Tuesday, 26 April 2011
When Irish Eyes are Crying
A very thorough article on the Irish economic crisis:
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/03/michael-lewis-ireland-201103?currentPage=2
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/03/michael-lewis-ireland-201103?currentPage=2
Les futurs avocats devront maîtriser la langue de Shakespeare
Muriel JASOR
Le Conseil national des barreaux (CNB), à l'initiative de la Commission de la formation professionnelle, a signé un accord avec ETS Global pour que les élèves des onze écoles françaises d'avocats puissent certifier leur niveau d'anglais grâce au test TOEIC. La raison ? Pour un avocat, être bilingue n'est désormais plus un atout, mais un prérequis. Et, dans un contexte d'internationalisation des affaires, les cabinets d'avocats recrutent de plus en plus de collaborateurs parlant les deux langues. « La maîtrise de l'anglais par les futurs avocats français est une priorité dans laquelle le Conseil national des barreaux a un rôle important à jouer», justifie-t-on du côté des avocats. Si une majorité de facultés de droit françaises proposent déjà des cours d'anglais, le CNB a choisi d'aller encore plus loin avec le test TOEIC, qui permet aux futurs avocats de bénéficier de la reconnaissance d'une référence mondiale des tests d'anglais. Plus de 5.000 entreprises internationales et plus de 2.000 établissements éducatifs européens utilisent cet outil d'évaluation, et 5 millions de personnes passent le test chaque année.
M. J., Les Echos
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Expressing “preference”
I. Prefer to do / prefer doing
There are 3 options at your disposal:
a. Prefer something to something else
Ex: Samantha prefers tea to coffee.
b. Prefer doing something to doing something else
Ex: Samantha prefers waiting for people to being waited for.
c. Be careful! Prefer to do something rather than to do something else
Ex: Jim prefers to watch soccer rather than to play rugby.
II. Would prefer / would rather
Would prefer
Ex 1: “Would you prefer to come with us rather than to stay at home?”
Ex 2: “No, I’d prefer to stay at home rather than to go to the cinema”.
Negative form: I’d prefer not to do something
Ex 3: Jim would prefer not to tell Bill how he crashed his car if he can avoid it.
(Be careful: I’d prefer doing) (This form does not exist!!)
Would rather
a. Affirmative form: Would rather + base verbale (= inf. sans “to”)
Ex: Jim would rather go to the cinema
b. Negative form: Would rather not + base verbale
Ex: Jim would rather not go to the cinema
c. Interrogative form: Would + S+ rather + base verbale
Ex: Which book would you rather read this week?
d.
-Tim would rather go to the painting exhibition than go to the soccer game.
- We would rather go to Spain than stay in France.
-Would you rather go to the painting exhibition than study tonight?
e. I would rather = I would sooner
I’d rather go to spain than stay in France
I’d sooner die than marry him
f. I would rather you did something (The structure uses the past, but the meaning is present!)
Ex 1: I’d rather you stayed at home tonight
Ex 2: I’d rather you drove the car
Ex 3: Shall I tell them the truth or would you rather they didn’t know?
Compare 1:
-I’d rather do my homework now, so I’ll feel free to enjoy the rugby match tonight.
-I’d rather you did your homework now, so you’ll feel free to enjoy the rugby match tonight.
Compare 2:
I’d rather you didn’t spend Harry’s money = I’d prefer you not to spend Harry’s money
g. Using “would rather” (in a past context) when referring to something which did not happen.
Ex 1: George would rather have gone to Spain by plane rather than by train.
(George has gone to Spain already. He is in Spain, and he already took the train. In retrospect, he believes it would have been better for him to go my plane. “He wishes he had gone by plane”)
Ex 2: I’d rather have met the customers myself.
Compare: (I’d rather you / he / they / we etc.)
- I’d rather Steve did not lie to Paul about the car accident. (Preterit) (Present Context)
(It is not too late. Maybe Steve will not lie to Paul after all…)
- I’d rather Steve hadn’t lied to Paul about the car accident. (Past Perfect) (Past context)
(It is too late. Steve has already spoken to Paul about the car accident. And he has not told the truth!)
Friday, 22 April 2011
BBC video document: How a law is made
Highly recommended: A very short and clear BBC video presenting the different stages of the law-making process in Westminster.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
The House of Lords Reform (text 2)
A debate in the House of Lords was followed by a vote on whether the House of Lords should be composed of elected members or not.
(to vote a bill ≠ to vote on a bill)
It emerged that a great / a vast / a large majority of Lords opposed an elected upper house.
(to oppose something / to be opposed to something)
Indeed, they argued that an elected House of Lords would create competition between the Upper Chamber and the House of Commons.
Or: Indeed, they contended that an elected House of Lords would cause legislative gridlock.
If the Lords were elected, they would be entitled to the same legitimacy as the Commons.
Were the Lords elected, they would be entitled to the same legitimacy as the Commons.
(If + Preterit é Conditional)
Therefore / as a consequence / consequently, if the Lords were to be elected, it would be necessary to redefine the prerogatives and powers of each chamber.
Some Lords justify the existence of a fully appointed House, arguing that (…)
Finally / To conclude, some Lords assert that the popular will may be expressed in other ways than by voting.
However such an argument may be dismissed (may be discarded), because (…)
One can overlook / reject this argument on the grounds that (…)
Michael Martin: what are the allegations?
Worksheet
a. A taxpayer: a person who pays taxes (contribuable)
b. Evidence (give a synonym for “evidence”): proof (nb evidence takes no "s": there is a lot of evidence / a piece of evidence / a scrap of evidence)
c. Expenses: costs incurred in the performance of a job
d. To step down: to resign
e. A bias: partisanship, one-sidedness, unfairness (to be biased / to be prejudiced)
f. To stand against someone: to compete with someone
g. Sleaze: immoral, sordid or corrupt behaviour
h. A peerage: the title and rank of peer. ("The peerage" refers to peers collectively)
Find equivalents in the text for:
Pratiquement: virtually
Actuellement: currently
Exceptionnel: outstanding
Président (d’une commission): a chairman
Succéder à quelqu’un: to succeed someone (Martin succeeded Betty Boothroyd)
Tromper, faire croire à quelqu’un, induire en erreur : to mislead someone( / passive structure: to be misled by someone)
The case is all the more serious that Martin is the Speaker of the House of Commons. As such he has to defend its reputation.
All the more that
Not only does Matin stand accused of financial irregularities, but on top of this, some people argue that he is incompetent.
Not only + aux + S + v
Grammar Points:
A.
Dozens of MPs: (des douzaines de députés) cf: There were thousands of people at the concert (des millions de)
≠
Jim owes Tom three thousand pounds. (= £ 3000)
Betty bought three dozen eggs. (= 3 x 12)
Two hundred people attended the conference (= 200 people)
B. Hypothèse:
-If + présent é …
-If + Prétérit é Conditionnel présent
Ex: cf. text “If he were, then the allegations against him would probably attract less attention.”
-If + “past perfect” é ....
Expressions from the text to be remembered:
To run a series of critical stories about something..
To claim £ (…) in expenses
There is no evidence that …
It was reported that … (his wife is reportedly keen for him to step down)
To set an example
As a result
To be accused of something
Regardless of something
Attacks on him seem to be fuelled by …
To stand accused of something
To stand accused of having done something / (He has been accused of using public money)
To use public money for personal purposes...
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