| Olga: | ......? |
| Well, I suppose that I watch some television most days. My television watching tends to happen late at night for sort of domestic reasons and work resources, so it’s restricted by that. | |
| Olga: | ......? |
| Mary: | Actually I watch a lot of news programmes. I nearly always watch the news, or current affairs programmes. I’m quite a sports fan as well, so if there is any sport on I tend to watch it: cricket or football, or something like that, if I’ve got nothing better to do. |
| Olga: | ......? |
| Mary: | It’s on in the late afternoon and late at night. But I know that in some homes the television goes on as a kind of background and people don’t actually watch it in any kind of concentrated way. |
| Olga: | Well, I believe some people don’t realize that some TV programmes are a great danger, especially to children.......? |
| Mary: | You are right in a way, but I think television can be a great benefit to children too. I think there are a lot of good programmes that give them good educational information. And I also think television’s good for introducing children to good literature. There are often good children’s stories which are dramatized for television. |
| Olga: | Well, I can’t but agree with you that television can be both good and evil. One should only be reasonable in the choice of programmes. |
| Mary: | Right you are. |
| When is television on in your family? What programmes are your favourite? Do you watch news programmes? What’s your opinion? Mary, do you often watch TV? |
Work in pairs. Discuss with your partner TV programmes that do harm on children. Explain the reasons. Restore the dialogue using the words and word-combinations from the box given below.
| Julia: | What is the most dangerous thing for children on television? |
| Anna: | In my opinion it is the.... Some programmes are a part of big marketing exercise. There is a...... on children to go out and buy so many things advertised in the programmes and I think that is a very...... indeed. |
| Julia: | Any other danger? |
| Anna: | The other dangerous thing I think,...... is if the television is on... and the children get to see programmes not suitable for them. And I think that is a big.... But that’s up to the... to make sure that that doesn’t happen,....... |
| Julia: | What would be a...... to watch television? |
| Anna: | I think the... thing is not how much you watch but how....... |
| Julia: | Actually, I’m of.......... |
| Important, danger, the same opinion, commercialism, for children, reasonable time |
| tremendous pressure, indiscriminately, parents, dangerous thing, selective you are, I think |
Characterize British TV and radio channels using the words and word-combinations from the box.
TV and Radio
Watching television is one of the great British...! Broadcasting in the United Kingdom... by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The BBC receives its... from the government, but the private companies controlled by the IBA earn money from....
National radio is controlled by the BBC, and listeners can... between four stations. Radio 1 is a pop-music station with news and magazine-style programmes. Radio 2 plays light music and reports on sport. Radio 3... classical music whilst Radio 4 has news programmes, drama and general interest programmes. There are many... stations, some private and some run by the BBC. Their programmes consist mainly of music and local news.
The BBC has two TV.... BBC 2 has more serious programmes and news features. The IBA......... looking after the regional independent TV companies who... their own programmes and those they have bought from other regions. There is a break for advertisements about every 15-20 minutes. The most recent independent channel is called Channel 4 and it has more specialized programmes than the... channels. All these channels are basically national, with just a few regional programmes, for example extra news programmes.
Breakfast TV (magazine programmes on BBC and ITV, giving news and interviews from approximately 6 a. m. to 8.30 a. m.) is very....
New... continue to change the media. Cables and satellites have made it possible for viewers to receive more... into their homes.
| local main is controlled choose pastimes programmes plays popular advertising is responsible for technologies income channels broadcast |
