Anglais- Texte2l COLLEGES SEEHIGHER DEMAND FOR DEGREESIN AGR]CULTURE Enrollmentis boomingat manycollegesofagricultu.e,asstudentsflock to studysubjects iheyfeeloffer a clearpathto ajob on graduation. {griculture-relaled college majoN appealto both the heart and mind of a student,univemity .rfficiâlssay,as a boomingagdcultureindùstryandpracticalskills taughtat the collegescan issuessuchasglobalhungerandobesityin theU.S. helpdevelopa careerthat addresses There'sa better understandingthat when we use the telm agriculture,it's not all plows andcows.It's clearlylookingat the real intricaciesof scienceand innovâtion.At tradition4l suchasPennState,wherc enrollmentis up more than 40% since agdculturepo\rerhouses preparation can include cutting-edgeresearchin areassuchas plant breedingor 2004, caxeer in localfoodsandhealthy genomics.Schoolsin moreùrbaûregionsdraw studentsinterested eating. andcom p ceshavedoubled Farmlandpriceshavetxipledin the U.S. iII thepastdecade, sincemid-2010.The high-payingjobs that follow ale catchingstudents'attentionin a dorvt ecotomy. Iowa State University, where the agricultue college this fall expects to sùrpassân eùollment recordset 35 yearsago,is staining to meetindusty demandfor its graduates,said wendy Wintemteen,the agriculturecollege dean.Anthony Lackore,24, graduatedfrom Iowa Statein 2010 and works âs a productionagronomistraisingsoy bean seedsfor DuPont Pioneer,a companythat produceshybrid seeds.He had the job lined up by the fall of his seniorYear. The unive$ity repods a 95% job-placementrate for graduatesfrom the collegesof andagriculture.Wagescanstartat between$50,000and$60,000. engineering for the pasttwo DuPontPioneerhasbeena top employerofCollegeof Agricultwegmduates years.Demandfor skilledworkersin the industryshowsno signsofletting up, in partbecause somepredictagricultureproductivitywill haveto increâse70% by 2050to feedthe world's growing population.Pioneerhas doubled its workforcein the last six years to 12,000 employeesworldwide, and expectsto add employeesat a similar rate for the foreseeable future.About3,400ofthesejobsarein Iowa. Studentsshow an interestin the big problemsofthe day obesity and food safetyin the U.S. and hunger in the developingworld. Bùt better health through local foods and farmers marketsaDDealto them too. The skills taught in agriculture prcgrams also tend to offer a clear career path once studentseam a diploma. Parents,in particular, sometimesdiscouragetheir children from subjectssuchasphilosophyin favor ofthose that teachmore maxketableskills.

Adaptedftom ASA Today August2012 (444words)

Anglais- Texte22 COLORADO AND WASHINGTON ENJOY TIIDIR MARIJUANA MOMDNT Marijuana users and actvists celebnted the drug's legalisationin Colorado and Washinglon as landmark victories but uncertainty over the federal govemment'sresponse legalisingthe lecreational temperedjubilation.Votersin both statesapprovedamendments âcrossthe [lS with useof marijuana,historicdecisionsthat reflect growingdisenchântment the decades-old "war on drugs". civil rights advocatesard fomer law enfbrcers A coalitionof pot shop dispensaries, arguedthat legalisationwould hit drug cartels'profits, boost statetâ){revenuesând rcducethe massincarceÉtionof African Americansand Latinos. "l really think this is the beginningof the end for marijuanaprchibition,not only in the US, but in many count es acrossthe wodd, includingthe UK," said a former assistant attomeygen€ralin Coloradowho supportedthe change."We didn't just legaliseit we createda regùlatorysystem." A former Seattle police chief said he was very happy. "After 40 years of the mcist, destmctiveexercisein futility that is the war on drugs,my homestateof Washingtonhasnow put us on a different path." Once the elections are celtified - which could take up io two months - perconal possession of up to an ounce(28.5gams) of marijuanawill be legal for atyoneaged21 or over in Washingtonand Colondo. Pot, previouslyavailablefor medicinaipuposes at stores. will be soldandtaxedat state-licensed dispensaries, Washingtonstill banspersonalcultivation,but Coloradowill allow six plantsperperson. Neitherstateallowspublicuse.Votersin Oregoûrejectedlegalisationin theirstate Questions aboundover whether Colorado and Washiûgtonwill becomeAmsterdam-stylemagnetsfor marijuanatowisn, and over how fedeÉl authoritieswill respond. The justce departmentsâid federal law making pot illegal remained unchanged The Obamaadministrationhas usedfederal law to qack down on dispensariesin Califomia and elsewhere,making someColoradoand Washitgton dispensariesnervousof a backla-sh."We dont know what's going to happen"said one Denverstoreowner,declining to be named. McAllister, the former assistantattomey general, predicted that Obama, secure in a secondterm, would leaveColoradoalonebecauseits regulationswere tighter arld clearerthan the nebulousregulationswhich left Califomia's opento abuse State leaders had opposed the legalisaton but promised to respect the vote Mike Coffman, a re-electedRepublicancongressman,said "l needto seewhat other statesaredoing but clearly if there is a sentimentthat is movitg nationally to legalise marijuana,then I certainly respectthe decisionsby the states And I would supportthe forming oflegislation at the federal level. But I dont know if I'm there yet. I necd to study and seewhat the other statesaredoing." Adapredfuoû The G ardi.tn November2012 (450words)

