Part 1 What’s a Selfie?

Vladimir： Hey Ana， why are you holding your phone up like that？ Are you trying to get a better signal？

Anastasia： No， silly. I’m taking a selfie！

Vladimir： A what？

Anastasia： A selfie. It basically means a picture of yourself taken by you， yourself.

Vladimir： Seems like a pretty old concept. So， why am I only hearing about the word now？

Anastasia： I don’t know， ①maybe because you’re always behind the times…

Vladimir： That is true. How long has the term， selfie， been around？

Anastasia： Well， the word was supposedly created about a decade ago by some Australian， who posted it on an online forum. I tend to believe it， since the Aussies are known to create their own idioms ending in the letters“ie”.

Vladimir： Yeah， that makes sense.

Anastasia： ②The word really started to take off around the time Myspace was in its heyday， in 2006！ And the world of social networking， as a whole， has played a 1）pivotal role in its ultimate 2）ascension.

Vladimir： ③But it’s not like people just started taking pictures of themselves， out of the blue， in the early 90’s.

Anastasia： No， people have actually been photographing themselves since the 1800’s， 1839 to be exact， when Robert Cornelius， an American pioneer in photography， produced a 3）daguerreotype of himself， which also happens to be one of the first ever photographs of any person.

Vladimir： （Yawn）...④Looks like someone has been brushing up on their photographic history. Anastasia： ⑤That’s cuz I’m the whole package： pretty， talented and 4）smart as a whip. Vladimir： But the question remains， what’s the purpose of a selfie？ And why were you taking one just now？

Anastasia： Hmmm…I guess， even though I know I’m attractive， it’s nice to get positive 5）reinforcement， on occasion， from my friends and family.

Vladimir： Sounds like kind of a girly thing to me.

Anastasia： Primarily， yes. But it’s also a way for boys and girls to connect with each other.

Vladimir： How so？

Anastasia： Well， there’s this boy I like. So I’m trying to take the perfect picture of myself， from an 6）acute， 7）elevated angle， in order to highlight my best features. Then I’ll send the selfie， to this certain boy， in hopes that he likes what he sees and sends one back in return.

Vladimir： Wow， what a complicated process. ⑥I guess this is what 8）wooing and 9）courtship have come to in this crazy digital age. Hold on. I’m getting some sort of 10）multimedia message on my phone. It’s downloading now… Wait！ Is this the selfie you just took？

Anastasia： Yep！ How did it come out？

Vladimir： You actually do look kinda cute looking up at the camera like that. I wish I could send you one back， but my phone is on the rather stupid end of the smartphone 11）spectrum， so it doesn’t have a front camera on it.

Anastasia： That’s OK！ Come here. We can take one together using my phone.

Vladimir： But is it still considered a selfie if two of us are in the picture？

Anastasia： Of course， as long as one of us takes the shot. So say cheese！

Both： Cheese！

Smart Sentences

① Maybe because you’re always behind the times… 或許因為你總是落后于時代……

behind the times： sb. or sth. are unfashionable（舊式，落后于時代）。例如：

My grandma refuses to be behind the times. She has learned to use social media and shop online.

我奶奶不愿意落后于時代，她學會了如何使用社交媒體和網購。

② The word really started to take off around the time Myspace was in its heyday， in 2006！ 這個詞真正開始流行開來大概是在聚友社交網絡2006年的鼎盛時期！

in its heyday： during the period of greatest success（全盛時期）。例如：

John left the company in its heyday to found another successful company.

約翰在公司的全盛時期離開，又開創了另一家成功的企業。

③ But it’s not like people just started taking pictures of themselves， out of the blue， in the early 90’s. 然而人們不像是在20世紀90年代初才突然間開始為自己拍照的。

out of the blue： sth. happens suddenly（突然地）。例如：

The layoff came out of the blue and caught everyone off guard.

這次裁員沒有先兆，讓所有人都措手不及。

④ Looks like someone has been brushing up on their photographic history. 看來有人已經好好溫習過攝影歷史了。

brush up： improve one’s knowledge of sth.， or refresh one’s memory（提高，重溫）。例如：

I need to brush up my Portuguese before going to Brazil for the World Cup.

我去巴西看世界杯之前，要好好復習一下葡萄牙語。

⑤ That’s cuz I’m the whole package： pretty， talented and smart as a whip. 那是因為我是個十全十美的人：天生麗質、才華橫溢，并且絕頂聰明。

the whole package： a person possessing many excellent qualities（一個有各種優秀條件的人，完人）。例如：

Jason is handsome， a good student， and active in community service； he is the whole package.

賈森人帥氣，既是個好學生，在社區服務中也很活躍，他簡直太完美了。

⑥ I guess this is what wooing and courtship have come to in this crazy digital age. 我想這就是在瘋狂的數碼時代發展而成的求愛方式。

come to： arrive at or reach （a certain state）（發展到某個程度，得到某個結果）。例如：

So after months of fighting and negotiation， what do you think Syria will come to？

經過數月的戰爭與談判，你覺得敘利亞最終會變成什么樣？

1） pivotal [？？？？？？？？] n. 中樞的；關鍵的

2） ascension [？？？？？？？？] n. 上升，升高

3） daguerreotype [？？？？？？？？？？？？] n.用早期銀板照相法所照的相

4） smart as a whip 聰明靈活

5） reinforcement [？？？？？？？？？？？？？？？] n.增強；加固

6） acute [？？？？？？？] adj. 成銳角的

7） elevate [？？？？？？？？] v. 舉起；抬高；加大仰角

8） woo [？？？] v. （男人）求愛，求婚9） courtship [？？？？？？？？] n. 求愛；求婚10） multimedia message 彩信，多媒體信息

11） spectrum [？？？？？？？？？] n. [無]（射頻，無線電信號）頻譜