节目资讯
刊物:生活知识家
日期:2009-10-16
难易度:Low
关键字:nervous, representation, digital, interact, avatar
(Music).
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
And I thank you for joining us today.
We have a great lesson for you.
Over the last decade, the rise of video games has given us an incredible
opportunity to reinvent ourselves.
Through the games, we can give ourselves a new name and a new look.
How do we do it, though?
Through the power of digital avatars.
In this month’s TECHNOLOGY feature, we ask the question:
What do you look like on the web?
Two words we need to know before we go any further.
The first is the familiar adjective:
nervous.
Pattie feels nervous every time she speaks in front of a group of people.
Next is the noun:
representation,
as in:
Wedding rings are a representation of people’s commitments in marriage.
OK. It’s time to open our magazines and turn to page thirty-four for the
reading:
Avatars.
What do you look like on the web?
Avatars.
What do you look like on the web?
Today, thousands of people can do things they never thought possible.
Some people fly.
Other people talk to hundreds of strangers in a foreign language without ever
feeling nervous.
Some even grow tails or other strange body parts.
Well, not really.
People aren’t really growing tails or flying,
but their avatars are.
What is an avatar?
It is simply an online representation of a person.
Some websites and video games allow players to use avatars for a more personal
experience.
Welcome, friends.
I’m Chip.
And I’m Chelsea.
Thanks for joining us for our TECHNOLOGY article today.
You know, here at Studio Classroom, we do a lot of TECHNOLOGY articles.
And I’ve learned a lot through these TECHNOLOGY articles.
But today, we’re talking about something that is so special that I think that
maybe you’ll learn a lot today too.
So we are going to be talking about avatars.
Now that word might not be familiar to you right now.
But no need to worry.
We will be defining it for you in just a little bit.
And Chip, our deck says:
What do you look like on the web?
This is interesting.
This is interesting.
That’s right.
And actually, I... I think we can probably guess that an avatar has something to
do with you and the Internet.
Uh, at least we can... we can know that so far.
Uh, now our article starts off by saying:
Today, thousands of people can do things they never thought possible.
Now let’s take a deeper look at that sentence with Liz in Grammar on the Go.
Hello, friends.
My name is Liz.
And it’s time for Grammar on the Go.
Today, our article is about avatars.
Well, I’m here at Studio Classroom today.
And Studio Classroom’s online English-learning tool,
Cyber Village is a website that allows you to create your own avatar while you
learn English.
Speaking of learning English, here’s today’s grammar tip sentence.
Today, thousands of people can do things they never thought possible.
This sentence is actually a shortened way of saying:
Today, thousands of people can do things they never thought that were possible.
So how did this sentence get shortened?
Well, perhaps you know that if the subject of the first clause is the same as a
subject in the second clause,
then the second clause, if it is followed by a be verb, can be removed.
Well, this is similar to the case in today’s sentence pattern except what is
repeated is not the subject but the object of the sentence.
When the pronoun in a be verb are used to repeat the object, then they can be
removed to simplify the sentence.
So in the case of today’s sentence, the object is ”things”,
and so that word got taken out from the second clause.
Here’s another example.
Instead of saying:
Stir the vegetables until they are ready,
we can say:
Stir the vegetables until ready.
Or instead of saying Mark will bring the tools if they are needed,
we can say Mark will bring the tools if needed.
Well, that’s all the time we have for today.
Be sure to check out today’s grammar tip for more examples.
Time for me to sign off.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go.
See you next time. Bye-bye.
Thanks, Liz.
So our article says that we can do things today that we never thought were
possible in the past.
And our article goes on to say that some people... fly?
What?
Whoa, that’s a little strange.
Uh, so is this next sentence.
It says:
Other people talk to hundreds of strangers in a foreign language without ever
feeling nervous.
So some people fly.
Other people talk in a foreign language without feeling nervous,
which if you feel nervous, that means that you might feel uh, frightened or
anxious about doing something.
