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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 267
TOPICS
Video-game violence; ROTC; should have done versus should have to do; just
versus only; to learn as (one) goes
_____________
GLOSSARY
realism
– seeming very real; appearing very life-like
* This new program to help people learn how to drive has a lot of realism.
insensitive
– not having an emotional reaction to something; not having feelings
for something that is happening or that one is experiencing
* Ron walked on hot rocks every day for a month until the bottom of his feet
became insensitive to heat.
arcade
– a place where people can go to play video games, usually by putting
coins in large machines
* Michele loves to play video games and has the highest score on several of the
video games at the arcade.
minor
– a person who is younger than 18 years old; someone who is not old
enough to be legally considered an adult
* Our favorite restaurant allows minors in the bar area, but they are not allowed
to order alcoholic drinks.
rating system
– a scale used for measuring something, usually showing how
much something is or how much something contains
* The movie rating system lets parents know if there is sex or violence in a
movie.
console
– a machine that is used to play video games
* The new game console is difficult to hold in your hand while pushing the
buttons to play.
officer
– a leader in the military; a person with a high position of power and
authority in the military
* Only an officer has the authority to punish soldiers arriving late for duty.
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 267
branch
– a major part of the military, such as the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marines, and Coast Guard; one part of a larger organization
* I opened my bank account at the downtown branch, but I usually do my banking
at the branch closer to my house.
ranking
– one’s official position within the military; the level of power and
authority one has in the military
* The officer with the highest ranking will start the ceremony.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
– an American military policy that says that homosexuals
can serve in the military as long as nobody knows they are homosexual
* Many Americans don’t believe that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a good policy.
gay
– a homosexual person; a man who is romantically interested in other men
or a woman who are romantically interested in other women
* The new couple that moved into the apartment upstairs is gay and have a new
baby.
should have done
– used to indicate that one should have taken an action in the
past that was not taken
* I shouted at my children because I was angry about my work. I shouldn’t have
done that.
should have to do
– should be required to do; should be in need of doing
* Do you believe that people who use more of the state’s services should have to
pay higher taxes?
just / only
– without any others; merely
* It was just a small mistake, and this is not the only time we’ll play the game.
You’ll probably win next time.
to learn as (one) goes
– to develop knowledge and skill as one does a task,
usually without being knowledgeable about it at the beginning, but with the
expectation of becoming better at it as one continues
* Danielle has never done any gardening before, but she decided to plant a new
garden in her big backyard and she’s learning as she goes.
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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 267
WHAT INSIDERS KNOW
Video Game Publishing
“Publishing” is the business of preparing something and making it available for
sale. We use this term traditionally for products printed on paper. We’ve all
heard of book publishing, magazine publishing, and newspaper publishing. In
recent years, though, a new “industry” (field of business) has “emerged” (come
into being; come into existence): video game publishing.
Similar to book publishing, video game publishers are companies that prepare
products for sale to “consumers” (buyers). And like other publishers, video game
publishers are responsible for “manufacturing,” making the product, and for
“marketing,” or selling, the product.
However, unlike book publishers, video game publishers may “develop” (create)
products “in house,” or within the company. They may “employ” (hire) their own
“video game developers” to create new video games. A group of video game
developers working within one company is said to work in a “studio,” or a place
for creative work. Traditionally, we use the term “studio” to refer to a place where
an artist works, and so we often hear the terms “art studio,” “music studio,” and
“dance studio.” In this case, the artists are video game creators and their studio
is a place for creative thinking about new and better ways to make and play video
games.
Like traditional publishers, though, video game publishers may also “distribute”
(sell to stores, who then sell to buyers) video games developed by other
companies, perhaps smaller companies that don’t have the money or “resources”
(materials and things needed to do a job or task) to market and “promote” (try to
get others interested in) the product. The publisher takes the product,
manufactures it “on a large scale” (in large numbers), and “advertises” (draws
attention to a product) it to the public.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2010). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 267
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 267.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 267. I’m
your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational
Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com to download a Learning Guide for this episode
that will help you improve your English and give you whiter, brighter teeth – it’s
true!
On this Café, we’re going to talk about violence in video games and some of the
ways that American parents are trying to make sure their children don’t play
video games that are too violent. We’re also talk about a program called ROTC,
or the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, which is a program that has been in
existence for many years, a well-known but sometimes controversial program at
American universities by the U.S. military. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of
your questions. Let’s get started.
This Café begins with a discussion of video game violence. Video games have
become common in many homes in the United States, especially those with
families or older single men. Forty years ago, they were very simple video
games; when I was a child we had games like Pong and Pac-Man, but over the
years, they have become much more complex. Actions such as fighting,
shooting, and killing are now very common in video games. And the games have
a lot of “realism,” meaning that they seem very real or life-like, in part because of
the technology now is better so that you can make things look more real
including acts of violence.
Some people are concerned, parents in particular, that the realism of video
games will make people insensitive to violent actions that occur in these games.
“Insensitive” is the opposite of “sensitive.” If you are sensitive to something you
can tell the differences, you are affected by the differences. If you’re insensitive,
you don’t see the differences or are not affected by this. What some people are
saying is that, for example, if a player in a video game kills another character or
player in the video game, he or she will become less sensitive – more insensitive
– to the act of killing when it’s part of the game, and maybe – and here’s the
controversial part, the part that people don’t agree on – maybe in real life as well.
Some people believe that seeing these kinds of violent actions in video games
4
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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 267
will encourage people to do similar things in real life: they will hurt or kill other
people.
One of the first controversial video games was a 1976 game called Death Race.
I honestly don’t remember this. When I was in high school in the late 70s I
remember playing video games – one video game called Space Invaders, and to
play the game you had to go to a store or restaurant that had one of the games.
You put in a quarter (25 cents) and you could play the game for, I don’t know,
three or four minutes I suppose. That was the only video game I have ever
played, and that was, well, 30 years ago plus. I was in 8
th
grade in 1976, and I
don’t remember this game: Death Race. In it, the players controlled cars that ran
over different kind of monsters – fictitious animals, things that weren’t real. Now,
this might not seem very violent, especially compared to today’s games, but it
was a controversial game. The popular American TV news program called 60
Minutes spent time talking about it.
Some groups tried to create laws in the early 1980s to restrict or to limit how
close places that had video games, especially video game arcades, could be to
schools. An “arcade” – a video game arcade is a place where people used to go
and play video games just like I described. You would put a quarter or 50 cents
into a big machine and then you could play the game. Some groups that tried to
pass these laws thought that the games would make children violent.
Researchers have studied whether violence in video games can have an impact,
or affect people’s view of violence – of what is right and wrong. Many studies do
not show a connection, but some studies do. Some studies have experimented
with teenagers and children, giving them violent video games to play, and then
noting how aggressive their behavior was afterwards. “Aggressive” means that
you are perhaps violent, or you are very assertive of yourself: you are willing to
do something to defend yourself or to attack another person. The truth is
probably somewhere in the middle. That is, it’s probably not the case that
watching a violent video game will make you go out and shoot your neighbor.
But it’s probably also true that it does have an effect somehow on the way that
you look at violence.
Violent crime in the United States declined a lot in the 1990s, when video games
were getting more and more violent. However, these statistics are a little
misleading. That is, they can give you the wrong impression – you can get the
wrong idea from them. Part of the reason for that decline was because there
were fewer and fewer young people, and therefore fewer and fewer crimes.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2010). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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