File 1:
Technical Development
1. DISCUSSING TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
1. [Needs analysis] In a needs analysis, the following factors are important:
2. [Listening Comprehension] Part A. Claudia, an engineer, is asking Kevin and Dave, the
managers of a fun park, about their requirements for a proposed space module simulator
called ‘Mars Lander’. Listen to the conversation and note the three main areas Claudia
asks about.
1) ....................................... 2) ....................................... 3) .......................................
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Part B. How do Claudia and Kevin focus on specific subjects? Complete the following
phrases from the conversation using the words in the box. Listen again and check your
answers.
Part C. Write questions using the following prompts and the phrases in Exercise 2b.
3. [Listening Comprehension] Part A. Claudia goes on to ask about the physical effects
the simulator needs to produce. Listen to the conversation and make notes on the
following points.
Part B. Listen again and explain what is meant by the words and phrases in bold.
HE2B | COMMUNICATION ET LANGUE ANGLAISE 3
Part C. Following the meeting, Claudia writes an email to update Rod, an engineering
colleague. Read the extract and choose a word or phrase from Exercise 3b that means the
same as the words in bold. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.
Transcripts
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2. SUGGESTING IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS
1. [Reading Comprehension] Part A. Read this newspaper article and answer the
following questions.
[1] How is the statue being made, and what is it being made from?
.......................................................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................
[2] What is Rick Gilliam’s role?
.......................................................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................
[3] What will the statue be placed on in its final position in front of the museum?
.......................................................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................
[4] What technical problem did they have to solve?
.......................................................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................
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Part B. Rick is talking to Gabriella, an engineering colleague, about the problem of
placing the statue. Before you listen, explain what is meant by the following terms and try
to guess what the three possible solutions are.
Part C. Listen to the conversation and summarise the ideas.
Part D. Complete the following suggestions from the conversation using the words in the
box.
Other structures allowing to make suggestions are:
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Transcript
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3. ASSESSING FEASIBILITY
1. [Warm up] What do you think is meant by feasibility?
2. [Listening Comprehension] Part A. Viktor, an engineer from a German company that
makes and installs industrial gantry cranes, is
phoning Rajesh, the construction manager of a
manufacturing plant currently being built near
New Delhi, lndia. They are discussing the
gantry crane due to be installed at the plant.
Listen to the conversation and answer the
following questions.
Part B. Listen again and complete the following transcript.
Viktor: So all the steel beams shown on this [(1) ….................] are going to be fixed to the
walls, bolted through the [(2)………………].
Rajesh: Right.
ViKor: So to bolt through, obviously we need holes in the walls. We can core drill them, with
a diamond drill, which would obviously be done after the walls have been cast. Um, we’d drill
them ourselves, as part of our [(3)…...................] package. Alternatively, the holes can be
preformed by putting plastic tubes into the concrete when they cast the walls, in which case
the [(4)….........................] responsible for the concrete structure would do the job.
Rajesh: OK.
Viktor: Now the problem is, these bolts won’t have much play.
Rajesh: How do you mean?
Viktor: Well, they’ve got to fit quite tightly in the holes, so they won’t be able to move much.
There won’t be much space around them, to [(5)…...................] their position.
Rajesh: I see.
Viktor: So that means the holes have got to be positioned very precisely. lf they’re slightly
out of position on the wall, they won’t match up with the holes that have been pre-drilled
through the steel beams, at our [(6)….......................].
Rajesh: Sure.
Viktor: That’s the main technical issue, in terms of deciding how we form these holes.
Obviously, the technical side’s not the only [(7)….......................]. There’s also the question of
[(8)….....................] – given that there are a lot of these holes to do. And, obviously, the
question of cost, as well.
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3. [Vocabulary Exercise] Put these words back in the correct order.
- BLOT >
- TEERCONC >
- YLTGIHLA >
- GIHTYLT >
- MEAB >
- CRATNOCTOR >
- MITELASCE >
- AFTOYRC >
4. Part A. Viktor and Rajesh are now assessing the most suitable method of forming the
holes in the walls. Answer the following questions [5’22’’].
