2010年ESL之旅行交通购物 03 Using a Camera

03 Using a Camera

GLOSSARY 1

camera – a device used to take photographs of images, people, or scenes

* I’m not a professional photographer, so I don’t need an expensive camera. Justa simple camera is good enough for me.

photography – the art and science of taking good photographs

* The college offers several photography courses that teach students about theimportance of good lighting 2.

digital camera – a type of camera that is electronic and saves photographs aselectronic computer files so that they can be changed, printed, or deleted

* The great thing about digital cameras is that we can delete all the unattractivephotos and pretend they never even existed!

auto 3 – automatic; related to something that happens without anyone needing todo anything to make it happen

* Shitari set up an auto response in her email account, letting people know thatshe’ll be out of the office until Monday.

zoom 4 – the ability to change the view so that something seems to be either veryclose or very far away

* They love bird watching and use binoculars 5 so that they can zoom in and seethe 6 birds in more detail.

image stabilization 7 – a camera’s ability to keep an image in focus (very clear)even if the camera is moving in a person’s hands

* Juan Carlos’s hands always shake, but because his camera has imagestabilization, it isn’t a problem when he takes photos.

memory card – a small, usually rectangular piece of electronic equipment that isused to store data, especially for cameras and phones, and that can be used ondifferent devices and computers

* This memory card is full, because we’ve taken more than 200 pictures. Do youhave an empty memory card we can use?

point-and-shoot – a simple kind of camera where one can simply hold it upfacing the thing that one wants to take a photograph of, and push a button to takethe photo, without needing to change any settings

* Point-and-shoot cameras are good for simple photographs while you’re onvacation, but if you want to have really high-quality photos, you’ll need to buy abetter 8 camera.

viewer – the small rectangular opening in the back of a camera that one looksthrough with one eye while taking a photo to see the image that will appear in thephotograph

* Use the camera’s viewer to make sure that none of our relatives are left out ofthe photo.

flash – a bright light that lasts for a very short period of time, used to provideextra lighting when one is taking a photo with a camera

* We were temporarily blinded by the flash of the camera and couldn’t seeanything for a few seconds after Amir took our photo.

shutter 9 speed – the amount of time that a small window inside the camera isopen, so that a slower shutter speed means more light exposure and a fastershutter speed means less light exposure

* When you want to take a picture of something that’s moving very quickly, like a car, you need to use a fast shutter speed.

lens – the glass or plastic part of the camera that light travels through

* If the camera lens is dirty, please clean it before you take a photo.

wide-angle – a type of camera lens that creates photographs with a wider-thannormal view

* Leta likes to use a wide-angle lens to take photos of nature scenes.

close-up – very near to something; with very little distance between oneself and

another person or thing, especially when talking about a photo or a video

* They’re trying to take a close-up photo of their baby’s face while she’s laughing.

to delete – to erase 10, remove, or permanently 11 get rid of something

* Why did you delete the voicemail message before I had a chance to listen to it?

born yesterday – naïve and inexperienced; easily tricked or lied to

* Of course I know how to use a fax machine. I wasn’t born yesterday.

to load – to put something into something else, especially when it is needed to make something work

* Don’t forget to load the gun with bullets before you go hunting.

film – a very long, thin piece of plastic used to record photographic images in traditional cameras

* If you open your camera before the roll of film is finished, you’ll expose the filmto light and ruin all the photos you’ve taken.

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Which of these features would you not expect a digital camera to have?

a) A flash.

b) A viewer.

c) A roll of film.

2. Which feature would you adjust to take a photo with more detail?

a) Auto zoom.

b) Image stabilization.

c) A memory card.

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WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

viewer

The word “viewer,” in this podcast, means the small rectangular opening in theback of a camera that one looks through with one eye while taking a photo to seethe image that will appear in the photograph: “Whatever you see in the viewer iswhat you’ll see in the final photograph.” A “viewer” is also someone who seessomething or who watches a television program or a movie: “This TV show hasmore than one million viewers on a typical night.” Or, “What percentage of ourviewers are teenage boys?” The phrase “point of view” means perspective, orthe way that one sees and understands something: “From James’ point of view,this is the most beautiful painting ever.”

to load

In this podcast, the verb “to load” means to put something into something else,especially when it is needed to make something work: “Marleah took about 30photos before she realized that she had forgotten to load the camera with film.”

