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Learn about Modal Verbs

Date: Jan 13 2012

Themes: Hobbies, Tech

Grammar: Modal Verbs

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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With bookstores closing all over the US, some believe it’s the death of the book. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t reading. New electronic devices like the iPad and the Kindle are making it possible to ditch all your heavy hardbacks and read on a small, lightweight computer. But is this new kind of high-tech reading really the same? Marni believes that reading on an eReader just isn’t the same as reading a traditional book. But Amy thinks eReaders are the way of the future.

如果全美的书店都关闭,某些人认为这是图书的末日。但这并不意味着人们不再读书。新的电子设备(例如 iPad 和 Kindle)可以让你丢弃笨重的硬皮书,并在小巧、轻便的电脑上阅读。但这种新的高科技阅读方式真的与纸质阅读一样吗?玛尼认为,在电子阅读设备上阅读和阅读传统图书不尽相同。但艾米认为,电子阅读设备是未来的方向。

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amy

Amy

Marni

Marni

Amy:  Check out my new Kindle, Marni. Pretty sweet, huh.

Marni:  Yeah, I mean, I guess, if you’re sort of into those things. But for me, I like a real book.

Amy:  Really? But these things are so convenient. I mean, eReaders are really great if you’re on a trip, you know, you don’t want to lug around a big heavy book. And you can download so many books for pretty low prices. You can have online book groups about whatever you’re reading on your Kindle…

Marni:  For me, it’s just not…I can’t give up that tradition of cracking open a new book. I love the way it smells. I love the way it feels. And I love being able to just kind of toss it off my bed. At night when I’m going to sleep, I don’t have to worry about breaking a book, whereas a Kindle, I would just constantly be worried that I was gonna drop it. It’s just not for me. I don’t know.

Amy:  Think about this. Think about all the times you’ve moved to a new house, and you’ve had to take boxes and boxes of books. For me that’s always the worst part about moving, is packing up and unpacking all my books. And now I’ll never have to do it again.

Marni:  That never bothers me. There’s something I love about looking at my bookshelf and seeing all the books that I’ve read or want to read. I just don’t think I’ll give them up.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Discussion

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Amy recently bought a Kindle, a small electronic device for reading eBooks. She loves it and thinks that eReaders are the way of the future. They are convenient and easy to take with you wherever you go. They also allow you to download many different books at low prices.

But Marni doesn’t like eReaders. She prefers traditional books. To her, the experience of reading on an eReader is not as satisfying as the experience of reading a regular book. She says that if she had an eReader, she would worry about breaking it. She also likes seeing all her books lined up on her bookshelves.

Do you prefer traditional books or eReaders? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

 

Comments

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snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

woman … a typo


my mistake!

09:16 PM Jan 13 2012 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

the girl who types  at lightning speed, has no idea what a smartphone is,


come on!.... nice try

09:14 PM Jan 13 2012 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

the smartphone you bow to all the time


Tongue out

09:12 PM Jan 13 2012 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Butta just typed her last comment using a  Blackberry.


when she could have used a courier pigeon  instead


hehhe! Tongue out

09:09 PM Jan 13 2012 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Parion you an avid reader, I’m almost convinced  (:


Books are great, there’s at least one for each one of us!!

08:59 PM Jan 13 2012 |

Fernandinha

Brazil

I prefer traditional books. I like to touch them, to browse them. I like their smell and I like to see them lined up on my bookshelves as Marni do. I work in front of a computer all day long and reading a regular book “disconnects” me from the high tech world!


I am sure that the tradicional book won’t disappear. A long time ago, when television was created, the “death” of the radio was announced.  But it didn’t happen! Each one, television and radio, found their place in society. And the same will happen with  traditional books and eReaders.

08:53 PM Jan 13 2012 |

kotlesya

kotlesya

Belarus

kokoboko, what can you say about me if I like to read Bulgakov Mikhail and Dostoevsky Fyodor?

05:42 PM Jan 13 2012 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

Ryo, I was about to pop  the same question. Nowadays, I like to read Oriental Philosophy, in the past :Hemingway, Truman Capote, Mark Twain  .I am not a good reader though.

05:39 PM Jan 13 2012 |

1 person likes this

medziks1

Poland

I prefer traditionaals books, I’ve got some e-books but for me, they havent got this magic. Maybe in the future I’ll read more books on my MP4 but I dont enjoy it. I love reading in my bed :) and it’s not comfortable to read on MP4 player or something like that. Of course, big advantage is that I can have many of books in one small, not heavy thing, but I’ll always prefer paper books:)

05:23 PM Jan 13 2012 |

medziks1

Poland

I prefer traditionaals books, I’ve got some e-books but for me, they havent got this magic. Maybe in the future I’ll read more books on my MP4 but I dont enjoy it. I love reading in my bed :) and it’s not comfortable to read on MP4 player or something like that. Of course, big advantage is that I can have many of books in one small, not heavy thing, but I’ll always prefer paper books:)

05:23 PM Jan 13 2012 |

goodmahsa

goodmahsa

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I don’t feel easy with eBooks although eReaders gives you the chance to get your hands on every book you may wish to read for pretty low prices ,a thing which may not be possible to do with traditional books .Besides all of these I am into traditional books that I could touch their papers ,and smell them.watching them on my shelf also gives me a kind of good feeling

05:22 PM Jan 13 2012 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

welcome back, Butta.Tongue out

05:11 PM Jan 13 2012 |

nfrtary

nfrtary

Egypt

about me i am like Marni i resepct of course the high-tech  and we must go with it but alwayes the technology has pros and cons but alwayes i prefer the tradition books rather than ereaders and kindle espicailly when i going to sleep and read before sleep with relaxing how i can do it by kindle?? :D

04:59 PM Jan 13 2012 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

A GPS

04:32 PM Jan 13 2012 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

Dear friends , I am plumber and whenever  i am asked to come over  to a house to fix a problem i like to have a” peek”  at the library . What they like to read, have they  the same  taste as I . ?  Now I am finishing reading The Celestine Prophecy” Too bad that I can not  pass it on to any of you. I would heartily do it.

04:12 PM Jan 13 2012 |

manu_wj

manu_wj

Italy

books are       culture, dreams, flying, feelings, good spare time, riflection, smiles, tears, and….

04:07 PM Jan 13 2012 |

3 people like this

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Parion …nice!

04:04 PM Jan 13 2012 |

1 person likes this

manu_wj

manu_wj

Italy

Ryo, if you have internet, you have all books, films, newus and whatever you want

04:01 PM Jan 13 2012 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Some e-readers can read to you too, do you like that about them?

03:59 PM Jan 13 2012 |

manu_wj

manu_wj

Italy

kotlesya, don’t eat books this night, with their good smell…..



hihihi

03:57 PM Jan 13 2012 |

1 person likes this

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