Please read the vocabulary lesson at your natural speed, though it should not be too fast so that I could hear what you speak naturally and imitate yours. Thank you!
Examiner: We have been talking about an invention and now I would like to ask you some more general questions relating to this topic.
EXPLAIN the qualities which a good inventor needs
Student: Actually, I’ve never invented anything or even wanted to so I’m probably not the best person to answer this question. But I suppose inventors need to have a good scientific or technical background. They need to understand how things work and how they can be combined. As well as that, I suppose good inventors need to be able to see a clear overall picture and not to get bogged down in specific details. There’s no doubt at all that they must be very dedicated and patient people, with the ability to concentrate for long periods of time. Most of them probably also have a desire to improve things. I suppose the reason they invent new things is because they see a situation which needs improving. Not many of us have that skill. Not many people can understand a problem and see a potential solution.
DESCRIBE a piece of modern technology which you dislike
Student: Personally speaking, I absolutely detest mobile phones. I’ve actually got one, and I do sometimes use it, and it is convenient at times, but, having said all that, I loathe them, especially when you are in the cinema or sitting quietly on a train or bus, and one of them rings. It is so frustrating to have to listen to the silly noise they make and then overhear half of the conversation. I have to say that I find it incredibly annoying and every time I hear one ringing my heart sinks. They are absolutely infuriating.
ASSESS how much modern technology affects your life
Student: It’s almost impossible to work out how much my life and the lives of everyone I know are influenced by the technological advances which have taken place over the last few decades. Just about everything these days is controlled by computer or at least by micro-chips. Computers play a major role in medicine, education, transport, leisure activities and just about everything else I can think of. The way people communicate nowadays is completely controlled by technology. You’ve got texting and the internet and mobile phones. I would say that one of the most interesting questions is how much technological change affects our attitudes towards each other. I think people interact in different ways and develop new skills. At the same time, they tend to lose the ability to communicate face-to-face.
DISCUSS whether people would have a better quality of life without modern inventions
Student: It’s quite easy to say that if we didn’t have all these things, time-saving devices and labour-saving machines, life would be so much simpler and more enjoyable. But in actual fact I think most of us would be lost without the ability to communicate easily, travel around quickly and get medical treatment which actually saves lives. I know it’s nice to get away from it all sometimes, just leave technology behind and get out into the country and breathe fresh air, but after a while you are bound to want to call somebody, find out what is happening around the world or just travel somewhere quickly, and to do that, you will need technology.
SPECULATE on whether technology will completely take over our lives in the future. Student: I’m a bit afraid that it might. I’ve recently read some really interesting articles in magazines about this, and what they seem to be saying is that as time goes by, it will become possible to transplant computer chips into the human brain and develop robots which will have forms of intelligence similar to human intelligence. The result of all this will probably be that it will be difficult to know what is human and what is machine. So in that sense, I am worried that technology might take over in the end.
