雅思口语Part 3 科技帮人们节省时间还是浪费时间？

IELTS SPEAKING PART 3

科技帮人们节省时间还是浪费时间？

在雅思口语中，科技话题是一个高频话题，与之相关的问题也十分广泛。通常会结合其他话题进行提问，比如科技与教育、科技与农业、科技与人际关系、科技与环境等等。

在当季雅思口语Part 3中，有这样一个问题：你认为科技到底是帮人们节省了时间还是让人们更多在浪费时间？其实对于Part 3观点类的这种问题，大家可以根据自己的储备积累和认识选择“是”、“否”或“让步+转折”的回答。

就这个问题而言，很多同学第一时间想到的还是科技给人们带来的巨大便利，而其中之一便是帮人们节省了很多时间。但在进行拓展解释时，能利用的例子或素材相对有限。在今天的文章中，蔡蔡老师帮大家梳理了几组可借用的例子/素材以及相关的表达，希望对大家有所启发和帮助。 

1）（餐饮）线上订座或下单为人们节省了到店等待的时间

Dining out can sometimes be time-consuming, especially if the restaurant is hugely popular. When you arrive by 6 p.m. or so - the peak time for dinner, you’ll probably see hordes of customers waiting outside for an available table. With an online table reservation system, diners can check occupancy levels, make a booking on the go and be informed of the estimated waiting time so that when they get to the dining establishment, they don’t have to spend extra time waiting.

time-consuming 耗时的

peak time 高峰时间

hordes of 成群的，许多的

check occupancy level 查看占座情况

make a booking on the go 在路上进行预订

dining establishment 餐厅，吃饭的地方

Almost all chain cafes and juice bars have adopted a mini-program or application, with which customers can browse through the digital menu and make and place pickup orders while dealing with something else. When their drink is ready, they’ll get an alert/notice. Then they simply go to the store and collect whatever is ordered in advance.  

adopt 采用v.

browse through 浏览

make and place pickup orders 下“到店取货”订单

alert/notice 提醒

in advance 提前

2）有了手机应用或小程序，人们无需再花时间去营业厅缴纳各种费用

Before the early 21st century, people generally had to travel to certain premises to pay their utility bills, internet bills, and such. However, today, with customer-friendly applications and mini-programs enabled by WeChat or Alipay, people can foot such bills while at home. All they need is to log on to their account, choose the type of bill, and then confirm the payment. 

premise 场所，地方

utility bills 水电费

and such 诸如此类

customer-friendly 便于客户使用的

foot bills 支付账单

log on to their account 登陆他们的账户

confirm the payment 确实支付

3）机场自助服务柜台节省了旅客值机、托运行李的时间

Self-catered kiosks have become virtually universal at airports nowadays. Unlike those in the past, who lined up/queued up at the counter to get their boarding pass and check in their luggage, and make a service request, travellers today are allowed to do these at the self-catered kiosks. Or even more conveniently, they can have these done simply by visiting the airline’s website or the airline’s application. Once the online check-in is completed, a QR code or an electronic boarding pass will be sent to the traveller’s email/phone. This undoubtedly makes their travel day easier and saves them a fair amount of time.

self-catered kiosk 自助式柜机

universal 普遍的

line up/queue up 排队

counter 柜台

boarding pass 登机牌

check in one’s luggage  托运行李

当然，除了以上这些例子，大家也可以谈论、描述“更发达完善的交通运输减少了人们出行的路途时间”“医院线上预约”“线上购买火车票、机票”“新兴家用电器如扫地机器人、洗碗机、可定时的电饭煲”等等。