Question 1.
Before reading the story, attempt the following working in groups of four or five.
(a) Do you play computer games ? How many hours do you spend playing games on the computer as compared to outdoor games?
(b) Make a list of your favourite games. Have a class discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of computer games.
(c) Look in your dictionaries/computer to find synonyms for the word ‘virtual’.
(d) Look at the K.W.L. chart given on next page. Based on the information you have gathered till now, complete the K and W columns. You may work with your partner. After reading the story complete the third column.
| K-What I know |
W-What I want to know |
L-What I learnt |
|
| Virtual Reality | |||
| Virtual Environment | |||
| 3-D/three-dimensional | |||
| Simulation games | |||
| Computer simulations | |||
| Interactive psycho-drive games | |||
| Teleporting |
(a) Yes I play computer games. I spend at least 4—5 hours in playing computer games.
(b) My favourite games are:
Delta force
Fifa
NBA
Cricket
Advantages:
- Play when you want
- You can start again if you lose
- Play with a friend
- More visual and usually audio than a book or board game
- Animation
- Wide variety
- Some games are educational
- Entertainment
Disadvantages:
- Failing vision
- Violent tendencies
- Less thought processing
- Low imagination
- Can cause seizures
- Cost money every time you play (or every time you change batteries)
- Less exercise
- Can be addictive and take up too much of your time.
(c) Virtual — near, practical, effective, fundamental, essential, actual
| Virtually True | K-What I Know | W—What I want to Know | L-What I learn |
| Virtual Reality | Computer- simulated environment | Benefits of virtual reality | “Quick to learn” real time experiences, easy to create virtual replicas of caves, old towns and monuments. |
| Virtual Environment | It is a place where things, that can be manipulated, are kept. | Some examples of virtual environment | Multi-user games, multiuser chat systems. |
| 3-D/three Dimensional | a graphic display involving three aspects i.e., width, depth and height. | How is it different from 2D? | 3-D experiences make it seem as if we’are really part of the experience. |
| Simulation games | It attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game. | Are these helpful in the domain of education also? | Yes, these games help in teaching complex concepts in a fun way. These include board, card and video games. |
| Computer simulations | Types of games Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Hockey, racing | Other areas where these games are helpful in learning concepts. | Medical simulation games are helpful in practicing concepts like the Brain, Under the Knife, etc. |
| Interactive psycho- drive games | These games are played with a virtual reality visor and glove, which have the ability to change what a person can see. They control the actions by their thoughts. | Are these games really as harmless as shown in the story? | No, infact these games contribute to aggressive behaviour in teenagers. They feel isolated from the society. |
| Teleporting | Transferring matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. | Why is human transportation still a far- fetched idea? | To transport a person, computer would have to pinpoint and analyze all of the 1028 atoms the make up the human body. |
| The information then has to be sent to another location where another machine would have to reconstruct the body with exact precision that leaves a chance of errors. |
A. Exercises
Question 2.
(a) According to the newspaper, what had happened to Sebastian Shultz?
(b) ‘Dad’s nutty about computers.’ What evidence is there to support this statement
(c) In what way did the second game seem very real?
(d) The last game has tanks, jeeps, helicopters and guns. Under which headings would you put this and the other games?
(e) What was Michael’s theory about how Sebastian had entered the games?
B. Reference to context
Read these lines from the story, then answer the questions.
‘That was my idea’ said Sebastian excitedly. ‘If only it would go a bit faster.’
(a) Where was Sebastian when he spoke these words?
(b) What was his idea, and what was he referring to?
(c) Was the idea a good one, and did it eventually succeed? How?
A. Exercises
(a) Sebastian Shultz awoke from a coma that doctors feared might last forever.
(b) Dad got a Pentium 150 Mhz processor, with 256 of RAM, a 1.2 Gb hard disk drive and 16 speed CD ROM, complete with speakers, printer, modem and scanner. It could do anything. Paint, play music, create displays; even when authors homework was rubbish, it looked fantastic.
(c) The second game seemed real as if Michael himself was trying to save the princess and had also met Sir Sebastian.
(d) Resque Champ
(e) Sebastian Shultz was the second Sheriff in the Dragon Quest
B. Reference to context
(a) Sebastian was on the roof of the jail
(b) His idea was to call for a helicopter. He was referring to that if the helicopter arrived Sebastian and Michael would escape in it.
(c) The idea was good, but it did not succeed, for Sebastian Shultz had slipped and was tumbling back through the air, down the concrete below.
Question 3.
Answer the following questions briefly.
(a) Why did the news of the ‘miracle recovery’ shock Michael?
(b) Michael’s meeting with Sebastian Shultz had been a chance meeting. Where had it taken place and how?
(c) What kind of computers fascinated Michael and his dad? Why?
(d) Describe the first place where Michael was virtually transported.
(e) What help did Sebastian Shultz ask Michael for? How did he convey this message?
(f) Why did Michael fail in rescuing Sebastian Shultz the first time?
(g) The second attempt to rescue Sebastian Shultz too was disastrous. Give reasons.
(h) Narrate the accident that injured Sebastian Shultz.
(i) How had Sebastian Shultz entered the games?
(j) How was Sebastian Shultz’s memory stored on Michael’s disk? How did Michael discover that?
(a) Michael was shocked by the news of the miracle recovery for he thought that Sebastian Shultz couldn’t be the boy he had met. Six weeks ago he was badly injured in a motorway accident, his condition in the hospital was described as critical though stable. Sebastian didn’t regain consciousness. His parents were informed that the boy was in a coma.
Michael met Sebastian Shultz by chance through the computer game, when Sebastian Shultz was badly injured. His memory was saved in a computer when he banged his head during the accident. When Michael played the game, he entered into Sebastian’s memory and so he met him.q
(c) Michael and his dad were fascinated by computers that had got a Pentium 150 Mhz processor, with 256 of RAM, a 1.2 Gb hard disk drive and 16 speed CD ROM, complete with speakers, printer, modem and scanner, because it could do anything. Paint, play music, create displays; even when his homework was rubbish, it looked fantastic.
(d) Michael found himself striding down the dusty track through the centre of the town. There was a Sheriff’s badge pinned on his shirt, he was virtually transported into a saloon.
(e) Sebastian Shultz asked Michael to retrieve him. As Michael slipped off the visor, the empty desert disappeared and he found himself back in the power base, then he noticed that printer had come on. At the top was a picture of the second Sheriff on the piece of paper printed over the bottom of the message PLEASE HELP TO RETRIEVE ME. TRY ‘DRAGONQUEST’ Sebastian Shultz.
(f) Michael failed to rescue Sebastian Shultz the first time because the second Sheriff appeared waving his arms shouting ‘don’t go out’. He was about Michael’s age though he looked like a computer image, but didn’t move like one. He told Michael to follow him. They raced down a corridor and ran, passed some men, but they ended up back in the saloon. The second Sheriff jumped on a horse and they both sped off at that moment.
The gun shot echoed and the second Sheriff (Sebastian Shultz) groaned and slumped back.
(g) The second attempt to rescue Sebastian Shultz too was disastrous because the aim of the game was to rescue the princess from a tall tower, but a second knight appeared from the wardrobe and told Michael, ‘It’s me who needs rescuing’. Michael saw it was Sebastian to escape from the tower Sebastian chopped off the Princess’s long plaits and with them slipped from the window down. As Michael lowered himself down, the dragon followed them and when they turned the dragon was upon them, but the dragon was only interested in Sebastian. There was nothing that Michael could do to prevent them.
(h) Sebastian Shultz was injured in a motorway accident. His condition was critical at the hospital, he did not regain consciousness, he was in a coma.
(i) When the accident occurred, Sebastian was using his laptop to play one of the same psychodrive games that Michael had bought. When he banged his head in the accident the computer had saved his memory in its own.
(j) Sebastian Shultz’s memory was stored in Michael’s disk while he was in hospital. Someone stole Sebastian Shultz’s games and they ended up at the computer fair from where Michael’s father bought them. So, he restored in his disk when he played them. Sebastian Shultz had a close brush with death. After he had recovered, he returned to school and narrated his experience to his classmates. Yes Michael’s discovered that.
Question 4.
Sebastian Shultz had a close brush with death. After he recovers, he returns to school and narrates his experience to his classmates. As Sebastian Shultz, narrate your experience.
I was badly injured in a motorway accident. I was rushed to the general hospital, where the doctors said I was critical but stable. I did not regain consciousness. I was in a coma.
