8 An Interactive Life

1、8 An Interactive Life from NewsweekIt will put the world at your fingertips, changing the ways you shop, play and learn. But when will the future arrive?Objectives To understand the text To learn the words and phrases about the interactive life To be familiar with the interactive lifeTeaching Conten

2、ts1. Introduction (10 min.)2. Detailed study of the text (140 min.)3. Structure analysis (5 min.)4. Language appreciation (5 min.)5. Summary of words and phrases(5 min)6. Exercises (15 min)1. Introduction The text is taken from American Newsweek. Newsweek is American news weekly established in Dayto

3、n, Ohio in 1933. In it domestic and international news is summarized, analyzed and categorized according to topics each week. It also has special sections devoted to arts, science, medicine, sports, etc. it is one of the three largest newsweeklies of America and has a wide domestic and international

4、 circulation. The authors of the text, The authors Barbara Kantrowitz and Joshua Cooper Ramo: regular contributors to Newsweek “An Interactive Life” was published in Newsweek on May 31, 1993 Introduction of the text2. Detailed study of the textWhats the meaning of the title? An Interactive Life: a l

5、ife which acts reciprocally, mutually, receives and gives in return “An Interactive Life” refers to the future life, meaning a life which acts reciprocally, mutually, receives and gives in return. This interactive life is the life with Internet, and this life will familiarize you with the world, cha

6、nge the ways you shop, play and learn.What does the essay try to describe to us? The essay describes to us an interactive lifethe future life that will fully involves us all interactively, and suggest us that we should hang on for a ride even though we do not know when this life will come.Newsweek:a

7、n American news weekly established in Dayton, Ohio in 1933.inter-1) 互相互相 2）在）在之间之间 All things are interrelated and interacted on each other. international, interstate, interpenetrate, interbreed, intercept, interchange, intercity, intercom, intercontinental, interdependent, interject, interlude ( pr

8、elude), intersection, interrupt, intervene, interclass, intercrop, intercommunityPutfingertips to become familiar with the world by using the tips of your fingers on computer; fingertip here has both a literal and a figurative meaning, literally it means to be familiar with as in the phrase have at

9、ones figertips. Para. 1 Stepping into the past so as to understand the future Why do people have to step back to see the future? Because the past indicates the development of the human history. We learn from history that every invention in history brings about great development. Techniques have mark

10、ed different eras over the centuries: from the primitive tools of the Stone Age, to the Industrial Age marked by steam and electrical power and the discovery of turbines, and engines. Today, we have entered a new era: the computer age and Information Age.To getpast In order to form a view of what wi

11、ll happen in the future, you need only to have a look at what happened in the past.Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)American inventor, one of the greatest inventors of all time. Edison began to work at an early age and continued to work right up until his death. Throughout his prolific career as an inv

12、entor, he was well known for his focus and determination. During his career Edison patented more than 1,000 inventions, including the electric light, the phonograph, and the motion-picture camera. These three inventions gave rise to giant industrieselectric utilities, phonograph and record companies

13、, and the film industrythus changing the work and leisure habits of people throughout the world. Age of Edison The period from 1879 to 1900, when Edison produced and perfected most of his devices, has been called the Age of Edison.His inventions:Phonograph machine Motion Picture ProjectorLight bulbE

14、dison National Historical Site in West Orange, N. J. Edison National Historical Site in West Orange, N. J. It is a museum about 15 miles west of New York City, New York. It now has closed for major rehabilitation work. The Site plans to reopen sometime in 2006. Edison National Historical Site For mo

15、re than forty years, the laboratory created by Thomas Alva Edison in West Orange, New Jersey, had enormous impact on the lives of millions of people worldwide. Out of the West Orange laboratories came the motion picture camera, vastly improved phonographs, sound recordings, silent and sound movies a

16、nd the nickel-iron alkaline electric storage battery. Edison National Historic Site provides a unique opportunity to interpret and experience important aspects of Americas industrial, social and economic past, and to learn from the legacy of the worlds best known inventor. Today, the Laboratory rema

17、ins a powerful symbol of American technical ingenuity and productive power. In the decades represented by the display, the concept and purpose of sound recording changed dramatically: In the tens of years covered by the machines on exhibition, the idea and purpose of sound recording experienced grea

18、t changes.Edison conceived of his phonograph as a business machine that would help people in distant places communicate: Edison designed and developed his sound recording machine as a working tool for people to talk to each other over long distance. conceive of .(as): think of (as), imagine(as)In th

19、e decadesdramatically In the tens of years covered by the machines on exhibition, the idea and purpose of sound recording experienced great changes. Edisoncommunicate Edison designed and developed his sound recording machine as a working tool for people to talk to each other over long distance.He in

20、tended to record voicesnothing more: His only intention in inventing the machine was the recording of voices. envisioned the greater potential for His competitors,/His business rivals, adversaries saw in their minds that there was great possibility of using the machine for entertainment and art. env

21、ision: picture in the mind. Am.E; envisage: see in the mind as a future possibility; foresee; e.g. It should be quite simple; I dont envisage /envision any difficulty. He envisioned a bright future for himself. The company envisioned opening the sides of the mountain to extract coal. envision doing/

