6 Minute English eBooks

Текст песни "6 Minute English — eBooks"

NB: This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript

Kate: Hello and welcome to this week's 6 Minute English. Joining me again today
is Rebecca. Hi Rebecca. In today's programme we're talking about books
and reading. Are you a keen reader Rebecca?
Rebecca: Answers…
Kate: We often hold an emotional attachment to books, keeping them for years,
lending them to friends or giving them as presents. But that all may be about
to change….as in the last few years some major companies have made
available millions of bookswhich can also be downloaded on to
electronic readers. Can you explain what electronic readers are?
Rebecca: Certainly, an electronic reader is a small hand held computer capable of
storing hundreds of books in electronic form and displaying the pages as
clearly as in a real book. An electronic book or eBook!
Kate: I'm sorry but I just don't like the sound of that. I love books and the way
they feel. I like going into bookshops and buying a whole collection of
brand new books. What do you think – would you prefer to start reading
your books on screen?
Rebecca: Well – I can see how it would be handy and it would be great to stop having
to carry those huge volumes around with me, not to mention freeing up
some space in my home. But having said that, I already spend too much
time looking at a computer screen as it is, so perhaps just for the sake of my
eyes it wouldn't be such a good thing.
Kate: And now to my question for this week. An old book which looks as though
it has been read by many people can sometimes be referred to in one of the
following ways:
a) cat-tailed
b) dog-eared
c) mouse-nosed
Rebecca: answers
Kate: Thanks – we'll find out the correct answer at the end of the programme.
We're going to hear from two people to hear what they think of the eBooks.
Before we listen, could you explain what the word luddite means?
Rebecca: A luddite is someone who is averse or unwilling to adapt to changes in
technology. Someone who refuses to learn how to use a computer or mobile
phone, for example.
Kate: And concept adjustment?
Rebecca: This expression means to change the way we think about something,
especially if we feel very strongly that something should be a certain way.
Kate: Thanks – so let's listen to the first extract. How does the speaker, John
Sutherland feel about e-readers?
Extract 1
Everyone has got a luddite inside and everyone thinks 'I don't need mechanics….I can read, I
can handle libraries, I'm in control of the information sources I have. The point is that we all
need a big concept adjustment – it's going to happen in 2 or 3 years time'.
Rebecca: He said everyone has a luddite inside that doesn't want anything to change
but that we had to accept it was going to happen in as little as 2 or 3 years!
I suppose he's likely to be right. At the moment most people are likely to say
they don’t like the idea of reading a book on a computer, but then we all
said the same about newspapers and music didn't we …?
Kate: Yes, but the idea still makes me feel quite sad to think of all those wonderful
old books being replaced by a modern computer. Are we really going to
start speaking about the books we read today as antiquarian? This is a
word which means special and old.
Rebecca: Well, some people are even beginning to speak of books as being sacred.
This means to be considered holy and deserving of very special respect
because of a connection with God. What does the 2nd speaker, Peter
Florence think of this…?
Extract 2
I don’t think the book is sacred. I think the story's sacred the writing's sacred and the means
in which you get it can be any you like.
...
Группа Learning English.
Продолжение транскрипта:
downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/6minute/091105_6min_ebooks.pdf