IT'S BUSINESS AS USUAL ON THE ROAD

1. At any given moment of the working day, some four million people are busy conducting business somewhere other than in the office. Pull into a service area along any of Britain's motorways and you'll see many busy executives. While some linger over a cup of coffee as they make urgent phone calls, others plug their laptop into the car's cigarette lighter and carry on business as usual in the car park. Then there are all those who cannot wait to park, and risk their driving licences - and their lives - by carrying on their business, mobile phones clamped to their ears, at 8O mph in the fast lane.

2. Now MOTO, formerly Granada Roadside Services, has come up with an alternative place in which to conduct business while on the road. It has opened three Workspace Business Centres at the Reading, Heston and Leigh Delamare service areas along the M 4. The centres offer business people somewhere to meet with clients, send a fax, write a report or log on to the internet. Each area provides desks with powerful PCs, meeting rooms for up to 12 people with presentation equipment, and a variety of office support services including telephones, colour and mono printing, scanning and photocopying.

3. Costs are reasonable, especially when compared with the facilities offered at many roadside hotels. For £5 users gain all-day access, complimentary first tea or coffee, free car parking, newspapers and the use of showers. Meeting rooms cost from £60 a half-day for four people, desks from £4 per hour. As well as the M4 Workspaces, there are 26 Workspace satellites in Travelodges across the UK.

4. Sue Roberts, an administrator at the Royal Automobile Club in Bristol, books Workspace meeting rooms for employees about once a week and says they work well as a halfway meeting point. "We are very short on meeting rooms in our department and the Workspace on the M4 in Reading makes a good meeting point," she says. "I usually book a whole day but occasionally it's a half. I've never been there but everyone I've booked for says that the staff are very helpful and that they can order teas, coffees and lunch just as they would if the meetings were taking place at our own offices." Before Workspace came on the scene, Ms Roberts would book meeting rooms in chain hotels for the same purpose. 'However, Workspace is about a fifth of the cost and is also tailor-made to suit mobile business people," she says.

5. Michele Cruz, a Personal Assistant for Burger King, books Workspace seven times a month for the company's operations team. Before Workspace opened, the company used meeting rooms at hotels. Ms Cruz says : "Finding a convenient and suitable meeting place can be very difficult. Workspaces are easily accessible and save our team a lot of time in travelling."

http://www.warkspace.travelodge.co.uk or call the Workspace reservations team an 087040000 5995.

Source : THE TIMES Wednesday August 8, 2001 (adapted)

Vocabulaire :
a service area : une aire de services
the M4 : nom d'une autoroute en G.B
to log on to : se connecter à
Travelodge : une chaîne d'hôtels
to be short on : manquer de

TRAVAIL A FAIRE PAR LE CANDIDAT

A- Répondez en français aux questions suivantes, en utilisant uniquement les informations contenues dans le texte. Composez des phrases complètes et justifiez toujours vos réponses.

8 points : A1 = 1 pt A2 = 1 pt A3 = 1 pt A4 = 2 pt A5 = 1,5 pt A6 = 1,5 pt

1- Les hommes d'affaires travaillent-ils toujours uniquement dans leur bureau personnel ?
2- Que risquent ceux qui continuent à travailler au volant ?
3- Combien y a-t-il d'aires de travail de la compagnie MOTO sur la M 4 ? Dans quelles villes ?
4- Quelles facilités les aires de travail WORKSPACE offrent-elles aux hommes d'affaires ?
5- Quels sont les services proposés par WORKSPACE pour £5, pour £60, pour £4 ?
6- Pour quelles raisons Sue Roberts réserve-t-elle des salles de réunion chez Workspace ? (3 raisons)

B- Traduisez en français le dernier paragraphe du texte. (4 points)
(de " Michèle Cruz... " à la fin du texte)

C- Recopiez les phrases suivantes sur votre copie en les complétant à l'aide de mots choisis dans la liste ci-dessous : (2 points)

SINCE - UNLESS - SO - IN ORDER TO - ALTHOUGH - IN CASE

1- We should leave early ................................... there is a lot of traffic on the road.
2- Sarah went to Birmingham ................................... meet a client.
3- The managing director was ill ................................... they decided to cancel the meeting.
4- I'll book a whole day ................................... you tell me not to.

D- Recopiez et complétez les propos de Sue Roberts en mettant le verbe à la forme exigée par le contexte : (2 points)

Sue says that she usually ......................... (to book) a Workspace Business Centre for a whole day, but that next week she ......................... (to require) two full days. She claims that everyone who ......................... (to use) the facilities so far has been very satisfied. She adds that last year she ......................... (to spend) a lot of time and money finding suitable meeting places.

E- Votre employeur, Mrs Mary Donnelly, souhaite organiser une réunion de travail à Reading avec les responsables de ses différentes succursales en Grande Bretagne. Voici les directives :

Date : 20 septembre 2002
Horaire : 9h à 18 h
Participants : 12
Un bureau avec ordinateur et photocopieur.
Café le matin et sandwiches à midi
Deux serveurs
Tarif proposé par la société

Vous devez rédiger en ANGLAIS le texte d'un courrier électronique destiné à WORKSPACE en respectant la présentation proposée ci-dessous. (4 points)

From : Mary.Donnelly@co.uk
Subject : Meeting room reservation
To : www.workspace.travelodge.co.uk

Reservation:

Staff. facilities and services required:

Price: