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1UNIT2MediaWarmup-ThinkingabouttheTopicLookatthethreeimages.1Wherewouldyoufindcreatureslikethese?Haveyouseenanyofthesecreaturesorsimilarcreaturesbefore?1Talkaboutthemwithyourpartner:a.Doanyofthemlooklikerealpeople?b.Howwerethesecreaturesmade?c.Thinkofsomewordstodescribeeachpicture.2Now,worktogetherwithapartnertomakesomesentencesabouttheimages.Speak,donotwrite.Theyallhave...Theylook...BeginningtoReadSkinningtoIdentifytheWriter’sPurposeItisveryimportanttogainanoverallideaofthereadingpassagestructureandthewriter'spurposeBEFOREyoutrytocompletetheIELTSreadingexercises.ComputerGenerationofAnimatedCharacters2Askanyyoungpersontotellyouthenamesofsomefamousmoviesandthechancesarethatmanyofthosementionedwillbepopularbecauseofcomputer-generatedspecialeffects.Moviessuchas‘StarWars','theMatrix'and;HarryPotter'relyheavilyoncomputerstocreatespecialfantasyandspaceeffects.Others,suchasthefamous'LordoftheRings'movies,createdsurprisinglylifelikehumanoidcharactersusingsophisticatedcomputer-generatedtechniques.Thecreativeeffortthatliesbehindthesecreaturesisamazing.However,genuinely'human'characters,indistinguishablefromrealactors,arestillnotquitepossible,althoughwearegettingveryclosetothiselusivegoal.Theprocessofimagininganddevelopingacomputer-generatedcharacteriscomplex,involvingmanystages.Thefirststageistodesignthelookofthecharacter,andtocreateathree-dimensionalmodelonthecomputer.Themodelmustbeabletomoveinarealisticmannerand,mostimportantly,itsfacemustmirrorhumanfaceswhenitlaughs,frownsortalks.Onewaytoachievethisisbybuildingarealskeletonofthemodel.Afterusinglaserstoscantherealmodelintothecomputer,controlsareaddedthatallowthebonesandmusclestobemovedaround.Thisiswherecomputeranimationcomesin.Becausepeoplearesoconsciousofhow'real'faceslook,manydetailedcontrolsareneededonthecomputertomovethedifferentfeaturesoftheface.Uptoahundredmaybeneededtomovethemusclesoftheface,sothatthecharacter'seyes,skin,mouthandotherfeaturesalllooknaturaltooureyes.Afterdesigningallofthecomponentsofthefaceandbody,andthecomputercontrols,thecharacterisreadytomove,orbeanimated.Onewayofachievingthisiscalledmotioncapture,whereapersonactsoutthecharacter,andhismovementsarecapturedbyvideocameraanduploadedintothecomputer.Anotherwayiskey-frameanimation,where,insteadofmodelingactionsfromarealperson,theanimatorsusethecontrolstomoveallofthepartsofthebodyandfacetocreatemovementonthescreen.Thesemethodsareoftenusedtogetherincreatingananimatedcharacter;bothofthemareslowandpainstaking,requiringhoursofeffortandplanning.Enormouscomputerpowerisneededtomakeanimationlookreal.Forthe'LordoftheRings',thousandsofprocessorsandnumerousworkstationswereusedtocreateallofthecharactersandspecialeffects.Therewereupto160peopleworkingoncomputergraphicsforthesethreemovies,whichtookapproximately4millionprocessinghours.Itisestimatedthatthesameprocesswouldhavetakenupto200yearsona4-gigahertzPC!However,despiteallofthisextremelysophisticatedandexpensivetechnology,creatingarealhumanfaceisstillachallengeforouranimators.Peopleareverysensitivetofacialexpressions.Wecanimmediatelypickifafaceisnothuman,ABCDEF3andweoftenhaveastrongreactiontothis.Thecloserthefaceistolookingtrulyhuman,themorenegativethisreactioncanbe;thiseffecthasbeenchristenedthe'uncannyvalley'byJapaneseroboticist*MasahiroMori.However,healsosuggeststhatoncetheanimationgetscloseenoughtotherealthing,webegintofeelpositiveaboutitoncemore.So,maybefutureTomCruisesorLindsayLoanswillbecomputergenerated,andwewillneverknowthedifference.*anexpertondesign,constructionanduseofrobots4ReadthefirstsentenceONLYofeachparagraphinthereadingpassageandanswerthequestionbelow.TakeNOMORETHANFIVEminutestodothis.Doesthisreadingpassage:a.Giveahistoryofsomething?b.Describehowsomethingisdone?c.Compareandcontrasttwothings?d.Discussaproblemandgiveasolution?ScanningforSpecificFactsSometimesinIELTSreadingsyouneedtolookquicklyoverthereadingpassagetofindfacts,dates,numbersornames.ItisimportanttopracticefocussingyoureyesONLYontheinformationyouneed.5Lookquicklyatthepassageandwritedowntheletteroftheparagraphwhichcontainsthefollowinginformation.TakenomorethanTHREEminutestodothis!a.__________MasahiroMorib.__________Keyframeanimationc.___________160d.___________StarWarse.____________Three-dimensionalf.____________Ahundred6Now,matchtheinformationabovetothefollowing.Writetheletteroftheparagraphwhereyouwillfindthisinformationbesideeachone.a.____________Moviename4b.____________Nameofapersonwhoworkswithrobotsc.____________Numberofpeopleworkingonaprojectd.____________Computertechniquee.____________Numberofcomputercontrolsf._____________ComputermodelSkimmingtoSummariestheMainIdea7Now,workwithapartnertocompleteabriefsummaryofthisreadingpassage.Speak,donotwrite.Thispassageisabout...Itdescribes...Ittakes...(finaltwoparagraphs)IELTSTypeQuestions:ReadingforDetailsandforMainIdeasNow,youshouldbeabletoreadthispassagequicklytofinddetailsandanswerthefollowingquestions.LocatingInformationThepassagehas6paragraphs,A-FWhichparagraphcontainsthefollowinginformation?Writethecorrectletter,A-F,besidethestateme