ESL Podcast 909 – Buying Electronic Books

 　　Kindo: What’s that?

　　Nookie: It’s my new e-book reader. I’m just downloading some new books onto it.

　　Kindo: I haven’t bought one yet. I’m old school. I still prefer a printed book.

　　Nookie: But if you haven’t tried it yet, how do you know you wouldn’t like it better? This e-book reader can store over 10,000 digital books and it’s easily portable¹. Imagine trying to carry an entire library from place to place.

　　Kindo: I don’t usually read 10,000 books all at once and I hear that there are a lot of incompatible² formats⁴ out there. Each company is trying to edge out the others by establishing their format³ as the format. I think I’ll just wait until the dust settles.

　　Nookie: The different formats aren’t that big a deal. You can easily convert⁵ a book in one format to another.

　　Kindo: I like the look of text on a printed page.

　　Nookie: You mean that faded text on that yellowed page? On an e-book reader, you can adjust the text size, font, and even line spacing.

　　Kindo: Can I get all of the out-of-print books on my shelves in digital format?

　　Nookie: Well, I’m not sure.

　　Kindo: Until I can, I’ll stick to my low-tech books.

1 portable   

adj.轻便的，手提式的；n.便携的东西

参考例句：

• I have a portable typewriter.我有一个便携式打字机。
• There is a pretty portable pair of steps in one corner of the room.屋角放着一架小巧玲珑的折梯。

2 incompatible   

adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的

参考例句：

• His plan is incompatible with my intent.他的计划与我的意图不相符。
• Speed and safety are not necessarily incompatible.速度和安全未必不相容。

3 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

4 formats   

n.（出版物的）版式( format的名词复数 )；[电视]电视节目的总安排（或计划）

参考例句：

• They are producing books in all kinds of different formats. 他们出版各种不同开本的书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A true GUI includes standard formats for representing text and graphics. 真正的图形用户界面包括表示文字和图形的标准格式。 来自互联网

5 convert   

v.（在形式、状态、用途等方面）（使）改变

参考例句：

• I must convert sorrow into strength.我要化悲痛为力量。
• At what rate does the dollar convert into pounds?美元以什么汇率兑换成英镑？