is a prospective and 

comparative study between six countries including 

India in the 2005 to 2025 bracket. India is expected to 

range fourth in 2025, just behind Japan, China and the 

UK, but on the same footing as Germany, and ahead 

of France. In this graph, India and China are the most 

booming markets whereas Germany and France show 

a slight and slow rise. 

4. Judging by what the Indians spend their money 

on, we can say that the Indian economy is definitely 

on the rise. Indeed, when people spend on bare 

necessities such as food, it reveals that they don’t have 

the money for superfluous expenses. On the contrary, 

if they care for their health and see doctors and 

buy medicine, these spendings show that they feel 

concerned with improving their well-being. Spending 



on transportation also shows that they don’t have 

to tighten their belts to use buses or trains. When 

we consider the two pie charts, we can see that the 

green section devoted to bare essentials is getting 

smaller giving way to the orange sector concerning 

discretionary spending. 

REPORTING 

The best outcome for almost all negotiations is win/ 

win, when both parties, here, rich and poor countries, 

walk away with a positive feeling about achieving 

their goals. When both parties have the feeling 

they got something, they will probably be willing 

to negotiate with each other again. Yet, when we 

talk about negotiation, we talk about usual business. 

Here, between rich countries and poor countries, the 

dice may be loaded: poor countries are no match 

for developed countries, they must agree to survive 

whatever the conditions. However, little by little 

they manage to break the bond that made them 

dependent, and they eventually manage to pull the 

strings. Rich economies target developing countries 

to shell their products and consequently increase 

their production. But outsourcing represents an 

opportunity for developing countries to learn how to 

manage and produce, and finally work on their own. 

That is why nowadays we see fast-growing economies 

which were only subcontractors a few decades 

ago. They even compete bitterly with the biggest 

corporations and can negotiate as actual competitors. 

In this view, it is virtually possible to create a win/win 

outcome. (184 words) 

goodbye, Houston. Hello, Dubai! 

(pp. 172-173) 

La délocalisation de la compagnie pétrolière américaine, 

Halliburton dans les Émirats Arabes fait partie des exemples 

marquants d’une nouvelle économie de marché. Ce 

déplacement soulève à la fois des questions sur la perte 

d’identité nationale, mais aussi des interrogations sur les 

intérêts de ces multinationales. Une recherche sur internet 

pour identifier cette compagnie peut être une phase d’anticipation 

profitable. Par exemple : 

Founded in 1919, Halliburton is one of the world’s 

largest providers of products and services to the 

energy industry. With more than 50,000 employees 

in approximately 70 countries, the company serves the 

upstream oil and gas industry throughout the lifecycle 

of the reservoir – from locating hydrocarbons and 

managing geological data, to drilling, well construction 

and production. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. This document is an article which was published 

in The New York Times, an American paper, on 11 th 

March, 2007. It was written by Clifford Krauss and 

it is entitled “Goodbye, Houston. Hello, Dubai!”. It is 

about the relocation of the Halliburton company, more 

precisely its headquarters, from Texas to the United 

Arab Emirates. 

2. Dubai is one of the seven sheikhdoms composing 

the United Arab Emirates. It is set in southeast Arabia, 

on the Persian Gulf. Nearly all of the sheikhdom’s settled 

population is concentrated in the city of Dubai, which 

is the principal port, commercial centre, and largest 

city of the federation and is located on the sheikhdom’s 

central Persian Gulf coast. Oil was discovered in Dubai 

in the early 1960s, and production began in 1966. 

Dubai became part of the United Arab Emirates at its 

founding in 1971. 

In the 1970s its deepwater port was modernized and a 

supertanker dock was constructed. International trade, 

business, and especially tourism are economically 

important, and modern highrises dominate the 

city of Dubai. There is an international airport, and 

the sheikhdom is a regional centre for international 

corporate headquarters and computer and media 

companies. The development of Dubai has resulted in 

an influx of low-paid South Asian workers, especially in 

construction. Anger over wage and labour issues led 

foreign construction workers to riot in 2006. 

The city of Houston, Texas – fourth largest city in the 

United States, world petroleum and petrochemical 

capital, national corporate centre, and major 

international port– has long been noted for its aggressive 

business leadership and impressive record of economic 

growth. Houston’s phenomenal development ranks as 

one of the most astonishing examples of urban growth 

in United States history. Dubai is around 7,000 miles 

from Houston. 

3. The title refers to the relocation of the Halliburton 

company which was formerly settled in Houston, to the 

United Arab Emirates. It is leaving the USA for Dubai. 

