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Annales gratuites Bac Pro Secteur Tertiaire : Never too young

Le sujet  2004 - Bac Pro Secteur Tertiaire - Anglais LV1 - Compréhension écrite Imprimer le sujet
LE SUJET

NEVER TOO YOUNG

Andrew Butt, 20, is managing director of Enable Software, a company with an annual turnover of £1 million. He has 16 employees, flies a helicopter, owns two homes and a Mercedes, and travels the world.

The company that Andrew founded three years ago with his partner, Denys Shortt, helps businesses to manage and develop web sites, intranet and other areas. The idea was simple. "So much technology, including business software, seemed to have been designed by people showing off their technical skills rather than making it as easy as possible to use," says Andrew. "I decided to create software that even the most technophobic company director could use."

He aimed to ensure that if a director wanted to change something on his website or add a new piece of information to his intranet, he could do so without calling in expensive IT people. Companies loved it. In a year, Enable has sold more than £1 million of software.

Andrew had a fascination for computers from an early age and spent every evening after school at his PC. At 12, he got his first taste of working with computers in the real world when his father, an accountant, allowed him to help out at a local helicopter company near his home in Coventry. "Almost as soon as I got there, I noticed that all their filing was done by hand. It seemed so inefficient that I decided to transfer everything on to a computer for them."

Impressed with his initiative, the firm owners allowed him to work in other areas. Soon he was inventing new ways of marketing the business and helping out with the accounts. At 14, he set up a one-man business selling computer hardware and solving computer problems. "I had learnt much by then and had a captive market in the people I had met at the helicopter company" he says.

The business cost nothing to set up and turnover hit £12,000 within six months. With business booming, he was keen to leave school. His parents agreed, provided that he had a private tutor to help him to pass his school examinations. By then, the internet was taking off and Andrew could see the business opportunities in it. He decided to add website design and development to his business, and was soon working on more than 1,000 sites. At 16 he joined forces with Denys Shortt, a distributor of hi-tech products.

Andrew is an ideal role model for other young entrepreneurs. His message: "Age is not a problem. Just so long as you have total confidence in yourself, your ability and your products, you can succeed."

Source : The Times, Saturday, July 12, 2003 (adapted)

VOCABULARY :

a turnover = un chiffre d'affaires
to show off = faire étalage de
to ensure = s'assurer
a taste = un aperçu
filing = le classement
to take off = décoller
IT = Information Technology

TRAVAIL A FAIRE PAR LE CANDIDAT

A. Recopiez les deux tableaux ci-dessous sur votre copie et complétez-les en français à l'aide des informations du texte.

Andrew Butt

Age

                   

Lieu du domicile familial

                   

Profession du père

                   

Son entreprise

Nom de l'entreprise

                   

Nom de l'associé

                   

Activité de l'entreprise

                   

Nombre d'employés

                   

Chiffre d'affaires annuel

                   

B. Répondez en français aux questions suivantes en utilisant uniquement les informations contenues dans le texte.

    1. Décrivez les débuts professionnels d'Andrew Butt.
    2. Quelle activité Andrew Butt a-t-il entreprise à l'âge de quatorze ans ? Donnez des précisions.
    3. Comment son entreprise a-t-elle évolué ?
    4. Quel est le message délivré par Andrew Butt dans le texte ?

C. Traduisez en français le troisième paragraphe du texte.

(de "He aimed to ensure..." à "...£1 million of software")

D. Recopiez cette publicité pour des stages en informatique en mettant les verbes entre parenthèses à la forme exigée par le contexte.

If you want to gain the skills your company (to need) in today's modern world, please (to contact) EMPOWER TRAINING SERVICES. We guarantee our course (to improve) your opportunities and make life easier. In the past five years we successfully (to train) more than 500 students.

E. Recopiez ces phrases extraites d'un rapport d'entreprise en les complétant a I'aide des mots requis par le contexte et choisis dans la liste ci-dessous :

in order to

unless

although

but

in spite of

so that

1 The results last year were bad,...............they could have been worse.
2 The company is now doing better...............its recent problems.
3 ............... the new manager has not been in charge for long, a number of changes have already been made.
4 A website has been set up...............make business more efficient.

F. Rédigez en anglais une présentation de I'entreprise "BOX OFFICE" en vous servant des informations fournies ci-dessous et en faisant des phrases complètes.

COMPANY FACT FILE

Name :                            BOX OFFICE
Location :                      Birmingham, UK
Employees :                   18
Activity :                       Manufacturing (box files for office use)
Production :                  350,000 files per year
Turnover :                     £500,000 in 2003
Future plans :                Expansion/ introduction of on-line sales

 
LE CORRIGÉ

NEVER TOO YOUNG

Andrew Butt, 20, is managing director of Enable Software, a company with an annual turnover of £1 million. He has 16 employees, flies a helicopter, owns two homes and a Mercedes, and travels the world.

The company that Andrew founded three years ago with his partner, Denys Shortt, helps businesses to manage and develop web sites, intranet and other areas. The idea was simple. "So much technology, including business software, seemed to have been designed by people showing off their technical skills rather than making it as easy as possible to use," says Andrew. "I decided to create software that even the most technophobic company director could use."

He aimed to ensure that if a director wanted to change something on his website or add a new piece of information to his intranet, he could do so without calling in expensive IT people. Companies loved it. In a year, Enable has sold more than £1 million of software.