Anglais- Texte23 COMING NEXT: USING AN APP AS PRESCRIBED

Sma phoneapps alreadyfill the roles of televisionremotes,bike speedometers and ilashlights. Soon they may also act as medical devices,helping patientsmonitor their heart rateor managetheir diabetes,andbe paid for by insurance. The ideaof medicallyprescribedappsexcitessomepeoplein the healthcâreindustry, \rho seethem asa startingpoint for evenmore sophisticatedapplicationsdlat might otherwise neverbe built. Simple appsthat track users' personalfitnessgoalshave alreadygainedwide ùaction. Now medical professionalsard enûeprenetuswant to use similar approachesto dealingwith chonic ailmentslike diabetesor heartdisease. If smartphone-based systemscan rcduce the amountof other medical care that patients need,the potentialberefit to the healthcaresystemwould be enormous;the total cost of treatingdiabetesalonein 2007was$174billion, accordingto the mostrecentstatisticsfrom the Centemfor DiseaseControl and Prevention. But tmlike a 99-centgame,appsdealingdirectly with medical carecannotbe introduced !o the public with bugsthat will be fixed later.The industryis still sappling with how to ensurequalityandsafety. One of the pioneersin the prescription-app field is a companycalled WellDoc. Its DiabetesManagersystem, which patients can use through a smartphoneapp, standard cellphoneor desLlopcomputer,collectsinformationabouta patient'sdiet,bloodsugarlevels and medicationregimen.Patientscan enterthis datamanually or link their deviceswirelessly with glucosemonitors. DiabetesMânagerthen gives advice to a patient, perhapssuggestingthe best food after recordinga low midday blood-sugarreading.It also usesan algorithmto analyzethe medical dataand sendclinical rccommendationsto the doctor. WellDoc saysthat in a clinical trial, DiabetesManagerwas shownto reducesignificantly thebloodsugarlevelsin diabetes patients. Thoseresultspersuadedthe Food and Drug Administration to give the systemclearance to operateasa medicaldevice.At over $100a month,the costis moreakin to diabetesdrugs thar to most smartphoneapps.But two irsurance companieshave alreadyagreedto pay the bill for patientswhosedoctorsaskthem to usethe systemwhen it is availableearly next yeâr, saidthe company'spresident. The managingdirectorof a sùbsidiâryof the businessarm of the GreaterNew York HospitalAssociation,sayshe believesthat doctorswill soonprescribeboth clinicallytested apps and more modestapps,like those thât track physical activity or remind patientsto take their pills. The companyhasestablished its own setof guidelinesto determirethe qualityof healthcare-relatedapps. "This is the tansition froû somethingthat is superficialto serioushealthcaredelivery," h€ said.

ftorn TheNew YorkTîmes ^dâpted August2012 (455words)

Anglais- Texte24 COUPLES WHO SIIARE THE HOUSEWORK ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIVORCE, STUDY FINDS

