20100113 Radio Broadcasting Goes Public (1)

Radio Broadcasting Goes Public

What would you do without radio?

What's your radio tuned to? Listening to radio programs like Studio Classroom has become a part of our daily lives. How did this start?

Radio broadcasting in the beginning
Radio began as ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication. In the early 1900s, several people showed that radio could do more than that. One of them, Dr. Lee De Forest, is widely honored as the father of radio. He made the first public radio broadcast. A fan of opera, De Forest wanted to send the musical entertainment into homes.

His first attempt was on January 13, 1910, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. However, the broadcast ran into interference from other signals. Only a few listening stations and anyone in the harbor area were able to hear this broadcast. Although there was a lot of room for improvement, it showed what radio could do.

Radio broadcasting today
Fast-forward one century, and the world looks very different. Radio broadcasts are everywhere. Information now travels at the speed of light. Music, news, traffic reports and speeches from world leaders are all one the radio. Can you imagine a world without radio?

tune n. 曲調/調子
tune v. 調整頻道/收聽/收看
eg: We always tune to Wave Radio for light music.
eg: His radio is always tuned to the only rock station in our town.

opera n. 歌劇
=> certain kind of drama that would be performed on a stage

inter- 兩者之間
interference n. 電波的干擾
=> noise or electronic signal that stops you from getting a good picture on TV or a good signal for the radio
eg: The interference that appeared on the TV screen was caused by the bad weather.
eg: The government's interference in the stock market proved to be a mistake.

fast-forward v. 使..快轉
=> move forward at very quick pace
eg: Bobby fast-forwarded the DVD and went directly to the end of the movie.

rewind 倒帶
eg: Can you rewind the tape so I can hear it again?

fast-forward <=> rewind

information n. 資訊

the Metropolitan Opera House 大都會歌劇院

run into 遭遇
=> encounter/meet


//== Chat room ==//

room n. 空間
=> 不可數名詞
=> space

a lot of room for improvement 還有很多改善的空間
make room 挪出空間

//== Grammar on the Go ==//

Radio began as ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication.

ship-to-ship adj.
ship-to-shore adj.

ship-to-ship communication
=> communication going from ship to ship
ship-to-shore communication
=> communication going from ship to shore

eg: John is learning to be patient during this in-between-job period.
eg: The writing instructor always reminds her students her keep-things-simple rule.