M7U1READING
Unit1Livingwithtechnology
Theevolutionofvideoandsounddevices
EarlyhistoryofTV
ThefirstpublicTVbroadcastsweremadeintheUSAin1925.Later,in1928,thefirstlong-distanceTVbroadcastwasmadebetweentheUKandtheUSA.Regularpublicbroadcastingfollowedshortlyafterwards,firstbeginningon11May1928inNewYorkandon20August1929inLondon.
ManydifferentpeoplecontributedtothedevelopmentofTV.MostearlyTVbroadcastsweremadeusingasystemdevelopedbyJohnLogieBairdintheUK.However,hissystemwasveryprimitiveandhadmanydrawbacks.AnAmerican,PhiloFarnsworth,madeimportantbreakthroughsinthedevelopmentofTVinthelate1920sandearly1930s.ModernTVsusemanyoftheprinciplesfirstdiscoveredbyFarnsworth.
JohnLogicBairdconstructedthefirstcolourTVin1928,butitwasnotuntil1938thatthefirstcolourTVprogrammewasbroadcast.Ittookmorethantwodecades,though,until1951,forregularcolourTVbroadcaststobeginintheUSA.RegularcolourTVbroadcastsweredelayedintheUKuntil1967.However,withinashorttimenearlyallTVbroadcastsweremadeincolour,andwithinfiveyearsmorecolourTVsthanblack-and-whiteTVswerebeingused.Themodernage：satelliteTV
SatelliteswereusedtobroadcastTVbeginningin1962.SatellitesallowTVtobebroadcastliveovervastdistances,witheveryonereceivingthesamebroadcastatthesametime.TheyalsomakeTVaccessibletopeoplewholivefarawayfromcities,andsatellitedishescanoftenbeseendistributedthroughoutthecountrysideandremoteareas.Ofcourse,onlyasmallpercentageofpeopleownsatellitedishes.However,mostpeoplestillbenefitfromsatelliteTV,aslocalTVcompaniesbroadcastthesignalstheygetfromsatellitereceiverstothepopulationlivingnearby.Earlyhistoryofsoundrecorders
Itallbeganin1877,whenThomasEdisonmadethefirstrecordingofahumanvoiceonhisinvention,therecordplayer.Earlyrecordplayersusedroundtubestorecordon.However,in1887EmileBerliner,aGermanlivingintheUSA,inventedarecordplayerthatuseddiscsasalternativestotubes,andsothemodernrecordplayerwasborn.Thefirstrecordplayershadtobewoundupbyhandandonlyplayedrecordsthatweretwominuteslong.Timessurelyhavechanged!
Soundandvideorecorders
In1928,thefirsttaperecordersusedtocopysoundweremadeinGermany.Mostearlyrecordersemployedsteeltapetorecordon,whichmadethemheavyanddifficulttouse,orpapertape,whichwaseasiertousebutoftenbroke.Itwasnotuntiltheearly1950sthatmosttaperecordersbeganusingplastictapeastheydotoday.Meanwhile,electr
icalcomponentseventuallybecamesosmallthat,bythelate1960s,portablecassetteplayersweredeveloped,alongwithvideorecorderswhichwereusedbyTVstations.Bythelate1970s,videorecorderssmallandcheapenoughforhomeusewereintroduced.Soundandvideogodigital
In1982,thefirstCDsweremadeavailable.CDsareoftenusedforstoringandplayingmusicbecausetheyhaveamuchbettersoundqualitythantraditionalrecordsandcassettes.In1993,theVCDwasborn,andin1995,theDVDwasinvented.TheDVDisnowthestandardforrecordingandplayingbackvideo.
Thefuture
Withthedevelopmentofdigitaltechnology,soundandvideocannowbestoredonaPC,ontheInternet,orusingsomeformofportablestorage.Thiswillsoonmakerecords,cassetterecorders,CDs,DVDsandevenTVsthingsofthepast.Technologyisnowchangingfasterthanmostpeoplecankeeppacewith.Whocanforeseewhatthefuturewillbring?
Project
Tophoneornottophone?
IntheUSA,theAmish--aChristiangroup--arefamousbecausetheydrivecarriagesinsteadofcars,donotuseTVsorrefrigerators,anddonothavepersonaltelephones.ManypeopleassumetheAmishmusthavereligiousreasonsfortheirmanyrules,butthisisnottrue.Intruth,wheneveranewtechnologyisintroduced,theAmishmeetanddiscussitsadvantagesanddisadvantages.Theythenvoteonwhethertheywillacceptit.TheAmishrejectcarsbecausetheylikehavingtightcommunitieswhereeveryonelivesclosetogether.TheyhavenoTVsorrefrigeratorsbecausetheirhomesdonothaveelectricity--theydonotthinkitisnecessaryanddislikedealingwithstrangers,suchasthepeoplewhoworkattheelectriccompany.
SincetheAmishvalueseeingeachotherfacetoface,theyopposehavingtelephonesintheirhouses.However,ineachcommunitythereisoftenasmallbuildingthathasatelephoneforemergencies.
