一起听英语 21 电子书与纸质书

电子书和纸质书哪种更好呢?

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 books online which 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.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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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'.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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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. What will happen as electronic media presents stories

more availably, is that the old antiqurian stuff will become more valuable.

Rebecca: Interesting – he doesn't think the book itself is sacred or special. He thinks

that the story itself is the important thing. He thinks that as more and more

of us begin to use the electronic media, that the antiquarian or old

fashioned books will become more valuable.

Kate: Valuable! That's good to hear – at least some of our old books will have

some use. But yes, he does have a point. What is it we actually value? Is it

the story and narrative or the book itself? It brings up some interesting

issues of what it is we really like about books.

I still can't imagine everyone reading books on computers though….. do you

think we'll be sitting here in 3 or 4 years time finding it completely normal?

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Rebecca: answers

Kate: So now to the question I asked you earlier. Which expression describes an

old, well read book?

Rebecca: answers

Kate: The expression is 'dog-eared'.

Rebecca: This means when the pages are all bent and many people have read it.

Kate: Thanks – and now let's quickly run over the rest of the vocabulary we heard

in today's programme:

Rebecca: We had electronic readers, eBook, luddite, concept adjustment, sacred

and antiquarian. And don't forget dog-eared of course.

Kate: Thanks Rebecca – that's all we've got time for today. Until next time (while

you're still able to get your hands on a real book)…. happy reading!