In what appearsto be a slap in the face for genderequality, the report fourd the divorce rate amongcoupleswho sharedhouseworkequally was around50 per cent higherthan anong those where the woman did most of the work. "Wlat we've seen is that shariûg equâl responsibility for work in the home doesn't necessarilycontribute to contentment,"said ThomasHarsen, co-authorof the study entitled "Equality in the Home". "One would think that break-upswould occur morc often in families with lessequality ât home,but our statistics showtheopposire." hesaid. The figures clearly show that "the more a man does in the home, the higher the divorce rate," he went on. The reasons, Mr. Hansen said, lay only partially with the chores themselves. seenas a goodthing to havevery cleârroleswith lots of "Maybeit's sometimes person clarity ... whereone is not steppingon the other'stoes,"he suggested. But the deeper reasonsfor the higher divorce rate, he suggested,caûrefrom the valuesof "modem" couples Éther thar the choresthey sharcd. "Modem couples are just that, both in the way they dividç up the chores ând in their perceptionof marriage"as being less sacred,Mr. Hansensaid."In thesemodemcouples, womer also have a high level of educationand a well-paid job, which makes them less dependenton their spousefinancially. They canmanagemuch easierif they divorce," he said. Norway has a long tradition of genderequality and childrearing is sharedequally between mothers and fathers in 70 per cent of cases.But wher it comesto houseworkJwomen in Norway still accountfor most of it in sevenout of l0 couples.The study emphasisedwomen -*ho did rnost of the choresdid so of their own volitioir aiid weie found to be as "happy'' as thosein "modem" couples. Dr Frank Furedi, Sociology professor ât th€ Unive$ity of Canterbury,said the study made senseas chore sharingtook place more amongcouplesfrom middle classprofessional backgrounds,wheredivorce mtes are known to be high. "Tbesepeople are extremelysensitiveto making sure everythingis formal, laid out and contactual. That does make for a fairly fiaught relationship," he told the Daily Telegraph. "The more you orgaûiseyour relationship,the more you work out diaries ard schedules,the one."That tends more it becomesa businessrelationshipthan an intimate, loving spontaneous to encowagea conflict of interestrather than finding harmoniousresolutions."He said while the surveyappliedto Norway, he was confidentthe resultswould be the samein the UK.

Adaptedfrom The Daily Telegraph September 2012 (454words)

Arglais - Texte25 DEATITS SPOTLIGHT TAIWAN'S'OVERWORI('

CULTURE

The deathsof nearly 50 workers last year were blamed on working morc overtimethan allowed by law. This figure was as much as four times higher than the pr€vrousyear, accordingto the CouncilofLabor Affairs (CLA). Investigatorstaskedby the governmentto look into what causeddeathsrelfied to overwork lbund that the victims generallyhad congenitalconditions,especiallyheartproblems.They also had high-riskfactors,suchas being overweightand being a smoker,which had been aggravated by too muchwork.Many ofthem werein theirlate20sto 40s. The cornpanies generallydo not disputethe CLA's findings.Theyareonly obligedto pay a relatively small fine for violating overtime laws. The labour insurancebureaucompensates thevictims'familiesfor up to 3.75yeaIsoftheir salaxy. "We've had thesecasesall along, including migrant workerswho died from overwork.But in the past, somepeople thought it wasjust â regularheart attack,',said Sun yuJian, secretarygeneralof Taiwan Labor Front. "What's different about the recent casesis that the families dareto speakout," Although Taiwan's labour law mandatesthat worke$ should not do more than 46 hours of overtimea month,somecouldbe exempted from this ifthey agreeto it. "Taiwan's employersdon't follow the laws. They find loopholesbecausethey think no one will check."Basedon CLA data,the ûumberof overworkcasesis disproporiionately low compzùedto Taiwan'swork force and to similar economieslike Japanand SouthKorea, leadingmany to beiievethe problemis under-reported. Taiwan ranks aûong the top countrieswith the longestrvorking day, basedon statistics. On average,Taiwaneseemployeeswork 2,200 hours annually - that is 20olomore than Japan and the US, 30oZmore than the UK and 50% more than Gemany, according!o goverrunenr data.A government studyin 2010foundthat 80%ofthe big Taiwanese techcompanies being investigated violatedovertimelaws. "In recent yea$, we've made changesin the law to let workers have more recreation time," saidLo Chih-chiang, who until recentlywasa spokesman for the prcsident's office. Most workers now get two days off a week.The govemmenthas also threatenedto irqease finesandevenjail employers. But many still see l2-hour work days as the norm, with somemanagerseven giving up amual holidays.Maûy axguethat Taiwan hasto work so much to stay competitive.Lin Bingbin, who headsa businessassociation, said that working hard in Taiwan is rmponanrro economicdevelopmert. "The laws car be revised to be more strict and complete, but they shouldnt be too inflexible.Ifthey aretoo strict,it couldhurt Taiwaa'seconomicdevelopment.,,