Thetelephoneisveryconvenientforcommunication,andmostpeopleintheworldtodaycannotlivewithoutit.However,maybetheAmishhaveavalidpoint.Whichismoreofafriend,someoneyouoftentalktooverthephoneorsomeoneyouoftentalktofacetoface?And,ifyouneedhelp,whocanhelpyoubetter,someonefarawayorsomeoneintheroomwithyou?Thereissomethingimportantaboutbeingtogetherandsharinglifethatcannotbefoundoveratelephonewire.
Thereareotherdisadvantagestothetelephone,aswell.Forexample,nomatterwhatthecircumstances,whenthephonerings,everythingstopssothatthecallcanbeanswered.Yourfamilycouldbeeatingdinnerorchattingtogether,yetthiswillbeinterrupted.However,mostphonecallsarenotreallythatimportant;certainly,theycouldnotbemoreimportantthanfamilytime.Then,whenyouareabsorbedinabookorsimplytryingtorest,thephonealwaysseemstoberinging,destroyingwhateverpeaceyoumighthave.However,thepersoncallingisoftenmerelyasalesmanorsomeonewhohasdialledthewrongnumber.
Withmobilephones,theseproblemsincrease.Howmanytimeshaveyoubeentalkingwithafriend,onlyforyourfriendtointerrupttheconversationtoansweracall?Forsomereason,atypicalmobilephonecallisnearlyalwaysgivengreaterimportancethanaface-to-faceconversation.Yet,onceagain,mostmobilephonecallsareaboutrathersmallmatters.Whenaskedlaterwhatthecallwasabout,yourfriendalwaysanswers,'Oh,nothingreally.'Ifthecallwasreallyabout'nothing',thenwhywasitsoimportantastointerruptyourconversationandwasteyourprecioustime?
Ofcourse,usingthemobilephonefortextmessagesistheworst.Inonestudy,girlsaverage80textmessagesaday,andboysaverage30.Whatdopeopletalkaboutintextmessages?Whilethesemessagesalwaysseemimportantatthetime,mostpeoplecannotreallyrememberthemthenextday.Phonesandtextmessagesfocusonbuildingrelationshipswithmanypeople.However, theserelationshipsareoftenquiteshallow.Manyteenagerssaythatwhiletheyhavealotoffriends,theyreallyhavenobestfriend.Theuseoftechnologyforcommunicationratherthantalkingfacetofaceisonereasonwhythisistrue.Meanwhile,realrelationshipsareoftensacrificed,andwhateverpersonalpeaceonehasisdestroyedwheneverthephonerings.TheAmishingeneralhaveahigherdegreeofmentalhealththanmostpeople.Theyhaveverycalmandstablelivesbecausetheyvaluecommunityandlivinginpeaceaboveallelse,especiallynewtechnology.Maybetheyareright.Maybeweshouldthrowallofourphonesintothedustbin,alongwithourcarsandTVsforgoodmeasure.Maybeweshouldridourselvesofmoderntechnologyandreturntosimplertimes.
What'sthat?...Sorry,Ihavetogo.Thephone'sringing...
Unit2Fitforlife
Thisarticlewillfocusontwodrugsthatstartedrevolutionsinmedicine.Ifyouopenupanymedicinecupboardorgotoanymedicinecounterintheworld,itislikelythatyouwillfindaspirinandpenicillin.Bothofthesemedicineshavesavedmillionsofpeople'slivesandhaveprovedbeneficialtomankindsincetheywereinvented.
Aspirin：：wasinventedin1897.However,thebasicchemicalusedtomakeaspirincanbefoundinnature.Nearly3,500yearsago,peoplechewedonleavesordrankakindofteamadefromleavespossessingaspecialchemicaltoreducebodypainsandfever.About2,500yearsago,theGreekphysicianHippocrates,fatherofalldoctors,madeajuicefromatreebarkcontainingsalicylicacidforthesameeffect.Itwasin1897thataEuropeanchemistcalledDrFelixHoffmannproducedaspirinfromthischemical.Thefirsttrialsofthismedicinetookplacein1899,whenthecompanyHoffmannworkedforbegandistributingthemedicineinpowderformtophysicianstousewithpatients.Ayearlater,in1900,aspirinwassoldinshopsintheformoftablets.Withinashorttime,aspirinbecamethebest-sellingmedicineintheworldforpainrelief.
Notonlyhasaspirinprovedvitalforreducingfeverandhelpingstoppain,buttherearealsootherthingsthataspirincanhelpwith.LawrenceCraven,adoctorfromtheUSA,introducedtheideain1953thataspirinhadthepotentialtoreducetheriskofheartattacks,becauseithelpedthebloodcirculatebetter.Thereportwasignored.However,in1971,SmithandWillisfromtheUKprovedthataspirincouldhavethateffect,andin1977astudycarriedoutintheUSAshowedthataspirincouldpreventstrokes,aswell.Elevenyearslater,DrThunfromtheUSAshowedthataspirincouldreducetheriskofsomecancersby40percent.In1999,aspirinwasover100yearsold,andyettherehavebeenmorediscoveriesabouthowitcanhelpincreasethelengthofpeople'slives.In2003,aChinesedoctor,DrYuanMinsheng,foundthataspirincouldreducebloodsugarlevelsand,therefore,helppeoplewithdiabetes.
