The French language

ANGLAIS SCIENTIFIQUE ET TECHNIQUE
Fiche de travail
Niveau : intermédiaire
OBJECTIFS
> COMPREHENSION GENERALE ET DETAILLEE D’UN ARTICLE DE PRESSE A COLORATION TECHNIQUE
> LEXIQUE : LES MOTS COMPOSES, LA SIGLAISON SUR LE WEB (SIGLES PRINCIPAUX)
> SYNTAXE : LES PROPOSITIONS COMPLETIVES, LA FORME PASSIVE, LES AUXILIAIRES DE MODALITE
 1. Overall comprehension: read the passage and tick the right answer(s)
[Mar 31st 2005 | PARIS]
From The Economist - print edition
A Fight Over Linguistics and the Internet
The latest French v English battle
5
IN THE dimly lit cyber-café at Sciences-Po, hot-house of the French elite, no Gauloise smoke fills the air,
no dog-eared copies of Sartre lie on the tables. French students are doing what all students do: surfing the web
via Google. Now President Jacques Chirac wants to stop this American cultural invasion by setting up a rival
French search-engine. The idea was prompted by Google's plan to put online millions of texts from American
and British university libraries. If English books are threatening to swamp cyberspace, Mr Chirac will not stand
idly by.
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He asked his culture minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and Jean-Noël Jeanneney, head of France's
Bibliothèque Nationale, to do the same for French texts—and create a home-grown search-engine to browse
them. Why not let Google do the job? Its French version is used for 74% of internet searches in France. The
answer is the vulgar criteria it uses to rank results. “I do not believe”, wrote Mr Donnedieu de Vabres in Le
Monde, “that the only key to access our culture should be the automatic ranking by popularity, which has been
behind Google's success.”
15
This is not the first time Google has met French resistance. A court has upheld a ruling against it, in a
lawsuit brought by two firms that claimed its display of rival sponsored links (Google's chief source of
revenues) constituted trademark counterfeiting. The French state news agency, Agence France-Presse, has also
filed suit against Google for copyright infringement.
20
25
30
Googlephobia is spreading. Mr Jeanneney has talked of the “risk of crushing domination by America in
defining the view that future generations have of the world.” “I have nothing in particular against Google,” he
told L'Express, a magazine. “I simply note that this commercial company is the expression of the American
system, in which the law of the market is king.” Advertising muscle and consumer demand should not triumph
over good taste and cultural sophistication.
The flaws in the French plan are obvious. If popularity cannot arbitrate, what will? Mr Jeanneney wants a
“committee of experts”. He appears to be serious, though the supply of French-speaking experts, or experts
speaking any language for that matter, would seem to be insufficient. And if advertising is not to pay, will the
taxpayer? The plan mirrors another of Mr Chirac's pet projects: a CNN à la française. Over a year ago, stung by
the power of English-speaking television news channels in the Iraq war, Mr Chirac promised to set up a French
rival by the end of 2004. The project is bogged down by infighting.
France's desire to combat English, on the web or the airwaves, is understandable. Protecting France's tongue
from its citizens' inclination to adopt English words is an ancient hobby of the ruling elite. The Académie
Française was set up in 1635 to that end. Linguists devise translations of cyber-terms, such as arrosage (spam)
or bogue (bug). Laws limit the use of English on TV—“Super Nanny” and “Star Academy” are current pests—
and impose translations of English slogans in advertising. Treating the invasion of English as a market failure
that must be corrected by the state may look clumsy. In France it is just business as usual.
a) What is the meaning of English books are threatening to swamp cyberspace (l.5)
 It is hard to find English books on the web.
 There are not enough English books on the web.
 English books will invade the web.
 There are as many English books as French books on the web.
b) What is the meaning of home-grown search-engines (l.8)
 Search engines developed at home.
 Search-engines made abroad and brought back home.
c) What is the meaning of the verb to browse (l.8)
 To search  To look for  To destroy  To compile
d) What is the meaning of a court has upheld a ruling against it (l.13)
 A court has defended a law against Google.  A court has abandoned a law against Google.
e) What is the meaning of the expression Googlephobia is spreading (l.17)
 Google is more and more popular.
 More and more politicians in France disapprove of Google's strategy.
 There are less and less people who support Google.
f) What is the meaning of the flaws in the French plan are obvious (l.22)
 The defects in the French plan are easily noticeable.
 The qualities in the French plan are obvious.
 The advantages of the French plan are very clear.
g) What is the meaning of the project is bogged down by infighting (l.27)
 It is more and more complicated to work on the project because of infighting.
 It is easier and easier to work on the project thanks to infighting.
