Focus on Words

ack of the house. In Mum and Dad’s room, a large pull-down screen enabled DVD viewing or network
gaming from the bed. An interactive Smart Board gave the daughter access to web games and control of
her Sony Aibo dog. Mobile webpads were used as remote control and Internet access devices, and the
large flat screen TV with access to TiVo’s Digital Video recorder was “a big hit with all ages”.
But not everything got such a positive report. First of all, traditional light switches will replace the
voice-activated ones of the original house. The same goes for a number of other home control areas.
Automated doors will be replaced, especially after one family’s dog got locked in the bathroom. Automated
heating systems, remote-controlled washing machines and Internet fridges also got the thumbs down.
Devices such as the face recognition door entry system and the remotely operated digital bath are “a long
way off” in the minds of consumers.
Wired-up version of the future has been down-graded. People simply aren’t ready for a remotecontrolled,
automated world.
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Can you name?
The word carpet was used until the19th century for any cover made of a thick material, such as a
table cover or wall hanging; Since the introduction of machine -made products, it has been used almost
exclusively for a floor covering. Both in Great Britain and in the United states the word rug is often used
for a partial floor covering as distinguished from carpet, which frequently is tacked to the floor and usually
covers it wall to wall. In reference to hand made carpets, however, the names carpet and rug are used
interchangeably. Handmade carpets are works of art as well as functional objects. Indeed, many Oriental
carpets have reached such supreme heights of artistic expression that they have always been regarded in
the East as objects of exceptional beauty and luxury in the same way as masterpieces of painting have
been in the West.
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