BREVET DE TECHNICIEN SUPÉRIEUR

GROUPEMENT 1

LANGUE VIVANTE ÉTRANGERE

SESSION 2002
 

- ÉPREUVE D'ANGLAIS -

SUJET

 

Durée : 2 heures

Le sujet est composé de 3 pages numérotées de 1/3 à 3/3
 

 

 

L'usage du dictionnaire bilingue est autorisé
 

 


Spécialités
 

Coefficient


ACTION COMMERCIALE
 

1,5


ASSURANCE
 

1


PROFESSIONS IMMOBILIERES
 

1


COMMUNICATION DES ENTREPRISES
 

1


BANQUE
 

1

 

  I - COMPRÉHENSION                                                                                                        10 points
 
  Après avoir lu attentivement le texte suivant, vous traduirez en FRANçAIS le passage qui va de la ligne 1 ' House prices and sales of Mercedes cars... ' à la ligne 11 ' ... may be worth paying for. '
   
 

Time-saving services find a market in boom times
   




5




10




15




20




 

                 House prices and sales of Mercedes cars are not the only things to have experienced
strong growth in recent years. The services sector has also been a major beneficiary of the boom
and the changing consumer habits that have accompanied it.
                As people earn more, work harder and find themselves with less time for daily chores,
they are more inclined to pay others to do the cooking, cleaning or catering. And a rash of firms
has sprung up to meet the demand.
                 Offering everything from nail bars to new-age thereapies, many are geared to meet the
needs of the estimated 45 per cent of househods where both partners work outside the home. For
the 'cash-rich and time-poor', saving money is no longer the top priority. Instead, time has
become the more precious commodity and anything that provides more of it may be worth
paying for. [...]
                  Many of the ideas behind the newer service companies have been imported, or brought
back, from that bastion of consumer culture, the United States. But Irish companies have also
been quick to spot and adapt to changing needs, particularly in areas such as food.
                  With people spending less time sweating over a kitchen stove - research indicates people
now spend an average of 20 minutes preparing meals and this is expected to fall to 10 minutes -
the demand for convenience meals has grown.
                 The hge increase in forecourt retailing, which allows consumers to buy food and petrol
under one roof, the growing amount of supermarket space devoted to ready-made meals and the
rise in the number of convenience stores such as Spar and Centra are part of the response.
                 ' We're in a convenience age ', says Mr Franck Murphy, financial director of Superquinn,
which has been quick to embrace change.
                 To make life easier for the consumer, Superquinn has introduced Internet shopping - also
offered by rival Tesco, supermarket banking and self-scanning in certain stores.

The Irish Times, July 20, 2001

(324 words) 

   
  II - EXPRESSION                                                                                                                 10 points
   
 

HEADING FOR THE 24-HOUR BUSINESS DAY
   
                   At 1:30 on a Wednesday moring, shoppers prowl the aisles of a Virginia Wal-Mart. ' We
like to shop this late,' they say. ' You don't have to worry about anybody.'
                 Across the country, people are paying bills, mlanning trips and buying and selling stock on
the Internet. 'Compared to Europe, the U.S. is miles ahead in mining the economic value of
time,' said L. Michael Hager, director of the International Development Law Institute in Rome,
who sstudies time as an economic resource.
                 Actually in the USA there are fewer legal restrictions on business hours than in Europe.
And in addition, the Internet has opened up all kinds of possibilities for 24-hour activity.
                 Mr Sindelar, the Kinko night manager, put it this way : ' The United States is not used
to waiting. In Europe, they queue up. Here, they don't. '
                 ' We're in a world that almost never stops. People hardly ever sleep.' During his 11:30
p.m.-to-9 a.m. shift, he said, about 100 to 300 people will pass through - people wanting
everything from birth announcements to funeral programs. 'Everyone's under an enormous
amount of stress and strain,' he said. People used to wait for what they wanted, 'but that
attitude's changed.'

Adapted from The Washington Post, November 13, 1997
   
  Répondez en anglais aux questions suivantes en rédigeant vos deux réponses.

1. What are the positive and negative aspects of the 24-hour business day for firms and consumers? Justify your answer with elements from the above article. (100 words at least)

5 points

2. Considering your professional field, do you think that the 24-hour business day is an improvement or not for emplyees and workers? Justify your opinion. (100 words at least)

5 points