The doctors tried their best. The coma could last forever. My parents were worried. Everyone who knew me was praying for my recovery. A miracle was needed. Suddenly, I came out of coma and this was a shocking news. The news appeared as the headlines in a newspaper. When the accident occurred, I banged my head against the laptop on which I was playing in the car. My memory was saved in the computer. When Michael played the game, he entered in my memory. Michael had bought the games from the computer fair.
Someone had stolen these games from my house. Michael got messages from me that I wanted to be rescued. He was the second Sheriff and the knight (myself) was the boy from the game. Michael had seen the proof in the newspaper. Michael had saved me.
Question 5.
Continue the story.
Will Michael and Sebastian Shultz meet in real life? Will they be friends? Will they try to re-enter the virtual world together? You may use the following hints:
- How the accident occurred
- Transfer of memory
- Meeting with Michael
- Appeals for help
- Rescue and recovery
Sebastian Shultz was injured in a motorway accident. His head had banged against the laptop on which he was playing a game when the accident occurred. His memory got transferred to the computer. At the time of the accident, Sebastian was playing the same Psycho Drive game that Michael had. The computer had saved Sebastian memory in its own. Michael wondered how Sebastians memory could come on his computer. He remembered Mr. Shultz had said to one of the reporters that they were off to pile up some games. It was while they were in the hospital, that someone stole the lot. He didn’t know what happened to them. Michael said that the games ended . up at the computer fair and they bought them. Michael received a message from Sebastian that he was not sure how it all happened. He thanked Michael for saving his life and wanted to meet him. Sebastian after a long coma recovered, everything that had been described was virtually true. Michael and Sebastian would surely meet in real life as friends and would try to re-enter the virtual world together.
Question 6.
Put the following sentences in a sequential order to complete the story.
(a) Sebastian Shultz was badly injured in a motorway accident and went into a coma.
(b) Sebastian’s memory was saved in the computer when he banged his head on it during the accident.
(c) When Michael played the game, he entered Sebastian’s memory.
(d) Michael bought the latest psycho-drive games from the Computer Fair.
(e) Sebastian Shultz was the second sheriff in the ‘Dragonquest’.
(f) Michael pulled Sebastian into the helicopter and the screen flashed a score of 40,000,000.
(g) Sebastian requested Michael to try ‘Jailbreak’.
(h) Sebastian failed to save the boy who fell through the air.
(i) Sebastian thought the helicopter was the right idea and they should go into the ‘Warzone’.
(j) The games were stolen from Shultz’s house.
(k) Sebastian thanks Michael for saving his life and asks him to keep the games.
1. – (a)
2. – (b)
3. – (j)
4. – (d)
5. – (c)
6. – (e)
7. – (g)
8. – (h)
9. – (i)
10. – (f)
11. – (k)
Question 7.
Do you think it is a true story ? Could it happen to you one day ? Here are some opinions about computer games in general.
.
It is a true story and could happen to anyone one day, but computer games, if played in excess may harm one. Too much, time is wasted and the person starts leading a sedentary life. The games cause addiction and they have negative impact on health. Too much addiction to computer makes a person suffer from psychological imbalance. Sebastian hit his head against the computer while being driven in a car. This addiction of playing computer games made him suffer for life. Computer games promote violence and aggression, they reduce one’s social skills and detach one from reality.
Question 8.
Do you think these opinions are biased ? Write an article entitled ‘Virtual games are a reality’.
Virtual Games are a Reality
The opinions whether computer games are biased or not is a matter of serious consideration. Let’s know more about these games. Virtual games are a fad among teenagers as well as adults and are played in a computer simulated environment that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world or imagined worlds. Most of these games include visual experiences, displayed on a computer screen, sensory information through headphones, etc. These games make use of standard input devices like keyboard and mouse or multi-modal devices such as a wired glove and omni-directional treadmills. While playing, the player feels himself/herself to be inside the scene with the action going all round. Virtual reality may impact human life and activity significand. It enables heritage sites to be recreated extremely accurately, develops virtual replicas of caves and monuments. It has therapeutic uses also like treatment of different phobias and to treat the patients who are in another location by projecting a 3-D avatar of the therapist to treat the patient. However, these games have a dark side also. The adrenaline rush that occurs while playing, can alter the behaviour of the player negatively. These games involve a high degree of ‘immersion and the boundary between real and virtual life gets blurred. In order to harness the full benefits of virtual reality, one should be sensitized, to warn off the possible dangers.