Watching Habits

Though television is one of the greatest achievements of the 20-th century, it has changed much since the time of its invention and so has its role. There have been numerous debates concerning advantages and disadvantages of television.

Today television gives people a possibility to be well informed and enjoy ‘civilised pleasures.’ The programmes are various and people have a chance to select what they want to see. Television provides great opportunities for education. With the help of TV it is possible to learn foreign languages, to know a lot of wonderful things concerning the world flora and fauna. TV teaches the ideals of democracy and political argument. It provides an outlet for creative talents. The choice of the channels ranges greatly and these channels show programmes of various kinds from documentaries, current events and sports to children’s programmes. Moreover, TV can keep children quiet. If people do not like TV they do not buy it or switch it off.

At the same time there are a lot of arguments against TV. It is said that only three generations have grown up with television, but they managed to forget how to spend their free time without television. It is called a ‘living room monster’ or ‘one-eyed monster.’ It is established that the biggest viewers are pensioners and housewives. In total they spend five hours daily sitting before the ‘boxes’. Children watch commercials, horror films or films of violence. TV prevents children from developing their abilities. Moreover, TV is damaging for health. It has bad effect on the eyes, particularly of children. Sometimes TV programmes become the topics of common interest of the people and without them they have nothing to talk about. Today some people become TV addicts and free time is regulated by television. No surprise that television is often called ‘chewing gum for men’s brains.’ People become lazy, instead of doing sports they watch TV and become ‘couch potatoes’. Another problem of constant watching is ‘zapping’ — instead of watching one channel, people zap the channels for hours which can cause even mental disorders!

Key Language: Expressing Opinion

In my view… As I see it… It may be…

However … On the other hand… Opponents of … say…

Task 5. Fill in the gap (1–13) with the correct form of the verb.

The world’s most popular television programme: ‘China’s Got Talent’

With an audience of over half a billion people, over a third of China’s 1.3 billion population, the British-owned Chinese reality television show ‘China’s Got Talent’ (‘Zhongguo Da Renxiu In Pinyin’), (1) _______________ (to believe) to be the world’s most popular television programme, according to the ‘Daily Mail’. More than double the usual prime time TV audience(2) _______________ (to tune) in to watch the second show and it is expected that audience interest will continue to increase as the series progresses. The show (3) _______________ (to broadcast) on ‘Shanghai’s Dragon TV’, as well as a few other provincial TV stations across the country.

This is the first time that Chinese television (4) _______________ (to purchase) a foreign TV franchise — the Chinese have got permission to make their own version of the ‘Got Talent’ franchise from ‘Fremantle Media’. The reality show may (5) _______________ (to own) by a foreign company, but the emphasis is very much on the fact that it provides an opportunity for ordinary Chinese people to become famous through their talent. One of the most popular acts so far (6) _______________ (to be) a team of car-washing, road-digging migrant workers with an ability to break-dance. Other acts include a number of performances with a particular Chinese flavour, such as martial artsand singing.

The overall message is that anything goes, although cross-dressing is apparently frowned upon; the show’s director, Jin Lei, apparently said in an email that: ‘...for people to start(7) _______________ (to appear) in another gender altogether, this I don’t agree with, and you can even say I’m disgusted with it... Can you imagine a flamboyant guy who transforms himself into a ‘fake lady’, then performs in front of the audiences on Shanghai’s biggest platform, and then goes on to become a talent representing China?’

The show’s format basically follows the usual ‘Got Talent’ format. There are three judges: Shanghai comedian Zhou Libo, singer/actress Ye Nenjing and composer Gao Xiaosong, although none of them are quite as straightforward asSimon Cowell. The prize for(8) _______________ (to win) the competition is a contract with ‘Fremantle Media’, the chance to perform in Las Vegasand accompanying Taiwanese singer, Jolin Tse, on a world tour as a guest performer. There will also undoubtedly be a huge number of opportunities within China itself.

