Now divide into groups and find benefits and dangers of television.

 

Benefits of television	Dangers

1. Television helps us to learn more about the world and to know and see many new things.

2. Television can make us passive. We don’t have to think and our brains become lazy.

3. It has increased the popularity of sports and arts.

4. It takes time away from activities such s reading, conversation, and games.

5. It is an enjoyable way to relax.

6. It encourages us to buy things that we don’t need, and can make us unhappy with our own lives.

7. It has made us aware of our global responsibilities. In 1985, for example, 1.5 billion people in 147 countries watched TV pop concert and helped to collect more than $100 million for people in Africa.

1. Read the passage about future of television and complete the text with the words from the box.

THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION

In future, we probably won’t watch television at all.

I think television (1)….will disappear. We’ll use a computer and choose the programs that we want to watch. (2)… will then get the program from another computer, probably on the other side of the world. We‘ll be able to tell the computer what type of (3) ….we like (for example, types of films, (4)…., documentaries, etc.) and the computer will search for those programs and then give us a (5)… to choose from. The pictures that we see will also be different. They will be (6)….. We will be able to look around the pictures that we see.

The computer, channels, ‘holographic’, programs, music, ‘menu’.

1. Your task is to match the words and their definitions.

· Television

· Newspaper

· The Internet

· Radio

1. a paper printed and sold usually daily or weekly with news, advertisements etc.;

2. broadcasting programmes for people to listen to;

3. broadcasting programmes (the news, plays, advertisements, shows, etc.) for people to watch on their television sets;

4. a way to communicate with your partner who might be a thousand miles away using the computer (e-mails).

 

 

Quotations Explain the sentences below in your own words. Decide whether you agree with them or not. “A community needs news for the same reason that a man needs eyes. It has to see where it is going.” Dame Rebecca West (British author) “TV is chewing gum for the eyes.” Frank Lloyd Wright (US architect) “The public is like a piano. You just have to know what keys to poke.” Al Capp (US cartoonist)

1. Monologue

Mass media surround our lives and we are influenced by it whether we like it or not. Talk about this subject taking into account the following points: - Your favourite form of mass media and why - Any negative impact mass media may have in our lives - In what ways mass media will change in 10 years’ time

 

You and your flatmate(s) are trying to decide what you are going to watch on TV tonight. There’s one TV set and a DVD recorder. Talk about the following points: - Programmes you would like to watch. - Programmes to record while you are watching others. - Offer an alternative to watching TV.

1. Is there certain material that the government should censor from the public, and to what degree should it be censored on public TV, on the radio, at certain hours..? If so, why is this censorship necessary?

News	Allowed or not?	Why?
Dead bodies
Violence
Nudity
Air crashes
Faces of criminals
Starving children

Answer the questions and discuss

1. How do you interpret “freedom of speech”?

Radio

How often do you listen to the radio?

When and where?

Which do you prefer, TV or radio? Why?

TV preferences

What kind of TV programmes do you prefer watching?

○ Documentaries

○ Entertainment programmes

○ Gossip programmes

○ Current Affairs programmes

○ Children’s programmes

○ Newscasts

○ Soap Operas

○ TV series

○ Reality TV shows

○ Chat shows

○ Comedy programmes

○ Quiz shows

○ Sports

○ Films

○ Sitcoms

○ Dramas

○ Cartoons

Can you think of any TV shows that are sheer torture to watch? Which

Ones?

Discussion

Tell which of these things you do. Explain your choice:

• I read a lot of newspapers and magazines.
• I watch television for many hours a day.
• I’m fond of listening to music on the radio.
• I can’t live without the Internet and I spend much time on different sites.
• I prefer spending my free time outdoors or going on for sport than watching TV, reading newspapers or listening to the radio.

 

Why do you think the radio has not disappeared as a form of mass media?

How often do you read the paper or watch the news on TV? How important is it for you to keep up with current events? Are there certain things journalists shouldn't report on? Why? Who owns the newspapers and TV stations in your country? Do you think this has an effect on the news that you hear? How has technology effected the way that we receive news? Do you think that most newspapers print what's really important, or what will make them sell more newspapers? What about TV news? How do you feel about censorship? Are there times when the news should be censored? Do you think that the media covers too much bad news and not enough good news? What was the last "good news" story you heard? Have you (or anyone you know) ever been in the newspaper/on TV? If so, what for? Why are people so interested in the private lives of celebrities? What's happening in the news right now, both in your country and abroad? Where did you hear about it? Do you think that the media is objective? Why or why not?

Writing articles