节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-01-16
难易度:Medium
关键字:worthwhile, setting, redeem, for the sake of something
(Music).
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
(Background Noise).
And my name is Captain Ryan C. Bowman of the 23rd Infantry.
(Background Noise).
Uh, Ryan, I think you should stop playing so many violent video games.
I don't have time to worry about video game violence, Private Steve.
My men need to storm the enemy base.
Move right, men.
(Background Noise).
Well, there can't be anything redeeming about watching bloody death scenes.
Keep yourself together, Private Steve.
They are not real.
Besides, my men have learned some redeeming lessons about achieving goals and
completing missions.
Oh. Well, maybe we should move this discussion to the "front lines" and begin
our reading on page 32.
(Music).
Are Violent Video Games Worthwhile?
Is violence in video games helpful or harmful?
Ted and Greg are two friends visiting a video game store together.
Hey, Greg, take a look at these new games!
The graphics are so realistic!
Yeah, video games have come a long way.
They can be fun, but sometimes they're too realistic.
Take it easy, Greg.
They're just video games!
Don't get me wrong.
I like the settings and even the story lines.
I just can't handle some of the bloody death scenes.
They aren't real.
And video games need to be believable, or they become boring pretty quickly.
Besides, many violent games have a redeeming moral or lesson to teach.
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Ryan.
Now video games are becoming more and more common, but a lot of them are
violent.
And so that's why today we want to talk about whether or not violent video games
are worthwhile.
Just like in all of our VIEWPOINTS articles, we will be discussing two sides of
one question.
The question is: Is violence in video games helpful or harmful?
That's right.
Now the question of whether or not violent video games are worthwhile is also
similar to the question of whether or not video games in general are worthwhile.
That's a good... I guess it's kind of the same.
I think what we're talking about here is violence in general.
Ryan, I think we can even ask: Is violence in movies worthwhile?
Is it worth watching such violence on a screen or participating in it on a video
game?
Is it worthwhile?
That's right.
And "worthwhile" means is it useful, is it important?
Or really you could ask: Is it good?
Is it a good thing that video games have so much violence?
Well, there are two sides to this argument.
Some people think that it is OK to play violent video games, that it doesn't
affect them.
And others have different opinions.
We will be talking with Ted and Greg.
They are two friends visiting a video game store together.
All right. Now we start off with Ted.
He says: Hey, Greg, take a look at these new games!
The graphics are so realistic!
Now I've never been much of a video game person myself.
But I do know that graphics make the difference in whether a game is good or
not.
That's right.
Many people when they are thinking of buying a new video game, they look at the
graphics.
That means does... what does the game look like?
Does it look realistic?
Does it look interesting?
And that will make their... their choice of which video game they want.
Now my roommate and I do like to play Mario Kart, the old Mario Kart.
And the graphics on that are very basic.
Today video games are very extravagant.
They are very big and beautiful, really.
They're very realistic.
So this is part of what will play into the argument.
Exactly. As technology improves, video games can look more realistic.
That means they look more like real life.
Now what does Greg say, Kaylah?
Well, Greg agrees with this.
He says: Yeah, video games have come a long way.
They can be fun, but sometimes they're too realistic.
Yeah. OK. So Ted, he says these games look realistic.
But Greg says, well, they sometimes look too realistic.
Now a lot of people, Kaylah, they want their games to look realistic, right?
That's true. Most people do want to play a game that is kind of like real life.
They want it to look like the real world.
But if it is too realistic, you can become involved in the game maybe a little
too much.
And violence, when we add that, this is the question: Is it too much to make it
look like real life?
OK. Now Ted isn't too happy about Greg saying this.
He says, "Take it easy," which means don't worry about it.
He says: They're just video games.
Greg says: Don't get me wrong.
I mean, don't get me wrong. Understand me.
This is not something I am attacking you for.
But I hope you don't get me wrong when I say go visit Liz.
She's got Grammar on the Go.
How are you doing today, friends?
My name is Liz, and it's time for Grammar on the Go.
In today's article, we see the sentence: Don't get me wrong.
Normally, when we tell someone to not get us something, we're asking them to not
bring something to us, like: Please don't get me another gift.
But in today's sentence, "don't get me wrong" is actually from an idiomatic
expression: to get someone wrong.
It means to misunderstand someone.
We use this expression in informal conversations.
For example, if you want to explain why you don't support certain new laws that
are being passed,
you need to make sure that you're not misunderstood. So you can say:
Don't get me wrong; protecting the environment is important, but I have my
doubts regarding these new laws.
Or, let's say someone invited you out on a date.
Unfortunately, you need to decline, but you don't want to hurt the other
person's feelings.
You can say: Please don't get me wrong. I would love to go out but I have so
much work to do.
If you turn to today's Grammar Tip section in your magazine, you'll find some
more information about this idiomatic expression.
Time for me to say goodbye for now.
Please don't get me wrong.
I would love to stay and chat, but we really are out of time.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go, signing off.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
Well, Greg goes on to say: I like the settings and even the story lines.
Now when he refers to "settings," here he is talking about the location and the
time that the story is taking place.
So a setting for your favorite movie would be where they are, or maybe your
favorite book.
That's where they are.
The setting is exactly the location that they are in.
Right. So if Greg is playing a war game, the setting might be a battlefield.
He keeps saying: I just can't handle some of the bloody death scenes.
This is a very good point, Ryan.
I think that sometimes we see a lot of bloody deaths, maybe violence in the
games, and we don't think about it.
Right.
But for Greg here, it seems to be a big deal.
It's something he doesn't enjoy seeing all the time.
Yeah, especially in video games, there are a lot of death scenes.
But Ted says: Well, they aren't real.
And video games need to be believable, or they become boring pretty quickly.
I don't play very many video games.
Do you play video games?
Sometimes. Yeah, I do.
Would you agree with this?
Does it become boring?
It depends on the game.
Like you said earlier, Mario Kart doesn't have very good graphics, but it's
still a lot of fun.
Well, besides all of this, many violent video games have a redeeming moral or
lesson to teach.
That's right.
Now "redeeming" is referring to something that is useful or good, and it makes
something seem less bad.
So here they have a good moral, they have a good lesson to teach.
That's right.
We're going to go to the Chat Room.
See you right back here.
OK. Here are all five of the astronomy books you checked out.
Enjoy.
Hey, Ken, you're not going to believe this, but that young man that just left,
he has read almost all of the books we have on astronomy.
Almost all? How many is that?
Nearly a hundred.
And he just checked out the last five that he hasn't read.
Wow! Sounds like he's quite a genius.
I'll say.
Let me tell you, he's going to go a long way.
Go a long way?
Where is he going?
He's going to be successful.
I don't get it.
"Going a long way" is an expression that means somebody will be very successful.
So that young man will go a long way?
Right. And I'm helping him get there.
I see.
What about somebody who has already attained success?
Is there an expression for that?
That's a great question for Doris.
Let's ask her.
OK.
The expression you are looking for is "to come a long way." If you've come a
long way,
you've really fought for something and attained success.
We might say women have come a long way since the 1950s.
They've been liberated and they have become equal to men.
I see.
So does "coming a long way" mean to spend a long time reaching success?
Not necessarily.
It just means someone has really struggled and succeeded in their endeavor.
So women fought very hard to get to their current position in society.
That's right.
They've come a long way.
Well, make sure you point out that kid the next time he comes in.
I'd like to meet him.
Sure thing, Ken.