隨身英語
Can playing video games get you a better job? 玩電游能幫你找到更好的工作嗎？
對不少人來說，玩電子游戲是一種用來娛樂消遣的方式。但在打游戲的過程中能否學到實用的生活和職場技能？現(xiàn)在，一些公司意識到，游戲玩家們可以把他們在這方面的天分用到實際工作當中。玩電游能否幫助開發(fā)可轉(zhuǎn)換到實際生活中的技能？“隨身英語” 探討從玩電子游戲中學習職場技能這件事究竟是現(xiàn)實還是純粹的幻想。
Vocabulary: gaming skills 詞匯: 游戲技能
Do you enjoy playing computer games? They can be thrilling, especially when you’re competing against others. They involve lots of skill, and offer a chance to switch off from the pressures of real life. But imagine if your gaming talents could actually be put to use in the real world? Well, now businesses are waking up to the skills gamers can bring to the workplace.
As an example, the BBC spoke to trainee surgeon Saied Froghi. He played video games like Age of Empires and Halo in his spare time when he was at medical school. But this relaxing pastime wasn’t distracting him from his studies - he thinks his time in front of a screen actually helped his surgery skills. He claims it helped him with his concentration, and he compares some of the skills used in keyhole surgery with using a games console. He says “Your hands know where the buttons are and how to rotate the instrument.”
Certainly, operating gaming controls help to develop good hand-eye coordination, but there are other abilities you can learn which can be applied to real-life work situations. Start-up company Game Academy told the BBC’s David Molloy that some games involve strategy and resource management, which are good skills for management. It analyses gamers' habits from their online gaming profile and offers courses in valuable skills that reflect their aptitudes. These are skills that can be developed, and if carefully reworded, can be added to CVs.
Employers might still need convincing that gamers are not just teenagers wasting their time in their bedrooms without thinking about their career prospects. But business consultant Mia Bennett told the BBC that gaming can help skills like "decision-making, the ability to anticipate and scenario planning… It also helps with meta-skills - learning how to learn, experimentation, and creative thinking."
You might think that the idea of gaming developing transferable skills is like the games themselves – pure fantasy – and a gamer doesn’t want to associate the fun and escapism it provides with work. It certainly doesn’t guarantee you a good job, and you need to be an accomplished gamer for your skills to shine. But if so much time is being spent gripped by the challenge of Portal or the strategy of Civilization, why not put those talents to good use?
詞匯表
thrilling 驚險刺激的
switch off 不再操心，不再理睬
talent 天分，天賦
distract 干擾，使分心
concentration 注意力
console 游戲機
gaming controls 游戲機手柄
hand-eye coordination 手眼協(xié)調(diào)能力
strategy 戰(zhàn)略，策劃
gamer 玩家
resource management 資源管理
profile （玩家）簡介
aptitude 天資，才能
prospect 前景
decision-making 決策
anticipate 預計、預料
scenario planning 情景規(guī)劃
meta-skill “超技能”，指幫助自主培養(yǎng)并運用其它具體技能的進階能力
transferable skill 可轉(zhuǎn)換的技能
fantasy 幻想
accomplished 技藝高超的
gripped 入迷的，無法自拔的
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。
1. According to trainee surgeon Saied Froghi, what are some of the similarities between using a games console and performing keyhole surgery?
2. What are some of the gaming skills mentioned in the article, that might be good for working in management?
3. True or false? Gamers are just teenagers wasting their time in their bedrooms.
4. Why might a gamer describe the idea of gaming being something that offers transferable skills as ‘pure fantasy’?
5. Which word in the text means ‘something pleasant or exciting that helps you to forget about real life’?
2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思恰當?shù)膯卧~填入句子中的空格處。
1. After a busy day at work, I like to go to the cinema and watch a film – it’s a great way to _______.
distracting switch off fantasy concentration
2. Her _______ was to work her way up the career ladder and become a manager- and it seems to have worked!
talents prospects strategy fantasy
3. After working for years at a primary school, he’s got the _______ to be a successful team leader in our company.
transferable skills transferred skills transferable skill transferring skills
4. My sister obviously has a _______ for playing the piano – she won first prize in the school music competition.
aptitudes meta-skill talent profile
5. We need to involve the accountant in the _______ process. She is the only who can tell us if we can afford the contract.
decision-made decision-making decide-making decision-maker
答案
1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。
1. According to trainee surgeon Saied Froghi, what are some of the similarities between using a games console and performing keyhole surgery?
Saied Frohi says “your hands know where the buttons are and how to rotate the instrument” which is like using a games console.
2. What are some of the gaming skills mentioned in the article, that might be good for working in management?
Some games involve strategy and resource management which are good skills for management.
3. True or false? Gamers are just teenagers wasting their time in their bedrooms.
False. Employers might still need convincing that gamers are not just teenagers, wasting their time in their bedrooms without thinking about their career prospects.
4. Why might a gamer describe the idea of gaming being something that offers transferable skills as ‘pure fantasy’?
When something is ‘pure fantasy’ it means it is not real or unbelievable.
5. Which word in the text means ‘something pleasant or exciting that helps you to forget about real life’?
Escapism. “A gamer doesn’t want to associate the fun and escapism it provides with work.”
2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思恰當?shù)膯卧~填入句子中的空格處。
1. After a busy day at work, I like to go to the cinema and watch a film – it’s a great way to switch off.
2. Her strategy was to work her way up the career ladder and become a manager- and it seems to have worked!
3. After working for years at a primary school, he’s got the transferable skills to be a successful team leader in our company.
4. My sister obviously has a talent for playing the piano – she won first prize in the school music competition.
5. We need to involve the accountant in the decision-making process. She is the only who can tell us if we can afford the contract.
