E Make sure you know the verbs in these sentences.

The BBC World Service broadcasts throughout the world.

I can receive / pick up broadcasts from Moscow on my radio.

They're showing a good film on TV tonight.

The film was shot / made on location in Spain.

They cut / censored the film before showing it on TV.

This article / programme has been badly edited.

 

F Talking TV

Here are some useful words and phrases connected with television:

What's on TV tonight? (= what programmes are shown on TV tonight? ) What time's the film on? (= what time does it start? )

How long do the commercials last? (= the advertisements between programmes)

What's your favourite programme? (= the programme you like most/best)

Are they showing the game live (= as it happens) or just recorded highlights?

(= parts of the game after it has been played, e.g. later in the day/evening)

How much is a TV licence? (= money you have to pay the government if you have a TV)

Exercises

You are watching TV with a friend. What could you say in each of the situations below? Look at the example first.

Example: You want to watch a programme on TV. Could you turn the TV on?

1. You can't hear the programme very well. Could you………………….….?

2. You want to watch a different programme. Could you……………………..?

3. Now it's too loud for you. Could you……………………..?

4. You don't want to watch any more. Could you……………………..?

Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with the most appropriate kinds of programmes.

…: a story that continues from one programme or episode to the next.

…: a number of programmes about the same situation or the same characters in different situations.

…: 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.

…: individuals, teams or families who answer questions or playdifferent games against each other. The winner gets a prize, e.g. a car, a holiday, money.

…: a programme where a presenter talks to famous people about their lives andcareers; sometimes there is music as well.

…: a film with factual information, often analysing a problem in society.

…: a programme about a current social/political problem.

 

What sort of TV programmes do you think these would be?

1 Murder at the Match 2 The Amazing Underwater World 3 World Cup Special

4 The $10, 000 Question 5 Last Week in Parliament 6 Hamlet from Stratford

 

Give the name of one programme you know in your country of each type listed in B.

 

Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with the most appropriate word.

1 He doesn't even get up from the sofa to change channels; he just presses the... on the....

2 You can hear BBC news... all over the world.

3 A short wave or a VHF radio can... many interesting stations.

4 Although our... was expensive, we've taken some priceless film of

our children.

5 Children often prefer looking at... to reading books.

 

Answer these questions about TV in your own country.

1. How many 'terrestrial 'channels are there?

2. Do you watch satellite TV and/or cable TV?

3. In total, how much TV do you watch every week?

4. What are your favourite programmes on TV at the moment?

5. What night are they on?

6. Do you enjoy watching the commercials?

7. Do you often watch football matches live on TV? If not, do you watch the highlights?

8. Do you need a TV licence in your country? If so, how much is it?

 

The Role of TV in our Life

TV is one of the best inventions the man has ever made. We are beginning to forget what the world was without TV. Everybody knows what a great force TV is in the world today. Thanks to TV we get a great amount of information. It gives wonderful possibilities for education. It enriches our intellect. We also become better informed by watching documentaries, science programmes, discussions and by learning the most important issues of the day.

TV gives an opportunity to see the best actors, sport matches, to meet famous people. TV brings the world to our room. We see people in our country and in other lands and learn about their customs, occupations, traditions, problems. We become cultured people by learning more of the arts. Television helps us to relax after a hard day's work, so we can then cope better with the next day's work. Besides, there is a considerable amount of TV programmes: News, different talk-shows, TV games, concerts and variety shows, sport programmes, feature films, serials and so on and so forth. They are of great entertainment value and provide useful topics for conversation. A lot of these programmes are very popular. For example.News deal with political and social problems of modern society. Their aim is to give analysis of the problems and show different viewpoints. Theyare concerned with the country's national events, the most topical political problems of the day. Musical Review presents songs, pop groups, folk songs. It is very popular with TV viewers.

Thus, we can say that TV is a great force which attracts millions of people to the screens.

But tastes differ. Some people are against TV. They say that TV is doing a lot of harm. It occupies a lot of free time. People used to have hobbies, to meet with friends, to go to the cinema or theatre, to read books, to listen to music. Nowadays many people sit watching TV hour by hour. They don't read books, they don't do sports, they begin to forget the art of conversation. Watching TV for a long time may lead to poor health art ruin eye-sight.

But nobody makes you watch TV for hours. You can simply switch off your TV-set. But nobody can deny the fact, that TV is a great force in the world today.

Vocabulary Focus

I. Give the appropriate Russian equivalents for the following English words and phrases:

the best invention, a great force, to enrich one’s intellect, to be better informed, issues of the day, a considerable amount, feature films, different viewpoints, to occupy a lot of time, used to have hobbies, to forget the art of conversation, poor health, to ruin eye-sight.

II. Fill in the missing prepositions. Look for helpful hints in the text.

1. Thanks … TV we get s great amount of information.

2. TV gives wonderful possibilities … education.

3. Television helps us … relax, so we can then cope better … the next day's work.

4. News deal … political and social problems of modern society.

5. Television is very popular … TV viewers.

6. Watching TV for a long time may lead … poor health art ruin eye-sight.

7. People used … have hobbies, to meet with friends, to go to the cinema or theatre.

8. You can simply switch … your TV-set.

 

III. Translate the following sentences into English using the vocabulary of the text.

1. Телевидение дает возможность обогатить интеллект и получить образование, увидеть знаменитых людей и познакомиться с традициями разных стран.

