BBC 6 Minute English | SA threat to London's artwork | English CC | Dail...

source: Daily Listening    2016年10月6日
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0:04 Now Harry, have you ever taken a 'selfie' – that's a photo of yourself, usually with
0:10 your mobile phone?
0:11 Yes, I have.
0:12 I've taken them all over London with my children – of course selfies are very easy to take
0:17 with your smartphone and recently we've seen some famous selfies featuring well-known people
0:22 such as the one taken by actor, Ellen DeGeneres at last year's Oscars ceremony.
0:27 Yes, it seems that there are no limits to the places where you can capture yourself
0:31 in a photo.
0:33 But there is a limit on how far you can stretch your arm out and take a snap – a quick photo
0:37 – of you and your friends.
0:39 That's true, so thank goodness for the selfie stick – an expanding pole to put your smartphone
0:44 on which gives you a wider view.
0:47 This means you can take in more of the background.
0:50 Sounds like a good idea.
0:51 It does, but it's also causing a problem in some places around the world.
0:56 More on that in a moment but let's not forget I have a question to ask you Harry.
1:00 OK Neil.
1:01 Well, we know some people love to take photos of themselves but perhaps not as much as Patrick
1:06 Peterson.
1:07 According to Guinness World Records he has taken the most 'selfies' in one hour – but
1:13 do you know how many?
1:15 Is it: a) 449
1:19 b) 1,449 c) 2,449
1:24 Well, I guess he's gotta move and be in a different position so I'm not going to go
1:31 for the highest one.
1:32 I'm gonna say1,449.
1:34 OK, well, we'll find out the answer at the end of the programme.
1:38 But now let's talk more about the dangers of the selfie stick!
1:42 They can certainly be useful for taking photos from a different viewpoint and it does mean
1:47 that you get more people in your photo.
1:50 Sales of the selfie stick have soared – or risen quickly - since last year and they are
1:54 now a common sight at tourist destinations.
1:57 They're great if you want to take a better photo but they're very annoying if you're
2:00 not involved with the photo.
2:02 Yes and this is particularly frustrating if you're trying to look at paintings and sculptures
2:07 at an art gallery.
2:09 They just get in the way and can be very distracting.
2:12 You mean they stop someone giving their full attention to what they are looking at.
2:16 Well, this is the reason that some famous art galleries around the world are putting
2:20 a ban on selfie-sticks – a ban means they are no longer allowed.
2:25 Places such as the Smithsonian museums in Washington and the Palace of Versailles in
2:29 Paris were the first to do this and now the National Gallery in London have stopped them
2:34 being used.
2:36 Let's hear the exact reasons why from the gallery's Doctor Susan Foister.
2:40 What phrase does she use to mean trying to do the best thing for the visitors and for
2:44 the paintings themselves?
2:48 We have over 6 million visitors a year here, some of our rooms could get quite crowded,
2:52 so we have to find the right balance between the experience of our visitors close to the
2:56 paintings and the safety of the paintings themselves.
3:01 So the National Gallery is a popular and busy place and it gets quite crowded – and it
3:07 doesn't help the problem if people are holding up selfie sticks!
3:10 Yes – so they have imposed – or brought in – this ban to do the best thing for the
3:15 visitors and for the paintings themselves – it's what Doctor Foister called 'the right
3:19 balance'.
3:21 She wants to give visitors trying to get close to the paintings a good experience.
3:25 And she makes the point that there's a risk that the painting, which can be worth millions
3:29 of pounds, could be damaged by one of these sticks.
3:32 Of course you are still allowed to take a selfie, and some museums are 'sticking their
3:36 neck out' and still allowing people to use them.
3:39 A good idiom there Harry – you mean they're doing something that other people may not
3:44 like – yes, places such as the ICA – that's the Institute for Contemporary Art – in
3:49 London say selfie sticks are part of modern-day life.
3:53 Here is Catherine Stout, Head of Programmes at the ICA.
3:57 How does she describe the type of visitors who go to her gallery?
4:01 We are very happy for our visitors to take their own photographs for personal use, of
4:06 course we always secure the artist's permission, but actually because we have a very young
4:10 audience they're completely engaged with social media, they want to use that forum to connect
4:14 with each other, to share their experiences, if they wish to use a stick they're very welcome
4:18 to do so as long as, obviously, the artwork is not damaged in any way.
4:24 So the people who visit that gallery are young and use social media a lot – they are 'engaged'
4:29 with it and they like to share their experiences.
4:33 This means taking photos on their smartphones and if they want to use a selfie stick?
4:37 … then they are 'welcome to do so'.
4:39 Just watch out where you stick it!
4:41 I suppose, as long as you respect other visitors and don't get in the way, then it's ok to
4:46 use one.
4:47 Well I'm not so sure.
4:49 Anyway, it's time to reveal the answer to the question I asked you earlier.
4:53 Yes, this was about Patrick Peterson, who holds the record for taking the most selfies
4:58 in one hour.
4:59 You asked me if he took 449, 1,449 or 2,449 in one hour.
5:08 And you said 1,449, which was … the correct answer!
5:14 I wonder what he did with all those images…
5:18 He probably put them on social media.
5:20 Well we need to 'stick' to our six minutes of English but just before we run out of time,
5:25 could you remind us of some of the vocabulary we've used today Harry?
5:28 Yes.
5:29 We had… selfie
5:32 capture a snap
5:34 selfie stick viewpoint
5:38 soared distracting
5:42 a ban imposed
5:45 sticking their neck out engaged