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)
A Fight over Linguistics and the Internet
[Mar 31st 2005 | PARIS]
From The Economist - print edition
The latest French v English battle
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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.
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.”
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.
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.
The Economist - A fight over Linguistics and the Internet - Mar 31st 2005
a) What does English books are threatening to swamp cyberspace mean? (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 does home-grown search-engines mean? (l.5)
 Search engines developed at home.
 Search-engines made abroad and brought back home.
c) What does the verb to browse mean? (l.8)
 To search  To look for  To destroy  To compile
d) What does a court has upheld a ruling against it mean? (l.13)
 A court has defended a law against Google.  A court has abandoned a law against Google.
e) What does the expression Googlephobia is spreading mean? (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 does the flaws in the French plan are obvious mean? (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 does the project is bogged down by infighting mean? (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
a) 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)
Traductions
Des défauts
Le contribuable
Monopoliser
Menacer
Les ondes
Maladroit
b) Describe the following words, give their functions in context
- Dimly-lit (l.1) : ......................................................................................................................................................
- Dog-eared (l.2) : .................................................................................................................................................
- Home-grown (l.8) : ..............................................................................................................................................
- Trademark / Copyright (l.15 ; 16) : .....................................................................................................................
- French-speaking (l.23) : ......................................................................................................................................
- Hand-held PC: ....................................................................................................................................................
- Web-enabled phone: ..........................................................................................................................................
- Battery-powered systems: ..................................................................................................................................
- Hands-free operations: .......................................................................................................................................
- Head-mounted display: .......................................................................................................................................
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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 ................................ Abilene.
2. The Internet2 project ................................ by UCAID in October 1996.
3. Funds and grants for research ................................ by non-profit organizations like the National Science
Foundation.
4. One objective of Internet2 is to develop new technologies that can ................................ in the global
Internet.
5. Huge packets of data and video ................................ at high speed.
6. In the future it’s likely that all media (TV, web content, email, etc.) ................................ over Internet2.
Copyright Cambridge University Press
 3. Restore the missing words in the following paragraph
users - engineers - algorithm - tailor - bought - services - partner - technology - peak - portals
Until this year, Yahoo! was a .................. of Google. It used Google's .................. to run its own searches,
just as other .................., such as AOL, still do. This did wonders for Google's market share: at its
.................., some 75% of all internet searches touched Google's technology. But Yahoo! was only biding its
time. It .................. several rival search technologies, including AltaVista and Inktomi, which its ..................
souped up. The key advantage that Yahoo! now has, says Jeff Weiner, its search boss, is the registration
information from more than 100 millions .................. of its e-mail, travel and other ................... This should
allow it to .................. searches more closely to the needs of users. In February, Yahoo! finally sacked
Google and started using its own technology. Now Google's .................. touches a bit over half of all
searches. Yahoo! is close behind.
 4. Transposer les énoncés suivants à la forme passive ou active
a) J. Chirac asked his culture minister and the head of France's Bibliothèque Nationale to do the same for
French texts.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
b) A court has upheld a ruling against Google, in a lawsuit brought by two firms.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
c) Mr Chirac promised to set up a French rival by the end of 2004.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
d) The project is bogged down by infighting.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
e) The Académie Française was set up in 1635 to that end.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
f) A market failure that must be corrected by the state.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
 5. Transposer les énoncés suivants en utilisant un auxiliaire de modalité
a) It is impossible for Google to dominate the web.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
b) France is unlikely to overcome the company.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
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The Economist - A fight over Linguistics and the Internet - Mar 31st 2005
c) Google is likely to become the most popular search engine.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
d) Mr Chirac advised his culture minister to launch a similar project quickly.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
e) It is not necessary for France to legislate against Google.
..............................................................................................................................................................................
 6. Composition & siglaison
- Hardware : .......................................................................................................................................................
- Software : ........................................................................................................................................................
- Shareware : .....................................................................................................................................................
- Freeware : .......................................................................................................................................................
> Qu'indique le suffixe -ware ? ...........................................................................................................................
Give the definition of the following English abbreviations
Give the French equivalents of the following words
H.T.M.L. :
Email / Spam :
H.T.T.P. :
Hacker :
W.W.W. :
Webzine :
U.R.L. :
Webmaster :
F.A.Q. :
Firewall :
L.O.L. :
Cookie :
R.O.T.F.L. :
Drag and drop / Copy, paste :
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