1. Телевидение дает нам возможность стать свидетелями важных событий в истории человечества, оно обладает способностью информировать, вдохновлять и объединять.
2. Эксперименты по созданию жизнеспособного телевидения начались в XIX веке в Германии, сейчас телевидение — наиболее-широко используемый вид средств массовой информации и развлечения.
3. Телевидение — это мощное средство массовой информации, которое передает людям информацию о мире, поскольку транслирует новости и образовательные программы.
4. Телевидение удовлетворяет все потребности и вкусы всех возрастных и социальных групп благодаря разнообразию информаци и, которую оно передает зрителю, и доступно даже для неграмотных и слепых.
5. Телевидение передает новости, художественные фильмы, мультфильмы, документальные фильмы, спорт, политические комментарии, рекламу.
6. Оно предлагает развлечение на любой вкус — художественные фильмы, от классики до последних фильмов Голливуда, мультфильмы, детские шоу и фильмы.
7. Какими бы благородными намерениями смотреть только стоящие программы мы ни руководствовались, нас захватывает его гипнотическая сила, и мы смотрим его, несмотря на банальность содержания.
8. Телевидение уменьшает время удержания внимания и ослабляет наше воображение, поскольку мы привыкаем к быстрым, коротким отрывкам готовой информации.
9. Телевидение изобилует насилием, и дети, полные наивности и подверженные чужому влиянию, часто используют людей, которых они видят по телевидению, в качестве ролевых моделей (образцов для подражания).
Text 9. The Internet: Pros and Cons
Just ten years ago very few people heard about the Internet. Now it is nearly as common and useful as the telephone. As more and more people use the Internet, as it becomes cheaper and faster and easier to use, there will be new things on the Internet that we cannot imagine today.
On the one hand, the development of the Internet will bring new opportunities to many people. Now, with the Internet, the place where you live may become less important than who you are and what you can do. In the future we'll be able to find a job in any part of the world. What is more, the Internet will allow a lot of talented people to show the world their achievements.
Today most operating systems are the work of hundreds of programmers and they cost thousands of dollars. In 1991 Linus Torvalds wrote an operating system alone, and he gave it away. Now, with the help of many programmers who work together on the Internet, his Linux system has grown into a serious rival to the products of the industry leader, Microsoft.
It costs almost nothing to deliver software over the Internet. If programmers are willing to give their work away, and if programs are as good as their commercial rivals, the days of paying for software could soon be over.
What is more, the Internet is a great opportunity for people to report on the world. Using just a cheap PC, Matt Drudge nearly ended the career of US President Bill Clinton. He wrote the story about a sexual relationship between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky and put it on the Internet. Soon a million people a day were looking at his Web site. With the Internet the future belongs not to traditional journalists, but to ordinary people with a story to tell.
But on the other hand, the possibilities of the Internet may seem frightening. For example, Vladimir Levin worked for a computer firm in St. Petersburg. From there, using the Internet, he was able to break into Citibank's computers in the USA. He moved more than $10 million to other banks all over the world. Most of the world's money is stored in computers. Clever criminals are likely to use computers and the Internet, not guns to steal it.
As the Internet becomes increasingly important to governments, it also becomes a stage for people who oppose them. The information wars of the future may be fought on Web sites.
Some people argue that the Internet is dangerous because it a addictive. A lot of people, and especially teenagers, spend hours chatting or playing games on-line. What is more, teenagers and even children look at sex pictures on the Internet. It is true that like photography, cinema and video before it, the Internet is growing partly because it is a way for people to find sexual material that they cannot easily obtain in any other way. Anyway, there axe many ways for parents to prevent their children from seeing anything си the Internet that the parents do not like.
To sum up, it's impossible to say now what the Internet will be like in the future or how it will change our lives. But we must admit that the World Wide Web offers people great opportunities, and we must try to make the best use of it.
Answer the following questions:
1. When did the Internet appear in Russia? 2. Do many people use the Internet nowadays? What for? 3. What does the Interne allow us to do? 4. Does the Internet save our time? 5. What are the disadvantages of the Internet? 6. How do you think the Internet will change our future? 7. Do you use the Internet? How? 8. What is your personal attitude towards the Internet?
ТЕМА 6
NATURE AND ECOLOGY
Text 1. OUR PLANET EARTH
Vocabulary
| Universe –вселенная human being –человек acid rains –кислотные дожди global warming –глобальное потепление pollution –загрязнение overpopulation –перенаселение threat –угроза to threaten –угрожать to blame –винить disaster –несчастье,беда to cut down –рубить,срубать oxygen –кислород to breathe –дышать poison –яд,отрава industrial and nuclear waste -промышленныеиядерныеотходы | fertilizer –удобрение pesticide –пестицид on the brink of extinction –награниисчезновения to die out –вымирать species –вид,род emission –выброс harmful –вредный greenhouse effect –парниковыйэффект nuclear power station –атомнаяэлектростанция endangered (species) –вымирающий(вид) to recycle –утилизировать litter, rubbish, garbage –мусор |
The planet Earth is only a tiny part of the universe, but it's the only place where human beings can live.
Today, our р1anet is in serious danger. Acid rains, global warming, air and water pollution, overpopulation are the problems that threaten human life on Earth.
Who is to blame for the disaster? The answer is simple: all of us.
Our forests are disappearing because they are cut down or burnt. If this trend continues, one day we won't have enough oxygen to breathe.
The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear waste, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The Mediterranean is already nearly dead; the North Sea is following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in the seas.
Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out for ever. If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today may soon become extinct.
Air pollution is another serious problem. In Cairo just breathing the air is dangerous — equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. The same holds true for many Russian cities.
Factories emit tons of harmful chemicals. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains.
An even greater threat are nuclear power stations. We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are.
Fortunately, it's not too late to solve these problems. We have the time, the money and even the technology to make our planet a better, cleaner and safer place. We can plant trees and create parks for endangered species. We can recycle litter. We can support green parties and put pressure on those in power. Together we can save the planet and all of us with it.
Answer the following questions:
1. Why is our planet in danger? 2. Who is to blame for the disaster? 3. What is happening to our forests? 4. Why are the seas in danger? 5. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. Do you think it's possible to save it? 6. A lot of animals are dying out. But people wear fur coats, crocodile handbags, leather shoes, etc. Are you for or against hunting? Is air pollution a serious problem? Why? 7. The car is now the world's number one polluter. Do you think it's possible to make it cleaner and safer? Have you heard about electric cars? 8. Why are nuclear power stations dangerous? What were the tragic consequences of the Chernobyl disaster? 9. What is the main cause of the greenhouse effect and acid rains? 10. What will happen to our planet if the present trends continue? Do you think that one day it may become uninhabitable? 11. What can we do to save the planet?