Andrew had a fascination for computers from an early age and spent every evening after school at his PC. At 12, he got his first taste of working with computers in the real world when his father, an accountant, allowed him to help out at a local helicopter company near his home in Coventry. "Almost as soon as I got there, I noticed that all their filing was done by hand. It seemed so inefficient that I decided to transfer everything on to a computer for them."

Impressed with his initiative, the firm owners allowed him to work in other areas. Soon he was inventing new ways of marketing the business and helping out with the accounts. At 14, he set up a one-man business selling computer hardware and solving computer problems. "I had learnt much by then and had a captive market in the people I had met at the helicopter company" he says.

The business cost nothing to set up and turnover hit £12,000 within six months. With business booming, he was keen to leave school. His parents agreed, provided that he had a private tutor to help him to pass his school examinations. By then, the internet was taking off and Andrew could see the business opportunities in it. He decided to add website design and development to his business, and was soon working on more than 1,000 sites. At 16 he joined forces with Denys Shortt, a distributor of hi-tech products.

Andrew is an ideal role model for other young entrepreneurs. His message: "Age is not a problem. Just so long as you have total confidence in yourself, your ability and your products, you can succeed."

Source : The Times, Saturday, July 12, 2003 (adapted)

VOCABULARY :

a turnover = un chiffre d'affaires
to show off = faire étalage de
to ensure = s'assurer
a taste = un aperçu
filing = le classement
to take off = décoller
IT = Information Technology

TRAVAIL A FAIRE PAR LE CANDIDAT

A. Recopiez les deux tableaux ci-dessous sur votre copie et complétez-les en français à l'aide des informations du texte.

Andrew Butt

Age

20 ans

Lieu du domicile familial

Coventry

Profession du père

Comptable

Son entreprise

Nom de l'entreprise

Enable Software

Nom de l'associé

Denys Shortt

Activité de l'entreprise

Aide à la gestion et au développement de sites web, d'intranet

Nombre d'employés

16

Chiffre d'affaires annuel

un million de Livres (sterling)

B. Répondez en français aux questions suivantes en utilisant uniquement les informations contenues dans le texte.

    1. Décrivez les débuts professionnels d'Andrew Butt.

Fasciné par l'informatique dès son plus jeune âge, Andrew passait tout son temps libre sur son ordinateur. C'est pourquoi quand il eut douze ans, son père accepta qu'il donne un coup de main à une société de transport par hélicoptère, où il entreprit, pour plus d'efficacité, d'informatiser tout le système de classement qui jusqu'alors se faisait manuellement.
Les propriétaires de l'entreprise furent tellement impressionnés qu'ils lui permirent d'accéder à d'autres domaines. Ils découvrit ainsi de nouveaux moyens d'optimiser l'entreprise et sa comptabilité.

    2. Quelle activité Andrew Butt a-t-il entreprise à l'âge de quatorze ans ? Donnez des précisions.

A quatorze ans il décida de se mettre à son compte pour vendre du matériel informatique et résoudre les problèmes liés à l'informatique. Il avait des connaissances et une clientèle toute trouvée grâce à la compagnie d'hélicoptère et aucun investissement n'était nécessaire. C'est pourquoi son chiffre d'affaires atteignit douze mille livres en moins de six mois.

    3. Comment son entreprise a-t-elle évolué ?

Son entreprise était florissante. il quitta l'école pour s'y consacrer totalement, d'autant qu'Andrew percevait de grandes possibilités liées à l'envol d'Internet.
Il ajouta à ses activités la conception et le développement de plus de mille sites web.
A seize ans, il s'associa à Denys Shortt, distributeur de produits de haute technologie.

    4. Quel est le message délivré par Andrew Butt dans le texte ?

"Peu importe votre âge. Si vous êtes sûr de vous, de vos capacités et de vos produits, vous pouvez réussir."

C. Traduisez en français le troisième paragraphe du texte.

(de "He aimed to ensure..." à "...£1 million of software")

Son but était de s'assurer que si un directeur voulait modifier quelque chose sur son site web ou ajouter une nouvelle information à son intranet, il pouvait le faire sans passer un appel coûteux à un service de dépannage. Les entreprises adorèrent l'idée. En un an, Enable a vendu pour plus d'un million de Livres de logiciels.

D. Recopiez cette publicité pour des stages en informatique en mettant les verbes entre parenthèses à la forme exigée par le contexte.

If you want to gain the skills your company needs in today's modern world, please contact EMPOWER TRAINING SERVICES. We guarantee our course will improve your opportunities and make life easier. In the past five years we have successfully trained more than 500 students.

E. Recopiez ces phrases extraites d'un rapport d'entreprise en les complétant a I'aide des mots requis par le contexte et choisis dans la liste ci-dessous :

in order to

unless

although

but

in spite of

so that

1 The results last year were bad, but they could have been worse.
2 The company is now doing better in spite of its recent problems.
3 Although the new manager has not been in charge for long, a number of changes have already been made.
4 A website has been set up in order to make business more efficient.

F. Rédigez en anglais une présentation de I'entreprise "BOX OFFICE" en vous servant des informations fournies ci-dessous et en faisant des phrases complètes.

COMPANY FACT FILE

Name :                            BOX OFFICE
Location :                      Birmingham, UK
Employees :                   18
Activity :                       Manufacturing (box files for office use)
Production :                  350,000 files per year
Turnover :                     £500,000 in 2003
Future plans :                Expansion/introduction of on-line sales

Box office is a company which employs 18 people. It is located in Birmingham, UK. It manufactures 350,000 box files for office use per year. In 2003, its turnover hits £500,000. In future, it plans an expansion with the introduction of on-line sales.

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