BBC Learning English

Words in the News

28th December 2011

The art of video games





Transcript:

The Grand Palais gallery in Paris - associated more with fine art than video games.

But for its latest exhibition, these rooms are full of treasures, which tell the story of the development of gaming since the 1970s.

From PacMan, Ataris and Joysticks to 3D devices, the focus is on the cultural and visual aspects of the games.



Vocabulary:

fine art - paintings, drawings and sculpture

exhibition - public display of objects such as paintings

treasures - very valuable things

gaming - the activity of playing video games

devices - objects or machines invented for a specific purpose



Watch this video online: The art of video games

http://bbc.in/vQD3Yd





Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2011



Page 1 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com





Exercise:

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from a BBC

news report.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

fine art/ exhibition/ treasures/ gaming/ devices

1.

And the country has been blessed by providence with beautiful coastlines to north and south and the extraordinary __________ of the ancient civilisation of the Pharaohs in between.

2.

Ayan's tastes are reflected in Mumbai's ever growing and ever more luxurious shopping malls in which, as elsewhere in India, the most crowded area is invariably the _________ section where youngsters are given the chance to test their skills on computer screens.

3.

The National Gallery in London is to take action against the resale of tickets for its

"blockbuster" Leonardo da Vinci __________.

4.

Alex Hope says his company needs a rich mix of talents: "We're looking for polymaths -

people with computer science, maths, physics or _____ can all thrive."

5.

It said Black Friday purchases made on mobile __________ had accounted for 9.8% of all online sales, compared with 3.2% last year.





Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2011



Page 2 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com



Answers:

1.

And the country has been blessed by providence with beautiful coastlines to north and south and the extraordinary treasures of the ancient civilisation of the Pharaohs in between.

Source: Egypt's tourism hit hard by ongoing unrest





http://bbc.in/sfuet4

2.

Ayan's tastes are reflected in Mumbai's ever growing and ever more luxurious shopping malls in which, as elsewhere in India, the most crowded area is invariably the gaming section where youngsters are given the chance to test their skills on computer screens.

Source: Changing habits illustrate decline of India's comics



http://bbc.in/snkGJr

3.

The National Gallery in London is to take action against the resale of tickets for its

"blockbuster" Leonardo da Vinci exhibition.

Source: Leonardo: National Gallery to act over ticket resales

http://bbc.in/vtCLQx

4.

Alex Hope says his company needs a rich mix of talents: "We're looking for polymaths -

people with computer science, maths, physics or fine arts can all thrive."

Source: Coding - the new Latin





http://bbc.in/w4pqA5

5.

It said Black Friday purchases made on mobile devices had accounted for 9.8% of all online sales, compared with 3.2% last year.

Source: Black Friday and Cyber Monday US internet sales surge

http://bbc.in/vgcBQ1





Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2011



Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com