Or, “I forgot to load the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.” The verb “to load (up)”

also means to put a lot of something into a car or another type of transportation:

“Can you please help me load the groceries into the car?” Or, “How long does ittake the men to load up the train at the factory?” When talking about computerprograms, “to load” means for a program to be installed or for a website to finishbeing displayed: “I wonder why it’s taking so long for this website to load on mycomputer.”

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CULTURE NOTE

“Hidden cameras” are cameras that are “hidden” (cannot be seen) for“surveillance” (the ability to see and/or hear what other people are doing whenthey don’t know they are being observed). Traditionally, hidden cameras wereused for “espionage” (spying; learning secret information, especially about thegovernment), but today some people use them for “household” (related to thehome) surveillance when they want to find out what other family members orvisitors are doing when the homeowner is not at home. For example, somepeople want to install hidden cameras to “spy on” (secretly see what someone isdoing) a “babysitter” (a person who takes care of another person’s children) andsee whether he or she is taking good care of the children.

Are hidden cameras “legal” (allowed by the laws)? The laws “vary by state” (aredifferent in each state). In thirteen states, hidden cameras are illegal in placeswhere people have a “reasonable” (logical and fair) expectation of “privacy”

(doing things without being observed), such as bathrooms and “dressing rooms”

(small rooms in stores where people try on clothes to know whether they fit). Inother states, hidden cameras are allowed in these and other places.

Some employers want to install hidden cameras in the “workplace” (offices andother places where people work) so that they can know what their employees aredoing “on the job” (while they are being paid to work). Often the employers try toget legal “permission” (the right or ability to do something) to install hiddencameras, so that if they record any unlawful activities, those “tapes” (recordedvideo) will be “admissible” (allowed to be seen and used) in “court” (where legaldecisions are made).

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Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – a

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 12

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 549: Using aCamera.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 549. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

If you like listening to these podcasts, consider supporting us by going to ourwebsite, eslpod.com, and becoming a Learning Guide member. Your LearningGuide membership will give you an 8- to 10-page guide for all of our currentepisodes that will help you improve your English even faster.

This episode is called “Using a Camera.” It’s a dialogue between Ingrid andDeng using vocabulary common to discussions related to cameras. Let’s getstarted.

[start of dialogue]

Ingrid: I don’t mind lending you my camera for the trip, but first, let me show youhow to use it.

Deng: No need to do that. I took a photography class in high school, and I prettymuch know all there is to know about taking pictures.

Ingrid: Wasn’t that a long time ago? This is a digital camera with some newfeatures. For instance, this camera has auto zoom, image stabilization, and amemory card.

Deng: It can’t be that different from the camera I used 15 years ago. This lookslike a point-and-shoot. You look through the viewer and push the button, right?

Ingrid: Well, not quite. You can adjust the flash and shutter speed, see? Youcan also attach a lens for wide-angle or close-up shots. You can even reviewyour photos, saving the ones you like or deleting the ones you don’t wantanymore.

Deng: Okay, I got it. By the way you’re talking, you’d think I was born yesterday.

Just show me where to load the film!

[end of dialogue]

Ingrid says to Deng, “I don’t mind lending you my camera for your trip, but first,let me show you how to use it.” A “camera,” as you probably know, is a devicethat you use to take photographs. Ingrid is going to “lend,” let Deng use, hercamera for his trip. Deng says, “No need to do that (meaning you don’t need toshow me how to use it). I took a photography class in high school, and I prettymuch know all there is to know about taking pictures.” “Photography” is – I guesswe could call it the art and science of taking good photographs (good pictures).

Deng says he’s an expert. He says, “I pretty much (meaning I almost know) allthere is to know (everything) about taking pictures.” “Pictures” is just anotherword we use for photographs.

Ingrid says, “Wasn’t that a long time ago? This is a digital camera with somenew features.” Up until recently, when for example I was growing up, camerashad “film,” which is pieces of plastic, basically, that have special chemicals onthem. When you expose those chemicals to light and then later put them in otherchemicals, you ended up with a photograph. Nowadays many cameras aredigital, so there is no film; everything is stored electronically on a small memorystick or memory chip that is inside the camera or connected to the camera.