Adaptedftom BBCNevs March2012 (456words)

Ànglais- Texte26 DEVELOPING NATIONS' FISHING GROUNDSSHOULD BE PROTDCTED' UN SAYS

Asfishstocksaroundtheworldhavebecomeseriouslydepleted,theindustrialfishin groundsbelongingto fleçts of some countes have respondedby seekingout fishingthan hugetrawJers' ralh€r developinecountries,uhich oflen are populatedb) small boals .lgn"o aeds dtôwhg suchexploitation'\ iile. in orhercasesthe il;;;?'.ilJu"" retrlations by registeringtheir 'esselsin the developingcou'rtf, i""t-"i.".r "i."u-rent the fish they catchback to their homemarkets while expoting is a serioustheat to fish stocks'accordingto Olivier De But this "ocean-grabbing" practicecould damage Schutter,the UN's specialrapportew on the right to food He said the He comparedit to the r.J rT"irô ,ra]"ia io tt ouer_""ptoitationofdwindling fish stocks. ;;;:;;;;iùi such as china and saudi Arabia have bought up ;v *t,i"tt" "o"ntti"t thathasbeenan ircreasing aericuiturallàd in poorercounrriessuchas EthiopiaandChana farmers'secwity r"*i and which somehaveblamedfol endangering "?iJrrl*"* ageementsthai halm De Schuttersaid: "Ocean-grabbing,in the shapeof shady access and the diversion of small-scalefishers, unreportedcatch, ircursions into protectedwaters' land-$abbing Without ,".o*""" u*uy ftom 1oà populations,can be as seriousa threal as tack wàtersfrom unsustainablepractces, ftsherieswill no longerbe able .uoiJ u"tion to "fu* role in secudngthe right to food of millions" to olav a critical lom and 28m tonnes The illegat catctt resuiting from suchpracticesamountsto between fleets flouting quotas and .f fr"f, y"î. De Schutter said there were also problems with " fisheriesAs much as 7 3m toones 10%ofglobal catch is ,"nutu,iot, "onserye tt'at as fish are becomingless abundant'fishing vesselsare rt is ;;il;#;;;t;. -"*,,o "l.at temptedto eva Dire wamings of water scarcity limiting food prodùction come as Oxfam and the I-û.J preparefor a possiblesecondglobal food crisis in hve years.Pricesfor staplessuch as com and wheat have risen nearly 500/0on intemational markets since June, triggered by severe droughtsin theUS andRussia,andweakmonsoonrainsinAsia. Morethan 18million people arealreadyfacing serioùsfood shortâgesacrossthe Sahel. Oxfam has forecastthat the price spike will have a devastâtiûgimpâct in developing countriesthat rely heavily on imports, including partsof Latin America,North Africa and the MiddleEast.Foodshortages iû 2008ledto civil umestin 28 countdes. Adoptirg a vegetariandiet is one option to increasethe amount of water available to grow morc food in an increasinglyclimate-erratic world, the scientistssaid.Animal proteinrich food consumesfive to 10 times more watei than a vegeta an diet. One third of the world'sarablelandis usedto growcropsto feedanimals.Otheloptionsto feedpeopleinclude eliminating wasteand ircreasingtÉde betweencounûiesin food surplusandthosein deficit. ( Nine hu[dredmillion peoplealreadygo hungryand2 billion peoplearemalnowished in spite of the fact thal per capita food production contnues to increase,r they said. < With 70o/oof all available water being in agriculture,growing more food to feed an additional 2 billion peopleby 2050will placegreaterpressweon availablewaterandland.> The report is being released at the start of the amual world water conferencein Stockholm.Sweden...

