雅思口語Part 3- Science and Technology
Science and Technology一直是雅思口語話題裡的常客，經歷了魔幻的2020之後，你還能想像回到沒有科技的世界麼?幾年前的《黑鏡》給我們描繪了「只有你想不到，沒有科技做不到」的時空，各位烤鴨如果感覺提到科技話題無話可聊，那就去這部英劇裡找找靈感吧!
雅思口語在Part 3經常聊到科技對我們生活和工作的影響，今天我們就分別來聊一聊：
Let’s talk about technology at home.
首先看看科技在家裡的角色：
1. What items of technology are most popular in China? (and Why?)
Well, first of all, Wi-Fi has become indispensable in every family, I mean, whenever you visit a friend at their place, maybe the first thing you do is asking for the password. Besides, we can’t live without laptops or tablets, especially for young people, whether it’s for work or entertainment. Oh, and in recent years, fingerprint door locks have hit the streets, 『cos it can save us the trouble of taking our keys, you know, many people have made the mistake of leaving their keys at home and locking themselves out.
加分表達解析：
indispensable = too important to be without = can’t live without
想說「重要」，一定不要只記得important，記住這倆表達，以備不時之需。
舉例：
Cars have become an indispensable part of our lives.
These people can't live without the Internet—it's up there with air and water.
place = a house or flat / apartment; a person’s home
place在口語裡不光指「地方」哦!
舉例：
What about dinner at my place?
I’m fed up with living with my parents, so I’m looking for a place of my own.
hit the streets = to become widely available for sale
想表達「很有市場、哪裡都有賣」，用這個短語就沒錯了，絕對加分!還可以說hit the shops / stores.
2. What problems do some people have when using technology? (Why?)
Um… some elderly people might not be familiar with the modern technology and they tend to have difficulty learning new stuff. They don’t know how to operate or handle some devices. Plus, some senior citizens have never learned how to type, so maybe surfing the Internet can also be a big problem for them. And to be honest, the Internet is not always a safe place, I mean, I』ve heard of countless Internet scams on the news, and that’s why some people have 「trust issues」 with this technology.
加分表達解析：
senior citizen = an older person, especially somebody who has retired from work.
當我們想避免說old這個詞的時候，上面的表達是個非常好的替換。同理，elderly也是old的禮貌說法。
3. Does technology at home make us lazy? (How?)
To some extent, yeah. For example, automatic vacuum cleaners can help us sweep the floor faster and cleaner, so there’s no need for us to do it by ourselves. And in the past, we had to do the dishes by hand, but now dishwashers can take care of everything. And with the advent of home theater, some people tend to go out to the movies less and less, 『cos they can enjoy the similar atmosphere comfortably at home.
加分表達解析：
the advent of something / somebody = the coming of an important event, person, invention, etc.
舉例：
That changed dramatically with the advent of air conditioning.
Let’s talk about technology at work
下面再看看科技在工作中的角色：
1. How has technology changed the way people work?
First of all, technology has dramatically made our work easier, for example, in the past, people had to go on business trips, but now, videoconferencing has saved them the trouble. And when we want to contact our boss or coworkers, we can send them emails or just simply Facetime. And also, in some places and industries, machines have replaced human labor, for example, there used to be laundry workers in the past, but now, the name of the job just sounds ancient, I mean, outdated.
加分表達解析：
dramatically = (of a change, an event, etc.) sudden, very great and often surprising
形容「變化大」就請把它用起來吧!
舉例：
Prices have increased dramatically in the last few years.
2. Has technology given working people more free time? (Why/Why not?)
Um… not really, if you ask me. I mean, I admit technology has saved us a lot of time, because it provides a more efficient way for us to communicate and stuff. However, it also makes the boundary between work and personal time blurry. I mean, in the past, when technology was not that advanced, we could enjoy our time after work completely, without worrying about being disturbed by the stuff at work, but now, things are different, our boss, our coworkers and clients can find us whenever they want no matter where we are, as long as we have Internet access or cell phone reception, which means, we have to sacrifice some of our free time to deal with the work stuff.
加分表達解析：
and stuff = used when you do not want to complete a list
當我們想說「…啥的」 「諸如此類」，就可以用這個表達，或者也可以說and things (like that)。
舉例：
I like reading and stuff.
She likes nice clothes and things like that.
3. What can be done to help people whose jobs are being replaced by technology?
For starters, training courses are necessary, they can be trained to master some new skills or they can simply learn how to use the machine. Although some jobs are disappearing, there are new job opportunities being created all the time because of the fast development of technology. They always say, in this day and age, some of the highly paid jobs didn’t even exist 5 years ago. In order to avoid being left behind by the society, it’s critical for them to get the hang of the up-to-the-minute technology.
加分表達解析：
For starters = used to emphasize the first of a list of reasons, opinions, etc, or to say what happens first.
列單子不要一開始只會用first! 一場考試下來我們可能要make挺多list，別忘了換著花樣開頭哦!
舉例：
There are a number of problems—for starters, where is the money coming from?
leave behind = [usually passive] to make much better progress than somebody
這個經常用做被動形式表示「被落下」，舉例：
Britain is being left behind in the race for new markets.
get the hang of something = to learn how to do or to use something; to understand something.
「學習並掌握某種技能」不要只記得study或者learn哦!
舉例：
It’s not difficult once you get the hang of it.
I can’t seem to get the hang of this game.
up-to-the-minute = having or including the most recent / modern; fashionable
還有什麼能比它更形象的表示「最新、最時尚」呢!
舉例：
up-to-the-minute news
up-to-the-minute designs