Текст 5

Television, also called TV, is one of our most important means of communication. It brings moving pictures and sounds from around the world into millions of homes.

The name "Television" comes from Greek word meaning "far", and a Latin word meaning "to see", so the word "tele-vision" means "to see far".

About three-fourths of the 1 500 TV stations in the US are commercial stations. They sell advertising time to pay for their operating costs and to make profit. The rest are public stations, which are nonprofit organizations.

Commercial TV stations broadcast mostly entertainment programs because they must attract larger numbers of viewers in order to sell advertising time at high prices. These programs include light dramas called situation comedies; action-packed dramas about life of detectives, police officers, lawyers and doctors; shows featuring comedians, dancers and singers; movies; quiz shows; soap operas; cartoons. Commercial TV broadcasts also documentaries and talk shows. Documentary is dramatic, but nonfictional presentation of information. It can be programs about people, animals in faraway places or programs on such issues as alcoholism, drug abuse, racial prejudice. On talk shows a host interviews. politicians, TV and movie stars, athletes, authors. There are also sport programs and brief summaries of local, national and international news. 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, and from cars to insurance policies.

Public television focuses mainly on education and culture. There are programs on wide range of subjects - from physics and literature to cooking and yoga. Public TV also broadcasts plays, ballets, symphonies as well as programs about art and history. Public TV attracts less viewer than commercial TV.

Текст 6

It goes without saying that all of us are influenced by adverts, commercials, brochures, bright pictures, sample sales and free gifts that are used to advertise goods and service. In fact adverting has become part and parcel of our every day life. Advertisements are all around us, not just on TV, radio and in the press, but also at sports grounds, in shop windows, and on posters, carrier bags, badges, T-shirts, trams and buses and even hot air balloons. Whether we like it or not, advertising is a powerful force that controls us.

Many thousands of people believe, that when we watch TV we only relax and don’t think about anything. But it isn’t true. We also get information about what to do or not to do, what to buy or not to buy. And our decision depends on advertising. There are different advertising techniques. For example, bandwagon, testimonial, catchy words, comparison and product slogan. All companies use different styles of advertising, thus the result is different. For istance, the company “Donone” with the product slogan :”Mmm... Donone!” is very famous in our time, though the words are simple to memorize. Another very famous company is “Tide”. The style of their advert is comparison : ”Simple washing powder has the same price like our but the result is different!”. I think that the most effective advertising technique is ,of course, product slogan, because the text of slogan is short and easy to memorize, besides it sounds good. So the style of advertising is very important, as the success of any product depends on it.

Some people think, that advertising in general is a useful way of finding out about products and there are several reasons for that. Firstly, when we watch any ad, we get information about new things that we can buy or can see. Secondly, If we try to find any thing , that we want to buy, advertisement can help us to do it. And finally, it is a way to be informed about new inventions of our time.

Other people think, that advertising is very dishonest and a waste of time when we watch it on TV. And I can give some arguments for it. Firstly, when we see beautiful people in beautiful clothes we want to buy these beautiful clothes. Adverts make us buy things we don’t need or can’t afford, thus we are all in debt. Secondly, some companies use thought-provoking and touching advertisements. It is very dishonest because they usually use disabled people to show us that they can do something so you can do it too. And finally, for some companies advertising is a waste of money, because the advertising technique and the quality of it may be not good.

As for my attitude to advertising, I think that it is a type of art. And there are several reasons for that. Firstly, people who make ads are very educated and know all cunnings that can persuade a person to buy anything. Secondly, not all people

can do it very effectively, thus the result may be not good. Of course, like any person in the world I have got my favourite advertisement too. It is the advert for ski-fi serial Star Gate about the group of people that travel around the whole galaxy and protect our planet from other civilizations. As for the advert I hate, it is ,of cause, the ad of house 2.This ad is about a TV-programme where people try to find their love and where they always cry and kick each other.

So, there are a lot of points of view about advertising. Some think that it is a real helper in finding out about products. Others think, that it is a real way to be all in debt. But I think that it is invention that helps to influence us.