Adaptedfrom The Guafiiqn October2012 (444 words)

Anelais- Texte 36

FOREIGN STUDENTS:NOT WELCOMD HERE

Studentsare annoying.They sleep till noon, listen to awful music and think -/aclassis amusing.However, theseare hardly compelling reasonsfor any natiot to curb the influx of foreigne$to its universities. Americâhasthe bestuniversiliesin the world,but its immigrationenforcershavedonea goodjob of makingthemlessattractive.The biggesttum-off is the difficulty of obtaininga work visa after graduating.PresidentBarack Obamapays lip serviceto the needto openup, A new study finds that anti-imrnigantpolitics but has overseenmillions of deportations. appearto have stuntedAmericanenterprlse. Bdtain has tumed even harsher.The ConservativePârty has promised to reduce net immigrationfrom 250,000a yearwhen it cameto powerto 100,000by 2015.Sinceit hasno contol overthe numberofEU citizenswho enterBritain or thenumberofBrits who leave,it finds itself squeezingstudentsftom outsidethe EU. It has not imposedan absolutecap on the numbei of studentvisas, but it has madethe applicâtion processmore ardlrous,and made it harderfor non-Europeansto work in the UK once they have graduated.Previously, studetts would be allowed two years to find work. Now they must find a sponsoringcompanyand a job with a stafiing salaxyof f20,000 i$32,300) a 1ear, or àce deportation.Studeûtsare also being told they can no longer bring their wives and children with them while they study. All this mattersfor three reasons.First, educationis a luqative export: loreign students pay handsomelyfor tuition, textbooks alrd toga padies. Second,mixing with brigbt people from elsewhereis good for ûative-bom students:it helps them unde$tand the globalised world in which they will later seekjobs. Finally, foreign studentsforge connectionsthat can last a lifetime. Ifthey have studiedor worked in a particular country, they are more likely to do businesswith that cowrtry whenthey eventuallyretum home.Shuttingout forcign students is thus much more damagingthan sabotagingany other export indttstry. Other countriesare keen to woo the brains that America and Britain reject. Austalia has reverseda craikdown on foreign studentsand startedto welcome them. Canadahas gone fuither, allowing all postgraduatesto stay and work in the country for three yeaxs,with no restrictions. Many continentalEuropeanuniversitieshavejoined the fray, offering coursesin English and MBAS that cost far less than American ones. Staûdârdsare fast improving in Asia and South America, too. The world is engagedin a war for mobile talent. Nations that refuseto tâkeDartwill lose.

Adapædftotr:.The Economist October2012 (443words)

Anglais- Texte37 FRANCE ADVANCES GAY MARRIAGE BILL

The F'renchgovemmenton Wednesdayapproveda draft bill legalizing same sex marriageafter weeks of loud opposition, especiallyfrom religious figwes and the political right. PresidentFrançois Hollande promised to legalize same-sexmarriage during his presidentialcampaign.On Wednesday,he said it would reprcsent"progrcssfor âll of society". The draft law redefinesmarriageto stipulatethat it is "coùtractedbetweentwo pemonsof different sex or of the samesex" and the words "father" and "mother" in existing legislation arereplacedby "parents".Thebill wouldallow maried couplesto adoptchildren. The cabinetdecisioncamea day afler Maine and Maryland becamethe flrst U.S. statesto apprcve sane sex-sexmarriagein a popular vote. It was the sameday thât Spain's highest maniagesevenyeamafterit waspassedin 2005 courl upheldthe country'slaw on same-sex had manied. than 21,000 same-sex couples andmorc Francewould becomethe 12ù country- includingBritain, the Netherlards,Denmârk, Norway, Spain and Sweden - to makç its marriage laws "gender neutral". In Gemany, register€dsame-sexcoupleshave essentiallythe samelegal rights as manied people,but maniageis not legal. same-sex But the law hasbeencontroversialand subjectto delâysin a nation where,for now, only marriedcouplescan adopt.Opinionpolls indicatethat a majorityof the Frenchsuppot gay marriage,but halfapproveallowinggaysto adopt. Last month, severalhundredpeopledemonstratedagainstthe law in severalcities across oppositionto the adoptionofchildrenby gays. France,emphasizing The most vùulent oppositionhas come from religious leaders,denouncingit as an act of "deception",or "the maniageof a few imposedon everyone".Gilles Bemheim,the chief rabbi of France, sent a 25-page repod to the goverTùnent,calling "marriage for all" a "slogan",ratherthan a societalproject.Muslim, protestantand Orthodoxreligiousleaders the bill. havealsoopposed Conservative and far-rightpoliticianshavecalledfor steet protestsagainstthe law, and goverDment to delay it. One Paris ofncial warnedthat if the govemmentbroke the askedthe tabooof gaymaniage,it would leadto breakingothertaboos,like incestor polygamy,a hot topic amongconservâtiveswonied aboutthe spreadofconservativeIslam in France. the bill leavesout stateaid for gay couplesfor assistedprocreation, In a compromise, married artificial inseminationand the like. Such aid is availablenow for heterosexual couples.Nicolas Gougain,the spokesmanof a major associationdefendinggay rights in France,said:"It is a progrcss,but also a problem,becauseadoptionis long," and thereate available to adoptin France. fe\ babies Adaptedftom îhe Internatioaal Herald TrÎbune November20I 2 (451words)

