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Section A
Conversation One
W: So Mike, you managed the innovation project at CucinTech.
M: I did indeed.
W: Well then, first, congratulations! It seems to have been very successful.
M: Thanks, yes. I really helped things turn around at CucinTech.
W: Was the revival in their fortunes entirely due to strategic innovation?
M: Yes, yes I think it was. CucinTech was a company who were very much following the pack, doing what everyone else was doing, and getting rapidly left behind. I could see there was a lot of talent there, and some great potential—particularly in their product development. I just have to harness that somehow.
W: Was innovation at the core of the project?
M: Absolutely. If it doesn't sound like too much of a cliché，our world is constantly changing, and it's changing quickly. We need to be innovating constantly to keep up with this. Stand still, and you're lost.
W: No stopping to sniff the roses?
M: Well, I'll do that in my personal life, sure. But as a business strategy, I'm afraid there's no stopping.
W: What exactly is strategic innovation then?
M: Strategic innovation is the process of managing innovation, of making sure it takes place at all levels of the company, and that it's related to the company's overall strategy.
W: I see.
M: So, instead of innovation for innovation's sake and new products being created simply because the technology is there, the company culture must switch from these point-in-time innovations to a continuous pipeline of innovations from everywhere and everyone.
W: How did you align strategies throughout the company?
M: I soon became aware that campaigning is useless. People take no notice. Simply it came about through good practice trickling down. This built consent—people could see it was the best way to work.
W: Does innovation on this scale really give a competitive advantage?
M: I am certain of it. Absolutely. Especially if it's difficult for a competitor to copy. The risk is, of course, that innovation may frequently lead to imitation.
W: But not if ifs strategic?
M: Precisely!
W: Thanks for talking to us.
M: Sure.
1 What seems to have been very successful according to the woman speaker?
2 What did the company lack before the man's scheme was implemented?
3 What does the man say he should do in his business?
4 What does the man say is the risk of innovation?
Conversation Two
M: Today my guest is Dana Ivanovich who has worked for the last twenty years as an interpreter. Dana, welcome.
W: Thank you.
M: Now I'd like to begin by saying that I have on occasions used an interpreter myself, as a foreign correspondent, so I am full of admiration for what you do. But I think your profession is sometimes underrated, and many people think anyone who speaks more than one language can do it...
W: There aren't any interpreters I know who don't have professional qualifications and training. You only really get proficient after many years in the job.
M: And am I right in saying you can divide what you do into two distinct methods, simultaneous and consecutive interpreting?
W: That's right. The techniques you use are different, and a lot of interpreters will say one is easier than the other, less stressful.
M: Simultaneous interpreting, putting someone's words into another language more or less as they speak, sounds to me like the more difficult.
W: Well, actually no, most people in the business would agree that consecutive interpreting is the more stressful. You have to wait for the speaker to deliver quite a chunk of language, before you then put it into the second language, which puts your short term memory under intense stress.
M: You make notes, I presume.
W: Absolutely, anything like numbers, names, places, have to be noted down, but the rest is never translated word for word. You have to find a way of summarising it so that the message is there. Turning every single word into the target language would put too much strain on the interpreters and slow down the whole process too much.
M: But with simultaneous interpreting, you start translating almost as soon as the other person starts speaking. You must have some preparation beforehand.
W: Well, hopefully the speakers will let you have an outline of the topic a day or two in advance. You have a little time to do research, prepare technical expressions and so on.
5 What are the speakers mainly talking about?
6 What does the man think of Dana's profession?
7 What does Dana say about the interpreters she knows?
8 What do most interpreters think of consecutive interpreting?