MOVING ON 

1. The Halliburton company is “a big energy services 

company”; it is an oilfield services giant that has decided 

to move its headquarters and staff to Dubai. 

2. “The company will maintain its existing corporate 

office here as well as its incorporation in Delaware.” 

That means it will keep its foothold in Houston and will 

still be registered in Delaware which is a north-eastern 

state in the U.S. 


3. today: currently (l. 13); drop: spin off (l. 14); bore: 

drill (l. 15); hole: well (l. 15); change: shift (l. 25); 

overseas: foreign country (l. 25); highlight: underscore 

(l. 29) ; manage: run (l. 31); bias: weight (l. 33); 

equilibrium: balance (l. 34). 

4. a. Dubai is a fast-growing town. 

b. a lot of people were surprised. 

c. tapping new oil markets. 

d. illegal transactions in the Middle East. 

e. escape Uncle Sam. 

f. will have no impact on the town economy. 

5. The fact that Dubai is 7,000 miles from Houston 

can raise communication problems in managing the 

new headquarters. It will take time to fly over there. 

Managers won’t meet as often as they’d like. There 

may be the problem of time because of a nine-hour 

time difference between the two towns. Halliburton’s 

businessmen may be jet-lagged after some trips! 

6. State-owned oil companies represent a growing 

source of business because they are supposed to be 

politically stable. They are representative of a country 

and are considered as reliable. Consequently, foreign 

companies invest more willingly, make more money 

and contribute to strengthening their positions. As long 

as the state supports and manages a sector of activity, 

it is a real asset to investors who trust the lucrative 

market for oil in these areas. The “Seven Sisters” are 

called Exxon, Shell, Mobil, Gulf, Socal, Texaco and 

BP. They are independent companies that have built 

themselves up into some of the biggest corporations in 

history primarily through the ownership of concessions 

in developing countries, predominantly in the Middle 

East. They are still the dominant powers in world oil and 

give every appearance of permanence and stability. 

The government is not supposed to interfere with their 

commercial policies, but underground transactions are 

regularly denounced and it is necessary to regulate, say, 

the oil barrel price. 

7. I believe this investment abroad makes sense 

because Halliburton execs have realized that the oil 

centre of gravity has shifted to the Persian Gulf, where 

the main producers are. 

According to BP’s Statistical Review (www.bp.com), 

the top fifty countries’ production in 2006 was (in 

thousands of barrels per day): 

Saudi Arabia 10859 Russian Federation 9769 USA 6871 

Iran 4343 China 3684 Mexico 3683 Canada 3147 

United Arab Emirates 2969 Venezuela 2824 Norway 

2778 Kuwait 2704 Nigeria 2460 Algeria 2005 Iraq 


1999 Libya 1835 Brazil 1809 United Kingdom 1636 

Kazakhstan 1426 Angola 1409 Qatar 1133 Indonesia 

1071 India 807 Malaysia 747 Oman 743 Argentina 

716 Egypt 678 Azerbaijan 654 Colombia 558 Ecuador 

545 Australia 544 Other Europe & Eurasia 454 Syria 

417 Sudan 397 Yemen 390 Vietnam 367 Equatorial 

Guinea 358 Denmark 342 Thailand 286 Rep. of Congo 

(Brazzaville) 262 Gabon 232 Brunei 221 Other Asia 

Pacific 215 Trinidad & Tobago 174 Turkmenistan 163 

Chad 153 Other S. & Cent. America 140 Uzbekistan 

125 Peru 116 Italy 111 Romania 105 

We can note that the biggest producers are not very 

far from Dubai, which makes things easier to conquer 

new markets. Of course, Houston, Texas, will lose 

part of its activity, but the fourth town of the USA is 

strong enough to offset this relocation, which as the 

Mayor points out, will have little impact on the town’s 

economy. In fact, he means that Halliburton is such a 

global business that its staff seldom works in Houston, 

and Houston has long been used to it. 

8. TRANSLATE 

Chez Halliburton, les responsables n’épiloguent pas à 

ce jour sur la signification que pourrait avoir la mutation 

de son dirigeant. Ce déplacement, semblait-il, soulevait 

la question de savoir si Halliburton bénéficierait 

d’avantages fiscaux ou de tout autre privilège en optant 

pour un pays étranger qui applique des règlementations 

favorables aux entreprises. 

WRITING 

There are many factors that need to be evaluated when 

deciding to relocate a business. Settling on a site that 

is both convenient and comfortable for the company’s 

primary customers is, of course, vital, but that is only 

one piece of the site selection puzzle. The criteria are 

also different depending on whether you intend to 

relocate in the same town or abroad. Several questions 

must have concrete answers. 

