节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-01-17
难易度:Medium
关键字:empire, hooked, spice something up, fantasy, negotiate
(Music).
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us.
My name is Steve.
And my name is Ryan.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to study English with us.
As technology improves, so does the violence in video games.
They become much more realistic.
Yeah. And an estimated 70 percent of children under the age of 18 have access to
video games.
Sorry, boys, you play more violent games than girls.
And if you play one of these games for only 40 minutes a day, you may witness
over 180 acts of violence a day.
That's over 5,000 per month.
But plenty of redeeming qualities can also be found in video games, such as
lessons on teamwork and dealing with stress.
OK, let's get to the bottom of video game violence at the top of page 33.
(Music).
Are Violent Video Games Worthwhile?
Would you really prefer to play old-fashioned board games?
Those kinds of games are pretty boring to me.
Boring?
Remember when we used to spend hours playing strategy games, fighting battles
and taking over empires?
Of course.
But video games include strategy and teamwork.
Many video games let you work with other people online to complete a task.
It's exciting. And that's why I'm hooked.
And the violence?
That just spices up the experience, my friend.
Hello, friends.
Thank you for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Ryan.
And we are back in our VIEWPOINTS article.
Now yesterday we saw Ted trying to convince Greg that video games are
worthwhile.
Now Greg does not always agree with Ted on this.
He says that games like Grand Theft Auto cause too much violence and encourage
that kind of violence and killing.
Right. But Ted was saying that he thinks that there are many redeeming values
that you can learn from video games.
However, Greg then said he doesn't appreciate it when video games add violence
just for the sake of adding violence.
Well, Ted says: Would you really prefer to play old-fashioned board games?
Those kinds of games are pretty boring to me.
Well, of course, board games are games that you play on a table and many people
gather around.
They're not video games.
And Ted seems to think those sound pretty boring.
Now I have to completely disagree with Ted here.
I love playing board games.
But I do know that some people enjoy the graphics and the settings and the
design, the action of playing a video game.
So he's making a point that a lot of people agree with.
Yeah, I actually... I agree with you.
I think that's a great point.
They are two completely different things.
But I really do agree that board games are a lot of fun.
And Greg thinks so too.
He says: Boring? Remember when we used to spend hours playing strategy games,
fighting battles and taking over empires?
Now when we talk about strategy games, that means games you have to think about,
and you have to make a plan.
You can't just roll a dice or pull a card out of a deck and expect to win.
You actually have to think about the way the game is played, games like the game
of Risk.
Yeah. And that's what Greg is talking about, games like that where you have to
try and control empires.
And an "empire" is a group of countries that are controlled by one country.
Ted says: "Of course." Of course he remembers these days.
It wasn't that long ago.
But video games include strategy and teamwork.
OK. So there's a little extra to video games that you can't find in board games,
like strategy and teamwork.
"Teamwork" is working with other people, perhaps like playing a game online.
What about strategy, Kaylah?
Well, we talked about that just a minute ago.
Strategy is making the plan.
Many video games let you work with other people online to complete a task.
So you don't have to be in the same room.
When you're playing a board game, you are all at the same place at the same
time.
He's saying you can meet with other people online to learn and play video games.
Right. He says: It's exciting. And that's why I'm hooked.
If you're "hooked" to something, it means you can't stop doing it.
You enjoy it so much.
That's right.
If we think about "hooked," we can imagine a fish.
When you catch a fish on a hook, they cannot get away.
They're attached to it completely.
And that's what he's talking about.
He's completely attached.
He enjoys playing them so much.
Right.
Usually, though, Kaylah, when you use the phrase "I'm hooked to something," it
doesn't necessarily mean that you're caught like a fish because that might not
be fun.
But Ted says he loves video games.
And that is why he keeps playing them.
Absolutely.
He enjoys them.
He is attached to them completely.
Greg says: And the violence?
Are you hooked on the violence there too, Ted?
Yeah. Ted says: That just spices up the experience, my friend.
Now the word phrase "spice up" is something that you can use when you speak
English as well as write English because it helps also to spice up your writing.
Now can you explain what that means for us, Ryan?
Yes. You would want to "spice up" your writing, which means to add excitement to
it.
You make it more interesting.
However, here Ted is saying that violence in video games makes them more
interesting, makes them more exciting.
Now this phrase, "to spice up," comes from when we add a spice to food, like
salt or maybe hot sauce.
Something that is different and more exciting, you put it in with something
that's a little bit boring, and it makes it better.
So he says that the violence does that for video games.
It makes something that could be boring a little bit more exciting.
Right. So he thinks that violence just makes the games more fun, and it's
nothing to worry about.
That's not the reason people are playing.
It just makes it more exciting.
And he ends it with "my friend," showing him that they're still friends even if
they don't agree.
And I feel that this conversation is going to keep going as we come to a
conclusion about video games.
Join us.
But first, let's watch these interviews.
I support violent video games, but only to a certain point.
Uh, for example, I think there is a fine line between fantasy and reality.
So... a lot of people are interested in fantasy, so we read the fantasy books.
And... but games is the next step.
It actually puts us in there with the fantasy instead of actually... instead of
having to read about somebody else.
And um, so this violence, I think is OK because it is not exactly bad.
But as... as far as reality goes, um... a good game would be like the... It's
not the violent games nowadays, and it's... is they try to make it too real.
And this is the point where we start to mix reality with fantacy.
And some people can become confused and possibly use the violence in... their
real lives.
I believe violent video games have many negative effects on teenagers.
If you completely invest yourself in the game, you will not only waste your
precious time, but also destroy your ability to distinguish fantasy from
reality.
Although playing video games seems very realistic and interesting, in reality,
it's only a game.
The guns are not real, the people are not real.
The game dehumanizes life.
If you lose, you always get another chance.
But in real life, once you kill someone, you can't get him back.
You won't have another chance.
I believe you can play video games.
But have self-control and don't let them harm you physically and mentally.
Protect yourself as well as those who're aroundyou.