BTS ANGLAIS: êtes-vous d'accord que les travailleurs ont besoin de vacances pour être plus productifs?

SESSION 2007 BTS TERTIAIRES - GROUPE 1

Durée : 2 heures ; MUC : coefficient 1,5 , Dictionnaire bilingue autorisé

TRAVAIL À FAIRE PAR LE CANDIDAT

I. COMPRÉHENSION À rédiger en FRANÇAIS 10 points

Après avoir dégagé l'idée principale de l'article, vous en ferez un compte rendu en 180 mots (+ ou – 10 %).

Vous indiquerez le nombre de mots utilisés. Toute présentation sous forme de notes sera pénalisée.

II. EXPRESSION À rédiger en ANGLAIS

Do you agree that workers need holidays to be more productive?

The following questions may help you: (It is not necessary to use all the elements listed below and in their chronological order. You may add your personal point of view.)

- How would you define overwork?

- What are the dangers of overwork?

- Why do some people find it hard to disconnect from their work?

- In your line of work what are the main sources of stress?

(200 words at least)

MORE AMERICANS SWAP BEACH FOR THE OFFICE

It is already common knowledge, on the beaches and in the cafes of mainland Europe, that Americans work too hard – just as it is well known on the other side of the Atlantic that Europeans, above all the French and the Germans, are slackers1 who could do with a bit of America's vigorous work ethic.

But a new survey suggests that even those vacations American employees do take are rapidly vanishing, to the extent that 40% of workers questioned at the start of the summer said they had no plans to take any holiday at all for the next six months, more than at any time since the late 1970s.

It is probably mere coincidence that George Bush, one of the few Americans who has been known to enjoy a French-style month off during August, cut back his holiday in Texas this year to a fortnight. But the survey by the Conference Board research group, along with other recent statistics, suggests an epidemic of overwork among ordinary Americans.

A quarter of people employed in the private sector in the US get no paid vacation at all, according to government figures. Unlike almost all' other industrialised nations, including Britain, American employers do not have to give paid holidays.

The average American gets a little less than four weeks of paid time off, including public holidays, compared with 6.6 weeks in the UK - where the law requires a minimum of four weeks off for full-time workers - and 7.9 weeks for Italy. One study showed that people employed by the US subsidiary of a London-based bank would have to work there for 10 years just to be entitled to the same vacation time as colleagues in Britain who had just started their jobs.

Even when they do take vacations, overworked Americans find it hard to switch off. One in three find not checking their email and voicemail more stressful than working, according to a a study by the Travelocity website, while the traumas of travel take their

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