Author: Peter Carter / Level: A2 / Accent: British
Тест понимания
True/False
Вопросы к подкасту для практики речи
Example Answer: Second Life is an internet program that provides a virtual world where users can create avatars, explore, interact with other avatars, and do activities like owning businesses or attending events.
Example Answer: Amy became angry because David's avatar started meeting and spending time with a young, tall, and handsome female avatar named Modesty McDonald, leading to problems in their real-life marriage.
Example Answer: The narrator noted that in real life, people live, eat, and work, while in Second Life, users live in an imaginary world where they create avatars to explore and interact. However, he also found his avatar clumsy and hard to control, unlike himself in the real world.
Example Answer: The narrator feels disappointed and frustrated with British television viewers because they voted off Miss Sherry Lungie, whom he found incomparably lovely, from Strictly Come Dancing.
Example Answer: One possible lesson is the importance of balancing virtual activities with real-life responsibilities and relationships. It also highlights the risks of becoming too immersed in a fantasy world and neglecting real-life connections.
Аудио с субтитрами
Транскрипт
Today we visit Second Life and we learn the English expression to tell the difference. My daughter likes chocolate cake. Last week I made a chocolate cake.
I also bought a chocolate cake at the supermarket. I gave my daughter a little piece of each one. Can you tell the difference? I asked her.
I meant, if you taste both bits of cake, can you say which one is mine and which one is the supermarket's? So she tasted and she said she could tell the difference. The supermarket cake was much better. Oh dear.
There was a story in the newspapers last week about two people who cannot tell the difference. The difference between real life and a fantasy world. Their names are David and Amy.
They first met each other in an internet chat room and then they met in real life and got married. After they got married, they started spending a lot of time on Second Life. I am sure that you know about Second Life.
It is an internet programme which contains a virtual world. Not the real world of your job and your family, but an imaginary world. You can go and live in this virtual world.
You make an avatar which is a sort of virtual you. You decide what your avatar will look like, what it will wear and what it will be called. You learn how to move your avatar to different places in Second Life and how to make things and how to meet other avatars and talk to them.
There was a picture of the real David and Amy in the newspapers. They seemed to eat a lot of chips and doughnuts. But like a lot of other people, David and Amy chose avatars that were young, tall and handsome.
Amy and David explored Second Life with their avatars. David's avatar became a nightclub owner who travels in a helicopter gunship. Amy's avatar became a disc jockey.
In real life, neither David nor Amy had a job. Perhaps they spent too much time on Second Life to be able to work. Then the trouble started.
David's avatar started meeting other women on Second Life. The real Amy was not pleased, but she gave David a second chance. Then David's avatar met a young, tall, handsome lady avatar called Modesty McDonald.
They started to spend a lot of time together. The real Amy was furious. Now the real Amy and the real David are getting divorced.
And the real David is engaged to the real woman whose avatar is Modesty McDonald. The newly engaged couple have never actually met in the real world. This is because David lives in England while the real Modesty McDonald lives in Arizona in America.
But perhaps this does not matter. Perhaps the only important thing is that the two avatars love each other. So there is a real world where real people live, eat, have children, and die.
And there are imaginary worlds like Second Life. Sensible people can tell the difference between them. David and Amy, it seems, cannot tell the difference.
I once spent an afternoon in Second Life. I chose an avatar, young, tall, and handsome, just like the real me, of course. Then I had to teach my avatar how to walk and to drive a car.
He was useless. He kept walking into walls and into the sea. When he drove a car, he hit people and other cars.
So I never went back to Second Life. But perhaps I should try Second Life again, because last night something really terrible happened. The British television viewers, who cannot tell the difference between a beautiful woman and a baby elephant, voted the incomparably lovely Miss Sherry Lungie off Strictly Come Dancing.
My dreams are in ruins. So, Sherry, if you are listening, get an avatar on Second Life and meet me there, and we will dance together the whole night long. Goodbye.
Фразы и выражения из подкаста
Общие выражения и идиомы
- Tell the difference - Найти разницу
- Oh dear - О, Боже
- Can you tell the difference? - Можете ли вы заметить разницу?
- Spend a lot of time - Проводить много времени
- Give a second chance - Дать второй шанс
- Get divorced - Развестись
- Engaged to - Помолвлен с
- Love each other - Любить друг друга
- Real world - Реальный мир
- Imaginary world - Воображаемый мир
- My dreams are in ruins - Мои мечты разрушены
- Spend an afternoon - Провести день
- The whole night long - Всю ночь напролет
Технологии и виртуальный мир
- Internet chat room - Интернет-чат
- Second Life - Вторая Жизнь
- Virtual world - Виртуальный мир
- Avatar - Аватар
- Internet programme - Интернет-программа
- Teach my avatar - Научить своего аватара
- Nightclub owner - Владелец ночного клуба
- Disc jockey - Диджей
- Helicopter gunship - Боевой вертолет
- Real life - Реальная жизнь
- Fantasy world - Мир фантазий
Definitions
- Tell the difference - To notice how two or more things are not the same.
- Oh dear - A phrase used to express worry, disappointment, or mild surprise.
- Can you tell the difference? - A question asking if someone can identify the distinction between two things.
- Spend a lot of time - To use a significant amount of time doing something.
- Give a second chance - To allow someone to try again after they’ve made a mistake.
- Get divorced - To legally end a marriage.
- Engaged to - Officially promised to marry someone.
- Love each other - To have deep affection for one another.
- Real world - The physical, actual world where people live and interact.
- Imaginary world - A made-up, fictional place created in the mind or in a virtual environment.
- My dreams are in ruins - To feel that one’s hopes or aspirations have been completely destroyed.
- Spend an afternoon - To use the afternoon doing a particular activity.
- The whole night long - For the entire duration of the night.