Prime Time 4, Coursebook

Reading: Mirror on the wall, you are the scariest of them all Each episode of the dystopian TV series Black Mirror is about technology and its dangers. What would have happened if these things had been invented in real life? a) Scan the descriptions of inventions shown in Black Mirror episodes. As quickly as possible, try to find out what these things are. Write the explanations in the table below. merits bonus points people can earn by cycling long enough, they have replaced money Arkangel Infinity Nosedive Callister b) The sentence “What would have happened if these things had been invented in real life?” is about … a past that never was real. a present situation. a possible future situation. c) Match each sentence with one of the words in the green boxes in a). 1. If I had not behaved so badly, I would have been allowed to move to Manhattan. 2. Lucy wouldn’t have had so many nightmares if she had not seen the car accident. 3. If I had been stronger, I would have been able to buy some food for dinner. 4. His avatar would have been stronger if he hadn’t experienced so many bad things. 1. Nosedive 5 Info A dystopia is an imaginary place where everything is bad and unpleasant. i In the episode “Nosedive”, people use a social network site to say how well they like other people the same way we do with restaurants and hotels. If lots of people like you, you can rent a nicer flat or have a better job. In another dystopian society shown in the series, people have to cycle on stationary bikes to produce electricity. If they cycle long enough, they get “merits”. These are bonus points people use instead of money. One episode is about a digital DNA scanner that people use to create lifelike avatars of real people. These avatars are used in a virtual reality game called “Infinity”. The avatars, who are on board the spaceship “Callister”, even have the same memories as the people they copy. This episode also shows what happens if adverts can react to people’s eye movements. If they look away from the screen, the ad pauses. Once they look at it again, the ad continues. Black Mirror “Arkangel” is a tool that can be implanted into a child’s head. The parents can then control their child by using a tablet. They always know where their child is and can even view the world through the child’s eyes. If the parents don’t like what the kids experience, they can change their memories easily. 107 13 one hundred and seven Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv