THE PROLIFERATION OF TV SETS

Nearly one in ten adults has five or more

United States researchers found that

televisions in their home, according to Social

Americans spend nine

Trends.

The proliferation of TV sets means

hours a day in front of

programmes are being watched around the house

a TV, on the web or

particularly by children in their bedrooms and

talking on a mobile. A

in kitchens rather than simply in the living

third of that time is

room. As a result, people are spending more time

devoted to using two or more media at once.

glued to the box.

However, the ONS discovered that,

Nine in ten adults watch television every

although modern technology was ever present

day of the week, with nearly a quarter watching it

in Britain, reading books and newspapers

for two or three hours a day. One in ten views

remained popular. Indeed, newspapers are still

television for more than seven hours a day.

the main source of news after television, with

The report, by the Office for National

radio coming third. Almost two-thirds of all

Statistics (ONS), suggests Britain is in the

people aged fifteen and over read a national daily

process of emulating America, where the average

newspaper, with men tending to read newspapers

person spends more time watching TV and

more than women. However, television guides

surfing the net than sleeping.

make up six of the top ten most-read general

weekly magazines.

I - A. True or false? Correct the false statements:

1. Children can watch television in their own bedroom.
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2. Every day they turn on the television, but they only watch it for a short period of time.
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3. Americans find it difficult to use more than one media at the same time.
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I B. Complete the following sentences:

1. 10% of the population in Britain _____________________________________________________
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2. Newspaper reading is _________________________________________________________________
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3. More men read ___________________________________________________________________
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I C. Answer the following questions:

1.

How long do people in Britain spend in front of the TV set?

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2.

What is happening in the United States of America?

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3.

What are the most read weekly magazines in Britain?

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II A. Write sentences in the present perfect continuous (base yourself on the pictures):

1. We _________________________________________________________________________________
2. He ______________________________________________________________________________
3. She ___________________________________________________________________________
4. They __________________________________________________________________________
5. She ____________________________________________________________________________
6. He ____________________________________________________________________________
II B. Complete with the to-infinitive or the infinitive without to, as suitable.
1. They can _____________(see) the difference.

2. She wanted _______________(start) the conference.

3. Would you like _____________(have) some tea?
4. She might _______________(try) again.
5. Could they _________________(sing) those songs?
6. They decided ________________(catch) the bus.
7. I have __________________(wait) for a long time.
8. She is supposed ________________(be) a very famous actress.

II C. Complete with many, much or a lot of.

1. American kids watch ________________ TV daily.
2. ______________ programmes are harmful.
3. There is too _______________ violence in some TV programmes.
4. _______________ parents dont know the amount of hours their children watch TV.
5. There are ____________ computers in this classrom.
6. He looks _____________ older than he really is.

II D. Rewrite these sentences in the passive.

1. John Logie Baird invented television.
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2. They make shoes in this factory.
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4.

They stole my new car yesterday.

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5.

They take lots of fantastic photographs every day.

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6.

They built that skyscraper in 1990.

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7.

They invited me to lunch last weekend.

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8.

He found his computer at the school library.

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9.

The bad news shocked everybody.

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10. They sell many beautiful houses.

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B

III Write a short text based on the following topics:

1. Do you like watching TV?
a) State the reasons for liking / not liking.

f) When and where do they watch TV?

b) What programmes do you like watching?

g) How many hours a day do you and your

family spend watching TV?

c) When and where do you watch TV?

d) Does your family watch TV too?
e) What are their favourite programmes?

h) What are the advantages of watching TV?

i)

What are the disadvantages of watching too

much TV?

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