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Neil: Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil
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Harry: And I'm Harry.
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Neil: Now Harry, have you ever taken a 'selfie'
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that's a photo of yourself, usually with your mobile phone?
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Harry: Yes, I have. I've taken them all over London
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with my children ─ of course selfies are very easy to take with your smartphone and recently
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we've seen some famous selfies featuring well-known people such as the one taken by actor
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Ellen DeGeneres at last year's Oscars ceremony.
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Neil: Yes, it seems that there are no limits to
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the places where you can capture yourself in a photo. But there is a limit on how far
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you can stretch your arm out and take a snap ─ a quick photo of you and your friends.
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Harry: That's true, so thank goodness for the selfie
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stick ─ an expanding pole to put your smartphone on which gives you a wider view. This means
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you can take in more of the background. Sounds like a good idea.
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Neil: It does, but it's also causing a problem in
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some places around the world. More on that in a moment but let's not forget I have a
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question to ask you Harry.
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Harry: OK Neil.
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Neil: Well, we know some people love to take photos
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of themselves but perhaps not as much as Patrick Peterson. According to Guinness World Records
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he has taken the most 'selfies' in one hour ─ but do you know how many? Is it:
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a) 449 b) 1,449
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c) 2,449
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Harry: Well, I guess he's gotta move and be in a
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different position so I'm not going to go for the highest one. I'm gonna say1,449.
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Neil: OK, well, we'll find out the answer at the
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end of the programme. But now let's talk more about the dangers of the selfie stick! They
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can certainly be useful for taking photos from a different viewpoint and it does mean
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that you get more people in your photo.
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Harry: Sales of the selfie stick have soared or
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risen quickly since last year and they are now a common sight at tourist destinations.
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They're great if you want to take a better photo but they're very annoying if you're
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not involved with the photo.
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Neil: Yes and this is particularly frustrating if
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you're trying to look at paintings and sculptures at an art gallery. They just get in the way
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and can be very distracting.
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Harry: You mean they stop someone giving their full
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attention to what they are looking at. Well, this is the reason that some famous art galleries
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around the world are putting a ban on selfie-sticks ─ a ban means they are no longer allowed.
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Neil: Places such as the Smithsonian museums in
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the Washington and the Palace of Versailles in Paris were the first to do this and now
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the National Gallery in London have stopped them being used.
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Harry: Let's hear the exact reasons why from the
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gallery's Doctor Susan Foister. What phrase does she use to mean trying to do the best
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thing for the visitors and for the paintings themselves?
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Doctor Susan Foister: We have over 6 million visitors a year here,
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some of our rooms could get quite crowded, so we have to find the right balance between
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the experience of our visitors close to the paintings and the safety of the paintings
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themselves.
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Neil: So the National Gallery is a popular and busy
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place and it gets quite crowded ─ and it doesn't help the problem if people are holding up
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selfie sticks!
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Harry: Yes ─ so they have imposed or brought in
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... this ban to do the best thing for the visitors and for the paintings themselves
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it's what Doctor Foister called 'the right balance'. She wants to give visitors trying
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to get close to the paintings a good experience.
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Neil: And she makes the point that there's a risk
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that the painting, which can be worth millions of pounds, could be damaged by one of these
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sticks.
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Harry: Of course you are still allowed to take a
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selfie, and some museums are 'sticking their neck out' and still allowing people to use
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them.
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Neil: A good idiom there Harry - you mean they're
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doing something that other people may not like ─ yes, places such as the ICA ─ that's
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the Institute for Contemporary Art ─ in London say selfie sticks are part of modern-day life.
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Harry: Here is Catherine Stout, Head of Programmes
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at the ICA. How does she describe the type of visitors who go to her gallery?
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Catherine Stout: We are very happy for our visitors to take
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their own photographs for personal use, of course we always secure the artist's permission,
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but actually because we have a very young audience they're completely engaged with social
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media, they want to use that forum to connect with each other, to share their experiences,
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if they wish to use a stick they're very welcome to do so as long as, obviously, the artwork
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is not damaged in any way.
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Neil: So the people who visit that gallery are young
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and use social media a lot ─ they are 'engaged' with it and they like to share their experiences.
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This means taking photos on their smartphones and if they want to use a selfie stick?
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Harry: ... then they are 'welcome to do so'. Just
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watch out where you stick it! I suppose, as long as you respect other visitors and don't
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get in the way, then it's ok to use one.
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Neil: Well I'm not so sure. Anyway, it's time to
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reveal the answer to the question I asked you earlier.
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Harry: Yes, this was about Patrick Peterson, who
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holds the record for taking the most selfies in one hour. You asked me if he took 449,
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1,449 or 2,449 in one hour.
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Neil: And you said 1,449, which was ... the correct
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answer! I wonder what he did with all those images ...
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Harry: He probably put them on social media.
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Neil: Well we need to 'stick' to our six minutes
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of English but just before we run out of time, could you remind us of some of the vocabulary
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we've used today Harry?
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Harry: Yes. We had ... selfie, capture, a snap, selfie stick
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viewpoint, soared, distracting, a ban, imposed, sticking their neck out, engaged.
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Neil: Thank you. Well, that's it for now. Go to
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bbclearning.com to find more 6 Minute English programmes. Until next time. Goodbye!
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Harry: Bye!