• Will projected revenue cover the total costs of 

leasing or purchasing the site? 

• Will ancillary costs associated with business 

establishment or relocation (purchase and/or 

transportation of equipment, computer wiring 

requirements, etc.) be prohibitive? 

• Will it be possible to secure lenders to help cover 

costs associated with moving into the new business 

site? 

• Is there restrictive legislation that will interfere with 

business operations? 

• Is the facility itself in good condition? If not, how 

expensive will refurbishment be? 

• How secure is the facility? 



• Is the site large enough for your business? Can the 

site accommodate future growth? 

• Are nearby business establishments successful? 

• Does the site provide for adequate parking and 

access for customers? 

• What sort of advertising expenditure will be 

necessary? 

• Will customer service be interrupted by relocation? 

If so, for how long? 

• What impact will the business site have on workforce 

needs? 

• What is the climate as far as business taxation is 

concerned? 

• Are important suppliers located nearby? 

I think that relocating abroad is a risky venture for 

both employees and employers. But the success rate 

can improve dramatically with the right training 

and preparation. We are going through a second 

wave of globalization. In the first wave, the largest 

companies set up offices and plants outside their 

home countries. During the current second wave, 

medium-sized companies are expanding outside their 

home countries and becoming international. In the 

automotive business, for example, the fact that car 

manufacturers want to use the same parts for their cars 

and trucks regardless of location has driven auto parts 

suppliers to establish offices and plants abroad. These 

trends have increased the number of engineers and 

other professionals relocating abroad for long-term 

work assignments. 

International relocation is risky for several reasons. 

First, because of the high cost, companies send as few 

people overseas as possible. Successful international 

ventures can bring much new business to a company, 

but those that fail can tarnish its reputation. 

Then, being successful in a culturally different environment 

is often a major challenge, requiring excellent 

communication skills and much flexibility. Expatriate 

engineers and their companies should set clearly 

defined objectives for the assignment. They also need 

to take into account differences in values, interpersonal 

communication and behaviour in their new workplace. 

Specifically, they need to learn how the following work 

activities are handled in their destination country. 

Finally, the opportunity to open new markets abroad 

can boost a company since labour costs are generally 

lower. But managers must consider transport facilities 

and raw material availability so as not to waste the 

profits rapidly. 


1. a. litigation / regulation / construction / decision / 

exploration / operation / production. 

b. Africa / America / Nigeria. 

c. Energy / company / military. 

2. a. annoncer, l’annonce ; 

b. entretenir, l’entretien ; 

c. règlementer, la réglementation ; 

d. régler, le règlement ; 

e. arriver, l’arrivée. 

3. a. said; b. said; c. told; d. told. 

4. a. set up / had set up, 

b. will challenge, 

c. have been, 

d. would make. 

5. a. Jack n’écoutait pas, voilà pourquoi il n’a pas pu 

répondre. 

b. Pendant qu’ils décidaient du nouvel emplacement de 

l’usine, un plus offrant a remporté le marché. 

c. Ils discutent depuis des heures. 

d. Le PDG était resté en relation avec les pays arabes 

pour préparer le terrain. 

6. a. This piece of news shouldn’t have taken the 

Americans aback. 

b. The business should settle downtown. 

c. I think that intermediaries must have interfered 

before this shift. 


(pp. 174-177) 

1. Striking a deal (pp. 174-175) 

La conclusion d’une affaire reste le bilan positif de longs 

entretiens, de concessions et d’échanges. Le bilan doit être 

positif pour tous les acteurs de ce marché et ouvrir des 

perspectives de croissance et de réussite. 

Celebrating a merger 


Honoured guests, Dear partners, Ladies and 

gentlemen, 

Let me begin by welcoming you all to this splendid 

boardroom. I personally attach great importance to 

this meeting today, and your presence confirms that 

our closest partners share this view. 

On the eve of the greatest boom in online shopping, 

co-operation has become necessary. From the very 

beginning we shared similar views, and the quality 


of our relations largely depended on the political 

will on either side. 

For now let me emphasise how important it is that 

we have this opportunity to hear your reaction to 

our proposals, so that we can work together in 

the future. After all, building a special partnership 

together is in everyone’s interest. 

With each of our partners we craft a specific and 

unique relationship. As we look to the future we will 

continue to strengthen this link within a common 

framework. 

And we are committed to the idea that each of us can 

bring something more to our society. Nevertheless, 

it is vital for us to ensure that our relations will 

complement each other. A new site is born, a new 

giant is born, a new service is born. Thank you. 

