节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-08-25
难易度:High
关键字:eyewitness, culprit, correlation, comprehensive, sensory deprivation,
intoxicate
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to study with us.
My name is Steve.
Well, the message of this month's SAFETY feature is simple:
Wearing headphones while you walk can be hazardous to your health.
New studies suggest that headphone-related injuries, and yes, even some deaths,
are on the rise because headphones are distracting.
You see, we pay less attention to things like bicycles, car traffic and even
trains.
Headphones prevent us from receiving audio warnings on the street like horns,
sirens and people shouting at us to get out of the way.
OK. Let's open up our lesson on page 47 and learn more about the phenomenon
called sensory deprivation.
(Music).
Study Suggests Hazards of Wearing Headphones Outside.
In 74 percent of the cases, police or eyewitness reports said the pedestrian had
headphones on when hit.
And 29 percent of reports made mention of horns or sirens going off before the
crash.
The study authors pointed to two likely culprits that may be a factor in what
they call "the possible association between headphone use and pedestrian
injury":
sensory deprivation and distraction.
The latter is more specifically called "inattentional blindness," referring to
the use of electronic gadgets,
and how they decreased attention to things going on around us.
(Music).
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
My name is Ryan.
Friends, we are back in our SAFETY article.
Now if you remember from yesterday, we were telling you of the dangers of
wearing headphones while you are outdoors.
That's right.
You need to be careful when you're wearing headphones outside because we saw 116
incidents where there was injury or death.
And the majority of the time they were fatal.
So you need to be careful.
Let's go a little bit further into the study, though, and see how we can avoid
these kinds of accidents.
That's right.
We have a few more numbers for you to help explain just how dangerous this can
be.
We saw some studies and in those studies, 74 percent of the cases, that means
the times that it happened,
the police or eyewitnesses said that the pedestrian had headphones on when they
were hit.
So not only were they walking around with the headphones on,
somebody saw them with the headphones on not paying attention when they actually
got hit.
That is what it means to be an eyewitness.
Right. An "eyewitness" is someone who witnesses or sees an event, especially
when it is a crime or an accident.
Now you can witness things and not be an eyewitness.
Eyewitness means you actually see it with your own two eyes.
You were there, you saw the whole thing, not just heard it.
OK, so let's find out what this means.
That means 74 percent of the people that were hit wearing headphones were seen
by people that were there with them on.
And not only were they hit, in 29 percent of these reports,
they made mention, or they said, the use of horns and sirens went off before the
crash happened.
OK. So what does this mean?
That means that cars or trains were coming and they sounded a horn, they made
noise,
and the people were wearing headphones so they weren't able to hear it.
You might think that a horn is just a small sound, but a siren is definitely not
a small sound.
That is when a fire truck or a police car would make, that very high-pitched
sound.
You should definitely hear it because your headphones were obviously too loud if
you did not.
Exactly. OK, so.
This study, or the study authors, they pointed to two likely culprits.
OK. A "culprit" is the person or thing that is doing something wrong; the main
reason for a situation that is a problem.
OK. So they saw two reasons that may be a factor in what they call:
the possible association between headphone use and pedestrian injury.
OK. So two major culprits between these two incidents,
the reason for the connecting of this being an accident and the use of
headphones in these accidents because Ryan,
sometimes people... there are accidents, accidents happen.
Sometimes you just fall or trip and you do you get hit by a car or possibly
train.
But these are connecting the links.
Exactly. The association is that connection.
And these are the two factors or two reasons - are you ready for them - sensory
deprivation and distraction.
Now "sensory" means we have the different senses; you have sight, smell, touch,
taste and hearing.
So we need to make sure we hear.
And to deprive, or "deprivation," means you cannot do something or it is less.
So you have knocked off your ability to sense the things around you.
Right. If you're deprived of something, you don't have enough of what you need.
And if you have sensory deprivation, you don't have enough of your senses.
And I'm sure in this case, they're talking about hearing.
Well, that's true.
And the second one is distraction.
You could just be distracted by whatever you're listening to.
It says the latter, which is the second one, is more specifically called
inattentional blindness.
OK.
And that is referring to the use of electronic gadgets and how they decrease
attention to the things going on around you.
Now this makes sense.
"Attentional" meaning things you're paying attention to.
And then "inattentional" would be no longer paying attention to what is going on
around you.
Exactly. OK.
Now friends, this can be a big problem, so be careful when you're outside
whether you're walking or whether you are running.
And if you're wearing headphones, pay attention.
Make sure you can hear, make sure you're able to see.
That's right.
Turn the music down so you can definitely hear what's going on around you.
Well, that last sentence is our Grammar on the Go.
So we're going to visit Liz, and then see today's skit.
Hi there, friends.
Welcome to Grammar on the Go.
My name is Liz.
Our SAFETY article of the month is about the dangers of wearing headphones
outside.
And here's our Grammar Tip sentence.
The latter is more specifically called "inattentional blindness," referring to
the use of electronic gadgets and how they decrease attention to things going on
around us.
Our focus is on the sentence pattern: something is called something, referring
to something else.
We use this pattern when we want to explain why something has a special name.
In the case of today's sentence,
the use of electronic gadgets makes it hard for users to pay attention to things
around them like they're blind.
And that's how we have this term: inattentional blindness.
Let's have a look at some example sentences with this pattern.
Duanwu Festival is also called "Dragon Boat Festival," referring to the dragon
boat races that are held on that day.
Or: During the 15th century, the area around Holland has called "the
Netherlands," referring to the flat geographical characteristics of the land
with rivers running down through it.
If you'd like to see some more example sentences,
they're available in today's Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom
magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
But officer, I love my headphones.
Yes. But you have heard the report.
I know. Accidents involving headphones have tripled.
So you might want to ditch the headphones.
Wait! How do they know the victims were wearing headphones?
Well, in most cases, police or eyewitness reports said so.
I wonder what makes headphones so dangerous.
There are two likely culprits.
One is sensory deprivation.
Sensory deprivation?
Because of the headphones, you can't hear other sounds as well.
That's true.
Our researches point out that hearing can be even more important than visual
cues.
That's true. Hearing is important.
Another likely culprit is inattentional blindness.
Inattentional blindness?
Yes. Electronic gadgets decrease attention to other things.
In other words, you're distracted.
Well, that's true too.
But there could be other factors involved.
Maybe pedestrians or drivers were intoxicated.
Well, maybe so.
But this study doesn't show causation or correlation.
So headphones might not be totally responsible.
More comprehensive information is needed.
So, can I keep my headphones, please?
All right.
Keep them this time.
But if I catch you being careless, the headphones have to go.
Yes, sir.
Oh. And by the way, you might want to ditch that report.
Why?
Well, reading and walking can be dangerous too.
That's...very funny.