2. 21. Television in modern life

Read the text, find questions inside it and answer them.

How do people usually answer to questions like "What are you going to do tonight?" or "What are you doing at the weekend?" In other words, how do people spend their free time?

Some twenty or thirty years ago the usual answers used to be: "We're going to the theatre (or to the cinema)" or "We're going to a party" or "We're having some friends round". Now you very often

hear "We're going to stay at home and watch the telly!"

A first-rate colour TV set has become an ordinary thing in the household today, and a video cassette recorder is quickly becoming one.

Modern television offers the viewers several programmes on different channels. In addition to regular newscasts you can see plays and films, operas and ballets, and watch all kinds of contests, quizzes, and sporting events. You can also get a lot of useful information on the educational channel. A good serial (perhaps, a detective story or a screen version of a classical novel) can keep the whole family in front of the telly for days, and don't we spend hours and hours watching our favourite football or hockey team in an important international event?

Television most definitely plays a very important part in people's lives. But is this a good thing or a bad one? Haven't we become lazier because of television? Don't we go out less often than we used to? Don't we read less?

We tend to view more and listen less, as time goes on. Take, for example, meetings between famous people in various walks of life. We like seeing the people taking part in these discussions. Merely hear their voices is not quite the same thing.

We also like to watch television programmes dealing with animals and birds and all kinds of living things in their natural surroundings, as well as to watch sporting events in actual progress. Above all, we love seeing dramatic entertainments of all kinds: the plays of many leading dramatists; dramatized versions of the works of famous novelists; lovely one-act plays, comic turns, and amusing episodes of all sorts.

We can hear symphony concerts, operas and oratorios and popular melodies all transmitted with lifelike clarity. We have an opportunity of hearing well-informed talks on archeology, history, geography, science and technology. We hear critics talking about new books, films, plays, works of art. We hear living poets reading their own poems.

Exercises

I. Answer the questions:

1) Why do we prefer to see things on the screen, and not only to hear voices speaking about them over the radio?

2) What do we like to watch TV programmes about animals and birds, travels and travelling for?

3) Why do we like to watch sporting events in actual progress?

4) What dramatic entertainments can we see on the TV screen?

5) What makes TV musical programmes so fascinating?

6) What lectures and well-informed talks can be heard?

II. Suppose you've been asked to prepare a short interesting TV programme on some subject you're familiar with. Give some idea of the programme you would prepare.

III. Express your opinion on the following points of view.

1) Some people say that television kills conversation. Does it?

2) Television makes people argue and discuss things, think and talk more.

3) Television is terribly bad for people's eyes.

4) Television is like a drug: people get addicted to certain television series and they simply can't switch it off.

5) Too much television is bad for children - it's unhealthy.

6) Children's and students' educational programmes are very useful.

7) The problem about television and its effect on us is very important.

8) Too many TV channels make it difficult to choose what to watch.

9) TV programmes must be various.