Anglais- Texte38 FREEDOM OF THE PRESSDOESN'T JUSTIFY KATE MIDDLETON TOPLESSPHOTOS

the FjrstAmendment To joùmalistswho haveriskedtheir own safetyandlife exercising putting themselves in even greater danger witnessed American military members and protectingit, there is little more annoyingthan watchinga bunch ofperverts and greed-heads andpatheticbehavior. piouslyinvokingfreedomofthe pressto justify theirdisgusting Oh, parts of the Europeanpressare doing just thal. A Frenchpublicationpublished photos of the Duchessof Cambridge (otherwise known as PrincessCatherineMiddleton) toplessin the royal couple'sprivatevilla. The magazinewasfollowedby an Irish sunbathing publication,and an ltalian publicationownedby former PrimeMinister Silvio Berlusconi. that someof its brethret The Bdtish press- perhapsa bit moretimid amid disclosÙres phonemessages anda childkidnappingvictim - has ofpoliticians,celebrities, hadintercepted palace a lawsuit, whichdecencydictatesit wins.Bùt restrained. The has filed beena bit more elementsofthe Britishmediais still appallinglyevidett. thc attitudeofthe scurDmy The Daily Mail tops the list of bottom-feeders,penning a colurnn that initially s]'npathizes with Prince William over the outmgeousinvasion of the couple'sprivacy. ?fte Daily M.til doe$r't seemconcemedabout PdncessCatherine,apparentlyseeingthis as some sort of prcp€rty dispute in which Prince William, like "any man," might be uncomfortable with someonepublishing photos of his woman in a state of half-undress.It's as if Princess Kateherselfis merelyan objecthere,to the toadwho pennedthe offensivecolumn.Only the prince.it seems. hastherighrto complain. And 'lhe Daily Mail makesit crystal-clearin its surDmationof the lovely and charming new memberofthe rcyal family, noting: 'The truth is she'spublic prcperty. Shehasto assume she'son offer at all times,evenwhenloungingby a swimmingpool at a privatevilla'. Photogaphing someonewith a telephoto lens fiom the steet is not taking vacation photos. It is the photographic equivalent of breaking and entering. There will always be perverts who want to seephotos of a half-dressedwoman in her private space-There will always be greedy newspaperand magazinepublisherswho cater to the perverts.And there will alwaysbe misogynistslike joumalistsal TheDaily Mdtl who dont think womenhave rights al all and are only minimâlly protected as the propedy of men. But don't use the profound principle of fieedom of the pressto defendsuch boorish behaviorand invasionsof privacy. The best testamentto genuine First Amendmentfreedoms(and their equivalentin Ewopeancourts)would be to punishthosewho usethe camemasa weapon- aswell asthose who oro{it from it.

Adaptedfrom {.I.9,Neus 2012 September (457words)

