Sun worries? Let your bikini do the talking

[영어도우미]

Sun worries? Let your bikini do the talking

New swimsuit features a built-in warning when it's time for shade

NEW YORK - As the bikini turns 60, it’s entering the electronic age with a new model featuring a built-in alarm to warn wearers to get out of the sun -- and ease concerns that the scanty swimsuits damage the health.

 

So Canadian company Solestrom has come up with a new bikini that goes on sale next month with a UV meter built into its belt and an alarm that beeps to tell wearers when to head to the shade.

 

The meter on the $190 bikini displays a level of UV intensity on a scale from 0 to 20. A person’s sensitivity to UV depends mainly on skin type, but generally three to five would be considered moderate strength, 8-10 very high and anything above 11 extreme.

 

Garassa said the company was already seeing high demand from Australia and South Africa, which have the world’s highest skin cancer rates. The United States has about 1 million new skin cancer cases each year.

 

Despite increasing awareness of the sun’s dangers, sales remain strong for the bikini, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this month.

 

The two-piece suit was officially named the bikini in July 1946 by French automotive engineer Louis Reard who persuaded nude dancer Micheline Bernardini to appear in his design at a Paris beauty contest.

 

Reard named the design after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, where the United States tested an atomic bomb, because he thought the excitement over it would be like an explosion.

 

 

Full Story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14027049/

Vocabulary:

(click on the space after the word to hear the correct pronunciation)

bikini
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Bikini, atoll of the Marshall Islands
1 a : a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit b : a man's brief swimsuit
2 : a man's or woman's low-cut briefs

built-in
Function: adjective
1 a : forming an integral part of a structure or object <a camera with a built-in flash>

scanty
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): scantier; -est
: limited or less than sufficient in degree, quantity, or extent

 UV
Function: abbreviation
ultraviolet

Guide Questions:

 

1. Where do you usually spend you summer vacation? Why do you like going to this place? Who do you bring with you?

 

2. What are the activities that you like to do? (Ex. swimming, beach volleyball, sandcastle-making, etc.)

 

3. During summer season, do you see a lot of women wearing a bikini? What do you think of them?

 

4. Do Koreans still have a traditional opinion of women wearing bikinis or skimpy beach clothing?

 

5. What do Korean men usually wear when they go swimming at pools or beaches?

 

6. Do you think that women who like wearing bikinis are exposing themselves to sun damage? Why or why not?

 

7. How do you keep yourself safe from sun damage? When did you become aware that the sun can cause damage to our bodies?

 

8. Do you think that it's a good idea that the manufacturers of bikinis have decided to include a built-in alarm system? Why or why not?

 

9. Do you think that the inclusion of this built-in alarm in bikinis will boost its sales? Why or why not?