STARTING TRAINING
LA FORMATION COMMENCE
Exercice 1
Commencer par écouter la leçon en entier
Exercice 4
Traduire la structure du texte en anglais
Alors, comment trouvez-vous votre hôtel ?
- 36Page 5
Exercice 2
Lire le texte à voix haute
STARTING TRAINING
Christopher Vincent: Welcome to Norfolk Chocolate, Kate!
Kate: Thank you, Mr Vincent.
C: Please call me Chris, Kate. Everybody else does!
K: OK, I will do!
C: So, how’s your hotel?
K: Really superb. Having been a student until very recently,
I’m not used to such luxury!
C: Well, I wouldn’t call the Queen’s luxurious, but we use it a
lot for our guests, and they seem to make a special effort
for Norfolk Chocolate! Anyway, I’ve found you a room with
a colleague and she’s happy for you to move in on
Saturday, if that’s all right. I’ll introduce you to her later
on.
K: Thanks very much for your help, Chris… I’m very grateful.
C: So you’ve already spent some time with Bill Hayward. I
doubt if there’s much left for me to tell you!
K: I don’t know… But I thought he spoke more like a CEO
than just a plant manager.
C: Oh, absolutely. And to all intents and purposes, that’s what
he is. He’s an engineer, originally, spent most of his career
in production. But now his job is more related to general
management.
K: Anyway, I think he told me everything I wanted to know. (slight pause.) I was surprised that Norfolk Chocolate is a
wholly-owned subsidiary. That’s not the case with
Birtwhistle’s, is it?
C: No it’s not. But you have to remember, Kate, that Freddie
Birtwhistle decided to hold on to at least thirty per cent of
the stock…
K: … which is why he’s a director of UC…
C: Quite right! But Walter Adams, who founded Norfolk
Chocolate and created the famous Norfolk Nuggets had
no children… He was happy to sell the company at a good
price. He’s 84 now, but he still drops in quite often to say
hello to everyone. He’s in very good health for his age!
K: It must be the Nuggets!
C: … which are now made in Dijon!
K: Yes! But why has UC kept a separate identity for Norfolk
Chocolate as a subsidiary? Why not treat it as just another
United Chocolate production unit, which, of course, it is?
C: Your remarks are very shrewd, Kate! But the answer to your
question is Norfolk Nuggets. It’s a household name! What
you suggest may well happen one day… I’m sure it will, in
fact!
K: And what about the production workers? What do they
think about not making Nuggets anymore? How would
they feel if the name Norfolk Chocolate just disappeared,
so to speak?
C: You’re going to have the opportunity to ask them those
questions for yourself, Kate. Starting next week.
K: Next week?...
C: That’s right. We’re going to put you to work on the
production line for a fortnight!
Exercice 3
Traduire le vocabulaire en anglais
Se serrer la main
- 35Page 5
Exercice 5
Traduire le texte complet en anglais
LA FORMATION COMMENCE
Christopher Vincent : Soyez la bienvenue chez Norfolk
Chocolate, Kate !
Kate : Merci, Monsieur Vincent.
C : Appelez-moi Chris, s’il vous plaît, Kate. C’est comme ça
que tout le monde m’appelle !
K : D’accord, j’en ferai autant !
C : Alors, comment trouvez-vous votre hôtel ?
K : Vraiment magnifique. J’étais étudiante jusqu’à très
récemment, et je n’ai pas l’habitude d’un tel luxe !
C : À vrai dire, je ne qualifierais pas le Queen’s de luxueux,
mais nous l’utilisons beaucoup pour nos visiteurs, et on
dirait qu’ils font un effort particulier pour Norfolk
Chocolate. De toute façon, je vous ai trouvé une chambre
chez une collègue, et elle est tout à fait d’accord pour que
vous emménagiez samedi, si ça vous convient. Je vais vous
la présenter plus tard.
K : Merci beaucoup pour votre aide, Chris… Je vous en suis
très reconnaissante.
C : Donc vous avez déjà passé un moment avec Bill Hayward.
Je suppose qu’il ne me reste plus grand-chose à vous
raconter !
K : Je ne sais pas… Mais j’ai trouvé qu’il parlait plus comme un
PDG que comme un simple directeur d’usine.
C : Absolument. Et il l’est pratiquement. C’est un ingénieur, à
l’origine, qui a passé la majeure partie de sa carrière dans
la production. Mais maintenant son travail est plus en
rapport avec la direction générale.
