节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-04-17
难易度:Medium
关键字:screen time, reminder, table computer, face it, behavior
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And you are joining us for the first day of our VIEWPOINTS article "How Much
Screen Time?"
Our lesson today asks an interesting question:
Can kids have too much screen time?
Open up your magazine and let's see what Sean and Tim have to say about this
topic.
(Music).
How Much Screen Time?
Can kids have too much screen time?
Sean and Tim are having coffee.
Sorry, Tim.
I need to check this text.
Oh, my son is sending me a reminder to pick him up after soccer practice.
And how old is Jeff now?
He's 8.
And he has a cellphone?
Sure. How else is he going to keep in touch with us?
We got him a tablet computer for his birthday, too.
So how much screen time is he allowed every day?
As much as he wants!
He's a good kid.
Don't you give him any limitations?
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, what do you think?
Have you heard enough of Sean and Tim's conversation to decide how much screen
time is OK?
Or maybe we need to discuss this topic before coming to a conclusion.
I think we should talk about this.
But first, let's talk about one of the names in our lesson today: Sean.
Why is S-E-A-N pronounced Shawn?
Should it be "seen"?
Good question.
Sean is a very popular boy's name that is from the Irish language Gaelic, and it
means God is gracious.
Because it is from Gaelic, it follows different pronunciation rules.
In this case, the S sounds like an S-H, and E-A has a long "aw" sound.
So we get the name Sean from Gaelic.
Sean is actually the Irish version of the name John.
John is a very common name, and many languages have their own version.
For example, John in German is Johann.
Maybe you have heard of a famous music composer named Johann Sebastian Bach.
If you changed his first name to English, he would be called John.
According to one source, the name John has 85 different variations like Johann,
Janos, Hanso, Jenkins and of course, Sean.
Some names become so common in English-speaking countries that they are no
longer considered to be foreign names.
Interesting.
And well, one of these names, of course, is Sean.
So while it was originally a Gaelic name, it is now also considered an English
name.
Right.
Now in our lesson we see that Sean's phone beeps.
Earlier this month we learned about beep baseball and different things that can
beep.
Now Steve and Ken want to tell us something about this kind of word.
Words enter languages in so many different ways.
Today let's look at words that are created when we phonetically imitate sounds
that we want to describe.
They're called onomatopoeias.
English is full of onomatopoeias like beep, a word that imitates the sound
electronic machines and gadgets make.
Computers, handheld video games, digital watches, GPS devices and smoke alarms
all make beep sounds.
And let's not forget cellphones.
In today's lesson, Sean's phone beeped to alert him about an incoming text
message.
Onomatopoeias are real words that you'll find in all kinds of literature,
including children's books, comics, novels and nonfiction writing.
Some people are surprised to learn that onomatopoeias are not the same across
all languages.
Now while it's true that the sounds we humans hear are often the same, like the
honking of a car horn, they're expressed differently in different languages.
For example, the sound a clock makes in Mandarin is di-da, di-da, in Japanese is
ka-chin, ka-chin.
And in English? Tick-tock, tick-tock.
It's interesting to compare animal-related onomatopoeias in other languages,
too.
Can you guess which animals these English onomatopoeias belong to?
Buzz? Oink? Moo? Cock-a-doodle-doo?
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
Well, onomatopoeia is a very long word and difficult to spell, but it is very
useful when you want to talk about sounds like beep or bark.
Carolyn, can you think of any more onomatopoeias?
Uh, sure! Meow.
That's the sound a cat makes.
Or quack, that's the sound a duck makes.
How many English onomatopoeias do you know?
Try learning some new ones today.
Great.
Well, in our lesson, Sean's phone beeps because he gets a text from his son.
And of course "text" is just a short way to say "text message."
So you can send a text to someone's cellphone.
Right.
And the sound that Sean's phone makes when it receives a text is a beep, but
that's not the only sound a cellphone can make.
Phones can make all sorts of different sounds.
Can you name any, Gabe?
Sure. The most common is probably "ring."
The phone rings when you get a phone call.
Your phone could also buzz if it is set to vibrate mode.
Some people like to set special ringtones on their phones.
So instead of ringing, beeping or buzzing, it plays music.
A ringtone is the recorded sound that a phone makes when it receives a call or
text.
So people can set their ringtones so that the phone plays music or another
recorded sound.
One ringtone that was very popular for a while for text messages was the sound
of someone whistling.
(Background Noise).
A lot of people also like to have their favorite songs as their ringtones, of
course.
In fact, some phones allow you to assign a different ringtone to each of your
contacts so that you know who is calling you based on the song that plays.
Actually, that's how I had my phone in the U.S. set up.
So if I was driving and couldn't answer my phone, I would still know who was
calling me.
That also helped me to know how soon I should call them back.
So, if it was someone important, you could stop driving and call them back right
away.
Or if the person calling could probably wait for a little time, then you could
call them once you arrived at your destination.
Exactly, so. Phones can have many different kinds of ringtones and make many
different sounds.
Well, now that we've introduced all of this, let's start discussing Sean and
Tim's conversation.
Great idea.
They are talking about Sean's son, Jeff.
Jeff is 8 years old and already has a cellphone.
This is pretty surprising to Tim.
Right. Not only does he have a cellphone, but he also has a tablet computer.
Now tablet computer is one of our key words.
But I want to talk about some of the different types of computers available.
Well, there certainly are a lot.
If you get a tablet computer, then you have a small, flat screen that has
limited computing power but is great for watching videos, playing games, reading
books, and of course, you can access the Internet.
But you could also have a laptop computer.
A laptop is larger and has a keyboard, trackpad mouse and a screen that folds
down to close the computer.
Laptops get their name from the fact that they can sit conveniently on your lap.
And laptops are also more powerful and can do more things than just a simple
tablet.
Now there are also personal computers otherwise known as PCs.
These are large desktop computers that are difficult to move.
But they are great for the office or home because they are able to store large
amounts of information.
And depending on the kind you have, they can be very powerful.
Many people like to build their own PCs for their home.
Well, there are a lot of options out there in the computer industry.
Which type of computer is best for you?
Tablet, laptop or PC?
Or is your smartphone enough?
Talk about it in English.
And we will... we'll be right back right after this.