French businesses look ahead to possible energy rationing

This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about French Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne’s expectations for French businesses before the winter. There’s the Bonus Question and the “Listeners Corner” with Michael Fitzpatrick, Ollia’s “Happy Moment”, and “Music from Erwan”.  All that, and the new quiz question, too, so click on the “Audio” arrow above and enjoy! 

Sound Kitchen Podcast RFI

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winners' names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week.

Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to [e-mail]  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all!

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Another idea for your students: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English - that’s how I worked on my French, reading books which were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it’s a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald’s free books, click here.

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We have new RFI Listeners Club members to welcome: Javier Caleb Hernandez Trujillo from Mexico; Pranab Kumar Ray, Madhab Chandra Sagour, and Tapan Basak, all from India; Mahamudul Hasan, Hossen Abed Ali, and Abu Saleh, all from Bangladesh; Yeami Sanday John Turay from Sierre Leone; Orlando Teamah from Liberia; Vladimir Gudzenko from Russia, and from China, Ding Lu.

Welcome one and all! So glad you have joined us!

You too can be a member of the RFI Listeners Club – just write to me at [e-mail] and tell me you want to join, and I’ll send you a membership number. It’s that easy. When you win a Sound Kitchen quiz as an RFI Listeners Club member, you receive a premium prize, AND, you can join our Facebook page, the RFI Listeners Club page. You must ask to join the group, you must furnish your RFI Listeners Club membership number, I’ll approve you, and then off you go! 

This week’s quiz: On 3 September, I asked you a question about an article written by RFI English journalist Amanda Morrow: “French businesses put on notice as threat of power rationing looms”. Earlier that week, there had been a very important meeting held by MEDEF, France’s largest employer federation. France’s Prime Minister, Elizabeth Borne, spoke at the event, and warned the group, as Amanda wrote: “that businesses – not households – would be the first affected by potential electricity rationing ahead of the winter.”

Prime Minister Borne told MEDEF members what she expected of them … and you were to write in with what she told French businesses to do.

The answer is: As Amanda wrote: “Each company has been asked to appoint an 'ambassador of energy sobriety' with a view to laying out internal plans for cutting down on electricity. 

Due in October, a first assessment of those plans would inform expert forecasts that would give authorities ‘a clearer vision of the risks of rationing’”.

In addition to the quiz question, there was the Bonus Question: What would you do if you were a man for a week? And what would your name be?

The winners are: Shahanaj Parvin from Rangpur, Bangladesh, who is also the winner of this week’s bonus question.

There’s Jobayada Aktar Jai and Rabeya Begam, both from the Nilshagor RFI Fan Club in Nilphamari, Bangladesh; Tasneem and Tahtiha Saleh, also from Nilphamari and both members of the RFI Listeners Club, and RFI English listener Rajia Khatun from Joypurhat, also in Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Adigboloja” by Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, performed by Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson and The Rivers Men; “Restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne” from the Suite Symphonique Paris by Jacques Ibert, performed by the Harmonie Ensemble directed by Steven Richman; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer; “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and “Rew Be Me” by André Balaguemon, performed by the Star Feminine Band.  

Do you have a musical request? Send it to [e-mail] 

This week’s question ... you have to listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, refer to Michael Fitzpatrick's article “Meloni's far-right coalition sweeps to victory in Italian general election” to help you with the answer.

You have until 24 October to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 29 October podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

[e-mail]

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

or

By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then  33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here.

To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or to form your own official RFI Club, click here.