Unit 6 Serious Fun Reading One SERIOUS FUN by Raph Koster 1 STARTING ON WEDNESDAY,1) tens of thousands of2) visitors

will come to Los

Angeles to kill digital dragons3) and shoot digital guns. They are gamers, and they will be here for the Electronic Entertainment Games Expo (E3), where4) game designers show what is new5) in the business.6) 2 Gaming is serious7) business. Seventy-five percent of American homes now have

video and computer games, and gaming now earns8) as much money as the film business9) each year. Yet most people still think that computer games are childish10) and violent.11) They think that they are just silly entertainment. 3 4 Let me tell you why serious people should take gaming seriously.12) Recent studies show that the brain13) is really good at14) finding patterns15) and

then doing something called "chunking"16)-combining17) several steps18) or pieces of information into one. For example, we don't need to remember all the steps19) of how we get dressed20) in the morning. Over time,21) we see a pattern to the steps and chunk them together. Gradually, we learn to do these things without thinking.
1) 2) 3) 4) STARTING ON WEDNESDAY,: tens of thousands of: dragon: a large imaginary animal that has wings, a long tail, and can breathe ouu fire , where = and there here . 5) what is new: what 6) in the business: 7) serious: (important) 8) earn: 9) as much money as the film business: 10) childish: 11) violent: 12) why people should take gaming seriously: () why tell . 13) brain: the part of the body, in the head, which is responsible for thinking 14) be good at A: A , A be poor(bad) at A 15) pattern: , 16) doing something called "chunking": chunking call A( ) B() A B . 'A which is(are) called B' B A . something called which is . 17) combine: 18) step: ; level: 19) all the steps: ; the all steps (X) 20) get dressed: 21) Over time,:

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Do you remember locking22) your door this morning? Do you remember putting

your keys away? Probably not, because your brain "chunked" these steps into "the things you do every morning." This is a good thing because if you really have to think about locking the door, your brain doesn't have the energy to notice other things (for example, the banana peel that your neighbor's three-year-old23) dropped in front of your door!). 6 Finding patterns and chunking information24) are so important for human

survival that our brains make us feel good when we do it. Our word for25) this feeling that our brain sends us26) is "fun."27) Unfortunately, most people think that fun cannot be serious, when it is actually the reward we get for learning. 7 This is where games come in. Games are all about learning. Games let us

practice seeing patterns, which is why they are so much fun. 8 "But some games are boring!" you say? Of course, as soon as we figure out28)

the patterns in a game, the fun ends. Six-year-olds29) love playing tic tac toe. Adults don't30) because they already know the pattern. Well-designed games have complex patterns. We can figure these complex patterns out31) little by little,32) so they stay fun33) for a long time. 9 There will be some very well-designed games at E3 this week. But most games

will be teaching the same old things. There will be a lot of dragons. We won't be seeing too many games about living with climate change34) or curing35) cancer. Yet as game designers begin to understand the power of games, I believe they will start working with more serious subjects. 10 For this to happen, however, we all need to take games seriously. We all need

22) remember locking: ~ 23) your neighbor's three-year-old: 24) it = finding patterns and chunking information 25) for: ~ 26) this feeling that our brain sends us: () Our brain sends us this feeling this feeling (, , , ) . 27) fun. . 28) figure out: 29) Six-year-olds: 30) Adults don't (love playing tic tac toe) 31) figure (these complex patterns) out: 32) little by little: 33) fun: fun ? 34) climate change: the world is changing because it is getting warmer 35) curing: finding a medicine or treatment that makes an illness disappear

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to understand that they could one day help us solve some of the world's very big problems. 11 So if you walk past E3 this week, try to be understanding. Remember: Gaming

is a very young business and, like most small children, it is loud and confused. When games grow up, they just might save the world.

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Reading Two Saving the World with Computer Games 1 Last week, I was pushing bags of food out of an airplane to starving36) people

on the ground below. The wind suddenly changed direction, and 48 bags of food almost landed on a group of small houses. My heart jumped. Carlos the pilot yelled at me. I was there to save people, not to destroy their houses. 2 I was playing Food Forces,37) a video game in which players have to get food to

starving people in countries at war. 3 For a long time, video games have put players in worlds full of dragons or

spaceships.38) But Food Force is part of a new generation39): games that put people in the real world, full of real problems. And the games' designers aren't just selling entertainment. They say that games can be more than just childish fun, they can actually change the world. 4 The McVideogame40) is another serious game in which players run a fast-food

company. it's about serious topics, but the game makes you laugh. There are farms for the cows and crops, fast-food restaurants to sell burgers, and an office to run the business. The managers in each place tell the player when something goes wrong. When workers are unhappy because of low pay, the player can fire41) them. When a law makes it difficult to42) run the business,43) the player can bribe44) the people responsible for enforcing45) the law. When there isn't much food for the cows, the player can feed46) them garbage to make them fat. It's very difficult to keep the company running.47) Most players lose all of the money they started with,48) and the company goes under49). People who play the McVideogame learn about the big problems that fast food creates.50)
36) starving: very hungry; near death because of hunger 37) Food Forces: Air Force + . 38) in worlds (which are) full of dragons or spaceships: 39) generation: a group of products that are at the same stage of development 40) http://www.mcvideogame.com/game-eng.html . 41) fire: to make someone leave his or her job hire(employ) 42) to make (). it . 43) When a law makes it difficult to run the business: 44) bribe: to illegally pay money or offer gifts to officials in order to persuade them to do something for you 45) enforcing: ( ) 46) feed A B: A B 47) keep the company running: running . 48) all of the money (that) they started with: = 49) goes under: if a business goes under, it has serious problems and fails 50) the big problems that fast food creates: 48

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And many of them decide never to51) eat fast food again! 5 "Games are really good at helping people understand52) complex situations," says

Suzanne Seggerman, an organizer53) of the 2006 Games for Change meeting. She explained that people-especially young people-don't pay attention to the newspaper or to TV news. And since there are so many world problems to solve, she asks "Why not54) try something new?"

. about . 51) to , (not, never ) . 52) [help + + ] . ~ . 53) organizer: , 54) Why not Why don't you ~ ? .

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