Neil: Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil
Harry: And I'm Harry.
Neil: Now Harry, have you ever taken a 'selfie'
that's a photo of yourself, usually with your mobile phone?
Harry: Yes, I have. I've taken them all over London
with my children ─ of course selfies are very easy to take with your smartphone and recently
we've seen some famous selfies featuring well-known people such as the one taken by actor
Ellen DeGeneres at last year's Oscars ceremony.
Neil: Yes, it seems that there are no limits to
the places where you can capture yourself in a photo. But there is a limit on how far
you can stretch your arm out and take a snap ─ a quick photo of you and your friends.
Harry: That's true, so thank goodness for the selfie
stick ─ an expanding pole to put your smartphone on which gives you a wider view. This means
you can take in more of the background. Sounds like a good idea.
Neil: It does, but it's also causing a problem in
some places around the world. More on that in a moment but let's not forget I have a
question to ask you Harry.
Harry: OK Neil.
Neil: Well, we know some people love to take photos
of themselves but perhaps not as much as Patrick Peterson. According to Guinness World Records
he has taken the most 'selfies' in one hour ─ but do you know how many? Is it:
a) 449 b) 1,449
c) 2,449
Harry: Well, I guess he's gotta move and be in a
different position so I'm not going to go for the highest one. I'm gonna say1,449.
Neil: OK, well, we'll find out the answer at the
end of the programme. But now let's talk more about the dangers of the selfie stick! They
can certainly be useful for taking photos from a different viewpoint and it does mean
that you get more people in your photo.
Harry: Sales of the selfie stick have soared or
risen quickly since last year and they are now a common sight at tourist destinations.
They're great if you want to take a better photo but they're very annoying if you're
not involved with the photo.
Neil: Yes and this is particularly frustrating if
you're trying to look at paintings and sculptures at an art gallery. They just get in the way
and can be very distracting.
Harry: You mean they stop someone giving their full
attention to what they are looking at. Well, this is the reason that some famous art galleries
around the world are putting a ban on selfie-sticks ─ a ban means they are no longer allowed.
Neil: Places such as the Smithsonian museums in
the Washington and the Palace of Versailles in Paris were the first to do this and now
the National Gallery in London have stopped them being used.
Harry: Let's hear the exact reasons why from the
gallery's Doctor Susan Foister. What phrase does she use to mean trying to do the best
thing for the visitors and for the paintings themselves?
Doctor Susan Foister: We have over 6 million visitors a year here,
some of our rooms could get quite crowded, so we have to find the right balance between
the experience of our visitors close to the paintings and the safety of the paintings
themselves.
Neil: So the National Gallery is a popular and busy
place and it gets quite crowded ─ and it doesn't help the problem if people are holding up
selfie sticks!
Harry: Yes ─ so they have imposed or brought in
... this ban to do the best thing for the visitors and for the paintings themselves
it's what Doctor Foister called 'the right balance'. She wants to give visitors trying
to get close to the paintings a good experience.
Neil: And she makes the point that there's a risk
that the painting, which can be worth millions of pounds, could be damaged by one of these
sticks.
Harry: Of course you are still allowed to take a
selfie, and some museums are 'sticking their neck out' and still allowing people to use
them.
Neil: A good idiom there Harry - you mean they're
doing something that other people may not like ─ yes, places such as the ICA ─ that's
the Institute for Contemporary Art ─ in London say selfie sticks are part of modern-day life.
Harry: Here is Catherine Stout, Head of Programmes
at the ICA. How does she describe the type of visitors who go to her gallery?
Catherine Stout: We are very happy for our visitors to take
their own photographs for personal use, of course we always secure the artist's permission,
but actually because we have a very young audience they're completely engaged with social
media, they want to use that forum to connect with each other, to share their experiences,
if they wish to use a stick they're very welcome to do so as long as, obviously, the artwork
is not damaged in any way.
Neil: So the people who visit that gallery are young
and use social media a lot ─ they are 'engaged' with it and they like to share their experiences.
This means taking photos on their smartphones and if they want to use a selfie stick?
Harry: ... then they are 'welcome to do so'. Just
watch out where you stick it！ I suppose, as long as you respect other visitors and don't
get in the way, then it's ok to use one.
Neil: Well I'm not so sure. Anyway, it's time to
reveal the answer to the question I asked you earlier.
Harry: Yes, this was about Patrick Peterson, who
holds the record for taking the most selfies in one hour. You asked me if he took 449,
1,449 or 2,449 in one hour.
Neil: And you said 1,449, which was ... the correct
answer! I wonder what he did with all those images ...
Harry: He probably put them on social media.
Neil: Well we need to 'stick' to our six minutes
of English but just before we run out of time, could you remind us of some of the vocabulary
we've used today Harry?
Harry: Yes. We had ... selfie, capture, a snap, selfie stick
viewpoint, soared, distracting, a ban, imposed, sticking their neck out, engaged.
Neil: Thank you. Well, that's it for now. Go to
bbclearning.com to find more 6 Minute English programmes. Until next time. Goodbye!
Harry: Bye!