Anglais- Texte39 GEOGRAPHY MATTERS AS MUCH AS DVER

L1û is a ride-sharingservicethat begat this sunmer Its drivers âre private individuals who rcnt out seatsin thefucârs for a few dollars a time. lt wolks tbrough a smartphoneapp. When you register as a customer,you supply your phone number and credit-card details. When you want a ride, you open the app and see a map with the locations of the nearest motors.You tap to reqùesta ride, and the app showsyou yow driver'sname,his ratingby pastpassengersand photos of him and his car.Afterwards you rate him and pay through the app. The opportunily would not exist had the physical and digital worlds not becometightly intertwined. Every ride using L1û involves not only a physical trip but also severalmuch ândthe driver'ssmartphones, via wi-Fi and iongerdigitaljoumeys:betweenthe passenger's andthedriver'sbanks.But it also cellularbase-statioûs, aswell as,ultimately,thepassenger's the impo(anceof physicallocationto today'sdigitalrealm. demonstrates Obvious? Not necessarily. Since the intemet began to expand ftom academic to widespreadpublic use,therehave beenthreemain ways of thinking aboutits relationship with the physical realm. The hrst emphasisedhow the digital world would reshapethe real one. People everywherewould have accessto the sameelectronic librades of information, newsandcomment.Many companieswould be free to choosetheir location. Staff could work just aswell at home,con'municating with colleagues by e-mailor videolink. A goocideal of this hascometo pass.Today'sworker may leavethe ofrice physicaliy but never digitally: he is attachedto it through his smartphoneand his tablet. He cantake part in videoconferences so realisticthat he might be io the sameroom. line of thought puts digital and physical life in separatespheres.Intemet A second to be independent ofgovenmentsof"flesh andsteel".But these idealistideclaredcyberspace two worlds were never really sepamte.Govemmentshave wielded power over the intemet as well asovertheirphysicaldomains,blockingsitesandbashingbloggers. Here is the third option: the physicalrealm also shapesthe digital one. Onebig reasonfor this is that nowadaysa lot of people are online wherever they go. They carry powerful computersand loèal informatioû is more valuableto them when they are on the move than when they âre silting ât a desk. The rapidly declining cost of coûmunicationsand computingpower hasalready\ûought hugechangesin the way peoplego abouttheirdaily lives.Digital mapsandguideswill aflect the way people behavein the physical world and bring about yet more changes.The digital and the physicalare becomingone.

Adapledftom The Economist October2012 (458words)

Ànglais- Texte40 GOOGLE'S SELF-GUIDED CAR COULD DRIVE THE NT,XTWAVE OFUNEMPLOYMENT

Our world crossed a significaût threshold last week. Jerry Broq'rL the govemor of Califomia, signçd into law a bill that will allow driverlesscrrs on to his state'sroads from 2015.For somepeople,it'Il be seenas an exampleof techno-hubris "flags on the moon stuff'. GovemorBrown signedthe bill at Google'sHQ in MountainView. For severalyears, Toyota Prius hybrids that havebeen speciallyadaptedby the company'sengineershave been driving the roadsof Califomia.To date,they have logged300,000miles with only.one accident- causedby a human-controlledcar that ran into one of them. And they have now logged50,000mileswithouta humanhavingto takethe wheel. Google'sco-founder,SergeyBdn, pointed out that autonomousvehicleswould be significantlysaferthan human-controlled ones.40,000peopleare killed everyyear in road accidentsin tbe US andmany, ifnot most, ofthose are causedby humanelrol. "Too many peopleare underservedby the cunent bansportsystem.They are blind, or too young to drive, or too old, or intoxicated." Brin said. He also arguedautonomousvehicles could make betteruseofthe road and reducethe size ofcar parksby fitting into smallerareâs than humanscould get them into. Thinl aboùtwhat Googlehasachieved,Ils engineers havedemonst'Jated thal with smart perfoûn softwaæ and an array of sensoN, a machine can a task of sophistication and complexity most of us assumedwould alwaysrequirethe capabilitiesof humans. This isn'tjust aboutcars,by the way. Economistsin the US are iûcrcasingly puzzledby the fact that evenafter its recessionofficially ended,the rate ofjob-creationis much lower than expectedand the meanlength of time for which peopleare unemployedhas rocketedto 40 weeks. Economic theory (and history) says that when companiesbegin to grow or become profitable again, they buy equipmentand hire workers. But that isn't happening.Companies are still buying kit, but they'renot employingworkers. So wheredid thejobs go?Advancesin computingof the kind embodiedby the Google self-driving car represenlthe next wave of job-elimimting technology. Moore'slaw, which saysthat computingpower doublesevery l8 months,is still doing its stuff. And as for thosescepticswho think that driverlesscarswon't appealto mostmotodsts, there is the uncomfortablefact that, at leâst in the industrialisedworld, the car has peaked. We're driving less,year on year. Gridlock drainsthe romancefrom driving. And young peoplearenot lustingto own carslike theyusedto. Adaptedfrom The Obsemer September 2012 (444words)