22、 that When do you envision being able/ that you will be able to pay me back? potential: future possibility; potential Adj. capable of being but not yet in existence; latent E.g. Every seed is a potential plant. Syn: possible/promising/ likelyHis competitorsart His business rivals saw in their minds

23、that there was great possibility of using the machine for entertainment and art.Where he saw internal memos, someone else saw Beethoven He imagined that the machine could record informal communication between departments in a company but other people thought it could be used to record music. Edison

24、applied the machine to business while others to a different thing, musicentertainment.Ludwig van Beethoven (17701827)The great German composer. His story is one of personal triumph over tragedy and supreme musical achievement. memo=memorandum (formal): a note from one person or office to another wit

25、hin the same firm or organization; a note of sth. to be remembered. e.g. I made a memo on my memo pad to buy more coffee. Beethoven: metonymy, referring to the music by BeethovenWhy do the authors say “Where he saw internal memos, someone else saw Beethoven”? Because by saying this, he means to give

26、s an example how Edisons invention brought about the development.Para.2 definition of the interactive life a similar memorial tobreakthroughinteractivity: to have a place like the Edison National Historical Site in memory of those who make the important advance recently in interactivity although it

27、has not been able to do all the things the creators promised. memorial (to): n. sth. esp. a stone monument, in memory of a person, event, etc. e.g. a war memorial (=in memory of dead soldiers) a memorial sculpture. The church service is a memorial to those killed in the war. What do you think is the

28、 latest breakthroughinteractivity? The Internet is the latest breakthroughinteractivity in particular, because it has created a brand new environment. A new culture has been born free, rapid, and universal where people share their knowledge and expertise. Information and communication techniques hav

29、e been turned upside down, distance has been eliminated, frontiers abolished. A tremendous interactive potential is burgeoning on our planet Earth today. Like it or lump it none can stop it! prophecy: predictions of the future 预言预言 prophet: 预言家预言家 E.g. self-fulfilling prophecy have the gift of proph

30、ecyCan you mention one or two of the creators of the latest breakthroughinteractivity? The inventors in 1990 of the World Wide Web (WWW), which revolutionized the contemporary computer world, did not become millionaires. British Tim Berners-Lee and Belgian Robert Caillau, both researchers at Europea

31、n Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, did not make any money through their invention of the WWW. They refused to patent it. They feared that in so doing, the use of the Web would prove prohibitively expensive preventing its use worldwide. Thus, they passed up a fortune so that our world ca

32、n learn and communicate today, and we should be grateful to them for their foresight.Will, theres no limit to the hype Since large sums of money have been spent on an idea which is mainly in the planning stage, since great hopes have been put on such idea, there certainly is a lot of exaggerated pub

33、licity. on the drawing board: in the planning stage; hype: n. (infml. often derog.) loud, exaggerated promotion or publicity; attempts to get a lot of public attention for things or people by saying loudly and often that they are very good, or better than they really are e.g. media hype 传媒宣传 to hype

34、 v. hyping their latest record with a lot of interviews 借大量采访大肆宣传他们的最新唱片 loud, exaggerated promotion and publicity大肆宣传大肆宣传 The incident was hyped by press as another “Watergate”. He was hyped up.（excited) He hyped kids into buying his fake products. The film is a great success without any advance PR

35、 hype.Simply put Express in a way that is easy to understand.A huge button If you press a button, you will be able to get a large amount of information over a wide range of topics.esoteric: intended for and understood by only few, beyond the understanding of most people 深奥的，难懂的深奥的，难懂的 This is doctor

36、s esoteric knowledge. There are two kinds of classics: the popular and the esoteric. an esoteric plan 秘密的计划秘密的计划esoteric scientific journals: magazines on science written in such a way as to be understood only by a few who know the subjectBroadway: New York City thoroughfare that traverses the lengt

37、h of Manhattan, near the middle of which are clustered the theatres that have long made it the foremost showcase of commercial stage entertainment in the United States. The term Broadway is virtually synonymous with American theatrical activity. Broadway gained its name as the axis of an important t

38、heatre district. off-off-off Broadway : Shows that cannot make into Broadway are called off Broadway. If a show is really bad, or really small in scale, it is even less than off Broadway show. Broadway shows are usually big budget productions with famous producers. Newer shows usually start as off B

39、roadway, meaning that they are performed in some smaller theaters, usually in some other odd places like the village. Some of these off Broadway shows can become successful and eventually become a Broadway show, but mostly that never happens. from airline schedules to esoteric scientific journals to

40、 video versions of off-off-off Broadway. To put it in a simple way, the most wonderful thing is that if you press a button, you will be able to get a large amount of information over a wide range of topics, from something common like airline schedules to something very professional like esoteric sci

41、entific journals to something untraditional like video versions of off-off-off Broadway click on:to turn on by clickingterminate: stop to terminate a contract, to terminate a marriage Review questions terminate each chapter. termination n. terminator 终结者终结者 terminal 终端终端 air terminal 机场机场 terminal s

