节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-08-15
难易度:High
关键字:vending machine, sustenance, plague, evolve, incorporate, fingerprint,
retinal scan
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to study with us.
My name is Steve.
Well, vending machines, in one shape or another, have been around for centuries.
In that time, their function hasn't changed a whole lot - you put money in the
machine, and then you get something out.
Simple, dependable and convenient, which leads me to ask:
Is it really possible to improve upon such a great and timeless design?
Well, vending machine designers and manufacturers have taken up the challenge
and gotten pretty creative.
They say: Yes. We can make it better.
Let's find out how they do it in today's lesson, Quick, Convenient Vending
Machines, on page 34.
(Music).
Quick, Convenient Vending Machines.
Today's vending machines are becoming even more convenient.
You're in a hotel, and it's late.
Local stores are closed, but you are desperate for a midnight snack, so you head
out in search of sustenance.
After a short walk, you see the solution to your problems glowing softly in the
darkness - a vending machine.
Vending machines conveniently make sales around-the-clock in places where stores
are impractical.
But through the years, vending machines have also been plagued by some problems.
Fortunately for consumers and businesses, all of that is changing.
Vending machines are evolving in ways that mean the machines of tomorrow will be
very different from those of today.
(Music).
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we are in our TECHNOLOGY article talking about a very interesting kind
of technology.
Yeah, this is something that's pretty common that you have probably used before.
But you probably haven't thought much about how quick and convenient vending
machines really are.
That's right.
They are quick and convenient.
Now most of us have used a vending machine at some point in our lives.
We're going to talk about the most common things we find in vending machines,
but how they are improving and changing the way we think about buying things.
OK. What is a "vending machine"?
Well, it is a machine that you can buy small items from.
You just put your money in and out comes a drink, food, or even more.
That's right.
Today we're finding out what that "more" is.
Today's vending machines are becoming even more convenient.
We think of them as being convenient because they are easy to use and usually in
places we're looking for them.
But we're seeing that they're becoming even more convenient than they used to
be.
OK. So let's think about how we use these machines.
Friends, let's say you're in a hotel, and it's late.
Hmm, it's late at night.
And local stores are closed, but you are desperate for a midnight snack.
OK. So the stores around you are closed, but you're so hungry, you are
desperate.
If you're desperate for something, that means you really want it and you'll do
anything to get it.
And a midnight snack does not necessarily mean it is happening at 12 o'clock
midnight.
Instead it means that late into the night, late in the evening after dinner,
usually when you should be asleep, you're looking for something to eat.
So you head out in search of sustenance.
OK. I've done this before.
Late at night you go walking around your kitchen, maybe looking through
everything.
You don't know what you want to eat, but you know you just want sustenance.
Now "sustenance" is a fancy and creative way of saying: food.
That's right, food that gives you energy.
If you want to get sustenance, it's because you're hungry.
You just want a little bit of energy or something delicious.
That's right.
Usually midnight snacks don't have much sustenance as they do really fun
flavors.
Yeah. But we can still use this word here because you're just trying to be
creative thinking of something to eat.
Well, that's right.
Now we're in a hotel - so you're not at home so you just can't go to your
refrigerator.
But after a short walk, you see the solution to your problems glowing softly in
the darkness.
OK. And what is this, Kaylah?
It is a vending machine.
All right.
Now this is a very creative way to write this sentence because here you have a
problem - you're hungry,
and you see your solution to the problem glowing softly in the darkness.
That's right.
Now if we have used a vending machine, you'll note that there are lights in it.
Usually the front of a vending machine is completely lit up so you can see what
is inside or read labels that tell you what is inside.
Vending machines have a very distinct, very specific glow about them.
Yeah. A "glow" is just that soft flight you can see it in the darkness.
And you know it's a vending machine - you found your sustenance.
That's right.
Vending machines conveniently make sales around-the-clock, meaning all the time,
in places where stores are impractical.
OK. Now through the years, vending machines have also been plagued by some
problems.
If you're "plagued" by something, that means it bothers you continuously.
Now fortunately for consumers and businesses - "consumers" meaning the
customers, people buying them,
"businesses" are those people selling them, for both of us - all of that is
changing.
Yes. That's because vending machines are evolving in ways that mean the machines
of tomorrow will be very different from those of today.
Well, Ryan, you said that word very interestingly.
Let's look at that word "to evolve." Evolving means to develop gradually.
We usually think of this as in nature.
We are evolving.
Things are changing as life moves on just as vending machines are.
We're continously adding and making them better.
They are changing.
Yes. And when you evolve, things do get better.
And vending machines are getting better.
And we'll see how after we watch the skit.
Imagine you're in a hotel, and it's late.
Local stores are closed, but you are desperate for a midnight snack.
(Background Noise).
I'm desperate for a midnight snack.
So you head out in search of sustenance.
And then, you see it.
Oh, look! There it is.
The solution to your problems glowing softly in the darkness - a vending
machine.
I love vending machines.
Yes. Vending machines conveniently make sales around-the-clock.
Yeah. If you can't find a store, look for a vending machine.
But vending machines are plagued by problems.
Hmm. I am so ready for a snack.
You arrive at the machine only to discover...
Oh, no! I don't have the right change.
Worse yet...
I have bills.
The machine is unwilling to accept your paper money.
Ah! I am so frustrated.
Situations like these lead to frustration and lost sales.
I hate vending machines.
Fortunately, that is about to change.
Vending machines are evolving.
Machines of tomorrow will be very different from those of today.