Questions. 1. Do the media play an important part in your life?

1. Do the media play an important part in your life?

2. Do you think that the media influence our life?

3. Millions of people get most of their news from television. What about you?

4. Do you read newspapers?

5. When do you usually listen to the radio?

6. Do you agree that most news we get from the media is bad news?

7. Do you think it would be nice if all news printed in newspapers and shown on TV was good news?

8. Do you think that journalists are given too much freedom?

9. If people have died in a plane crash, should their bodies be shown on TV?

10. How do paparazzi ([,paepa'raetsi]) earn their living?

11. Are you interested in politics? Don't you think that some politicians use the media to influence their voters (['vautaz] избиратели)?

12. What is the main advantage of the Internet?

TV OR NOT TV?

Whether we realise it or not, TV plays a very important part in our lives.

It's the main source of information and a cheap form of entertainment for millions of people.

It's the window on the world which gives us an opportunity to "travel" all over the world, to "meet" different people and learn about their customs and traditions .

It has the power to educate and broaden our minds.

It helps us to relax after a hard day's work and escape from reality.

There's always a great variety of programmes on TV: news and sports programmes, talk shows and TV games, documentaries and feature films, concerts and theatre performances...

Of course, not all programmes are good. But many are made in good taste and with great professional skill.

Some people argue that television is a terrible waste of time. It makes us lazier. We stay at home instead of going out. We read less. We think less. We even talk less.

It's true that some TV addicts spend hours in front of the "box" watching whatever's on — from second-rate Mexican soap operas to silly commercials.

The trick is to learn to control television and use it intelligently. The ideal is to turn on the TV-set only when there's a really interesting programme.

Violence on TV is another problem that worries people. As George Mikes once said, TV teaches us "how to kill, to rob, to shoot and to poison."

But the same can be said about computer games and many films and books.

And if you don't like a certain programme, why watch it?

Names

George Mikes ['mikej] Джордж Микеш (английский писатель-юморист венгерского происхождения)