 2. Vocabulary
h) Find in the text the English equivalents of the following French words
un moteur de recherche maison
naviguer / un navigateur
classer
un procès
un lien (hypertextuel)
maladroit
home-grown search engine des défauts
to browse / a browser
to rank
a lawsuit
a link
clumsy
le contribuable
monopoliser
menacer
les ondes
un passe-temps
the flaws
the taxpayer
to swamp (≈)
to threaten
airwaves
a hobby
i) Describe the following word, give their function in context
Les exemples sont choisis pour attirer l'attention des étudiants sur le phénomène de composition.
- dog-eared (l.2) : (N + N-ed) page de livre cornée / adjectif (+ nature adjectivale du -ed).
- home-grown (l.8) : (N + PP) fait maison ; développer localement / adjectif.
- trademark / copyright (l.15/16) : (N/V + N) / noms.
- French-speaking (l.23) : qui parle français (Adj + V-ing) / adjectif.
hand-held PC
= a PC which is small enough to be held in the user’s hand
web-enabled phone
= a phone that enables you to access the Web
battery-powered systems
= systems that run on batteries
hands-free operations
= operations that you make without using your hands
head-mounted display = a display which is mounted on the head
The Economist - A fight over Linguistics and the Internet - Mar 31st 2005
c) Fill in the gaps in these sentences using the passive forms of the verbs in the box
provide
develop
use
call
send
deliver
1. The new national backbone is called Abilene.
2. The Internet2 project was developed by UCAID in October 1996.
3. Funds and grants for research are provided by non-profit organizations like the National Science
Foundation.
4. One objective of Internet2 is to develop new technologies that can be used in the global Internet.
5. Huge packets of data and video are sent at high speed.
6. In the future it’s likely that all media (TV, web content, email, etc.) will be delivered over Internet2.
Copyright Cambridge University Press
 3. Restore the missing words
Until this year, Yahoo! was a partner of Google. It used Google's technology to run its own
searches, just as other portals, such as AOL, still do. This did wonders for Google's market share: at
its peak, some 75% of all internet searches touched Google's technology. But Yahoo! was only biding
its time. It bought several rival search technologies, including AltaVista and Inktomi, which its
engineers souped up. The key advantage that Yahoo! now has, says Jeff Weiner, its search boss, is
the registration information from more than 100m users of its e-mail, travel and other services. This
should allow it to tailor searches more closely to the needs of users. In February, Yahoo! finally
sacked Google and started using its own technology. Now Google's algorithm touches a bit over half
of all searches. Yahoo! is close behind.
 4. Convert into the passive or active
a) J. Chirac asked his culture minister and the head of France's Bibliothèque Nationale to do the same
for French texts.
The head of France's Bibliothèque Nationale was asked to do the same.
b) A court has upheld a ruling against Google, in a lawsuit brought by two firms.
A ruling has been upheld against Google.
c) Mr Chirac promised to set up a French rival by the end of 2004.
A French rival was promised by Mr Chirac.
d) The project is bogged down by infighting.
Infighting bogged down the project.
e) The Académie Française was set up in 1635 to that end.
They set the Académie Française up in 1635.
f) A market failure that must be corrected by the state.
The state must correct the market failure.
 5. Reformuler les énoncés suivants en utilisant un auxiliaire de modalité
a) It is impossible for Google to dominate the web.
Google cannot dominate the web.
b) France is unlikely to overcome the company.
France may not overcome the company.
c) Google is likely to become the most popular search engine.
Google could become the most popular search engine.
d) Mr Chirac advised his culture minister to launch a similar project quickly.
According to Mr Chirac, the Culture Minister should launch a similar project.
The Economist - A fight over Linguistics and the Internet - Mar 31st 2005
e) It is not necessary for France to legislate against Google.
France needn't legislate against Google. (verbe > doesn't need).
 6. Siglaison & composition
Give a definition in French of the following words :
- Hardware : le matériel (physique).
- Software : les programmes.
- Shareware : logiciel gratuit pendant une période d'essai.
- Freeware : logiciel entièrement gratuit (cf. logiciels libres).
> Qu'indique le suffixe -ware ? Used to refer to items of the same material or type.
Give the definition of the following abbreviations :
Sigles couramment rencontrés sur le web :
- H.T.M.L. : Hyper Text Markup Language (langage de balisage pour l'hypertexte).
- H.T.T.P. : Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.
- W.W.W. : World Wide Web.
- U.R.L. : Uniform Resource Locator ; Universal Resource Locator.
- LOL : Laughing Out Loud.
- F.A.Q : Frequently Asked Questions.
- ROTFL : Rolling On The Floor Laughing
Give the French equivalents of the following words :
Quelques équivalents lexicaux en français de termes anglais :
- Email : courriel / Spam : pourriel
- Webzine : magazine publié sur le web / Weblog : journal intime sur le web.
- Hacker : pirate.
- Webmaster : webmestre.
- Firewall : pare-feu.
- F.A.Q. : foire aux questions.
- Cookie : mouchard.
- Drag and drop : glisser, déposer.
- Copy, paste : copier, coller
- Bookmark : signet
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