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Television in Modern Life

Television is a huge broadcasting corporation. It broadcasts a variety of programmes on various channels, a lot of people of different professions are involved in it. But television influences people and their life.

 Television nowadays has become one of the most important mass media. It informs, educates and entertains people. It influences the way people look at the world and makes them change their views. In other words, mass media, and especially television, mould public opinion.

 Millions of people like to watch TV in their spare time. The TV set now is not just a piece of furniture. It is someone who is one of the families.

 A Scotsman, John Logie Baird, transmitted the first television picture on 25 October 1925.

The first person on television was a boy who worked in the office next to Baird's workroom in London.

In 1927 Baird send pictures from London to Glasgow. In 1928 he sent pictures to New York and also produced the first colour TV pictures.

A first-rate colour TV set and a video cassette recorder have become an ordinary thing in the household today.

Modern television offers the viewers several programmes on different channels. Such as:

Soap opera: a programme often on two or three times a week, which follows the lives of a group/community of people. The stories are often exciting, dramatic and hard to believe.

Quiz show or Game show: individuals, teams or families who answer questions or play different games against each other. The winner gets a prize, e.g. a car, a holiday, money.

Chat show: a programme where a presenter talks to famous people about their lives and careers, sometimes there is music as well.

Documentary: a film with factual information, often analyzing a problem in society.

A series: a number of programmes about the same situation or the same characters in different situations. This may be a comedy series or a drama series.

Current affairs programme: a programme about today's social/political problem.

 

In addition to regular newscasts you can 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 on the educational channel. A good serial (perhaps, a detective story or a screen version of a classical novel) can keep the whole family in front of the telly for days, and don't we spend hours and hours watching our favourite football or hockey team in an important international event?

Television most definitely plays a very important part in people's lives. But is this a good thing or a bad one? Haven't we become lazier because of television? Don't we go out less often than we used to? Don't we read less?

We tend to view more and listen less, as time goes on. Take, for example, meetings between famous people in various walks of life. We like seeing the people taking part in these discussions. Merely hear their voices is not quite the same thing.

 We also like to watch television programmes dealing with animals and birds and all kinds of living things in their natural surroundings, as well as to watch sporting events in actual progress. Above all, we love seeing dramatic entertainments of all kinds; the plays of many leading dramatists; dramatised versions of the works of famous novelists; lovely one-act plays, comic turns, and amusing episodes of all sorts.

We can hear symphony concerts, operas and oratorios and popular melodies all transmitted with lifelike clarity. We have an opportunity of hearing well-informed talks on archeology, history, geography, science and technology. We hear critics talking about new books, films, plays, works of art. We hear living poets reading their own poems.

Many people have forgotten what the world was like before TV. But today television plays a very important role in people’s lives. It is one of the means of information, entertainment & education. But we watch TV so much that it begins to dominate our lives.

3. Circle the correct answer (выберите соответствующий ответ из трёх предложенных и запишите в виде двух цифр):

1. Why is TV viewing the most popular leisure pastime?

1. People have much free time

2. TV channels show a lot of programmes

3. It is the only hobby in our country

1. Why do a lot of people enjoy watching soaps?

1. They haven`t seen anything else

2. Soaps show life realistically

3. Their story lines are entertaining

1. What are bad points of television?

1. Amount of smoking in the films

2. A variety of educational programmes

3. Feature films about the life of outstanding people

1. Why do we have to watch commercials on TV?

1. TV companies get most of their money from advertising

2. TV companies don`t have enough programmes to show

3. People like to watch commercials most of all

1. Who are TV addicts?

1. People who don`t like to watch TV programmes

2. Lazy people

3. People who like to watch TV most of all

4. Прочитайте и переведите (письменно) высказывания знаменитостей о роли телевидения и заполните таблицу (на английском языке) о преимуществах и недостатках телевидения:

K. Ernst: Television is the most popular leisure pastime. It’s not surprising, because TV channels show a great variety of programmes: documentaries and feature films, comedies, soaps and police series, concerts and talk shows.

D. Krilov: Television extends our knowledge about the world in which we live. Millions of people can see different lands, new plants, unusual animals and birds, mountains and valleys.

Television is a reflection of the modern world. It gives you an opportunity to travel all over the world, to see different people and to learn about their customs and traditions.

P. Loginov: A lot of people usually relax watching soaps (сериалы). Their story lines are entertaining, but often unbelievable.
I don’t think that they show life realistically. But to many people, the characters in the TV serial have become more important than real people. I think television is a terrible waste of time (трата времени).

E. Malisheva (“Healthy life”): TV has a lot of disadvantages. It takes a lot of time and it makes us lazy. It's very harmful for our health, especially eyes.

Useful hints!Sit far from your TV set.Do not watch TV during your meals. Don’t watch TV more than 1-2 hours a day. Watching too much TV develops addiction! (зависимость) Don’t be lazy. Do sports. Be healthy! Health is wealth!

