2010 - UCL

UCL LANGUAGE CENTRE R
Course Units 2009‐2010 Writing Examination: LCFR6907: French Translation Skills This examination counts for 60% of your final mark. You may use a bilingual dictionary of your choice. Duration: 2.5 hours Date: XX‐May‐2010 Time: 10:00/14:00 Version: v1.01 2010‐02‐10 © 2010 University College London FRENCH TRANSLATION SKILLS: LCFR6907 Page 2 In this examination you can obtain a maximum of 100 points which are awarded as follows: Translation English‐French: 50 points Translation French‐English: 50 points Answer ALL questions in the separate Examination Answer Book(s) provided. You may use a bilingual dictionary of your choice. In order for your answers to remain anonymous do NOT use your name when completing the tasks. Document A France’s Real Immigration Story A With financial hard times whipping up anti‐immigrant sentiment across Europe, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has bowed to the angry wind by launching a national debate on what it means to be French. The touchstone of this discussion remains the widespread rioting of 2005, which seemed to prove that France is a land of increasingly marginalized and restive migrants. Into the center of this fray comes a new book, which shows that integration à la française works better than most French imagine. B In The Destiny of Immigrants’ Children1, authors Claudine Attias‐Donfut and François‐Charles Wolff offer a landmark survey of 6,000 migrants and 19,000 of their offspring. It is the first time that a study on immigration in France focuses on migrants from all continents. The authors’ deliberate intent is to counter the common fiction of French political debates, which tend to define “les immigrés” as African and Arab newcomers, and to use immigration as a pretext to talk about ethnicity, an otherwise taboo notion in France. C The book’s main finding is that a family’s class origins play a much bigger role than their country of origin in determining whether their children will thrive in France. The child of a doctor from Morocco is much more likely to succeed at school than the child of a stonemason from Poland. Another key to success is having parents with a positive attitude: the more Mom and Dad value French education and France as a whole, the more likely their children will succeed. 5 10 15 Anita Kirpalani Newsweek, 22 January 2010 (abridged) 1
Use the original French title in your translation: Le destin des enfants d’immigrés CONTINUED FRENCH TRANSLATION SKILLS: LCFR6907 Page 3 Document B La nouvelle muraille de Chine A Depuis l’Antiquité, les empereurs de Chine ont construit des édifices toujours plus hauts pour contenir les attaques des étrangers venus du Nord. Les 5.000 kilomètres de muraille qui serpentent dans les collines au nord de Pékin en portent le témoignage. B La Chine moderne est‐elle en train de reconstruire ses murailles ? Depuis quelque temps les signes se multiplient, inquiétants : arrestation de dirigeants étrangers, procès truqués, attaques informatiques… Celles contre Google en sont la dernière illustration. Avec un message subliminal : « Courbez l’échine ou partez, nous n’avons pas besoin de vous. » C Comme si la crise ayant démontré définitivement la supériorité du modèle chinois, le pays avait décidé qu’il n’avait plus besoin des autres pour faire tourner sa machine. Ce serait une grave erreur, sur le plan tant politique qu’économique. D Une faute politique, car le pays n’est pas encore le géant diplomatique qu’il devrait être et son influence extérieure se limite le plus souvent à la simple défense de ses intérêts marchands. Dans ce domaine, l’empire du Milieu n’est pas de taille à rivaliser avec un empire américain même affaibli par la tempête financière. E Une faute économique ensuite car se couper du monde extérieur reviendrait à débrancher l’oxygène qui le maintient en activité. Ce serait nier l’architecture même de la mondialisation qui a assuré sa prospérité. Aucun autre pays au monde n’est aussi massivement dépendant du commerce mondial. À l’image de l’Internet, l’économie mondiale est interconnectée. Pour prospérer elle a besoin de règles sûres, de confiance… et de bonnes relations avec ses partenaires. F Et puis politiquement et économiquement, le pays court le risque de dégrader son image. À quelques semaines de l’entrée dans l’année du Tigre, le dragon chinois devrait veiller à ne pas trop jouer avec la dynamite nationaliste. 5 10 15 20 Philippe Escande Les Échos, 15/01/2010 (abridged) TURN OVER FRENCH TRANSLATION SKILLS: LCFR6907 Page 4 Task 1 Document A: English to French As a freelance translator specialising in employment and social affairs, you work regularly with the EU Commission. One of the Commission’s key priorities is to promote better education and training opportunities for migrants’ children growing up in EU countries. In order to achieve this goal, the education and employment policy team have been reviewing immigration trends in EU member states. As part of this review, you have been asked to translate a text that presents the findings of a newly published book on immigration in France. Please translate the text in full, as printed in Document A, into French. Please write your answer in the answer booklet provided. (50 points) Task 2 Document B: French to English A leading British newspaper is planning to publish a special issue on China’s growing influence on the world stage. For this forthcoming issue, the editors are especially keen to engage readers and to cover as many opinions voiced on China as possible, including views expressed in other countries. They have come across an editorial in French that they think might be relevant, and have asked you to translate it into English. Please translate the text in full, as printed in Document B. Please write your answer in the answer booklet provided. (50 points) END OF PAPER