The show (9) _______________ (not to be) without its doubters though. The Chinese (10) _______________ (to report) a number of criticisms, including the fact that the show uses too many English words, judge Zhou Libo talks too much, some of the acts must(11) _______________ (to manufacture) and even that there are too many commercials. Show director Jin Lei has explained the over-use of the English language by claiming that there is sometimes no Chinese equivalent — but critics have pointed out that other reality shows seem to manage without using English. The ‘Got Talent’ franchise is hardly new to criticism though, and it hasn’t affected its popularity in other countries; it is the highest (12) _______________ (to rate) show of the last ten years in the UK and now airs in 33 countries. 

China has long been seen as a country that is very uninvolved with the rest of the world, despite the amazing changes that (13) _______________ (to take) place over the last twenty years. China’s ‘Got Talent’ proves that China is clearly now becoming more and more receptive to foreign ideas, although it is still keen to hold on to its own identity. Perhaps now it is time for the rest of the world to realise that there is also a great deal that can be learned from China and the Chinese.

19. FILMS AND CINEMA

Task 1. Read the text and fill in the table.

We love watching films (= movies in American English) — either on TV, on DVD, downloaded onto our PCs or at the cinema.

What sort of films do you enjoy? You’ve got a lot of genres to choose from: westerns (set in the American Wild West) or spaghetti westerns (those filmed in Italy) to action films (fights, car chases etc.), adventure, travelogues (accounts of travels), animated (cartoons), or horror (lots of blood or ghostly visits). Perhaps you prefer comedy (or ‘romcom’ — romantic comedy) or dramas. Sometimes these are epics (long, historical dramas), adaptations (adapted either from a previous film or from a book or play), sequels (films following the events in the well-known film) or prequels (films preceding the events in the well-known film). What about thrillers (or suspense), or musicals (with song and dance) and science fiction (set in a futuristic world)? Or maybe you prefer the old black and white films, or the classics.

In a celebrity-obsessed world, actors are as famous as politicians (maybe even more so). We like to see our favourite actors playing a character — even a minor character — in films, whether these are in lead roles (=main roles), or supporting roles (not main roles). Every year, the Oscars gives awards to lead actors and supporting actors, but never to the extras (the actors who play people in a crowd, often without a speaking part). We like reading the film credits, firstly to see who’s in the cast (everyone who acted in the film) and if there’s a cameo — a special appearance by a famous actor who’s only in the film for a couple of minutes.

Then we like to see who the director or producer is, the screenwriter who wrote the screenplay (the script that the actors speak) and the composer, who composed the soundtrack (the music background in the film). We’ll read film reviews to find out more about the plot (or storyline) and how good the lighting, cinematography (art of shooting the film) or costumes are. We might even watch a trailer (short extract from the film) to see the special effects.

Film Genres
Actors / The Cast
People Making the Film
What We Need to Shoot the Film
Other Important Words

Task 2. Compare the most popular film genres by filling in the table with the italicized words. Add your example of each genre to the table.

Moving, slow, violent, dull, hilarious, humorous, gripping, frightening, thrilling, light-hearted, sentimental, scary, boring, action-packed, funny, cliché, charming, bloody, brutal, sensitive, intriguing.

Kind of Film	Positive Features	Negative Features	Example
I find/consider … to have both positive and negative features.	In my view… As I see it … it may be…	However… On the other hand… Opponents of … say…	For instance… In particular … is…
Horror Films/Thrillers
Comedy
Romance/Drama
Musical
Adventure/Travelogue

Task 3. Choose and review the film using the tables.

Genre	This film is…
Short Description	It is about … who…
Cast	The actors starring in the film are… The supporting roles are played by… There is a/no cameo appearance of…
Setting (Time/Place)	The film is set in… It takes place in…
Plot	The opening scene of the film shows… At the beginning … but then/later… …meanwhile… Eventually… In the closing scene we can see…
Special Details	What strikes me about the first picture is the fact that… The film reminds me of…

Task 4. Read the text. Fill in the gap (1–8) with one suitable word.