6 Minute English INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Can science fiction save the world? Vocabulary science fiction a kind of story about an imagined future, often involving technology and space travel in the not-too-distant future soon; in a time not far from now dystopian describes a future situation which is very unpleasant utopian describes a future situation which is ideal downside disadvantage; bad point optimistic positive about the future plausible with a good possibility of happening environmentalists people who fight to protect the environment rally around come together in support of a cause invisible unable to be seen a bright future a good, positive future time will tell things will become clear as time passes Transcript Note: This is not a word for word transcript Finn Hello Im Finn and welcome to 6 Minute English. Robs here today. Hi Rob. Rob Hello Finn – are you well? Finn Very well, thanks. Rob, tell me – do you have a favourite science-fiction movie? Rob Ahh, science fiction – stories about an imagined future … well my favourite was and always will be ET: Extra Terrestrial, and you Finn? Finn Mine would probably be Blade Runner – the movie with Harrison Ford set in a dark, scary Los Angeles where he hunts robots called replicants. You know the one? Rob I do – and come to think of it, lots of movies and stories about the future are quite dark and negative … Finn But perhaps this might change. A new project wants to use the power of science fiction to do something very different: to inspire people to create a better future. It sounds very grand. Well be discussing the project and learning some language to talk about the future in this programme. Rob But before we get too far into the future, Im sure you have a question for me, Finn? Finn Yes indeed. Its about the film Blade Runner. Its set in the future – but in which year? a) 2000 b) 2019 c) 2056 Rob I think Im gonna go for the far future, c) 2056. Finn Well Ill tell you if youre right or wrong later in the not-too-distant future. Rob Very good. So, as we were saying: lots of science fiction is negative. Finn Yes, theres a word to describe the kind of future world which often appears in science fiction: dystopian. The noun dystopia means an imagined place where things are unpleasant or bad. The opposite is utopia and utopian. Rob But why is so much science fiction dystopian? Dr Braden Allenby from Arizona State University. Braden Allenby, Professor of Engineering and Ethics, Arizona State University The downside of both of science fiction and movies is that they tend to be dystopian, they tend to be very negative, they tend to be very noir. Dystopian is easier to do. Its easier to write a dystopian story than it is to write an optimistic story. Rob He says dystopian stories are easier to write. I can see that – theres more conflict in a world which has problems – and good stories often have a lot of conflict and problems to resolve. Finn Yes, but Braden thinks being negative is the downside of science fiction. A downside is a disadvantage, a bad point. He would prefer to see more optimistic science fiction. Rob Optimistic, more positive about the future, which is why Braden is taking part in something called Project Hieroglyph. It brings together writers, scientists, engineers and artists to create optimistic stories about things which really could happen in the next 50 years. Finn So lets talk about the kinds of things are happening in these stories? Rob Well, theres one about a huge tower 20 km tall – going all the way into space. Apparently, building the tower is good for the US steel industry … and they invent a new kind of energy in the story too. Finn Sounds very interesting – but is it plausible – could it really happen? Could they really build a tower that big? Rob Well, theres another about environmentalists who fight to stop people building the first hotel in Antarctica. Finn Environmentalists – people who care about the environment. Well theres conflict there … and its plausible, so it could be a good story. But I cant help thinking – will these stories actually change anything? Rob Ed Finn, who edited a book of these stories, thinks so. He says: A good science-fiction story can be very powerful. It can inspire hundreds, thousands, millions of people to rally around something that they want to do. Finn To rally around something means to come together in support of a cause. Rob And Braden Allenby says you can already see the influence of science fiction in modern research. Which item is being worked on right now? Braden Allenby, Professor of Engineering and Ethics, Arizona State University Why are people working on, for example, invisibility cloaks? Well, its Harry Potter, right? Thats where they saw it. Finn An invisibility cloak – a long coat which makes you invisible, in other words unable to be seen – which people first saw in one of the Harry Potter movies. Rob Interesting … so will the stories from Project Hieroglyph inspire people to do and invent new things that can help others? Can they help create a bright future – thats a good, positive future? Or will they just be good stories? Finn Time will tell – that means well find out as time goes by. One thing that were going to find out right now is the answer to when the movie Blade Runner was set? Rob I said the answer was c) 2056. Finn And the answer was in fact b) 2019. A little bit earlier, Rob. Rob Quite soon, then? Finn Yes, its in a couple of years. So, watch out LA. But, Rob, can you remind us of some of the words we learned today? Rob We had … science fiction dystopian downside optimistic plausible a bright future time will tell Finn And thats it for todays programme. If you want to listen to more programmes like this one, visit bbclearningenglish. Both Bye. bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-20112014
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 10:16:39 +0000
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