Television. Mass Media

Mass Media (that is the press, the radio and television) play an important part in the life of society. They inform and entertain people. They also influence the way people look at the world and make them change their views. Millions of people in their spare time watch TV and read newspapers. The daily paper dominates the family life at breakfast; TV dominates the life of the family most of the time. The TV set is not just a piece of furniture. It is also ‘one of the family’. It is also a habit-forming drug impossible to resist. Some people turn on the radio most of the time to create a permanent background noise. You can listen to the radio and do some work about the house, read a book or drive a car.

On the radio one can hear music, news and various commentary and discussions called forums. At a forum several authorities exchange views on social, economic and political problems. Such broadcasts are popular with the listeners. A peculiar feature of the American radio is soap opera. It is a sentimental drama which deals with domestic problems but housewives like them. Most people find soap operas boring. Different radio and TV games, such as, for example, quiz programmes on TV also attract a large audience. During these programmes viewers answer various questions.

There is a lot of advertising on TV and radio. Big corporations or individuals own some of the TV and radio stations. The owners can advertise whatever they choose. Advertisements occupy most of the radio and TV time. The firms also sponsor shows and programmes that make people buy their goods. Such programmes attract people not only because they provide entertainment. There are valuable prizes for the correct answer to the main question, such as a video or radio cassette-recorder or a stereo music center and speakers. The sponsoring firm makes a great profit on such programmes. The more people attend the show, the greater the profit of the firm is.

Advertising promotes business and benefits businessmen but often annoys the general public. Commercials may interrupt the play you are watching on TV. First they offer you to use a new perfume or a detergent, then they promote a certain beer, etc. Though people are used to commercials, such programmes give people headache instead of relaxation.

But it is hardly fair to say that the media do not try to raise the cultural level of the people or to develop their artistic taste. Many of the TV programmes are in good taste and show great professional skill. Radio stations broadcast about ten thousand hours of musical programmes weekly. But the radio and television bring into millions of homes not only entertainment and news but also cultural and educational programmes.

Television or TV is one of the most important means of information and communication. It is difficult to say if it is good or bad for us. We have different channels on TV. The programmes are now transmitted in colour. We can watch musical, political, sport, news and cultural programmes. The political programmes inform us about the current events and the latest news. For example, on Saturday at 11 o’clock in the evening we can watch the political programme P. S. where the author tells us about the most important and interesting news of the week. We also can watch feature films, thrillers, animated cartoon films, actions, comedies, performances, sports matches and competitions and concerts on TV. There are such special programmes for children and teenagers as …….

BBC channel is one of the most serious in Great Britain. It shows political programmes, films, shows, operas.

But some people think that it is bad to watch TV and do nothing. People are passive when they watch TV. Very often the programmes are bad. They show much violence in films and new programmes. There is too much ads which are not always decent. I think that television is rather good and useful if you can choose what and when to watch. My favourite TV programmes are ……………

The achievements. Science and engineering

progress, economy and ecology

Every country is proud of its achievements in different spheres of life. Radio and television are great inventions of our age. The microelectronic revolution brought about the personal computer. The first suggestion that a machine for mathematical computation could be built was made more than a hundred years age by the English mathematician Charles Babbage. American astronauts Shepard and Mitchell spent more than 33 hours on the moon, including two moon walks.

Our planet is our home. And it’s really an interesting world we live in! We fly to other planets and discover old manuscripts. We create artificial intellect and get to the depths of the ocean. We release tremendous energies and cause global disasters. We build the tunnel under the Channel (La Mansh), and in summer enjoy jasmin bushes all white with blossom. We must understand that science itself can’t be good or bad. Another thing is how people use its achievements. You shouldn’t forget about nuclear bombs, the Chernobyl disaster and ozone holes… And we pollute our beautiful planet. So there are a lot of problems facing people on the planet nowadays. The problems that demand world actions are: the growth of world population, economic crises, ethnic conflicts.

But the most urgent problem concerning the people of the whole world is an ecological one. What is ecology? Ecology is the science that studies the conditions of the habitat of man, animals and plants for the benefit of present and future generations.

“The planet Earth is our mutual home and the biosphere recognizes no divisions into blocs, alliances or systems. All share the same climate system and no one is in a position to build his own isolated and independent line of environmental defense”, said former Foreign Minister of Russia Eduard Shevarnadzer.

Among othe rcountries Russia has also achieved great excellent results in the national economy and new technologies in the 20^th century. This country is famous for its Opera and ballet, space research, folk crafts and Russian cuisine.

Borsh, okroshka (which served cold) and meat dumplings are not only eatable and taste all right but are first-class and delicious. Caviare is not half as bad, indeed, and rather expensive. Russian pancakes and thick pancakes with soured cream are juicy and crisp and even nicer with condensed milk or cottage cheese (curds) or mushrooms. I think there is nothing like a Russian dinner. The table groans with food.

Russian Opera and ballet are splendid, especially the music and dancing. Voice parts are essentially melodious. Opera-singers and ballet-dancers always give a very convincing and moving performance, their acting is generally praised. They have a full house – up to the very doors. They play so natural that one begins to feel for them as in real life. People all around the world are deeply impressed by their gift and can hardly put into words what they think of the mastery. The music of the talented composer Chaikovsky expresses such deep humanity that it simply carries one away. His music is rich and there is power and delicacy and marvelous beauty in it. His works are known as a monument of genius.

Mankind always dreamed of overcoming gravitation and reaching other planets. But it was only in the 1960ies, the XX^th century, that this dream was to become reality. The first sputnik was launched on the fourth of October in 1957 in Russia. The first atomic ice-breaker was constructed in 1957. The next great achievement was the flight of Yuri Gagarin into open space. On the 12^th of April 1961 the spaceship “Vostok” was launched into space with a man on board and after orbiting our planet successfully returned to the Earth. The whole world was surprised by the work of soviet scientists in space exploration. This day went down in history of mankind as an outstanding achievement, opening the space era. After 1961 a lot of other spaceships were launched into space. This period saw the launching of many earth satellites, numerous space laboratories. Among the achievements we may enumerate the landing of automatic station on the Moon, the flights of space laboratories towards the Venus and Mars.

When did man first begin to think of space travel? Man began to think of space travel in the second century A.D. At that time a Greek, Lucian of Samos, wrote a fantastic story about a man who was carried to the Moon by a storm. In his second story about space, Lucian’s hero flew to the Moon with a pair of wings which he had made himself. But for the next 1400 years, in the years of the inquisition, people could not even think of traveling to the Moon. Recently there have been calls to reduce expenditure on space research programmes. I think it would be a serious mistake to allow this to happen. There is a direct link between the development of space research programmes and different earth technologies. The higher the former are the more developed the latter are.

The first atomic power station was built and began to work in 1952 in Obninsk, Russia. Another great achievement of Russian people was the victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War in 1945. Fascists occupied the territories of Poland, France, Hungary and other European countries and a large western part of the Soviet Union. The soviet people were the power who won the victory over fascism.

Our country is proud of its literature, great writers and poets, such as …

We also admire the wonderful works of such painters as …

In sport we also have outstanding sportsmen who won gold and silver medals at the Olympic Games.

In the middle of the 20^th century many important enterprises were built in our country and many branches of industry were developed, such as metallurgical, ship-building, air-craft and others. Great scientists Popov, Pavlov, Lomonosov also brought glory to our country.

I am proud of my motherland, its great history and its heroic people. I’d like to visit foreign countries in the future but I don’t think that I’ll leave Russia for ever. I want to live, study and work at home.