节目资讯
刊物:生活知识家
日期:2009-01-08
难易度:High
关键字:monotonous, sophisticated, prohibitively, impaired
(Music).
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Thanks for joining us today.
Well, imagine with me, if you will, just for a moment what it might be like to
be blind.
Can you imagine not being able to see a movie or to see a beautiful sunset or to
read a newspaper?
Well, things are changing because there’s some clever new software that is
bringing the world of the web to the world of the blind.
We’re gonna talk about this amazing technology in a moment.
But first let’s look at the word:
monotonous,
as in:
My science teacher is so boring.
His voice is monotonous, and his jokes are not funny.
sophisticated,
as in:
You wouldn’t like this bookstore.
There’s nothing here for your sophisticated reading tastes.
And:
prohibitively.
Houses in this valley are prohibitively expensive.
Only the very wealthy can afford them.
Well friends, let’s learn now about this amazing technology.
We’re on page twenty.
Join us for the reading now on line one.
WebAnywhere.
Clever new software brings the web to the world’s blind.
The WebAnywhere browser reads in a measured, monotonous voice,
a bit like a robot from a science-fiction movie.
But this sophisticated, new screen-reading software could open up the Internet
to millions of blind people worldwide.
Screen readers for blind computer users are nothing new,
but they have been prohibitively expensive, costing around one thousand US
dollars.
Less than one percent of the world’s thirty-eight million blind people own this
kind of software.
Even users who can afford the high price often need to use the Internet when
they are at public computers,
where screen-reading software isn’t available.
Hi, friends.
I’m Chip.
And I’m Chelsea.
And today we’re looking at an article about WebAnywhere,
which is a software, a new software that helps blind people or people who can’t
see read the Internet.
That’s right.
WebAnywhere.
Now according to our article,
the WebAnywhere browser reads in a measured, monotonous tone.
Now that word monotonous means that there is no variety in the tone of your
voice.
So it’s very flat repetition.
That word ”mono” means one toneless tone,
one tone.
And it even says that it sounds a bit like a robot from a science-fiction movie.
A monotonous tone does usually sound something like a robot,
a very flat tone.
That’s right.
Even though it sounds like a robot, it is still very, very sophisticated.
This is another Word Bank word.
Now sophisticated means something that is highly developed.
It is very advanced and it takes a lot of skill to make something that is
sophisticated.
So this sophisticated software is helping people who are blind be able to read
the Internet.
That’s right.
Even though it is very sophisticated software - that means it’s very complex,
it still is... sounds like it’s easy for people to use.
Uh, so it’s... was difficult to create, but it’s easy to use.
That’s right.
So this new, sophisticated software could open up the Internet to millions of
people who are blind.
Now open up is a phrasal verb, and it means make itself available to people who
are blind.
For the first time they will be able to enjoy the Internet like people who are
able to see.
And our article says:
The screen readers for blind computer users are nothing new,
which means they have had the technology um, around enough that it’s nothing
really new for blind people to be able to use the Internet,
and to have the Internet being read to them.
That’s right.
But in the past, according to our article, this equipment was prohibitively
expensive.
prohibitively.
Now you might notice the word ”prohibit” there.
Prohibit means that something is not available.
It’s hard to get.
It prevents you from getting something.
So something that is prohibitively expensive is so expensive that it prevents
you from buying it.
So only a very small number of people were able to enjoy these screen readers
because they were so expensive,
costing around US one thousand dollars.
That... that really is a lot of money.
Very expensive.
A software on your computer.
Yes.
To help you read the Internet.
But I can’t see why some people would spend that kind of money to be able to use
the Internet even if they’re blind.
The article says that less than one percent of the world’s thirty-eight million
blind people actually own this kind of expensive software.
That’s less than three hundred and eighty thousand people.
That is a very, very small number of people who are blind.
Now even if they had these screen readers on their computers, it was still hard
to use the Internet,
because when they left their home computer, most computers in public places did
not have screen readers.
So they could not use the Internet outside of their own home,
which made it very difficult.
That’s right.
And often I find myself needing the Internet when I’m away from my home
computer, away from my office computer.
Maybe I’m downtown in the city and I need to check my e-mail because I need to
see what time I’m meeting somebody or something like that.
I can see why this would be a problem for blind computer users.
That’s right.
Let’s go ahead and go to Chat Room with Ken and Brandon and see what they have
to say.
Hi, friends.
Welcome to the Chat Room.
We have a new teacher today.
His name is Brandon.
Hi, Brandon.
Welcome to the Chat Room.
Hi, it’s great to be here today.
And I look forward to chatting with you this year.
So what should we talk about today?
Well, I notice in today’s article that the term ”browser” is used.
It seems that this word is used a lot when people are talking about the
Internet.
Is that true?
Yes, that is true.
When you log onto the Internet, you are using an Internet browser to access a
web page.
The browser is a tool that allows you to get information from the Internet.
In this case, the term ”browser” is used as a noun.
Can a browser be a person?
Sure.
A browser is also someone who browses.
So the... the word browse is also a verb.
That’s right.
To browse means that you are casually looking through something.
For example, you may like to browse through magazines.
I like to browse through the newspaper.
OK, so when I pick up a magazine and I’m looking for something to read,
then I might browse through the magazine to find an article that seems
interesting to me?
Yes, you got it.
(Chinese).
Can I browse through other things besides reading material?
Yes.
The term is often used when people are shopping.
If I’m in a store and the clerk asks me if I need any help, then I may say that
I am just browsing.
This means that I am just looking at different items in the store and that I am
not looking for anything specific.
And once you say that, the clerk will usually leave you alone.
That’s right.
So this is actually a very useful sentence when you go shopping.
I’m just browsing.
So when teachers give students a reading assignment,
do you suggest that students browse through the reading material?
Actually, it is a bad idea to browse through a reading assignment,
because students may not learn all of the important information that they need
to learn from the assignment.
OK.
So it’s OK to browse through a magazine or a store but not through the textbook.
That’s right, Ken.
Be sure that you know when to browse and when not to.
(Chinese).
Can I help you?
(Chinese).
No, thanks. I’m just browsing.
(Chinese).
Leave you alone.
Now is a good time to browse through our magazine as we take a break.
Studio Classroom will be right back.