YOUR TASK 

1. Il s’agit de lister et justifier des choix. Le lieu se doit 

d’être officiel, eBay étant l’acquéreur, c’est lui qui reçoit 

(cf. Spotlight pour l’adresse). La date et l’heure doivent 

tenir compte des disponibilités et de la durée de la cérémonie 

(cf. Spotlight pour la date). Enfin, les personnes 

invitées appartiendront aux deux sociétés mais devront 

s’ajouter des intervenants politiques et/ou municipaux 

(maire, sénateur,etc.). 

2. Ce modèle de carte d’invitation pourra faire l’objet 

d’une recherche de logos pour célébrer cette coopération 

et contenir les informations de la tâche 1 afin de pouvoir 

compléter en fonction du destinataire. Un cachet de la 

société eBay conclura le travail de façon officielle. 

3. L’article à rédiger a pour but d’attirer les journalistes 

lors de cette manifestation afin que publicité soit faite sur 

l’événement. Certains points sont incontournables : 

• Le choix d’un titre : « eBay and Skype will work 

together », « eBay and Skype, the D-day ». 

• Les références au jour, heure et lieu de la réunion. 

• La mise en évidence du caractère officiel de la rencontre 

en énumérant de hauts personnages présents. 

• La raison de cette réunion : 

– Référence aux actions passées : « these two companies 

have been working together for a long time to find an 

arrangement ». 

– Référence au présent: « Now the D- day has come. » 

– Référence au futur: « This new market will open new 

perspectives on e-Bay site. » 

ACTING OUT 

Le discours tiendra compte des données de l’article de 

presse mais aussi des prompts de la page 175 et du document 

modélisant enregistré. 


2. Comparing documents 

(pp. 176-177) 

Cinq documents sont proposés, ils offrent chacun des destinations 

différentes mais avec le même objectif : travailler 

à l’étranger. Les pays concernés sont l’Espagne, l’Irlande, 

la France, la Floride et la Chine. 

YOUR TASK 

1. Design a short incentive 

document 

Ce document pourra cibler un pays ou bien le travail à 

l’étranger quel que soit le pays. Une photo, un slogan, 

quelques lignes d’invitation, des informations motivantes, 

une adresse pour des renseignements supplémentaires. 

2. Une activité de repérage en groupe, chaque groupe 

choisissant un pays et listant les possibilités offertes ainsi 

que les atouts et inconvénients, permettra une appropriation 

plus rapide des documents (tableau 17-1). 

Document 2 Getting a job in Ireland 


As more Brits make the decision to become official 

expatriates, some are choosing far away exotic 

destinations. Others however find that staying a little 

closer to home makes them feel connected whilst still 

enjoying a “foreign” experience. 

In terms of the type of jobs available in Ireland, there 

are openings in such a broad range of fields from 

estate agencies to IT, from agriculture to teaching 

for example. In Dublin many multinational IT based 

companies have established significant operations 

in recent years – for example you have the likes of 

Google and Microsoft with large offices in Ireland – so 

if you have a technical background Dublin may be the 

best place for you to head in terms of your search for 

employment. 

Document 3 Working in France 


Going through the hoops of obtaining a French work 

permit for a non-European is just not on, unless you 

are a highly skilled professional. In general, the French 

American Chamber of Commerce in Paris says the 

opportunities are in services and technology. 

Receiving permission to work is also difficult. 

Theoretically, if you are hired by a French company, 

the company will do the paperwork for your work 



permit. In reality, it’s a Catch-22. They all say that 

you have to have the work permit before they will 

hire you, but since having a job is a prerequisite for 

obtaining the work permit, it’s impossible. Therefore, 

there are really only two ways to get a work permit: 

(a) Prove that you are more qualified than anyone in 

Europe, or (b) Get hired by an international company 

that has branches in France and get transferred over, 

because their sponsorship will allow them to obtain 

the permit for you. 

3. La conclusion, une fois le listing effectué, sera de 

souligner : 

• sur le plan quantitatif, les avantages de certaines 

destinations (Floride) et les difficultés à surmonter pour 

travailler en France 

• sur le plan publicitaire, la subjectivité de certains 

documents (publicité mensongère ?) 

4. make your choice 

Le but est de justifier le choix par écrit afin de faciliter 

l’étape Acting out. Les renseignements relatifs à chaque 

document peuvent être complétés par une expérience 

personnelle ou une mise en doute des offres 

alléchantes. 

Tableau 17-1 

Par exemple : 

• Working in Florida looks very attractive but it is 

suggested that only service jobs are available. 

• I don’t think I could be dependent on millionaires 

and clean their swimming pools. 

• Florida is presented as a dreamland, as if I wanted 

to spend my holidays there. 

