F2F Class Notes (Vicki)

it’s just the beginning/start 

It’s hard to keep up with technology, especially when science fiction becomes science fact. For decades, we have watched movies about a future with flying cars. This week, we saw a real one. A prototype flying AirCar completed a test flight between a regional airport in Slovakia and an airport in the capital city Bratislava. The 90km journey took 35 minutes. AirCar is from a company called Klein Vision. A company founder said: “AirCar is no longer just a proof of concept.” He said AirCar flew at a height of 2,500 metres and a speed of 185kph. He said science fiction is now “a reality”.

AirCar is a road-legal car. It transforms into an aircraft in less than three minutes. The company’s CEO flew and landed the vehicle on its test flight. He landed at Bratislava Airport, pushed one button to turn the aircraft into a sports car and drove it into downtown Bratislava. He said the flight was “normal” and “very pleasant”. A newer, more powerful AirCar will have a much better engine. It will have a cruising speed of 300kph and a range of 1,000 kilometres. The newer model will be a four-seater as opposed to the two-seater that was recently tested.

keep up 保持 坚持
If you keep up with the trainning, your body should get healthy.

For decades 数十年

a future with flying cars 需要解释

A prototype flying AirCar

a proof of concept
proof of identity 身份证明
we need to take the proof of identity when we check in hotel.

concept 概念

no longer 不再
I used to like the actor, but now I no longer like him since/because as he takes drugs.

a height of
I’m very scared when I’m at a height of 100 metres.

a speed of
The car drives at a speed of 120Kph.

road-legal 遵从公路法

transform 变形
Lego toys can transform into many different shapes , that’s why it’s very popular.

in less than three minutes 少于
in more than three minutes 多于

land 降落
There were some problems on the flight from Hangzhou to Chengdu, the airplane forced landing at SH.

much better
My friend dances much better than I do.

cruising cruise 巡航 巡游 乘船游览
cruise ship 游轮
go on a cruise 乘船旅游

a range of 一系列
I have a range of work to do before the annual meeting
a range of 1,000 kilometres 射程？
i.e. I have a range of different candles. 

as opposed to 与..相反，而不是 ，相对？
Our new office will have enough space to work as opposed to the old one.

Vocabulary

consume – get

portable – can be carried around with
i.e. I have a portable charger.

access – can get

perform (v.) – 表演

vinyl – 黑胶

cassette tape – 磁带

analogue – record

latter – 后者

heyday – successful days

demise – 衰落

resurgence – 再次的兴起

How do you consume your music? What format do you listen to it on? Technology now allows us to stream and download our favourite songs through websites and apps. This means it’s easy to access and it’s very portable, so we could enjoy it whenever and wherever we like. So, it’s surprising to know that the popularity of some old tech is increasing.

A number of musicians have been releasing their albums on vinyl and cassette tape. While this latter analogue technology lacks the good digital audio quality that we expect to hear today, in its heyday, it was a popular way for teenagers to enjoy recorded music. The introduction of the Walkman portable cassette player in 1979, made by Sony, meant people could listen to music on the move for the first time. By the end of 1989, 83 million tapes were bought by British music fans, but the invention of the compact disc in the 1990s changed that.

Despite the demise of the cassette tape in the 90s, in the first six months of 2020, nearly 65,000 music cassettes were sold in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company – double the sales from the same period the previous year. Although this is only a small fraction of overall music sales, cassette tapes are physical items that can be kept and collected – not stored in the cloud. And the resurgence of the cassette has been helped by big names such as Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, who have released their music on this format.

To listen to music on a cassette, you need a tape player or a personal stereo to play them on, but this hasn’t deterred the new younger audience – its recent popularity seems to be more about buying memorabilia. Gennaro Castaldo from the British Phonographic Industry told the BBC: “Younger consumers are now buying into their collectible appeal – as they have done with vinyl – and the more they do this, the greater the demand for labels and artists to cater to.” But although cassettes won’t replace streaming as a way of listening to music, it does go to show how some tech never dies!

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