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Dan: Hello, I'm Dan…

Alice: And I'm Alice.

Dan: And this is 6 Minute English from the BBC. Today it's all about

computers on 6 Minute English, because we're wishing a happy

birthday to the World Wide Web!

Alice: That's right. Tim Berners-Lee published the first website 20 years ago,

in August 1991.

Dan: We should explain that the World Wide Web is different to the Internet.

A lot of people don't realise that they're different things, but in fact the

Internet was created in 1969 as a US military project, to connect

computers around the world.

Alice: But the World Wide Web was new technology that allowed people to

access information more easily.

Dan: So we know that Tim Berners-Lee published the first website using the

World Wide Web 20 years ago, in August 1991. But today's question for

you Alice is: roughly¹ how many websites are there in the world today, in

August 2011? Is it:

a) 6.5 billion

b) 12.8 billion 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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c) 19.7 billion

Alice: I'll go for 12.8 billion.

Dan: OK we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme. First, let's have

a listen to the BBC reporter Richard Westcott. Here he is talking about

the 20th anniversary² of the World Wide Web. He uses a great word in

this report Alice – gobbledygook. Can you explain that for us?

Alice: Of course, Gobbledygook. It means language that you can't

understand; something that's nonsense³. It comes from the sound

turkeys, I suppose, make, when they go 'gobble gobble gobble' –

they're talking gobbledygook.

Dan: Other good phrases that mean the same thing are gibberish and

mumbo jumbo. If you say someone's talking gibberish or talking

mumbo-jumbo, it means they're talking rubbish, and you can't

understand them. So listen out for the word gobbledygook in this report.

Also, how does the reporter describe the web?

Richard Westcott, BBC reporter

Now the World Wide Web is actually different from the Internet. No, I didn't

realise that either. The internet is much older; the web is actually the bit that

turns all the gobbledygook computer language into easy to read pages, all

linked together, that you can access on any computer. It's the worldwide book

that anybody can read or write.

Dan: He describes the web as a 'worldwide book that anybody can read or

write'. Because we were using easy-to-read pages, rather than

gobbledygook computer language, the web meant that, in theory,

anyone could set up a website. 

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Alice: Anyone could set up a website. To set something up means to start

something or to build something. So if you set up a website you start

that website.

Dan: So the first website was set up 20 years ago at CERN, the European

Centre for Nuclear Research. But how did websites become so popular?

Professor Wendy Hall is a computer scientist at the University of

Southampton in England. She explains that as Tim Berners-Lee

spread the word about the World Wide Web other scientists set up

their own websites.

Alice: Tim Berners-Lee spread the word about the web. The phrase spread

the word means that you're telling a lot of people about something –

you're literally⁴ spreading the word, like you spread butter on bread.

Dan: So let's listen to Professor Hall using the phase⁵ spreading the word in

this clip⁶. How does she describe the sort of people who started setting⁷

up websites?

Professor Wendy Hall, University of Southampton

In the first place there was one website; the one Tim set up at CERN. As he

started spreading the word, others, very early adopters, generally, scientists,

geeks, started setting up websites.

Dan: So it was scientists, early adopters and geeks who started setting up

their own websites.

Alice: Early adopters. That's quite a new phrase. It means someone who

starts using new technology as soon as it becomes available.

Dan: And what about geeks? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Alice: Geeks. Now, this is an interesting word. It's an American slang⁸ word

that used to mean someone who was uncool or unfashionable. If you

called someone a geek it was a bit of an insult⁹. But now geek quite

often means someone who is really interested in a particular topic. So

you could be an arts geek, or a history geek, or even an Englishlanguage

geek!

Dan: And these were technology geeks, who started creating their own

websites. They were the early adopters of the World Wide Web. Let's

hear the clip again, and listen carefully for the phrases 'spreading the

word', 'early adopters', 'geeks' and 'setting up.'

Professor Wendy Hall, University of Southampton

In the first place there was one website; the one Tim set up at CERN. As he

started spreading the word, others, very early adopters, generally, scientists,

geeks, started setting up websites.

Dan: OK Alice, at the beginning of the programme I asked you how many

websites are there in the world in August 2011? Is it:

a) 6.5 billion

b) 12.8 billion

c) 19.7 billion

Alice: And I guessed 12.8 billion 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Dan: Well 12.8 billion is a large number but in fact there are a lot more. There

are almost 19.7 billion websites in the world, according to recent figures.

That's three times the size of the earth's population. It's a huge number.

So the World Wide Web was an incredible¹⁰ development, which let

people set up their own websites and really get the most out of the

internet.

Dan: Well Alice, we're almost at the end of the show, so could you just give

us a reminder¹¹ of some of the vocabulary we've heard today.

Alice: Of course, we had:

Gobbledygook

Gibberish

Mumbo-jumbo

To set something up

To spread the word

Early adopters

Geeks

Dan: Thanks Alice

Alice: See you next time!

Both: Bye! 

1 roughly   

adv.概略地，粗糙地，粗鲁地

参考例句：

• If you treat your coat so roughly,it will be worn out soon.你如果这么糟蹋你的外套，它很快就不能穿了。
• The island is roughly circular in shape.这个岛屿大致是圆形的。

2 anniversary   

n.周年(纪念日)

参考例句：

• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
• Today is my parents'30th wedding anniversary.今天是我父母结婚30周年纪念日。

3 nonsense   

n.胡说，废话

参考例句：

• Go along with you! What you say is all nonsense!去你的！你说的全是废话！
• "Don't talk nonsense",she said sharply.“别胡扯”，她严厉地说。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 phase   

n.相位，时期，局面，阶段；vt.逐步执行，实行，按计划进行

参考例句：

• The first phase of the project has been completed.第一期工程已经告一段落。
• It was a very important phase of history.它是一个非常重要的历史阶段。

6 clip   

n.夹子，别针，弹夹，片断；vt.夹住，修剪

参考例句：

• May I clip out the report on my performance?我能把报道我的文章剪下来吗？
• She fastened the papers together with a paper clip.她用曲别针把文件别在一起。

7 setting   

n.背景

参考例句：

• The play has its setting in Vienna.该剧以维也纳为背景。
• Where and when a story takes place is called the setting.故事发生的地点和时间称为故事背景。

8 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

9 insult   

vt.侮辱，凌辱；n.侮辱的言词或行为

参考例句：

• You will insult her if you don't go to her party. 你要是不去参加她举办的聚会，就对她太无礼了。
• I can't sit down with that insult.我不能忍受那种侮辱。

10 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

11 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。