• It sounds easy to work there but the positions do 

not fit my tastes and training. 

• I don’t care to work in a restaurant, but I think it’s 

a holiday job. 

ACTING OUT 

Avant la mise en oeuvre, recenser les besoins : 

• Informatifs et culturels (les documents + informations 

personnelles) 

• Linguistiques (explicitation du lexique et formulation) 

• Phonologiques (accentuation mais aussi intonation 

exprimant la conviction, le doute, le rejet, etc). Une liste 

de ces aides à l’oral peut être distribuée. On y trouvera 

par exemple : 

– I don’t think so / I think not / I can’t believe it / it’s 

incredible / it’s a trap / a hype / I can’t agree, etc. 

– I’d like to / I am not reluctant to / It sounds smashing 

/ How wonderful / that would be nice / I wouldn’t hesitate, 

etc 

Document Advantages Drawbacks Businesses 

The Spanish dream 

Getting a job in Ireland 

Working in France 

Buy a business in 

the sunshine state 

Doing business 

the Chinese way 

Beautiful beaches, towns and 

cities 

Well established ex pat 

communities 

Closer to home for the Brits 

A new life in the sun 

Little investment 

Growing almost without 

limits 

Cheapest manufacturing hub 

Work permit for non 

Europeans 

Businesses for sale: bars, 

nightclubs and restaurants 

Beauty salons 

Hairdressers 

Tourist trade 

IT companies 

Agriculture 

Estate agency 

Teaching 

Services 

Technology 

Private and commercial pools 

Gardening 

Gift shops 

Flower shops 

Coffee shops, Tea rooms 

Restaurants 

House maintenance 

Small and medium-sized 

companies 

Taxi services 

Hair salons 

Day spas 

Telecommunications 

equipment 

Information technology 

Oil and gas 

Biotechnology 

Medical equipment 

Pharmaceuticals 

Environmental protection 


– I am not at all convinced / I am not sure / I wonder 

if / My opinion is divided / I don’t really know, etc. 


(pp. 178-179) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

lost in translation (p. 178) 


ExAm pApEr 

made in China: tainted food, 

fake drugs and dodgy paint 

(p. 179) 

i. Comprehension 

On July 5th, 2007, The Guardian reported on the 

quality of Chinese domestic products. The country’s 

food safety watchdog has found that as much as a 

fifth of domestic products surveyed failed to meet 

the minimum standards required. Although the 

worst offenders were found on the domestic market, 

the findings also have grave implications for the 

international market and mar China’s credibility as a 

reliable source of quality goods. 

China, the world’s biggest exporter, has also been 

recently implicated in scandals overseas, where 


counterfeiting of human blood protein, birth control 

pills and HIV drugs, and the dangerous nature of goods 

such as fireworks, children’s snacks and toys, have all 

sparked global concern that there is insufficient quality 

control undertaken on Chinese exported goods. 

These concerns have been further fuelled by the 

inadequate response of Chinese government officials 

to the scandals, and by convictions of corruption 

within the Chinese food industry itself. 

This article exposes issues that must be rapidly dealt 

with, as they are of a global concern, and suggests 

that standards must be more strongly imposed and 

enforced on exports from China. In addition, failure 

to act adequately may have bad repercussions on the 

Chinese economy, and it is therefore also in their best 

economic interest to adhere to the global standards 

imposed on exported goods. (210 words) 


Les autorités ont affirmé avoir découvert dans les 

hôpitaux des centaines de flacons de fausse protéïne 

de sang humain et ont détécté des quantités 

prohibitives d’additifs et de conservateurs dans les 

en-cas pour enfants. Shi Ying, commerciale de 50 ans, 

a souligné qu’elle se sentait à tel point sensible à une 

alimentation saine qu’il lui était difficile de faire les 

courses. « J’hésite à manger du saumon d’élevage ou 

de la viande parce que pour la plupart, leur nourriture 

de base est constituée de pillules de croissance ou 

ils sont gonflés avec des additifs dangereux. J’ai 

des doutes sur les légumes au cas où ils seraient 

contaminés par des pesticides. J’y réfléchis même à 

deux fois pour boire de l’eau parce qu’elle pourrait 

contenir des métaux lourds. » 



pages 180-181 

Un i t 18 mo n ey m at t e r S 

Cette unité essaie de préparer les étudiants à une réflexion sur la place de l’argent dans nos sociétés 

modernes ainsi que ses nouvelles formes. Elle permet d’acquérir un lexique de base des opérations 

financières ainsi que les outils d’étude et d’analyse de documents bancaires, boursiers et graphiques. 

