The Jones family have nine tv, six computers, three cars, and every domestic appliance. What would their life be like without them? Melanie Adams reports

This is the family who have chosen to fill their home with every conceivable gadget. They have nine TV, including one in each bedroom and in the kitchen. All the children have their own personal computers and CD players. Of course, there are all the usual appliances we all take for granted, such as the washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher, deep freeze, microwave oven, and video recorder, but they also have an electric trouser press, two power showers, and Olympic-sized spa bath and Jacuzzi, three cars, and the music system which plays throughout the whole house.

The experiment. What happens if all the props of modern living are removed? To help us find out, we asked the Jones to turn back the clock fifty years and to switch off all their labor-saving gadgets and push-button entertainment for three days. We also wanted them to stop using their cars. They were banned from opening the freezer to get out fish fingers and oven chips, to use electronic razor and mobile phone.

The much-dreamed three days got under way! Old-fashioned meals, games, and entertainment were planned for the evenings. After eating together at the kitchen table, they sat playing cards, putting off doing the washing-up because they all hated doing that.

Carol was surprised at how long everything took. ‘By the time I had washed up the breakfast things and got back from walking the children to school, it was nearly lunchtime. Getting to the shops, which normally takes five minutes in the car, took at least an hour, so it was impossible just to pop out for a loaf of bread. It was strange having to wait until the washing dried in the garden before getting the ironing done, instead of simply using the drier.’

Although Carol found it difficult to get to the length of time it took to do things, she enjoyed having a slower, more relaxed pace of life. Also, the lack of electronic entertainment, particularly the TV, had a dramatic effect on the children. They got on much better together and seemed to enjoy each other’s company more, although they clearly believed that they were suffering.

What Malcolm liked the most was the peace. All of this just goes to show that, fascinating as the experiment was, you cannot turn the clock back. This is doubtless a big relief to the Jones family!

E xercise 4. Translate the text without dictionary.

E xercise 5. Check your understanding. Do this exercise before you listen. Write the inventions in the correct group. If you don’t know, have a guess! [5, Part III, p.171].

by Bogenseeberg

time travel machine Indoor cloud-maker machine Sign language translation gloves Wing-suits (that enable you to fly) Air-maker (for use on other planets) Bio-fabric clothes (that change colour according to the wearer’s mood) Solar water distiller Digital running shoes (that give you performance statistics)
	Real inventions	Fictional inventions

E xercise 6. Answer the questions according to the listened text.

1. What do wing-suits allow people to do?

2. How Gabriele Diamanti's water distiller is powered?

3. How do "enable talk gloves" help to people?

4. Who invented a new underwater camera?

5. How does a new underwater camera work?

G RAMMAR COMMENT

Revision of Passives [1.p 136]

Passive - Use We only use the passive when we are interested in the object or when we do not know who caused the action. Example: Appointments are required in such cases. We can only form a passive sentence from an active sentence when there is an object in the active sentence. Which sentence is in the passive? An oil spill has polluted the river. The river has been polluted by an oil spill. How is a passive sentence formed? to be + past participle How to form a passive sentence when an active sentence is given: - object of the "active" sentence becomes subject in the "passive" sentence - subject of the "active" sentence becomes "object" in the "passive" sentence" (or is left out) What is the passive form of these modals? We can release her. Someone might attack him.

Try to complete this table

Tense	Active	Passive
	They speak English in India	English is spoken in India.
Present Continuous		Our house is being painted by decorations.
Past Simple	The police caught the thief.
	They were taking the dogs for a walk.	The dogs were being taken for a walk.
Present Perfect simple		He has been arrested by the police.
Past perfect simple	I had told her to arrive at nine o’clock.
Future simple	The government will reduce taxes.
Going to	They are going to sell the car.
Modal present		The problem should be solved by the committee.
Modal perfect	They may have sold the house.

Rewrite these sentences in the passive form. Use by if the agent is important.

1. The tide washed the oil onto the beach.

2. In the programme we watched, they were killing the elephants for their tusks.

3. They are going to elect a new president soon.

4. In future, the officials will demand a fine if someone breaks the law.

5. Someone had released chemicals into the water.

E xercise 7. You’ve developed a potentially marketable invention. Write a letter about your invention and propose investors to invest it.

Exercise 8. Think about your top 10 inventions of all time. Try and narrow them down to your top 5, and place them in order of importance. Why do you think the ones you have chosen are so important?

1 . Choose the right variant. We … to be polite and friendly to other people.

a) be taught b) has taught c) may taught d) are taught

2. Choose the right variant. The exhibition … to the audience tomorrow morning.

1. will open

2. open

3. will be opened

d) is opened

3. Choose the right variant: I use the ......... oven often. Some people say that it's not healthy because it uses radiation to cook and/or heat food. However, it's so convenient because it heats the food up so quickly.

a) steam

b) range

c) broiler

d) microwave

3. What is the name of the CalTech seismologist who invented the scale used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes?

a) Joshua Rumble

b) Hiram Walker

c) Giuseppe Mercalli

d) Charles Richter