Uh, you’re unable to relax.
Maybe you get nervous before you take a big test or something.
But I know for me, I get nervous when I try to speak in a foreign language,
especially in front of a lot of people.
That’s right.
I am not very good when I use uh, the little bit of foreign languages that I
know.
And yeah, if I’m speaking to native speakers, I get a little afraid, a little
nervous.
So some people can talk to hundreds of strangers in a foreign language without
getting nervous.
And some even grow tails or other strange body parts.
Now this is sounding strange.
I have never met anyone that has grown a tail.
I haven’t either.
This is starting to concern me a little bit.
I’m a little bit curious about what we’re talking about here.
Our next sentence, I think, will help us understand a little more.
It says:
Well, not really.
People aren’t really growing tails or flying.
But who is, Chip?
Well, our article says:
Their avatars are.
So if you have an avatar, perhaps your avatar has grown a tail or perhaps your
avatar has learned how to fly.
Or perhaps you might use your avatar to communicate in a foreign language,
and it’s no problem; you don’t get nervous about it.
So now I’m curious.
If our avatars can do these things, Chelsea, what is an avatar?
Well, an avatar is a picture of a person or maybe even an animal or some sort of
a creature that represents you when you’re online.
Maybe uh, on a website or in a chat room or something like that.
And a lot of times you can make them look like you or you can make them look
however you want.
So that’s what an avatar is and an avatar can do many, many different things.
It is simply an online representation of a person as our text says.
Now let’s look a little bit more closely at that word:
representation.
Chip?
OK.
Now, yeah, representation is uh, very similar to what you’ve already described.
Uh, an avatar represents you on the Internet.
So therefore, it is a representation of you or a representation of some person
on the Internet.
And when we use this word ”online,” we’re simply talking about on the Internet.
And it says:
Some websites and video games allow players to use avatars for a more personal
experience,
which we’ll learn some more about that in a little bit.
I think this is pretty interesting and should maybe be pointed out, though.
If you look at the cover of your magazine this month, you will see teacher Chip
on the cover with his very own personal avatar.
That’s right.
You’ll notice that it looks a lot like Chip.
Um, maybe he’s a little bit more dressed up than you are.
That’s right.
Well, yeah, he wears a tie.
And I... I prefer to wear my outdoor clothing, my outdoor gear.
So I let him wear the tie usually.
But that is Chip’s avatar.
And that’s what we’re talking about.
It’s... it’s something that represents you but online.
Well, we’ll learn more about avatars in just a little bit.
But first we’re going to visit the Chat Room and take a break.
We’ll see you right back here in a few.
Welcome to the Chat Room.
I’m Ken.
And this is Doris.
Well, hi, everyone.
It’s good to be with you today.
And Ken, I hear we’re talking about avatars today.
Yes, we are.
And our lesson says that some video games allow players to use avatars for a
more personal experience.
Doris, I don’t understand what personal experience means here.
Well, personal here can have a couple of meanings.
It can mean intended for a particular person.
When you have your own avatar, that’s your own personal avatar and no one else
can use it.
Like that’s the personal car of the boss.
That’s right.
But personal can also mean private.
So the user of the avatar can hide behind his avatar while he’s online and still
have his papacy.
So that his identity is not revealed.
Exactly.
(Chinese).
Does personal have any other meanings we need to be aware of?
Well, personal can also refer to offending or making personal remarks about
someone.
For example, if we’re debating over a certain issue in the company,
and all of a sudden, you start criticizing me on the way I dress,
then I can say to you:
Now you’re getting personnel.
But I would never do that.
Well, I know that.
But I’m just... citing an example.
Oh, good.
(Chinese).
We should also be aware that personal can be a noun.
And you’ll see this usage in the newspaper.
There’s a section in some newspapers called the personals,
and it’s for people to post brief private notices to particular individuals.
(Chinese).
Well, nothing personal, Ken,
but I’m afraid we need to take a break right now.
So Studio Classroom will be right back.