Zooming on 

(pp. 180-183) 

1. Banks bid for green credentials 

La politique d’accroche des banques a évolué. Ici les 

banques jouent un rôle prépondérant dans la protection 

de l’environnement. 

1. Barclay’s contribution to the environment is linked 

with carbon reduction. 

HSBC wants to encourage paperless accounts. 

Britannia wants to plant a tree every time a child 

opens an account. 

2. The interest rate linked to Barclaycard’s Breathe 

credit card is such that it would be better to give to 

charities or environmental programmes straight away. 

Banks seem to advertise “green” products simply to 

embellish their notoriety and boost ethical values. 

2. new means of payment 


Amazon.com pioneered one-click shopping to 

speed-up purchases. But the development of more 

capable gadgets, coupled with mobile payment 

mechanisms, is allowing people to buy not just 

media, like music, videos and ring tones, but also 

hard goods, on the go. 

This evolution follows the popularity of debit, gift 

and refill cards, which allow buyers to fill accounts 

and make cashless payments. The Nilson Report, a 

credit industry newsletter, which used Commerce 

Department data says that payments made with 

those cards exceed the payments made by cash and 

cheque. 

Credit card companies in particular are experimenting 

with ways to turn the phone into a conduit 

for card purchases, and to offer incentives, like 

coupons, for mobile purchases. 

Visa, for instance, is developing technology that 

will allow people to wave their cellphones in front 

of a reader to pay for items under $25 without a 

signature. 

The idea is no waiting, cashier or other buying 

barrier! 

The mobile-payment technology can create a 

desensitizing and seductive purchase experience, 

said James Katz, director of the Center for Mobile 

Communications Studies at Rutgers University. 

“The more people think about a purchase decision, 

the more likely uncertainty creeps in,” he said. 

1. The new means of payment described here shows 

that you can pay by using your mobile phone. You 

need no cash, no card. All you have to do is wave your 

phone! 

The purpose of it is to make you not only buy faster, 

and more but also avoid having second thoughts. 

It is so fast and easy that you’re bound to purchase 

lavishly. 

Moreover they say they offer incentives if you use this 

kind of payment. 

The risks are obvious: excessive and unreasonable 

spending and debts! 

3. Enron’s second coming? 

Les récents scandales financiers ont marqué l’actualtié 

et restent aujourd hui encore de vrais mystères car 

beaucoup d’entre eux n’ont toujours pas été clairement 

explicités. 

1. Angelo Mozilo had gained a lot of people’s 

confidence, (including minority groups) having 

them borrow money. Yet he then used the 

shareholders’money for his own sake! He’s suspected 

of being a “crook” and of having resorted to insider 

dealing. 

Unit 18 – Money matters 137

2. Countrywide is compared with Enron and 

Worldcom because of the financial scandal about it. 

3. Three big financial scandals have already been 

quoted in the aricle to which we could add EADS. 

REPORTING 

Individuals can buy almost whatever they want now 

very easily and obtain money whenever they want, 

which means they can buy things they can’t afford. 

The reason for that is that banks lend money at more 

or less high interest rates and make money on the 

operations and services. Money has become more 

virtual, therefore the relationship people have with 

money has changed. People get into more debts 

more often but seem to easily cope with that until 

their situation sometimes gets out of control. 

It entails borrowers paying much more than they think 

when they actually buy the product. Banks and credit 

institutions urge them to buy by advertising money 

facilities, new means of payment. Debts represent a 

source of profit for them. 

Recent financial scandals concerning banks (Société 

Générale) raised ethical issues too! 

When balance sheet collides 

with the new economy 

(pp. 182-183) 

Ce texte met l’accent sur des problèmes de comptabilité 

que rencontrent les enreprises aujourd’hui. 

FIRST STEPS 

1. The main topic of the article is accounting. 

2. The account is informative. 

MOVING ON 

1. skills, reputation, innovation, marketing, 

equipment, management. 

2. They have no natural “home” on the balance 

sheet. It is difficult to account for them. 

3. a. Wrong. Often they do not make their way onto 

the accounting ledger at all. (l. 11) 

b. Wrong. Mattel recalled its products. (l. 14) 

c. Wrong. To do otherwise exposes them financially 

speaking. (l. 16) 

d. Right. It pushes companies to disclose processes. 

(l. 18) 

138 Unit 18 – Money matters 

e. Right. Accountants have found it impossible to 

determine the value or the risks of such assets. (l. 19) 

4. a. recognized (l. 5); b. grown (l. 6); c. what’s 

more (l. 14); d. conscious (l. 15); e. pandemics (l. 17); 

f. scrambling (l. 23). 