2. Телевидение помогает нам отдохнуть после тяжелого дня, предлагая значительное количество телепрограмм.

3. Телевидение развлекает нас, снабжает нас темами для дискуссий.

4. Программа новостей освещает политические и экономические проблемы современного общества, анализирует их и приводит различные точки зрения.

5. Раньше люди имели хобби, а сегодня проводят час за часом напротив телеэкрана.

6. Просмотр телевидения в течение длительного времени ухудшает здоровье.

7. Никто не сможет отрицать тот факт, что телевидение является великой силой сегодняшнего дня.

 

IV. Answer the following questions.

1. What possibilities does television give to people?

2. How can TV widen one’s outlook?

3. What kinds of programmes are the most popular with the public?

4. Why do people stop having hobbies?

5. What influence does television have on people’s health?

 

V. Find facts in the text to support the following statements.

1. TV is the greatest source of information and entertainment.

2. TV brings the world to our room.

3. People spend hours glued to their TV screens.

VI. The role of television in your life.

The Story So Far

The idea of a machine able to broadcast both sound and vision goes back to 1875. But it wasn't until 1926 that a Scottish engineer turned the idea into a practical reality. Now, his invention dominates the modern media. This is its story.

John Logie Baird produced the first television pictures just eight years after the First World War. They were in black and white and were not very clear, but he had proved that the principle worked. Early sets made in the years Baird's breakthrough cost as much as a small car and not many were sold. Soon, though, his original system was improved and in 1936 Britain's first regular TV programme went on the air. " Here's Looking At You" was broadcast by the BBC from north Lon­don's Alexandra Palace studios twice a day for a weekly budget of one thousand pounds. But Great Britain wasn't the only country producing programmes. Other European nations, including Germany, were also involved in the early days of television. As, of course, was America — and it's there that the real TV revolution began after World War Two.

US television boomed in the late '40s. Commercial stations began to open in almost every city, and national networks made programmes which were seen from coast to coast. One of the American networks — CBS — even developed a colour service as early as 1951. Two years later, TV took another important step when it covered its first major international event — the coronation of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. It was the first time that a worldwide audience of millions had seen history take place in their own homes.

By the end of the decade, TV culture was rapidly becoming a fact of life on both sides of the Atlantic. Even so, it was still a very young medium — lots of people didn't have sets — and many experts thought it wouldn't last. That all changed in the '60s and '70s, though, as television started to satisfy the public's desire, not just for entertainment, but also for rapid, accurate information. As more and more sets were sold, the importance of TV news quickly grew. After all — what other medium could show you live — as TV did in 1969 — Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon?

Since 1980 there have been four more major developments. The first is video, which has given viewers the power to control what they watch and when they watch it. These days, fifty per cent of homes have a VCR (video-cassette recorder) and millions more are being sold every year.

The second is satellite TV. Thanks to DBS (direct broadcast satellites), dozens of new channels are now available to anyone who buys a receiving " dish". Many of these new channels specialize in one kind of programme — e. g. news, sport, cartoons, music, movies.

The third development is cable — a system of hi-tech wires, which provides even more channels... at a price. But not only that. Cable also makes it possible for you to communicate through your TV, not just the other way around. More about that in a moment.

Fourthly, there's HDTV (high definition television), which now offers a much clearer and more realistic picture than was possible even a few years ago.

So... more channels, more choice, more clarity. What is there left for TV to achieve in the future? The answer to that is two-way communication. Modern technology means that twenty-first century televisions will be linked to computer databanks. This way, viewers will be able to ask questions (via remote control) about what they're watching and the answers will appear on their screens. This idea is called " hyper-media" and it's still at an early stage. But then, as we've just seen, TV has come a very long way in a very short time. The hyper-media revolution could happen sooner than many people think.

 

1. As you read the text find the English equivalents to the following:

передавать звук и изображение; восходить к; превратить в реальность; прорыв; выйти в эфир; претерпеть бурный рост; в коне 40-х годов; общенациональные сети; цветное ТВ; освещать событие; десятилетие; быстрая и точная информация; показывать в прямом эфире; видеомагнитофон; спутниковое телевидение; " тарелка"; за определенную цену; двусторонняя связь; дистанционное управление телевидение прошло очень длинный путь за очень короткое время.

 

2. Build the word- combinations:

turn prove go broadcast become satisfy develop

sound and vision the idea into a practical reality a fact of life the public’s desire a colour service on the air thattheprincipleworked

3. Answerthequestions:

1. Who invented the television set?

2. What was the first regular TV programme to broadcast on the BBC?

3. What countries were involved in the early days of television?

4. What happened to the television in the late ‘40s?

5. What was developed in the 1951?

6. What was the first programme broadcast worldwide?

7. What needs did television satisfy?

8. What event was shown live in 1969?

 

4. Fill in the table with necessary information:

Major developments:

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