L. Roshal: I would like to complain about the amount of smoking in the films that are shown on TV.

Smoking is often shown as a very “cool” thing to do, making young people take up smoking themselves.

Smoking and drinking shown on TV have harmful effect on children.

I. Urgant: 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.

Not all people like watching commercials. They find ads annoying, silly and boring.

V.Putin: Of course television plays a very important role in people’s lives. But it also has disadvantages.
There are TV addicts who can’t drag themselves away from the box…

Advantages / good effects Arguments for	Disadvantages / bad effects Arguments against

5.Do the quiz "What kind of viewer are you?"(выполните тест и определите, какой вы телезритель.

What sort of viewer are you? What's your relationship with television? To find out, choose the answer you like best and then read what your answers mean.

1. You look up the programmes before you put the TV on.

• А) Rarely
• В) Sometimes
• С) Often

2. If there isn't a programme which interests you, you don't switch on the TV.

• А) Rarely
• В) Sometimes
• С) Often

3. You've got favourite programmes which you can't miss.

• А) None
• В) Some
• С) A lot

4. You like talking to friends about television programms.

• А) Rarely
• В) Sometimes
• С) Often

Majority of A answer.

For you watching TV is a way of escaping from reality. TV keeps you company and doesn't ask for much in return. Be careful not to isolate yourself from others or give up more interesting things. Sometimes it's good to escape from reality, but it's important that you shouldn't do it too often.

Majority of B answer.

Television isn't very important for you. It's no problem to give it up if there's something more interesting to do. But if you have to stay at home you watch whatever's on that night. So, be careful not to be too superficial in choiсe!

Majority of C answer.

You've got an active relationship with TV. You have a good critical sense and know how to choose programmes. Be careful not to give TV too much importance and don't let it influence your language and way of life too much. Sometimes it's better to read a book.

6.Ответьте на вопросы письменно, оформив в виде диалога (записываете вопрос и даёте на него ответ): Обязательно выполнить!!!

1. How often do you watch TV?

2. What are your favourite programmes / channels?

3. Do you think that there's too much violence on TV?

4. Do you believe that violence on TV may turn people into criminals?

5. What do you think of commercials?

6. What bad effects does TV have on young people?

7. Why is TV often called "the window on the world"?

8. Do you agree that television has the power to educate?

9. Do you share the opinion that TV makes people think, talk, argue and discuss?

10. Why does television play a very important role in people`s lives?

11. What kind of programmes do TV channels offer?

12. What opportunities does television give you?

13. How do a lot of people usually relax?

14. Is everything shown on TV made in good taste?

15. What things make you think so?

16. What is one of the reasons for the poor quality of programmes?

17. Why are there so many commercials on TV?

18. Do you think that television is a waste of time?

19. Why do you think so?

20. Is TV the cheapest way to entertain?

21. Do TV programmes influence our lives greatly?

22. Should we monitor what children watch?

 

Transistor

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Who invented Transistors? William Shockley, John Bardeen,Walter Houser Brattain

What is transistor and how it works? A transistor is a miniature electronic component that can do two different jobs. It can work either as an amplifier or a switch:... A tiny electric current flowing through one part of a transistor can make a much bigger current flow through another part of it. In other words, the small current switches on the larger one.

What are transistors used for? Transistors are a three terminal semiconductor device used to regulate current, or to amplify an input signal into a greater output signal. Transistors are also used to switch electronic signals.

What is the basic function of a transistor? A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and electrical power. Transistors are one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semiconductor material usually with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit.

Why transistor is called transistor? The word transistor is a combination of transfer and resistance. This is because it transfers the resistance from one end of the device to the other end or we can say, transfer of resistance. Hence, the name transistor. Transistors have very high input resistance and very low output resistance.

How do you read a transistor? Hook the positive lead from the multimeter to the to the BASE (B) of the transistor. Hook the negative meter lead to the EMITTER (E) of the transistor. For an good NPN transistor, the meter should show a voltage drop between 0.45V and 0.9V. If you are testing PNP transistor, you should see “OL” (Over Limit).

How does a transistor work as an amplifier? A transistor acts as an amplifier by raising the strength of a weak signal. The DC bias voltage applied to the emitter base junction, makes it remain in forward biased condition.... The low resistance in input circuit, lets any small change in input signal to result in an appreciable change in the output.

What is the principle of transistor? A transistor consists of two PN diodes connected back to back. It has three terminals namely emitter, base and collector. The basic idea behind a transistor is that it lets you control the flow of current through one channel by varying the intensity of a much smaller current that's flowing through a second channel.

What is transistor with diagram? Diagram 'A' shows an NPN transistor which is often used as a type of switch. A small current or voltage at the base allows a larger voltage to flow through the other two leads (from the collector to the emitter). The circuit shown in diagram B is based on an NPN transistor.