5. It means that investors are now to trying to invest 

into more ethical businesses because they mean profit 

too. 

6. a. to make sure ethical issues are respected. 

7. It is to see that people get jobs and that a code of 

ethics is implemented. 

8. Because, as markets tend to be more and more 

ethical they draw a new category of investors. 

9. Bookkeepers have other assets to take into 

account in the balance sheet, which revolutionizes 

the accounting process. 

10. TRANSLATE 

De plus, le marché exige que les sociétés fassent 

preuve dans les affaires d’une conduite tournée vers le 

social et la protection de l’environnement, non pas sur 

la base de l’idéologie mais bien parce que toute autre 

façon de faire les exposerait à des risques financiers. 

La vulnérabilité d’une économie mondiale exposée à 

des risques cataclysmiques, allant du terrorisme aux 

épidémies et aux conditions climatiques extrêmes 

poussent encore les sociétés à mettre en place des 

processus et des stratégies permettant d’assurer la 

continuité après un désastre. 

WRITING 

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: 

inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, 

names, images, and designs used in commerce. Patents 

provide incentives to individuals by offering them 

recognition for their creativity and material reward for 

their marketable inventions. These incentives encourage 

innovation, which assures that the quality of human 

life is continuously enhanced. Intellectual property can 

be defined as the results of innovative and creative 

activity in a society. The promotion of innovation 

and creativity must include protecting intellectual 

property against piracy. This is in the interests of the 

governments whose companies are behind this effort 

as well as the companies whose rewards for this activity 

are threatened. If not controlled, piracy will thwart 

growth in the industry by limiting investments, such 

as research and development, in the sectors affected. 



Effective legislation and enforcement, however, will 

result in increased employment in highly skilled and 

paid positions and thereby result in increased tax 

revenue. Violating intellectual property would then be 

a theft. 

Some questions can be asked though: Is information 

property? Are ideas property? Who owns knowledge? 

As a matter of fact the digital age has seen these 

questions emerge. All sorts of information can be 

found and used on the net. Programs, software can 

be downloaded just as books, music, films are. 

Therefore it seems difficult to draw the line between 

theft, and free access to innovation, information, 

intellectual property, patents... Countries such as 

China find it perfectly all right to infringe on property 

and use copycatting without any scruples. 


1. environmentally, historically, vulnerability, 

intellectual property, insurance, valuables, terrorism, 

intangibles, reputation, tremendous. 


Environmentally / historically / vulnerability / 

intellectual property / insurance / valuables / 

terrorism / intangibles / reputation / tremendous. 

2. a. bearish, return. 

b. shareholder, broker, blue chips, bullish, profit. 

3. a. make, make. 

b. do, make, make. 

c. do, make, do, make do. 

4. a. bookkeeper, ledger 

b. invoice 

c. expenses, balance sheet. 

5. a. I would like to be granted a loan. Could you tell 

me the best interest rate you can offer? I can get? 

b. Be careful not to be in the red if you don’t want to 

pay fees. 

c. If you had known/ had you known the situation 

in advance (earlier) you wouldn’t have borrowed so 

much. 

6. Souvenez-vous de l’époque où les prêts se discutaient 

lors d’un repas au Rotary Club et se scellaient 

par une poignée de main ! Bientôt l’idée du banquier 

connaissant le nom de la personne à qui il accorde le 

prêt, sans compter les détails internes de l’histoire de 

son crédit, pourrait sembler une caractéristique aussi 

bizarre que des chapeaux melon et Bonnie et Clyde. 


(pp. 184-187) 

1. Asking for offshore services 

(pp. 184-185) 

Cette double page permet aux étudiants de se familiariser 

avec le monde des paradis fiscaux. 

En effet à la lecture du document 1, les étudiants comprennent 

les avantages offerts par les paradis fiscaux 

pour les investisseurs individuels et professionnels. 

YOUR TASK 

Here is an example of a possible letter John Merryll 

could have answered. 

To Ocra 

We have analyzed your suggestion with care and 

truly believe that the establishment of a company 

in Malta is the right solution for us to reduce our tax 

exposure. 

We have read your brochure and trust that we can 

work together. 

Together with reduced taxation we insist on having 

banking privacy and facilities. 

We also think that we can count on the availability 

of offshore experts to help us set up our company in 

Malta. 

We are also hoping to have professional services 

and accountability from Ocra. 

We would like to be in contact with a consultant to 

answer our questions, give us full details about Malta 

and send us your contract. 

We are looking forward to your reply. 

