Name: 6 Minute English - Internet and Technology Mega Class! One Hour of New Vocabulary!
Uploaded: 2020-12-15T19:00:50.000Z
Duration: 1 h 1 min 5 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm  Dan and joining me today is Neil. Hey Neil.

程度の副詞

Well, I'll give you a clue. It's something that  makes the world go round, but it doesn't really  

exist. In fact, if we all stopped believing in  it, it would have no use at all! What is it?

Yep! And not just any money, we're  talking about crypto-currency.

Currency is the money that's being used  in a given country at a certain time.  

Well, crypto is a prefix meaning hidden  or secret – it comes from the word cryptic  

which means mysterious or difficult to understand.  

You may have heard about the most popular  crypto-currency at the moment, the Bitcoin.

Well, I've certainly heard the name,  but I can't say I know what it is.

First our quiz question. When was the  Bitcoin crypto-currency first created?

Well, I think 2004 may have been  a little early, and I think 2013  

could be a little late, so  the smart money's on 2009.

We'll see if you're right later on in the  show. So…Bitcoin, what do you know about it?

Well, I know it's a digital currency…so  presumably, you can use it online to buy things?

You are right on the money,  which means correct, both times.  

Bitcoin is just like any other  currency except for two things.  

First, it's not printed by governments or  banks, which means that it's not legal tender.

Legal tender means the official money  that can be used within a country.  

So that means we can't use it to  pay taxes or settle debts, right?

Exactly. Governments won't recognise it as an  official currency, although it acts just like  

one. You can use it to buy items from anyone  who will accept it, and its value fluctuates.

Fluctuates means changes in level or  amount. And what's the second thing?

Ah, the second thing is that bitcoin is a digital  currency, meaning that with the exception of a few  

tokens, it largely exists online only. You can't  carry a load of bitcoins around in your pocket!

Oh dear, Neil. Was that a money pun? Terrible!

So if it's a digital only currency,  where do new ones come from?  

Can't I just say that I've got a  million of them and make myself rich!?

Well, no. You see, even though Bitcoin  is not regulated by a bank or government,  

it still has a process that stops people from  cheating. There are only two ways to get bitcoins.  

You either trade them from  someone, or you go mining.

Oh wait, I've heard about this. This is when  you use your computer to run calculations which  

verify other Bitcoin transactions. You get  rewarded for this 'work' by earning bitcoins.

Yep! It's money for old rope, which  means it's an easy way to earn money.

Wow! I'm going to start mining immediately!

Bitcoin's value has recently gone up quite a lot  and this has caused a lot of interest. In fact,  

one stock exchange in Chicago has begun  trading in Bitcoin futures contracts.

I'll let BBC correspondent  Rory Cellan-Jones explain that.

A futures contract, a bet on where  the currency will be a month from now,  

soared above 18,000 dollars. That means that  investors believe Bitcoin, which started the  

year worth under 1000 dollars will continue  to rise in value, albeit at a slower rate.  

But at the big banks there's still  plenty of scepticism about the currency.

Soared in this context means  increased very quickly. So,  

now big investors are betting on  the value of Bitcoin in the future.

Yes. But he also mentioned that the banks  have a lot of scepticism. That's a doubt  

that something is real or true. In this  case, whether Bitcoin is reliable or not.

Maybe it's best I don't get involved then.  After all, a fool and his money are soon parted.

Well, you don't have to be sceptical  about the answer to our quiz.  

We know that for a fact. I asked you when the  Bitcoin crypto-currency was first created.

And you were right! Well done. Shall  we go over the vocabulary again?

First, we had currency. That's the money being  used in a given country at a certain time.  

Name three currencies and their countries, Dan.

Ok. Baht for Thailand. Rupee for India and  my favourite, Metical for Mozambique. Next  

we had cryptic. Something which is cryptic  is mysterious or difficult to understand.  

For example, what do rich people need, poor  people have and if you eat it, you die?

A cryptic riddle indeed! I'll  have to think about that.  

Then we had legal tender, that's the official  money that can be used within a country.  

The Euro is legal tender within Spain,  but what was the legal tender before that?

Wasn't it the Peseta? Then we had  fluctuates. If something fluctuates,  

it changes in amount or level.  The stock market fluctuates.

But my love for my family never does. Then we  had soared, which means increased very quickly.  

It's used with this meaning in the  context of money, prices and statistics.

Finally, we had scepticism. Scepticism is doubt  

that something is real or true. What sort  of things are people sceptical about, Neil?

Some people think that human activity hasn't  caused climate change. They are sceptical.

And that brings us to the end of today's 6 Minute  English. Don't forget to check out our Youtube,  

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages,  and we'll see you next time. Goodbye.

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Rob.

Now I didn't ask you that just for a  joke or a sarcastic comment now did I?

Well no, but look there's a clock  over there, you are wearing a watch,  

you have a smartphone and a computer, all of  which show the time. So why are you asking me?

Dan! I was trying to introduce today's topic  which is all about virtual assistants or bots.  

Oh yes, sorry. We're talking  about software that you talk to  

and that can talk back to you. Like Apple's  Siri, Google's Assistant, Amazon's Alexa  

and Microsoft's Cortana. It might be on your  phone or computer or even a speaker in your house.

Now before we hear more about this  topic, here is today's quiz question:  

Do you know when was the first computer which  could recognise speech, launched? Was it in

I have found my script, so I've seen the  answer but I have to say I was surprised.

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6 Minute English - Internet and Technology Mega Class! One Hour of New Vocabulary!

expression

genuine

vocabulary

artificial