随身英语
Can playing video games get you a better job? 玩电游能帮你找到更好的工作吗？
对不少人来说，玩电子游戏是一种用来娱乐消遣的方式。但在打游戏的过程中能否学到实用的生活和职场技能？现在，一些公司意识到，游戏玩家们可以把他们在这方面的天分用到实际工作当中。玩电游能否帮助开发可转换到实际生活中的技能？“随身英语” 探讨从玩电子游戏中学习职场技能这件事究竟是现实还是纯粹的幻想。
Vocabulary: gaming skills 词汇: 游戏技能
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?
词汇表
thrilling 惊险刺激的
switch off 不再操心，不再理睬
talent 天分，天赋
distract 干扰，使分心
concentration 注意力
console 游戏机
gaming controls 游戏机手柄
hand-eye coordination 手眼协调能力
strategy 战略，策划
gamer 玩家
resource management 资源管理
profile （玩家）简介
aptitude 天资，才能
prospect 前景
decision-making 决策
anticipate 预计、预料
scenario planning 情景规划
meta-skill “超技能”，指帮助自主培养并运用其它具体技能的进阶能力
transferable skill 可转换的技能
fantasy 幻想
accomplished 技艺高超的
gripped 入迷的，无法自拔的
测验与练习
1. 阅读课文并回答问题。
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. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思恰当的单词填入句子中的空格处。
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. 阅读课文并回答问题。
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. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思恰当的单词填入句子中的空格处。
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.