42、tation, terminal cancer, terminal examAt various points version of “Terminator XII”: Terminator XII: an American science fiction movie series, starring the popular actor, Arnold Schwarzengger. The number XII implies a future installment of the series. At different places, you can turn on the device

43、for other possible development of the story and offer your own variation.The Terminator 1984Arnold Schwarzenggershoot a video: 拍摄一部片子拍摄一部片子artsy: pretentiously artistic 附庸风雅的附庸风雅的 Say you shoot a video that you think is particularly artsy. For example, you film a video which you think has special ar

44、tistic pretensions or quality. say: for examplebeam: v. to direct or aim ( a radio signal, program) at 定向发射（无线电信号），定向发射（无线电信号）， 向向广播广播 beam n. 梁，梁， 光线，光柱，光线，光柱， a beam of light the beam system 定向系统定向系统 This is a program beamed at China. His face is beaming with delight. bean antenna ( aerial ) 定向天线定

45、向天线 Beam it out and make a small fortune by charging an untold number of viewers a fee for watching: Send out the video and ask those who have watched it to pay a fee. In this way you can make quite a sum of money.Peter Jennings: anchorman for ABCs (American Broadcasting Company) World News Tonight

46、program.obsolete: no long used; out of date e.g. obsolete machine, obsolete ideaPeter Jennings would be obsolete: There is no longer any need for news anchorman because anyone can record news with a video-camera and put it on the universal network for everybody else to see.on the receiving end: for

47、those who are the viewers. the era of no-brainer:the period of no need to rack ones brain about selection of programsWould be programmed To furnish the computer with a planned sequence of operations to be performed. On the receiving end, the no-brainer will have finally arrived: For viewers, the tim

48、e of no need to bother about the selection of programmes will have finally arrived. Para.3 a hard time Sounds great in theory how it will actually work: In theory the whole idea seems wonderful but even for those who firmly believe in this, it is difficult to work out the details of how it will actu

49、ally function. come to: concern e.g. When it comes to politics/ to repairing cars, I know nothing. nailing down: making sure, settling to nail sb. down: to force (a person) to state clearly their intention or wishes. e.g. Before they repair the car, nail them down to a price.(=make them tell how muc

50、h it will cost). to nail sth. up: If you nail sth. up, you fix it to a vertical surface using nails. e.g. the warning notice that he had nailed up on the pole specifics : details, particularsnail down: 1. 钉牢，钉牢， 2. 约束，约束， 3. 弄清楚，确定弄清楚，确定 Nail down the loose lid of the box. We nailed him down to his

51、promise. Exact figures are impossible to nail down. The two sides formally nailed down an agreement. 双方正式拟定了一个协定。双方正式拟定了一个协定。 * hard as nails 铁石心肠的铁石心肠的 * right as nails 非常健康 * as sure as nails 肯定无疑 *drive a nail into sbs coffin 促使某人死亡 Hit the (right) Nail down: making sure, settingvia: prep. 用用, 通过

52、通过 He is going to book a ticket to the USA via Japan. the transmission of television via satellite to send a letter via airmailSoundwork In theory the whole idea seems wonderful but even for those who firmly believe in this, it is difficult to work out the details of how it will actually function.ne

53、gotiate: vi. vt. to deal with, to manage, to reach to negotiate a contract ( a treaty, an agreement) to negotiate a problem / a difficulty 解解决，对付决，对付mass: a large quantity or number; How will we negotiate still find time to sleep? How shall we handle and manage such a large quantity of data and stil

54、l have time to sleep?data highway: the authors are comparing the transmission in the air to a busy highway and information, data travels along the highway. This is a vivid metaphor. Will government regulate messages sent out on this vast data highway? Will government formulate regulations to control

55、 and govern the kind and number of communications sent over the numerous channels? And frankly, what do we need all this stuff for anyway? This is no longer a question on specifics. It inquires/makes a search, investigate into the usefulness and ultimate purpose of such an idea. Para. 4 near future

56、life “Were a long way from Wild Palms: There is still great distance before we can reach the stage as depicted in the TV series “Wild Palms.”Wild Palms is a TV miniseries directed by Oliver Stone. It was released in 1993. It is a science fiction: Los Angeles in the near future, Harry Wykoff accepts

57、a job as presidents of a gigantic TV company. He is confronted with a total new technology called The New Reality where three-dimensional TV animated pictures are projected in living rooms all around the world. Harry launches to the top of the company with his career but once there he is caught in a

58、 web of intrigues, betrayal and murder. A game of life and death begins Interactive TV consulting firm:互动电视咨询公司互动电视咨询公司techno-chaos: technological disorder or confusion technological disorder and confusion 技术混乱现象技术混乱现象futuristic:dealing with the future, esp. by imagining what may happen thene.g. She

59、 writes futuristic novels about voyages to distant galaxies. the futuristic fantasy: highly imaginative TV series, with stress on the speed, flux and violence of the machine age; The futuristic fantasy mini-series refer to “Wild Palm.” phase:stage But even if computers will be entering a new and dee

60、per phase within a year or two: But even if we are still far away from the technological disorder of that highly imaginative TV series, some consumers may actually find that their relationships with their TVs, telephones and computers will develop to a higher order within a year or two. Insteadthrou