节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-11-06
难易度:High
关键字:originate, hype, disclose, innovative, visor
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And your English will improve today.
We're continuing to learn about Google Glass.
And of course, it is a promising innovation.
As you can see, I also have something cool here on my head.
I call it "Cool Helmet." And I think it's a promising innovation.
It's my own idea.
Carolyn, what do you think about this?
Well, it's certainly special, Gabe.
Um, what... what can Cool Helmet do?
Well, Cool Helmet can do lots of things.
"What can't Cool Helmet do?" is a better question.
For example, I don't need to use my hands, I can just say, "OK, Cool Helmet,"
and then do something, like um...
OK, Cool Helmet, call Carolyn.
Carolyn, is your phone ringing?
Uh, no, it's not, Gabe.
Oh! Um... well, I still need some work on Cool Helmet.
Well, you continue working on Cool Helmet, and we will continue learning about
Google Glass is a Promising Innovation.
Google Glass is a Promising Innovation.
Where Glass began.
Glass originated as a special project at Google X, Google's top-secret research
lab.
The first prototype for Glass was a 10-pound, head-mounted display.
Later versions looked like swimming goggles with cellphones connected to them.
The current version is a slim visor that weighs about the same as a pair of
sunglasses.
First impressions.
The first group of Glass testers, called Explorers, shared their experiences
with Google this past spring.
Several users enjoyed using Glass to take hands-free pictures and hear
turn-by-turn directions while walking.
It would be very exciting to be one of these first people who get to try out
Google Glass for the first time and experiment with it.
Well, let's go back to the beginning of our article and learn a little bit about
where Glass began.
Glass originated as a special project at Google X, Google's top-secret research
lab.
Have you heard of Google X before, Gabe?
You know, I haven't, Carolyn.
But this is where this research originated.
Hmm, I would like to learn more about Google X.
But let's take a look at that word from our Word Bank here: originate.
That means it began here.
You could use this word like this:
Rock music originated in the United States in the 1950s.
Or some people say that (Chinese) originated in Taichung.
So you could talk about originating at a place or at a certain time.
That's right.
You might say that the story in this book originated as a family folk tale.
So it was just a story that people in this family told, and someone decided to
write it down.
That's right.
And of course here we're talking about the origin of Google Glass, where it
originated. OK.
The first prototype for Glass was a 10-pound, head-mounted display.
That sounds really heavy and awkward and something that I would not like to put
around my eyes or on my face.
Well, if it's mounted on your head... oh, no, 10 pounds!
That's almost the same as what your head weighs.
Yeah. My head weighs 10 pounds.
That would be very difficult to wear.
Yeah! That's 20 pounds on your shoulders.
Ah, good exercise!
Good exercise for your neck muscles, but not fun to wear.
So later versions looked like swimming goggles with cellphones connected to
them.
Also an interesting idea.
Yeah, that is very interesting idea.
I'm going to have to remember that.
All right. Well, let's continue here.
The current version is a slim visor that weighs about the same as a pair of
sunglasses.
All right.
So some sunglasses, they are... uh, split in the middle so it's two lenses.
A visor, that kind of sunglasses is... it has no part in the middle.
So it's just one piece of glass all the way across.
That's right.
So it's a slim visor, so this is very thin.
It's not this heavy 10-pound, head-mounted display.
It's just a small pair of glasses.
But the lenses are a little bit different.
That's right.
Now of course everyone has a different impression, different thoughts about
Google Glass.
Let's learn about the first impressions here, how it impressed people.
The first group of Glass testers, called Explorers, shared their experiences
with Google this past spring.
So that means they went out, they took Google Glass, and they went to do lots of
different things with Google Glass.
They shared their experiences just recently.
That's right.
And we see "this past spring," not this last spring or something like that,
right, Gabe?
That's right.
So this past spring, that means the most recent spring.
Now as you can see, there are other words like this, and they mean different
things. OK.
So if you're talking about last spring, Carolyn, now it's 2013, when was last
spring?
Well, if you said last spring, I might think you were talking about 2012.
So the spring in 2012.
If you say past spring, then I would think that you were talking about the
spring in 2013.
That's right, this past spring.
And of course you can talk about things in the future as well.
Next weekend - that means the weekend after this coming weekend.
It can be a little bit confusing.
You have to listen to what your friend is saying.
I can say I did something this last weekend.
Or what will you do this weekend?
It all depends on what your friend is saying, whether they're talking about the
past or the future.
That's right.
And sometimes it might not be clear, so you can just ask.
Oh, do you mean a few days from now, or are you talking about a few days ago?
All right.
So it's good to ask these kinds of questions.
OK. So we're talking about how these people, the Explorers, shared their
experiences with Google this past spring in 2013.
Several users enjoyed using Glass to take hands-free pictures and hear
turn-by-turn directions while walking.
What does that mean, hands-free pictures?
Well, it means that you don't need to use your hands to push a button on a
camera or to click something on your smartphone.
You don't need to use your hands.
It's hands-free.
And we learned yesterday that Google Glass is operated by voice commands.
So you can say: OK, Glass, take a picture.
And wherever you are looking, Glass will take a picture for you.
You don't need to use your hands to touch any buttons.
That's right.
And actually, I can think of another benefit to Google Glass.
Do you remember learning about text neck?
Well, a lot of people like to look down at their smartphones while they're
walking.
And it's bad for your neck.
This is another benefit to Google Glass.
You don't have to keep looking down.
That is a great benefit.
And right now it is time to continue with benefits by learning something with
Michelle in the Language Lab.