Television in our life

SWITCH IT OF!

The plan

1. TV in our life
2. YOUR TV habits
3. Advantages and disadvantages
4. Guess the movie
5. Learn by heart

    1. Television, also called TV, is one of our most important means of communication. It brings moving pictures and sounds from around the world into millions of homes.

The name “Television” comes from Greek word meaning “far”, and a Latin word meaning “to see”, so the word “tele-vision” means “to see far”.

About three-fourths of the 1 500 TV stations in the US are commercial stations. They sell advertising time to pay for their operating costs and to make profit. The rest are public stations, which are nonprofit organizations.

In the first place, television is an entertainment. But it is not only a convenient entertainment. For a family of three, four or five, for example, it is more convenient and less expensive to sit comfortably at home than to go out to find entertainment in other places. They don't have to pay for expensive seats at the theatre or cinema. They turn on the TV-set and can see interesting films, concerts, football matches.

But some people think that it's bad to watch TV. Those who watch TV need do nothing. We are passive when we watch TV. Television shows us many interesting programmes. But again there is a disadvantage here: we watch TV every evening, and it begins to dominate our lives.

2. YOUR TV habits

     Commercial TV stations broadcast mostly entertainment programs because they must attract larger numbers of viewers in order to sell advertising time at high prices. These programs include light dramas called situation comedies; action-packed dramas about life of detectives, police officers, lawyers and doctors; shows featuring comedians, dancers and singers; movies; quiz shows; soap operas; cartoons. Commercial  TV broadcasts  also  documentaries  and  talk shows. Documentary is dramatic, but nonfictional presentation of information. It can be programs about people, animals in faraway places or programs on such issues as alcoholism, drug abuse, racial prejudice. On talk shows a host interviews. politicians, TV and movie stars, athletes, authors. There are also sport programs and brief summaries of local, national and international news. Advertising is an important part of commercial TV. Commercials appear between and during most programs. They urge viewers to buy different kinds of products – from dog food to hair spray, and from cars to insurance policies.

Public television focuses mainly on education and culture. There are programs on wide range of subjects – from physics and literature to cooking and yoga. Public TV also broadcasts plays, ballets, symphonies as well as programs about art and history. Public TV attracts less viewer than commercial TV.

 

3. Advantages and disadvantages

There are other arguments for and against television.

Television keeps us informed about current events, extend our education, allow us to follow the latest developments in science and culture. An endless number of programmes enrich our knowledge, entertain us and even influence our opinion and imagination.

Television programmes gather big audiences. Apart from their entertainment value, they provide useful topics of conversation. We see great events which will pass into history. We can see famous people.

We become better informed by watching documentaries, science programmes, discussions and by learning about the most important economic, social and political issues of the day.

 Television helps us to relax after a hard day's work.

We can then cope better with the next day's work. Television brings the world to our living-room. We see people in our country and in other lands, and learn of their customs, occupations, opinions and problems.

But on the other hand, television may lead to poor health, through rushed meals, lack of sleep, lack of exercise and eyestrain.

There are a lot of silly soap operas on TV. Many people just sit down in front of the TV screen and just switch from channel to channel. Television makes us lazier. We read less. People have no time to talk to each other. There’s also quite a lot of advertisements on TV

TV is a very expensive medium and many countries don’t have the technology and the money to make their own television programmes. The result is that most countries are dependent on TV of Britain and America. It is easier and cheaper to buy foreign products mainly soap operas. So, a lot of people feel that TV is a danger to local cultures in some countries. How do people usually answer the question: “What are you going to do tonight?” or “What are you going to do at the weekend?” In other words how do people spend their free time. Some 20 or 30 years ago the usual answers used to be “We are going to the theatre” or “We are going to the party” or “We are having some friends round”. Now you are very often hear “We are going to stay at home and watch the television”. 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 TV offers viewers several programmes on different channels. In addition to regular newscasts you 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 of the educational channels. A good serial can keep the whole family infront of the TV for days, and don’t we spend hours and hours watching our favorite football and hockey term in an important international event. In the conclusion we may say, TV most definitely plays a very important part in people’s life, but is this a good thing or a bad one? Don’t we go out less often, then we used to? Don’t we read less?

4. Guess the movie

      The movies are truly an art of our time. It is the greatest aesthetic and educational force in the world today.

The invention of the photography in 1828 played a very important role in the development of the cinema. 1895 became the year when the cinema was born. After the brothers Lumier had invented the cinematography, the cinema widely spread all over the world. The first movie theatres appeared in 1904. And in 1907 the literature works started to be widely used for the movie scripts. Now different movie versions of novels and stories of famous writers are still very popular.

The movies are a powerful force in contemporary life. Cinema is also used for educational purposes. Video classes are useful when studying geography, foreign languages and many other subjects. They are also the means of getting acquainted with the world. With the help of documentary and science films one can get much information about the world around. The news on TV helps to know what happens in the world each day. It also helps to attract the attention of people to different important problems, such as hunger, earthquakes, water pollution and so on.

The cinema is also the means of entertainment. After a working day one can relax watching some good movie. Nowadays people can’t just imagine their life without the art of cinema.

5. Learn by heart

 

Switch off - turn off

greatest – great (sup)

force – active power

each- all,every

entertainment – enjoinment

habit – regular action

soap operas – TV serial

current events - news

gather – to collect

audience – a group of people within hearing

bring – to transport toward smb.

viewing leads – a havy picture

obnoxious  - extremely unpleasant

vile – morally low

waste valuable – wasting a value

influence – the power to affect (assign)