你是不是狂熱地追趕時尚？在我們當中有很多人迷戀最新的手機遊戲和玩具，以至於沉浸在這些遊戲的虛幻世界中。我們為什麼會迷戀虛擬遊戲和曇花一現的潮流呢？本期《隨身英語》探討一時的流行給我們所帶來的利與弊。
課文內容
Vocabulary: crazes 詞匯：風行一時的東西
Have you got an addictive nature? Are you unable to stop yourself joining in with the latest obsession for collecting or doing something? This probably describes most of us because it’s only human nature to not want to miss out on something that everyone else is talking about.
Most fads arrive suddenly and enthusiasm for them spreads quickly. They become a talking point on social media; we read about them, give them a try and, before we know it, we are hooked. In the past, these have been objects such as toys and games. Maybe you were the proud owner of a Rubik’s cube, which became the best-selling toy of all time – around 350 million have been sold so far.
Now, technology is driving the latest crazes. In some parts of the world, flavour of the month is Pokémon Go – a game that uses augmented reality, where little virtual monsters pop up onto your phone and you have to catch them. And games such as Angry Birds and Minecraft are other crazes, available on smartphones and tablets, that have been hard to put down.
Our keeness to participate in crazes has been analysed by experts. One of them, Dr Ben Michaelis, a clinical psychologist, explains that we want to experience the benefit that another person, or group of people, have experienced from something and this “hooks into an ancient evolutionary fear of being left behind or abandoned by our tribes”; we have to join in or lose out.
Although becoming addicted to a computer game might not seem like a ‘benefit’, it can at least give you credibility or popularity among your friends. It allows you to learn new skills and gives you something to talk about at parties!
But fashions come and go and most fads are just a flash in the pan so if one of them is not your cup of tea, don’t worry: there’ll be a new craze arriving very soon. Look at the addiction to the unsophisticated loom bands – those little rubber bands you could make jewellery and other things out of. For a brief period they were the must-have item for any schoolchild, now they’re the bargain bucket item in a discount shop or worse still, trash filling up our landfill sites! What crazes have you been addicted to?
詞匯表
addictive nature （易）上癮的天性
obsession 使人癡迷的人或事
fad 一時的流行，短暫的狂熱
enthusiasm 熱情，巨大興趣
talking point 話題
hooked 上癮的，入迷的
best-selling 暢銷的
flavour of the month （某時期內）最受歡迎的人或物
augmented reality 增強現實
virtual 虛擬的
to put down 放下
credibility 威信
come and go 來來去去
a flash in the pan 曇花一現
not your cup of tea 不合你的心意
loom bands 橡皮筋
must-have 必須的，必備的
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. Where do a lot of people talk about the latest crazes?
2. How popular was the toy ‘Rubik’s cube’ when it was launched?
3. Name a benefit you can get by being involved with a particular craze.
4. What word, used in the article, means ‘simple and not very advanced’?
5. How long do crazes usually last for?
2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. My son has an ______ with collecting football stickers – he’s got more than 10,000 of them!
obsessed obsession obsessing obstacle
2. Fred’s new hairstyle has become a real ______ in the staffroom.
best-selling flash in the pan talking point augmented reality
3. In this new computer game we have to feed a ______ pet, otherwise it will die
virtual viral virtually vitamin
4. My football team has lost all its ______ after losing again to a lower-league team!
obsession addiction evolutionary fear credibility
5. I know horror films are not my girlfriend’s ______ but I told her to give one a try and she loved it!
tea cup cups of tea cup a tea cup of tea
答案
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. Where do a lot of people talk about the latest crazes?
On social media.
2. How popular was the toy ‘Rubik’s cube’ when it was launched?
Very popular: it became the best-selling toy of all time.
3. Name a benefit you can get by being involved with a particular craze.
Credibility or popularity among your friends; learning new skills; something to talk about at parties!
4. What word, used in the article, means ‘simple and not very advanced’?
Unsophisticated. (Look at the addiction to the unsophisticated loom bands.)
5. How long do crazes usually last for?
Not long. They are usually ‘a flash in the pan’.
2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. My son has an obsession with collecting football stickers – he’s got more than 10,000 of them!
2. Fred’s new hairstyle has become a real talking point in the staffroom.
3. In this new computer game we have to feed a virtual pet, otherwise it will die.
4. My football team has lost all its credibility after losing again to a lower-league team!
5. I know horror films are not my girlfriend’s cup of tea but I told her to give one a try and she loved it!
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