环球英语 1447 Traveling with Mobile Telephones
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Robin Basselin.
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And I’m Colin Lowther. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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A group of friends are visiting the city of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. They are walking along a path near a sand beach of the ocean. The path is made of many small stones. These stones are many different colors and sizes. And together they create designs. In Rio de Janeiro, it is common to see mosaics like this in paths.
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As the friends walk, they notice an unusual mosaic. It is a square shaped design. And the stones are only two colors - black and white. This may be an unusual mosaic. But one of the friends clearly recognizes the design. He takes out his mobile telephone. He holds the telephone’s camera over the square mosaic. And a special program on his telephone reads the black and white design. Information appears on his telephone. It is information about the beach they are visiting. The mosaic in the path is a QR code. Today’s Spotlight is on how the travel industry is using QR codes to improve visitor experiences.
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Every year, 2 to 3 million people from around the world visit Rio de Janeiro. Visitors travel to Rio de Janeiro to experience new things and learn about Brazil’s history and culture. But many people do not speak the local language. This can affect their experience. It can be difficult for them to read signs. And this can make it difficult for them to learn about and enjoy the places they are visiting.
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For a long time, visitors have traveled with guide books. They read these books and learn information about the places they visit. Other travelers go to visitor centers. These buildings have a lot of information about an area. And often, there are workers that speak many different languages. For many travelers, these resources work fine. But they are not always easy to find or use.
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So, in 2013, Rio de Janeiro decided to try something new. They began using Quick Response codes - or QR codes. This technology lets the city share lots of information with its visitors. And they can do it quickly, at a low cost and in the traveler’s own language. Rio de Janeiro is not the only city that has started to use QR codes. Cities in many countries, like England, Wales, and Korea, have also begun using QR codes to help travelers.
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QR codes are square images made of two opposite colors - usually black and white. There is one large square image with four smaller squares in it. The smaller squares are in the four different corners of the QR code image. The rest of the large square contains many even smaller squares or dots. Every QR code design is unique or different. And the designs are organized to store information - like words, numbers or links to Internet websites.
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To read a QR code, a person needs a mobile telephone with a camera. The camera can scan or read any QR code. And a special program on the telephone translates the information stored in the code. Then, the information appears on the telephone.
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Cities are placing these QR codes in areas that are popular with visitors. They hope that travelers can learn more about the famous and important parts of their cities. QR codes store a lot of information. So, they can give visitors more information than a normal sign.
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And using QR codes costs the cities very little money. In many cases, cities can develop QR codes for free. The main cost is for making the QR code signs. Cities must pay for materials and for workers to place the signs at the popular visitor areas.
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Gibraltar is another place that uses QR code technology to help visitors. Millions of people visit the British territory of Gibraltar every year. They come to see the great “Rock of Gibraltar.” They want to learn all about the long history of this natural wonder. However, many visitors to Gibraltar do not know the local languages - English and Spanish. So Gibraltar uses their QR codes to offer visitors information in many languages. Roger Bamkin helped Gibraltar with its QR code project. He talked to the BBC news organization. He explained how this technology helps foreign visitors.
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"By scanning QR codes around them, visitors will be able to learn about the place they are visiting. The description will be written in their own language. And it will be a description written by someone who speaks that language.”
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In Rio de Janeiro, the city placed its first QR code at Arpoador. This large rock is at the end of the famous Ipanema Beach. When a visitor uses their telephone to scan the Arpoador QR code, it takes their telephone to an Internet website. The website shows them a map of the area. They can also read about how the Arpoador rock got its name. And they can learn many other interesting facts about the beach.
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Diego Fortunato is a 25 year old visitor to Ipanema Beach. After scanning the QR code with his telephone, he told the Associated Press,
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“Look, there is a little map. It even shows you where we are. Rio does not always have information for those who do not know the city. It is something the city needs. It is something the city has been lacking."
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Rio de Janeiro has worked hard to combine this new technology with old tradition. By creating the QR codes in paths, they honor the local tradition of path mosaics. By the end of 2013, Rio de Janeiro plans to have 30 QR codes throughout the city. It hopes that this will help visitors learn and enjoy the city even more.
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Fabricia Rosa works with the Rio de Janeiro QR code project. She believes the QR code is not just good for visitors, but also for the people of the city. She told the Epoch Times,
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“It is a gift to the city that will last a long time. It is not only for visitors so that they can understand a little about the important memorials of the city. But it is also for the citizens of Rio. They may not know the history of that place. And this way, they can learn about it right there, very fast. With the new technology, everyone has a way of getting information.”
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The writer of this program was Courtney Schutt. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again and read it on the Internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called, “Traveling with Mobile Telephones.”
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
- See more at: http://spotlightenglish.com/listen/traveling-with-mobile-telephones#sthash.RIx3CZBy.dpuf
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