Задание №1

You are going to read a newspaper article about people who go to watch TV programmes being made.

Choose from the list A-I the sentence which best summarises each part (1-7) of the article. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).

A Studio audiences consist of all kinds of people.

B For some people, being in a studio audience is preferable to watching television at home.

C Common ideas about what happens when you are in a studio audience are not always correct.

D Studio audiences play an important part in the making of a television programme.

E Members of studio audiences are sometimes not regarded with respect.

F Despite the disadvantages, it is enjoyable to be in a studio audience.

G It is hard for some people to understand the reasons for wanting to be in a studio audience.

H People become part of a studio audience for various reasons.

I Viewers wonder what kind of people are in studio audiences.

Studio audiences

What’s it like to be in the audience when a television programme is being made? Cosmo Landesman found out.

0 – I

Like technical difficulties, studio audiences are just another common feature of television life, and yet to many of us they remain a mystery. Watching them getting excited on game shows, for example, we sit back and ask ourselves – just who are these people?

1 –

Of all the audiences for live entertainment, the studio variety is widely considered to be the lowest of the low. I have heard it said that even people who work in television treat studio audiences with scorn – or, as one cameraman put it, ‘like cattle’.

2 –

I had assumed that studio audiences were made up of silly people desperate for two seconds of fame. But there’s no such thing as a typical studio audience. They come from all classes, professions and income groups. Television tries to attract different types of people for different type of programme.

3 –

Those of us who prefer to watch television from home can’t see why anyone would want to watch television from a studio. Why would anyone bother to apply for tickets, travel long distances, and suffer hours of boredom in the discomfort of a studio just to watch what they can see at home?

4 –

One theory is that people hope that for a second they might appear on television. I didn’t believe this until I spoke to Angela. Why had she come? ‘It was a chance to appear on television.’ Another theory is that people are curious to take a look behind the scenes. But the most common explanation I heard was simply a case of ‘a friend gave me a ticket’.

5 –

Few of us have ever sat in a studio audience, yet we think we can imagine what it is like. You sit there, squashed among strangers, while someone flashes cards with APPLAUD or LAUGH on them – and you clap or laugh accordingly. This may reflect the reality of some television, but not all by any means. As one studio manager puts it, ‘We always assume a show will be good enough not to need these signs.’

6 –

But is there any real difference between what you experience in a studio and what you see on your television at home? For Claire, sitting in a studio is ‘more exciting’, while Charlotte liked the feeling of involvement with live television. ‘Last year I saw my favourite comedian. When you see him on television at home you miss out a lot.’

7 –

What I missed out on was the sight of live actors – from where I was sitting all I could see was the back of somebody’s head. The opening scenes were shot so far from where I sat that I ended up watching the show on a studio monitor. Going to a studio may be a terrible way to watch television. But that’s not what’s important. For most of the audience it was simply fun and a free night of entertainment.