K : De toute façon, je pense qu’il m’a expliqué tout ce que je
voulais savoir. (bref silence) J’ai été surprise d’apprendre
que Norfolk Chocolate était une filiale à 100 %. Ce n’est pas
le cas de Birtwhistle’s, n’est-ce pas ?
C : Non, c’est vrai. Mais il ne faut pas oublier, Kate, que
Freddie Birtwhistle a décidé de garder au moins trente
pour cent du capital…
K … et c’est pour ça qu’il est administrateur de United
Chocolate…
C : Exactement ! Mais Walter Adams, qui a fondé Norfolk
Chocolate et a créé les célèbres Norfolk Nuggets, n’avait
pas d’enfants… Il a été content de vendre la société à un
prix intéressant. Il a quatre-vingt-quatre ans, maintenant,
mais il passe assez souvent pour dire bonjour à tout le
monde. Il est en très bonne santé pour son âge !
K : Ça doit être les Nuggets !
C : (riant) …Mais qui sont fabriqués à Dijon maintenant !
K : Oui, mais pourquoi UC a-t-elle gardé une identité propre
pour Norfolk Chocolate comme filiale ? Pourquoi ne pas le
considérer comme une simple unité de production de
United Chocolate, ce qui est d’ailleurs le cas ?
C : Vos remarques sont très pertinentes, Kate ! Mais la réponse
à votre question est Norfolk Nuggets. C’est un nom connu
de tous ! Ce que vous suggérez pourrait bien arriver un
jour. En fait, j’en suis persuadé !
K : Et les ouvriers à la production ? Quel effet ça leur fait de ne
plus fabriquer les Nuggets ? Comment réagiraient-ils si le
nom de Norfolk Nuggets venait à disparaître, tout
simplement, pour ainsi dire ?
C : Vous allez avoir l’occasion de leur poser ces questions
vous-même, Kate. Dès la semaine prochaine !
K : La semaine prochaine ?...
C : Oui, c’est ça. Nous allons vous faire travailler à la
production, pendant quinze jours !
STARTING TRAINING
Christopher Vincent: Welcome to Norfolk Chocolate, Kate!
Kate: Thank you, Mr Vincent.
C: Please call me Chris, Kate. Everybody else does!
K: OK, I will do!
C: So, how’s your hotel?
K: Really superb. Having been a student until very recently,
I’m not used to such luxury!
C: Well, I wouldn’t call the Queen’s luxurious, but we use it a
lot for our guests, and they seem to make a special effort
for Norfolk Chocolate! Anyway, I’ve found you a room with
a colleague and she’s happy for you to move in on
Saturday, if that’s all right. I’ll introduce you to her later
on.
K: Thanks very much for your help, Chris… I’m very grateful.
C: So you’ve already spent some time with Bill Hayward. I
doubt if there’s much left for me to tell you!
K: I don’t know… But I thought he spoke more like a CEO
than just a plant manager.
C: Oh, absolutely. And to all intents and purposes, that’s what
he is. He’s an engineer, originally, spent most of his career
in production. But now his job is more related to general
management.
K: Anyway, I think he told me everything I wanted to know. (slight pause.) I was surprised that Norfolk Chocolate is a
wholly-owned subsidiary. That’s not the case with
Birtwhistle’s, is it?
C: No it’s not. But you have to remember, Kate, that Freddie
Birtwhistle decided to hold on to at least thirty per cent of
the stock…
K: … which is why he’s a director of UC…
C: Quite right! But Walter Adams, who founded Norfolk
Chocolate and created the famous Norfolk Nuggets had
no children… He was happy to sell the company at a good
price. He’s 84 now, but he still drops in quite often to say
hello to everyone. He’s in very good health for his age!
K: It must be the Nuggets!
C: … which are now made in Dijon!
K: Yes! But why has UC kept a separate identity for Norfolk
Chocolate as a subsidiary? Why not treat it as just another
United Chocolate production unit, which, of course, it is?
C: Your remarks are very shrewd, Kate! But the answer to your
question is Norfolk Nuggets. It’s a household name! What
you suggest may well happen one day… I’m sure it will, in
fact!
K: And what about the production workers? What do they
think about not making Nuggets anymore? How would
they feel if the name Norfolk Chocolate just disappeared,
so to speak?
C: You’re going to have the opportunity to ask them those
questions for yourself, Kate. Starting next week.
K: Next week?...
C: That’s right. We’re going to put you to work on the
production line for a fortnight!