Ingrid says, “For instance (for example), this camera has auto zoom, imagestabilization, and a memory card.” “Auto” is short for automatic, something thathappens without you needing to do anything. “Zoom” (zoom), when we’re talkingabout a camera, is the ability to change the view so that something that is faraway seems very close. “Auto zoom” would be the ability for the camera toautomatically “detect,” or automatically know how far something is and zoom inon it so you could get a better, closer picture of it. “Image stabilization” is afeature on some cameras that allows the camera to keep the image (what youare taking a picture of) “in focus,” meaning very clear, even though your hand ismoving. “Memory cards” are small, usually square or rectangular pieces ofelectronic equipment that are used to store data. It’s like a DVD or a CD can beused to store movies and photographs and other documents. Memory cards in acamera are used to “store,” or used to keep, the digital images – thephotographs. If you want to take even more photographs, you can put in adifferent memory card with more memory.

Deng says, “It can’t be that different from the camera I used 15 years ago. Thislooks like a point-and-shoot.” The phrase “point-and-shoot” means that it’s avery simple camera where you just hold up the camera, put it in the direction ofthe thing you want to take a photograph of, and push or press a button that thentakes the photograph. There’s no adjustments that you have to make before youtake the photo. It’s a very simple kind of camera for dumb people like me, whodon’t know how to use cameras very well. But I did take a photography class inhigh school! Deng says, “You look through the viewer and push the button,right?” The “viewer” is the small, rectangular opening in the back of the camerathat you look through to see what you are going to take a picture of – to see theimage of that you are going to take the photograph of. That’s a viewer. “Viewer”

has a couple of other meanings however, so take a look at the Learning Guidefor those.

Ingrid says, “Well, not quite. You can adjust the flash and shutter speed, see?”

She’s showing him. The “flash” is the bright light that lasts for a very short periodof time that gives you more light so that you can see what is in front of you; it willappear better on the photograph. That’s a flash. “Shutter speed” is the amountof time that the small window inside of the camera is open. A slow shutter speedmeans that you need more light; a fast shutter speed means you need less light.

So if you’re out in the sun and it’s very bright out, you would not need a slowshutter speed. “Shutter” is just the name of the little window that opens andcloses rapidly that exposes the film in an old camera – the electronic sensingequipment inside the camera, what the camera uses to convert that light into adigital image.

Ingrid says, “You can also attach a lens for wide-angle or close-up shots.”

“Wide-angle” means that it is a “lens,” something that you put on the front of thecamera, that creates photographs with a wider than normal view. A “close-up” iswhen you want to be very close or near to something, when there is very littledistance between the camera and what you are taking a picture of. You couldtake a close-up of someone’s face, for example. Ingrid says, “You can evenreview your photos (look at your photos after you’ve taking them), saving theones you like or deleting the ones you don’t want anymore.” So the camera hassort of a little computer that allows you to see the photographs on the back anddelete the ones you don’t want.

Deng says, “Okay, I got it (meaning I understand). By the way you’re talking,you’d think I was born yesterday.” “By the way you’re talking” means the waythat you are talking to me indicates that you “think I was born yesterday.” Theexpression “born yesterday” means that someone is inexperienced, someonewho is na?ve, someone who is easily tricked or lied to. You may say, “Of course Iknow how to use a fax machine. I wasn’t born yesterday!” Someone who wouldbe born yesterday would, of course, be a very small baby who wouldn’t knowanything. But you have experience, you do know something, and therefore youweren’t born yesterday. Deng says, “Just show me where to load the film!” “Toload” means to put something into something else, especially when it is neededto make it work. So if you have a copier (a copy machine), you need to loadpaper into it; you need to put paper into the machine so that you can make yourcopies. “Film,” we already mentioned, is a long, thin piece of plastic used in oldercameras to record the image – to capture the image, the light that comes in. Thequestion indicates, of course, that Deng really doesn’t know what he’s talkingabout, since digital cameras don’t have film!

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Ingrid: I don’t mind lending you my camera for the trip, but first, let me show youhow to use it.

Deng: No need to do that. I took a photography class in high school, and I prettymuch know all there is to know about taking pictures.

Ingrid: Wasn’t that a long time ago? This is a digital camera with some newfeatures. For instance, this camera has auto zoom, image stabilization, and amemory card.

Deng: It can’t be that different from the camera I used 15 years ago. This lookslike a point-and-shoot. You look through the viewer and push the button, right?

Ingrid: Well, not quite. You can adjust the flash and shutter speed, see? Youcan also attach a lens for wide-angle or close-up shots. You can even reviewyour photos, saving the ones you like or deleting the ones you don’t wantanymore.

Deng: Okay, I got it. By the way you’re talking, you’d think I was born yesterday.

Just show me where to load the film!

[end of dialogue]

Our scriptwriter is young, but she wasn’t born yesterday! That would be Dr. Lucy

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2010 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.