The influence of television - Module 12B
B2 First · Gapped Text · First Expert Student's Resource Book, Pearson Education
You are going to read an article about television. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences (A-G) the one that fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
The influence of television
Despite this, the influence of television continues to grow.
There is, however, a particular aspect of television which makes it unlike almost all other influences on our lives.
It involves what happens to us during that time.
But equally, they can appeal to the worst sides of our nature or turn everything into light entertainment.
But most of the time, we turn it on to watch, and we give it our full attention.
But the reality we get from television is not like that because we don't participate in it; we just watch it.
Similarly, if a book comes out based on one of these programmes, then bookshops stock up for the extra sales that will surely follow.
When I first became a broadcaster many years ago, I didn't know, and neither did most other people, that I was entering what was going to become the greatest growth industry of the next half century: the media. We didn't use that rather nasty word then, of course: we had newspapers, radio and television. We've only started to talk about 'the media' relatively recently, but nowadays everybody seems to want to be part of it. When I gave a talk to a group of school-leavers recently, I asked how many thought they might eventually look for a career in politics, medicine, the law. A few dozen of the 2,000 raised their hands for each. Then I asked who wanted a career in the media. Half the hands in the hall went up and most of them wanted to go into television. Apart from sleeping, watching television is what people do most of in the UK, each person spending, on average, just under four hours per day in front of the box. But the influence of television goes further and cannot be measured just by the number of hours people have their television sets on.
Some people certainly treat it as background while they carry on having a meal, reading the paper or even listening to music.
As anybody with small children knows, we quickly become deeply involved in what's happening on the screen and the language we use reflects this – we talk about being 'glued' to the television. What's more, most of us rely on television as the main source of information for what is happening out there in the world – and I'm not just talking about the news or documentaries. We gain our impressions of what Australia or the USA are like from their soap operas.
And even without the commercials, television can determine what we buy, what we talk about and what children play with. As for grown-ups, if a popular series is set in a specific area of the countryside, that is where the tourists will go. If a politician makes a serious fool of himself/herself on television, his/her career is over. Television has become, for most of us, as much a part of our lives as the electricity that comes into our homes or the air we breathe. It is now a central part of what makes us who we are.
It is not yet truly interactive. It speaks to us but we do not speak back, except on a few phone-in programmes. This is an interesting feature of something that has such a big influence on our lives. When I was a child, a whole host of things and people influenced me but the one thing they all had in common was the fact that you got a reaction from them. That was how you learnt what real life was all about and how you fitted into it.
In other words, we don't have to do any thinking for ourselves. We just get reality given to us by those who make the programmes. That's why it matters so much what they decide to show us. The television networks can present us with a picture of the world as it really is – complicated and interesting and full of variety – and they can make us think about it and about ourselves as a result.
If they do that, then that's how we will start to respond to the world, too. My concern is that the trend is clearly in the wrong direction.
When I first became a broadcaster many years ago, I didn't know, and neither did most other people, that I was entering what was going to become the greatest growth industry of the next half century: the media. We didn't use that rather nasty word then, of course: we had newspapers, radio and television. We've only started to talk about 'the media' relatively recently, but nowadays everybody seems to want to be part of it. When I gave a talk to a group of school-leavers recently, I asked how many thought they might eventually look for a career in politics, medicine, the law. A few dozen of the 2,000 raised their hands for each. Then I asked who wanted a career in the media. Half the hands in the hall went up and most of them wanted to go into television. Apart from sleeping, watching television is what people do most of in the UK, each person spending, on average, just under four hours per day in front of the box. But the influence of television goes further and cannot be measured just by the number of hours people have their television sets on. ___ Some people certainly treat it as background while they carry on having a meal, reading the paper or even listening to music. ___ As anybody with small children knows, we quickly become deeply involved in what's happening on the screen and the language we use reflects this – we talk about being 'glued' to the television. What's more, most of us rely on television as the main source of information for what is happening out there in the world – and I'm not just talking about the news or documentaries. We gain our impressions of what Australia or the USA are like from their soap operas. ___ And even without the commercials, television can determine what we buy, what we talk about and what children play with. As for grown-ups, if a popular series is set in a specific area of the countryside, that is where the tourists will go. If a politician makes a serious fool of himself/herself on television, his/her career is over. Television has become, for most of us, as much a part of our lives as the electricity that comes into our homes or the air we breathe. It is now a central part of what makes us who we are. ___ It is not yet truly interactive. It speaks to us but we do not speak back, except on a few phone-in programmes. This is an interesting feature of something that has such a big influence on our lives. When I was a child, a whole host of things and people influenced me but the one thing they all had in common was the fact that you got a reaction from them. That was how you learnt what real life was all about and how you fitted into it. ___ In other words, we don't have to do any thinking for ourselves. We just get reality given to us by those who make the programmes. That's why it matters so much what they decide to show us. The television networks can present us with a picture of the world as it really is – complicated and interesting and full of variety – and they can make us think about it and about ourselves as a result. ___ If they do that, then that's how we will start to respond to the world, too. My concern is that the trend is clearly in the wrong direction.
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