Part B. Listen again and complete the following transcript.
Viktor: In terms of cost, preforming is obviously a lot cheaper, because all you need are plastic
tubes, which are cheap to buy, and quick to put in. If we do it that way, it will be dead easy, and
it will cost peanuts. Whereas core drilling will be slow, it will quite a painstaking job. But…
Rajesh: But core drilling is more [(1)………………], clearly.
Viktor: A lot more [(2)…………….…]. I mean, sometimes, you can get away with preforming.
If you need to get within twenty mil, then it’s perfectly feasible. Ten mil is – It’s achievable,
but it’s stretching it. Anything less than ten mil, and there’s no way you can do it.
Rajesh: And what sort of tolerance are you looking for?
Viktor: About ten mil.
Rajesh: So it’s borderline, then.
Viktor: It’s a tall order. The safe bet would going for core drilling.
Rajesh: The problem is going to be the [(3)………………], though.
Viktor: Exactly. I mean, to diamond drill the number of holes that we are talking about, it will
take , um…
Rajesh: It will take forever and [(4)………………], won’t it ? Whereas if they’re preformed,
they’d be ready as soon as the walls are cast.
Viktor: But if half of them are in the [(5)……………..…] place, it will cost an arm and a leg
to put them right. Because if they’re wrong, it’s not just a question of drilling new ones in the
right place. If they’re slightly out of position, they have to filled in, first, with
[(6)………………], to avoid having two holes [(7)……………..…]. So putting them right is
easier said than done.
Rajesh: Sure. So as I see it, the key issue here, in terms of [(8)……………..…], is the tolerance.
If the holes can be bigger, and there is more play for the bolts, we won’t have this problem.
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5. [Vocabulary Exercise] Complete the following expressions from the conversation using
the words in the box and indicate the degree of feasibility each expression describes.
6. Translate the following expressions and sentences.
1) C’est limite >
2) Nous n’aurons pas beaucoup de jeu >
3) Ce sera un jeu d’enfant et ça ne nous coûtera rien >
4) Ce n’est pas la seule chose à prendre en considération >
5) Le principal problème technique >
6) La première option est limite, tandis que la deuxième est un pari sûr >
7) Légèrement décalé >
8) La tolérance est le point clé >
9) C’est plus facile à dire qu’à faire >
10) Couler un mur >
11) Si les trous se chevauchent, ce sera un travail fastidieux de les corriger >
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4. GRAMMAR POINT: Reported Speech
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Transform the following sentences into reported speech.
1) [Kevin to Claudia] “We want Mars Lander to be physical, but we don’t want it to be too
extreme”……………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
2) [Claudia to Kevin] “It is difficult to quantify something like that. The only way to determine
what is right is to sit in the simulator and experience it”………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
3) [Rick Gilliam] “We have fried our brains trying to figure out how to lower the mammoth on
the stone plinth”………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4) [Rick Gilliam] “I know that we can put slings under the statue”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
5) [Rick to Gabriella] “The statue obviously has to be lifted with a crane”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
6) [Rick to Gabriella] “People will see the holes”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
7) [Gabriella to Rick] “We could use some sort of filler that is the same colour as the stone”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Translate the following sentences.
1) L’entrepreneur nous a dit que c’était limite.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
2) Il m’a dit que c’était plus facile à dire qu’à faire.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
3) Rajesh a dit que le carottage était plus précis.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4) L’ingénieur a dit que nous n’aurions pas beaucoup de jeu.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
5) Il m’a dit qu’en termes d’agenda, ce serait parfaitement faisable.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
6) Elle m’a dit que le ciment et le béton ne coûteraient rien.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
7) Le chef m’a dit de forer horizontalement.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
8) Viktor a dit que si les trous se chevauchaient, ce serait un travail fastidieux de les corriger.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
***
Exercises taken and/or adapted from:
Ibbotson, Mark. Cambridge English for Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008.
Murphy, Raymond. English Grammar in Use. A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for
Intermediate Learners of English. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2012.