Television in our life
It helps us to relax after a hard day's work and escape from reality. There's always a great variety of programmes on TV: news and sports programmes, talk shows and TV games, documentaries and feature films, concerts and theatre performances. Of course, not all programmes are good. But many are made in good taste and with great professional skill. One of the advantages of watching television is the possibility to find out a lot of information. At the same time there are a lot of arguments against TV. People do not know how to spend their free time without television. They can watch television programmes from about six in the morning to the early hours of the next day watching everything. Some people argue that television is a terrible waste of time. It makes us lazier. We stay at home instead of going out. We read less. We think less. We even talk less. It's true that some TV addicts spend hours in front of the "box" watching whatever's on — from second-rate Mexican soap operas to silly commercials. We should control television and use it intelligently. The ideal is to turn on the TV-set only when there's a really interesting programme. Violence on TV is another problem that worries people. As George Mikes once said, TV teaches us "how to kill, to rob, to shoot and to poison." But the same can be said about computer games and many films and books. And if you don't like a certain programme, why watch it?
Exercise 2. Answer the questions: 1. What is television nowadays? 2. How often do you watch TV? 3. What TV programmes do you know? 4. What TV programmes do you watch most of all? Why? 5. What are the advantages of TV? 6. What are the disadvantages of TV? 7. Why do we like to watch TV programmes? 8. What makes TV be so popular? 9. Television is a wonderful invention. Do you agree? 10. Can television be the reason for violence and cruel behaviour?
Exercise 3. Read and translate the advantages and disadvantages of television, think over about it:
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Whether we realise it or not, TV plays a very important part in our lives. It's the main source of information and a cheap form of entertainment for millions of people. It's the window on the world which gives us an opportunity to "travel" all over the world, to "meet" different people and learn about their customs and traditions. It has the power to educate and broaden our minds.
