Read and dramatize the following dialogues.

RICHARDAnna, I wonder if you could help me in explaining what these different things are? First of all, a CD-ROM. What's that?

ANNA A CD-ROM. Okay. It's a way of keeping information on a disk, which can then be read by a computer.

RICHARD So you put it into the computer ...

ANNA Yes… .

RICHARD ... And then the computer reads it. I see. Right. Now, a fax. I know that that's a way that you send or receive printed material down the phone line in an electronic form. But how does that differ from e-mail?

ANNA Well, e-mail is actually a system which is used by computer users so messages can be sent from computer to computer, but a fax actually uses the telephone.

RICHARD Right

ANNA And a fax machine.

RICHARDRight. I see. Right, so it's like two computers talking to one another.

ANNA That's right.

RICHARD I see.

ANNA And a fax isn't computer operated. It's using a fax machine and a phone line.

RICHARDDown the phone talking to the fax machine?

ANNA Yes.

RICHARDRight. And what exactly is the Internet?

ANNA Right. Well I suppose, you know, like with the e-mail you've got computer to computer. It's a bit like that. It's a network which allows computer users from anywhere in the world to actually communicate with each other.

RICHARD Right.

ANNA People usually pay a subscription to a company.

RICHARD Yeah ... .

ANNA And they go on-line.

RICHARD Right.

ANNA That's the term.

RICHARD So there's ... like ... loads of computers all talking to each other.

ANNA That's right, yes.

RICHARD Oh right,

ANNA It's fascinating, actually.

RICHARDAnd what exactly is satellite TV?

ANNA Well, it's a way of broadcasting television using a satellite that's up in space.

RICHARDRight.

ANNA Rather than using, you know, a transmitter. .

RICHARDLike a transmitter on the ground?

ANNA Transmitters and aerials here on the ground, it's actually using a satellite up in space to pick up all the airwaves.

RICHARD So the signal's sent up to the satellite … .

ANNA ... and then sent back down.

RICHARD Isee. So what is Cable TV, then?

ANNA Well, that kind of works, I suppose, in the opposite way. It's a system, again of broadcasting television, but instead of having a .satellite up in the air, you've got cables that run under the ground along maybe phone lines, that kind of thing. It gives viewers ... sort of ... more access to more channels.

RICHARDIt's a physical connection ... .

ANNA That's right, yeah.

RICHARD… from wherever they're sending the programme to your television, so it's actually one long cable.

ANNA Yes.

RICHARDOh, right.

Dialogue 2.

ANNA The thing is, Richard, CD-ROMs are actually much better than books.

RICHARD Why's that?

ANNA Well, you can store so much more information on the disks. I mean, not just stories, but you can have pictures from galleries, you can have portraits from the Louvre in Paris or the National Gallery in London, there's so much...

RICHARD I have to disagree. I don't think anything will ever replace the book as a means of storing information in the way that you actually look through a book to find it, and when it comes to art, there's no substitute for the real thing. Nothing will replace a visit to Paris or London to see...

ANNA Of course not, but you can have it in your own home, can't you?

RICHARD I know, but people are always saying this. Every few years something comes along and everybody says, "Oh, this is the way of the future. This is going to replace..." I mean, a few years ago a friend convinced me that LPs and tapes were out, that CD-ROMs would replace them and that hasn't happened yet.

ANNA No.

RICHARD You see, there's nothing more convenient than a book, is there?

ANNA Well, 1 think you're a bit frightened of change, aren't you? 1 mean ... I expect you've got a fax machine, haven't you, but actually e-mail is far better because it s much faster than a fax machine. And I bet you thought you'd never have anything as advanced as a fax machine, but ...

RICHARD No. but yes, I use the fax, but I think E-mail is a rather expensive form of sending letters because you’ve got to pay the subscription to the company and everything, whereas ... .

ANNA Yeah ...

RICHARD … with a fax you're just paying for a simple phone call.

ANNA Yeah, I agree. And a fax is still a good way of sending visual information, such as drawings and diagrams. But, you know, a lot of people like to be … kind of ... contacted by e-mail.

RICHARD Really?

ANNA Yeah. Oh yeah!

RICHARD I can't believe that!

ANN It's quite a sociable thing, you know, because you can actually...

RICHARD I think it's much better to have a handwritten letter, surely?

ANNA Well …

RICHARD It sounds horribly cold to me.

ANNA Well, no ... not really, because you can be quite sociable, you can ... you know you can chat to people, rather than, you know ... you send something, somebody sends something back, you know, you can do an odd line here, an odd line there. It's good.

RICHARD No. I disagree I don't think it's very sociable to be contacted by e-mail and be talking to a computer screen. I mean, it's like talking to a robot.

ANNA Well. I think it's good to be connected to e-mail, because it is a very spontaneous way of communicating with people all over the world.

RICHARD What about the Internet? 1 mean, you're a huge fan of that, at the moment, aren't you?

ANNA Well. I am actually. 1 mean. I don't think it should be government controlled, because then, you know, you lose your freedom of speech, you lose...

RICHARD Well ... ,

ANNA . .your rights, you know...

RICHARD I can .see what you're saying, but I do believe there should be some control over the Internet, otherwise it could be used as a way of sending political propaganda, or pornography. There's a huge amount of pornography, and it goes to anyone with a computer. I think that's wrong.

ANNA Yeah ... there are a lot of people that are afraid of being censored by the government ... .

RICHARDWell, people are being censored right-now ... And … in lots of different ways. Why do we just use the Internet as an argument there?

ANNA I see your point, but what about TV then, what are your views on that? Because I think ... you know ... that if you can watch TV stations from anywhere in the world then obviously it's going to help you to find out about other cultures. You know, being connected to cable and satellite and TV isn't as expensive as you might imagine these days.

RICHARD No., but if there's a lot of satellite television coming in and it's all in different languages, it's not much use if ... because you won't understand it

ANNA Yes, I suppose so. But you can still look at the pictures!

EXERCISES

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1190