Video: Why books are here to stay

(B1), B2, C1

When digital books, or e-books, first appeared on the market, it was predicted that the physical book would suffer from the competition and maybe disappear completely. And yet today many people still prefer to read real paperbacks or hardcover books. In this short video from TED, graphic designer Chip Kidd explains why physical books will continue to remain popular. After comparing your own ideas on the subject with the video, you will do some exercises to understand and practise different linking words and sentence structures. Video time: 3 minutes 10 seconds Activity time: 30 to 45 minutes. 
 

Task:

(The exercises that follow are also available on a pdf here.)

1 Make a list of reasons why physical books remain popular despite the competition from e-books. Then watch the video and compare your answers. (NB On the video screen you can activate or disable the subtitles as necessary)

2  Match 1-7 to a-h to make eight complete sentences from the video. Then watch again to check.

1  Don't do that unless

2  Actually, it can sort of
3  It wasn't until then
4  So people would take them off
5  It delivered a user interface that was unlike
6  I believe that the core purpose of a physical book is
7  You don't really get that
8  A shelf of books, frankly, is made to outlast you,

a  to record our existence and to leave it behind on a shelf…
b  and throw them away.
c  you never intend to see that book again.
d  from anything else.
e  no matter who you are.
f  anything that people had before.
g  that there was any kind of consumption of books by a large audience.
h  be your friend.

3  Look at the underlined words in phrases 1-8 in Exercise 2. What do the words refer to? e.g. Don’t do that unless… What is “that”?

4  Look how these words are used in Exercise 2. Then complete the following sentences with the same words.

unless   actually    sort of     until     unlike      frankly     no matter     anything

1  I don’t know if the book is available as an e-reader. And _______________ , I don’t care!
2  The book got very bad reviews, but I thought it was  _______________ very good. 
3  How would I describe the book?  Quite dark, _______________ scary, really.  
4  We won’t know what happens to the hero _______________ the last book of the trilogy comes out.
5  I wouldn’t recommend this paperback _______________ you enjoy cheap airport novels!
6  _______________ the critics, most of whom loved it, I thought the book was really badly written.
7  A friend said it made her cry, but there wasn’t _______________ in the book that moved me.
8  I always find half an hour to read every day, _______________ how busy I am.   

The answers are at the end of this activity.

Answers

Exercise 2
1c   2h  3g  4b  5f  6a 7d  8e

Exercise 3
1  that = lend a book to someone
2  It = a book
3  then = the mid-fifteenth century when the printing press was invented
4  them = book covers (or “dust wrappers” or book jackets)
5  It = the physical book (when it was first printed)
7  that = the experience of holding a book, turning the pages, marking your progress, the smell of fresh ink or aging papers     

Exercise 4
1 frankly (= “to be honest”)
2  actually (= “in fact”)
3  sort of  (an expression we use when we’re trying to find the right word to describe something)
4  until
5  unless  (= if you don’t)
6  unlike  (the opposite of “like”)
7 anything
8 no matter (“no matter how” = however, “no matter who” = whoever etc)