Sincerely yours, 

John Merryll 

2. Describing graphs and charts 

(pp. 186-187) 

Lire, commenter ou créer un graphique ou un tableau 

sont des activités de base dans le domaine professionnel. 

YOUR TASK 

Last year, eMarketer estimated that store sales 

influenced by online research totalled $471 billion. 

Comparatively, retail e-commerce sales were only 

$136 billion. 

”Today, online consumers think nothing of shopping 

across a retailer’s stores, Website and catalogue,” says 

Unit 18 – Money matters 139

Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author 

of the new report, Multi-Channel Retailing, “as a 

consequence, online product research is driving more 

in-store sales than online sales.” 

Mounting research shows that a significant percentage 

of store purchases are influenced by online product 

research. 

ACTING OUT 

By 2012, the percentage will nearly double to 28%. 

Conclusion 

One needs to optimize sales and service in response 

to changing consumer behaviour, to coordinate the 

interaction of multiple channels (online/offline), 

measure and improve performance using technology 

and industry's, best practices to gain business 

advantage. 

Reference document 

Total energy consumption by source in 2006 

The pie chart just shows the proportions of energy 

consumption. Descibing a pie chart enables us to 

compare figures. The use of comparatives will then 

most likey be used. 

2005 to 2030: U. S. consumption changes by fuel 

The label “liquid fuels” refers to fuels made from oil — 

gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, etc. — which are used mostly 

for transportation. Coal and natural gas are used 

mainly to produce electricity for business, industry, 

and private homes. Home heating is another major 

use of natural gas. The following graph describes the 

U. S. energy consumption too and gives the same 

data. (see below) 

U. S. energy consumption 

The contribution of nuclear and renewable fuel 

sources are a small portion of the mix today and 

projected to remain so in 2030. Renewables are 

hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass. The 

U. S. Department of Energy report makes quite clear 

what this means for CO emissions: taken together, 

2 

projected growth in the absolute level of primary 

energy consumption and a shift toward a fuel mix 

with slightly higher average carbon content [more 

use of coal] cause projected energy-related emissions 

of CO to grow by an average of 1.2 percent per year 

2 

from 2005 to 2030. 

World population and CO2 concentration 1100 

years. 

Only after the Enlightenment and the Industrial 

Revolution did the world’s population reach one 

billion, but then it really took off, especially after 

the Green Revolution. Mainstream projections have it 

cresting or at least leveling off at around nine billion 

around 2050. 

140 Unit 18 – Money matters 


(pp. 188-189) 

TEST yoUrSElF 

mobile money (p. 188) 

Voir le corrigé page 196 du manuel de l’étudiant. 

ExAm pApEr 

The British real estate crisis 

(p. 189) 


La crise immobilière actuelle conduit les propriétaires 

britanniques à vendre leurs propriétés à des entreprises 

privées afin de contourner les délais de forclusion 

des hypothèques qu’ils ont souscrites. Susan Whittaker 

et son mari, victimes de l’augmentation des taux 

d’intérêt se voient contraints de vendre leur maison 

pour la relouer. Cette expérience est douloureuse et 

décourageante pour cette famille. 

D’autres frôlent la faillite. Un autre risque est une 

exploitation frauduleuse des propriétaires en situation 

désespérée par des prêteurs malhonnêtes. 

Les États-Unis sont dans l’appréhension d’une situation 

comparable. 

À l’époque de Margaret Thatcher, les crédits n’étaient 

pas contrôlés. Aujourd’hui les hommes de loi préconisent 

des emprunts à taux d’intérêt fixe pour relancer 

le marché de l’immobilier secoué par la crise. 

(120 mots) 


1. When Margaret Thatcher was in power, she 

encouraged the British to become homeowners. The 

problem was that credits were not controlled. As long 

as interest rates remained low, homeowners had no 

problems with their mortgages. But interest rates started 

to rise and homeowners got heavily into debt. They 

were unable to get out of debt quickly. (56 words) 

2. The situation is quite similar except that deals 

like the one the Whittakers concluded would not be 

chosen. (19 words) 

3. This question requires a personal answer. 

If the students want to talk about the possibility of 

becoming homeowners, they will most probably 

insist on loans, and their preference for fixed-rate 

loans, now that they know more about the real estate 

crisis in Great Britain and in the USA. 


Composition : Ici & ailleurs 

Éditions Fo U c h e r – Va n V e s – n° d’ÉditeUr 106039 – octobre 2008 – 01 – dL/rG – dc 

eU r o p e MÉdia dUpLication s.a.s. – 53110 Lassay-les-Châteaux – N° 00000 – Imprimé en France

GUIDE PÉDAGOGIQUE - Hachette

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