节目资讯
刊物:生活知识家
日期:2009-03-13
难易度:High
关键字:scramble, abbreviate, dabble, ultimate, TECHNOLOGY
(Music).
Hi, everyone.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to join us here at Studio Classroom
Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Thanks for joining us.
With the quick advances in computer technology, it seems there’s always
something new coming out on the market.
We at Studio Classroom would like to keep you up-to-date with the latest
electronic revolutions.
And so for the next two days, we’ll discuss the cloud computing revolution.
Now these clouds have nothing to do with rain from the sky.
Let’s find out more.
But first we should take a quick look at two words.
The first word is scramble as in:
Professor Ashton gave us so much homework that we had to scramble to get it all
done in time for class.
And the second word is abbreviate.
I always abbreviate words when taking notes so I can write down the important
points at meetings.
OK.
Time to get into the lesson.
We’re on page twenty-one.
Follow along as we begin in the left-hand column.
Life in the Clouds.
The cloud computing revolution.
It’s eight thirty-five a.m. and you’re already late for work.
You scramble to get ready,
skipping or abbreviating most of your morning routine.
In your rush to get out the door, you leave your laptop parked on the kitchen
table.
It is only when your boss requests the latest expense report that you even
realize your mistake.
Not to worry.
One computer is as good as another.
Like the clouds in the sky, your work is with you everywhere you go.
With just a few taps on your boss’s computer keyboard, the report pops up on her
monitor.
Welcome to the convenience of cloud computing.
Hello, friends. And welcome to Studio Classroom.
I’m Chelsea.
And I’m Chip.
And I’m Rachel. And we’re so glad you joined us today.
We’re talking about Life in the Clouds.
Now maybe you’ve heard of the idiom:
having your head in the clouds.
And if you have your head in the clouds, it means you’re not really focusing on
what you should be focusing on.
But this is a little bit different.
And we are going to be talking about life in the clouds,
and we’ll give you more of a picture of that later.
But the phrase that we’re going to use over and over is cloud computing.
That’s right.
We’re not really talking about how my head is often in the clouds.
And we’re not really talking about living in the sky or in the clouds.
We’re talking about cloud computing and the cloud computing revolution,
something that’s happening in the world today.
I’m pretty excited about this article because it has to do with technology and
computers.
And I always feel like I can learn some more.
So let’s get started with our text.
It kind of sets up a story for us, starts off by saying:
It’s eight thirty-five a.m. and you’re already late for work.
Wow.
I’ve had this happened before.
It’s stressful.
You’re late.
You need to get there.
You can’t hurry enough.
Exactly.
You’re scrambling around, trying to remember everything and do the things you
need to do before you have to walk out that door.
So our author’s saying you scramble to get ready.
Now scramble here is one of our vocabulary words.
And Chip, what does it mean to scramble to do something?
Well, usually when you’re scrambling, you’re moving your hands or your feet or
both very quickly in order to accomplish your task.
So sometimes you actually might scramble up a mountain,
which means that you would climb a mountain with your hands and feet.
And if you’re already running late for work and you’re scrambling around to get
ready,
you might also end up, as our text says, skipping or abbreviating most of your
morning routine.
Abbreviating is our second Word Bank word.
Now abbreviating is a verb and it means to make something shorter or you skip
something to make it shorter.
Right.
We often use this when we’re talking about places.
We talk about abbreviations.
For example, USA is an abbreviation for the United States of America.
But we can also use this to talk about something we do.
If we abbreviate our routine, we shorten it; we make it shorter.
So now Chip or Chelsea, quick question for you.
If you are running late, you... maybe you woke up a little late,
what is something you would tend to abbreviate in your morning routine, either
make shorter or completely eliminate?
Well, usually the way that I abbreviate or make shorter my morning routine is by
skipping brushing my teeth.
But if his wife catches him, he doesn’t get away with it.
He goes back and brushes his teeth.
And I decide not to make the bed if I’m running late and need to abbreviate.
Well, you know, I never made the bed anyway.
So...
No, I’m just kidding.
But that is something I would do as well.
Just if you don’t have time, you just skip it and you do it later.
Well, in your hurry and your rush to get out the door, you might leave something
behind.
And Chip, what is that something that our author is going to focus on today?
Well, this story tells of a person leaving their laptop parked uh, in their
kitchen, on their kitchen counter.
And it is interesting that our author uses the word ”parked”,
because he’s thinking of leaving the computer parked like you would park a car
uh, there at your home.
And it’s only when your boss then requests the latest expense reports that you
realize your mistake.
You realize that you left your laptop parked on your kitchen table back at home
as you were scrambling around to get ready.
And that’s... that’s a problem.
It sure is.
Especially if you have to go a long ways to work and you can’t come back and get
it,
what do you do?
Well, our author says you don’t need to worry.
Not to worry.
One computer is as good as another if you are participating in uh, cloud
computing.
Now we’re going to tell you about that in a minute.
But first we have another picture for you, don’t we, Chip?
Our author’s saying uh, it’s kind of like the clouds in the sky, right?
Right. And I think this is where the... the phrase of the words ”cloud
computing” comes from.
Like clouds in the sky which are everywhere that you go, everywhere that you
travel on Earth,
there’s going to be clouds some... somewhere above you in the sky.
And so this cloud computing is like that.
It’s kind of computer... uh, your computer information coming with you
everywhere you go.
I think that’s great.
There are so many times when I wish I had information off of my computer with
me,
but it’s at home; it’s on my desk; it’s sitting in my computer hard drive and I
can get it.
But it sounds like with cloud computing, that’s no longer a problem.
Exactly.
I think when people travel as well, this can be a problem,
and especially if you go to a place where you need a computer.
And if you have the access to your documents through cloud computing,
then you can be anywhere in the world and get the information you need.
So our author says:
With just a few taps on your boss’s computer keyboard, the report pops up on her
monitor.
That is if you have cloud computing.
So one computer is as good as another.
If you are active in cloud computing, you can access your information anywhere
that you can find a computer.
So welcome to the convenience of cloud computing,
the convenience, the easiness of using your computer and getting information
anywhere you go.
Right now we’re going to take a break.
But when we come back, we’ll learn more about cloud computing.
Until then, enjoy the skit.
I’m working on a project and I need a computer.
Don’t you need your own computer?
No. I can get all my work using your computer.
You mean your project is on my computer?
Actually, my work isn’t on any computer, yet it’s on every computer.
It’s in the clouds.
In the clouds?
What are you talking about?
Ha...
Cloud computing.
It makes one computer as good as another.
What do you mean?
Well, all my computer services are delivered over the Internet.
All my software programs are managed through my web browser.
Oh. So any computer can be an access point.
That’s right.
I can get what I need from any computer.
No more scrambling for my laptop.
Any computer will do.
That’s really convenient.
And convenience is the ultimate goal.
So...
So what?
So can I borrow your laptop?
Give me that.