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Document # 48

VICOR EXPRESS…
who are we?

§1 Vicor Express representatives are immediately available to answer questions about product selection, pricing, and delivery; to fulfill literature(1) requests; to accept orders; and to address technical issues in conjunction with engineers who work alongside the Vicor express operation.

§2 Convenient Ways to Pay: Vicor accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, a bank check or money order; an open account with established credit, or COD (2).
Warranty: There is a two year limited warranty
. Pricing: All prices shown are single quantity. F.O.B.(3) Andover, Massachusetts, USA. For international pricing, please contact your local Vicor Distributor or Technical Support Center.

§3

§4 Worldwide Technical Support Centers
Vicor Technical Support Centers are fully equipped and staffed with applications engineers and customer service representatives to provide the product information and technical assistance customers need concerning Vicor products and power solutions.

§5 Applications engineers ...

• Evaluate specific customer design issues and offer a wide range of component based power solutions.
• Answer technical questions (by phone, fax, E mail, or the Vicor web site).
• Assist with component based power system design.
• Support user needs through visits to Vicor and customer facilities.

Customer service representatives ...

• Provide product price and delivery information.
• Help select the most appropriate product for your application.
• Can arrange a visit to your site by a Vicor applications engineer or sales representative.
• Fulfill literature requests.
• Process purchase order requirements.

For on-line product information or technical assistance, visit the VIcor web site www.vicr.com, "Request Form" Vicor, Andover, USA

Vocabulary notes: 1. literature: a written document 2. COD : Cash On Delivery 3. F.O.B. : Free on board = franco bord

[VICOR 25 Frontage Road, Andover, MA 01810 - USA www.vicr.com ]

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

1 Read the text quickly. Right or wrong?
This document…

• is an advert aimed at general public.
• is certainly extracted from Vicor's catalog.
• is certainly extracted from Vicor's Website.
• is about the technical features of Vicor products.
• tells about Vicor's delivery system. "
• explains how Vicor can help and support their customers. explains various ways to contact the Technical Centers.

2 Read the text, looking for every occurrence of 'to' and decide when it

• expresses purpose;
• is a preposition expressing location;
• is a preposition used after some verbsand some adjectives;
• is part of a preposition meaning "jusqu'à, au maximum".

3 Pick up the compound nouns and adjectives in paragraphs 3 and 5.

4 Analysis of paragraph 4.

Divide the sentence into basic elements and fill in the diagram so as to show how the sentence is organised. (The linkword expressing aim and the unexpressed (= sous entendu) relative pronoun are to be placed in c and e.)

5 Faux amis. What do these words mean?

to address - an issue - a money order - to deliver / a delivery - to expedite - to / an order - a facility.

6 Answer the questions.

§1

• What is Vicor Express representatives' task?
• They are 'immediately available' means that you can get an immediate answer. Yes or no?
• Are these representatives the onlu ones able to answer technical questions?

§2

• Give information about the way an order can be paid.
• Do the prices shown in the catalog concern large are small quantities.

§3

• The passage is mainly about a. delivery time and condition? b. the range of products manufactured? c. the time it takes to manufacture the products?
• How does the firm ensure quick delivery of products?
• Does this concern any kind of order or any kind of product?
• How long does it take Vicor to ship its products?

§4 - 5

• What kind of services do Technical Support Centers offer?
• Mention two categories of persons working there.
• What are the application engineers' main tasks?
• What tasks are customer service representative concerned with?

LANGUAGE STUDY

1 Recast the positive points of this firm from the point of view of customers, i.e. use the passive.

• Vicor accepts credit cards and checks.
• Otherwise, a customer must pay his order COD.
• Foreign customers should contact local distributors.
• Vicor provides price and delivery information very quickly.
• Vicor's engineers answer questions by phone, fax or email.
• Highly qualified engineers address technical issues. " Application engineers provide technical assistance.
• A Vicor representative can arrange a visit.
• Vicor delivers its products in less than two weeks.
• The advert asks customers to visit the firm's Website.

2 Expressing ability.
Draw from the text to explain what the firm can do for its customers. You can use : can - to be able to -to be capable of (+noun / ING) - to enable somebody to (do…) - We know how to (do…) - it is possible for us to (do…) - our activities range from … to - we are well placed to (do…) - we are in a position to (do…)
e.g. Our expertise enables us to provide any kind of information . We are in a position to cope with every customer's requirements.

3 Translation exercise.( Paragraphs 3a and 4)

a. Have a look again at exercises 1,2,3 (Understanding the text)
b. Pick up two adverbs. Which word(s) does each one modify?
c. Translate into French.

4 Translate into English

• Tous les prix que nous indiquons sont à l'unité.(See §2)
• Nos représentants peuvent aider à trouver des solutions aux problèmes techniques. (See § 1 and 5)
• Vous pouvez visiter nos installations.(See §5)
• Nous donnons des informations sur les prix et la livraison de nos produits. (des informations: be careful!)

5 Writing exercise

a. Translate or adapt the words / phrases between brackets so as to write complete sentences.

1. If you need (information / additional), you can (to order) (it ? them?) …
2. …through our Website or (en utilisant) the coupon page 35 of this catalogue.
3. (The ? Ø?) (personnel) of Vicor (to be qualified / highly).
4. They (to provide) a lot of (information? informations?) about the prices and the delivery of products.
5. We (to deliver / future) orders within 2 (jusqu'à) 5 days.
6. We reserve daily manufacturing capacity ( pour expédier) low volume orders.

b. Improve your first draft.

Sentence 1: Turn the whole sentence into the passive.
Sentence 3 : Recast with a compound noun.
Sentences 3 /4 : Join the two sentences so as to express purpose.
Sentence 5: Turn into the passive.
Sentences 5 /6: Join the two sentences expressing cause.

6 Essay

Imagine your class has set up a Junior Enterprise in your school. Write the first page ( more or less similar to this one) of your advertising brochure. (You may choose to be either very serious-minded or humorous).