Unit 10 Too many to choose from
Vocabulary Task
Script and Answers
1. A: It’s hard to tell someone she’s wrong to her face.
B: Why are you so depressed?
A: It’s my friend, Joan. She was very rude to her boyfriend yesterday. I told her she was wrong and she got angry?
B: No, that won’t do. How could she be so narrow-minded? She’ll wind up losing her boyfriend.
2. A: A change of pace will probably do you good.
B: I’m thinking about it. But what can I do?
A: Oh, you have a wide diversity of choices. Variety is the spice of life.
B: You can say that again.
3. A: Junk emails are one of the fastest-growing problems on the Internet. The netizens are getting up in arms about it.
B: But I’m just wondering how they could get the email addresses of Internet users.
A: It’s most likely that the programs simply generate millions of random addresses, hoping for a match.
B: No wonder.
4. A: Are you all ready for Christmas?
B: Are you kidding? I haven’t even started. I’ve done zero shopping.
A: Well, you’d better get going. Christmas is only a week away.
B: I have to tell you that I’m one of those people who really gets stressed out by the Christmas rush. I hate cutting through the clutter.
5. A: I don’t like the romantic love stories churned out in Korean TV dramas. There are always three major characters in the same old eternal triangle.
B: You are right, usually the hero is either very successful or at the bottom of life.
A: The girls will be the same with one pure, innocent and another sophisticated.
B: I can always guess the endings.
Listening Task
2. Listening Activity
Answers
Junk emails message spam message / spammer
email account email user / address / program / box
internet connection connection cost
filter block
message board chat room
newest version of ... Microsoft Outlook
software robot
2) Second Listening
Answers
1. An average email account received 1 300 spam messages last year.
2. Marketing groups have collected consumers’ phone numbers and addresses for years.
3. Besides software robots, other programs simply generate millions of random personal email addresses.
4. Most new email programs include filters for blocking junk emails.
5. Many governments have passed laws that impose stiff fines on spammers.
Script
The war against spam
Make millions with no work! Lose 5kg overnight! Clear your credit history! The secrets to getting hot girls! Get out of debt!
Junk email messages like these, also known as spam, are familiar to anyone with an email account. On average, each email user received 1 300 spam messages last year, and that number is expected to increase to 3 900 by the year 2007.
Junk mail is nothing new. For years, marketing groups have collected consumer information, including addresses and phone numbers, and sold them as lists to interested advertisers. But with junk mail, the high cost of mailing packages to large groups of people kept it down to a manageable level. But with email, anyone with a computer and Internet connection can now send messages around the world for free.
But it’s the people who receive spam who wind up paying. It is estimated that spam costs companies millions of dollars every year due to wasted time, connection costs and lost emails.
Spammers spend much of their time collecting new email addresses. Software robots check message boards and chat-rooms for personal email addresses, while other programs simply generate millions of random addresses, hoping for a match. These email boxes are then stuffed with offers, some of them so bizarre that it’s hard to believe anyone would think they could be true.
Because of this, almost all the newest versions of email programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, include filters designed to block spam and many governments have passed laws that impose stiff fines on spammers. But spammers have fought back with more sophisticated methods to hide where their emails are coming from, making them almost impossible to track. So it seems the battle for control of your email is just beginning.
Real World Listening
1. Predict
Answer
They argue about what too many product variations bring to people.
2. Get the Main Ideas
Answers
1. Though it is hard to believe that the number of new consumer products introduced each year is dramatically increasing, it is a true fact.
2. No one can forget the great loss of the Coca Cola Company in 1985 due to the new taste of coke they developed.
3. People usually feel lost when they stupidly stare at that many different kinds of Tylenol and have no idea how to choose which one they need.
4. It’s impossible to expect the situation to change.
5. Besides, people have much more trouble in making choices.
6. Variety is the extra interest and excitement of life.
Script and Answers to Self-study
Too many products
Masayuki: I can’t believe how many brands of cold (1) breakfast cereals there are in America.
Joe: It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? I read that over 13 000 new (2) consumer products were introduced in 1992. And it is increasing each year. The average grocery store carries over 18 000 items, up from 7 800 in 1970.
Masayuki: No wonder I have such a hard time trying to decide what I want to buy.
Joe: I know what you mean. Look at all the different kinds of (3) Coke there are: Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Classic, Caffeine Free Coca-Cola, Caffeine Free Coca-Cola Classic, Diet Coke, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Diet Cherry Coke. Fifteen years ago, there was just one, regular Coca-Cola.
Masayuki: Who can forget the 1985 “New Coke disaster” Why do companies make so many (4) product variations?
Joe: Companies (5) churn out new products or new versions of products for the same reason they do most everything: to make money. That’s why coke (6) diversified. Once Tylenol became a hit, its maker, Johnson & Johnson, used the trusted, strong brand name to (7) spin out children’s (8) pain relievers, expanding sales and (9) grabbing up market share.
Masayuki: Yeah, but sometimes having so many choices is bad. It’s (10) frustrating to go to the drugstore and gawk at 41 sizes and varieties of Tylenol. It takes time and effort to (11) figure out what to buy.
Joe: That’s true. But don’t (12) look for things to change. Hard as it is to admit, consumers want it this way. A greater variety means shoppers can find exactly what they want. People who spend a lot of time choosing enjoy the process. People who don’t enjoy it find ways to (13) cut through the clutter.
Masayuki: Unfortunately, I’m in the latter category. I don’t like spending a lot of time shopping. Too many choices mean consumers have to work harder. And it doesn’t end there. There are too many (14) versions of cars, brands of prescription drugs, movies, CDs, and TV channels.
Joe: Come on, my friend. Variety is (15) the spice of life.
Masayuki: What really irks me is that despite all the thousands of products they carry, I’ll be damned if I can ever find my favorite brand of pretzels in this store! |