I. Give the Russian equivalents of the following words.

II. Read the word combinations and use them in the sentences of your own.

To give full attention to some event – уделять много внимания какому-л. событию; to follow the events (developments) – следить за событиями; to give a full (wide) coverage of (to) an event – широко освещать в печати какое-л. событие; to come to the conclusion/to arrive at the conclusion – приходить к заключению; to be selective – быть разборчивым; to give a preference to - отдавать предпочтение чему-л.; to be readable – быть интересным; to issue/to release a statement – помещать (публиковать) заявление; to give a commentary (comment) on – сделать комментарий; to prepare a daily political commentary – подготовить ежедневный комментарий по политическим вопросам; to devote a great amount of space to local news – отводить много места местным новостям; to be addressed to the general reader – предназначаться для широкого читателя; to turn down the sound – приглушить звук; to push/to press a button – нажать кнопку; to tune in to a station – настроиться на станцию; to have a guide to TV programmes – иметь программу телепередач; to have good advertising time – иметь хорошее рекламное эфирное время; to be an action-packed programme – быть программой полной событий; to improve the international situation – улучшать международное положение; to consolidate world peace – укреплять мир во всём мире; to guarantee international security – обеспечить международную безопасность.

III. Find the English equivalents of the following word-combinations.

Интересный детективный сериал; выпуск последних новостей; сборник мультипликационных фильмов; конкурс красоты; ежедневный комментарий по политическим вопросам; внимательный зритель; газетная рубрика; главный редактор познавательного журнала; небольшой тираж местной газеты; рекламные объявления в газете; еженедельный журнал в выпуске от 1-го мая; подписка на журнал с иллюстрированным приложением; события в стране и за рубежом; текущие события; информация об обзоре печати; средства массовой информации; ключевая мысль статьи; насущная проблема; передовая статья выпуска; современное лабораторное оборудование; панель контроля и управления; регулировка яркости; кинескоп; телевизионная антенна; переносной видеомагнитофон; занимательное ток-шоу на первом канале; плохое изображение на переднем плане; плохое качество звука; видеомонитор; ответственный редактор; проигрыватель; внутреннее оборудование; цветной телевизор; блок управления, регулировка контраста.

IV. Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with the most appropriate word.

1. He doesn’t even get up from the sofa to change channels; he just presses the ___ on the ___. 2. You can hear BBC news ____ all over the world. 3. A short wave or a VHF radio can ____ many interesting stations. 4. Although our ___ was expensive, we’ve taken some priceless film of our children. 5. Children often prefer looking at ____ to reading books.

 

V. Where is each person most likely to be found in a newspaper office or film studio?

 

An actor, a camera operator, a columnist, a continuity person, a critic, a foreign correspondent, a make-up artist, a sub-editor, a censor, an editor. 

Think Ahead.

 

1. Who decides which TV programmes you and your family watch?     2. How many hours do you watch TV in an average day or week? 3. Do you think you watch more TV than when you were younger? 4. What is your main reason for watching TV? 5. What are the best and worst features of TV programmes in your country?

Read the article through and translate it into English.

 

Ex. 2. Guess the meanings of the following words and phrases from the article.

a) a battle of wills (paragraph 2);

b) the balance of power (paragraph 3);

c) a joint decision (paragraph 4);

d) a power struggle (paragraph 5);

e) non-verbal communication(paragraph 7); give examples of this kind of communication;

f) to get your own way (paragraph 7).

Ex. 2. Imagine that y ou have decided to spend the evening at home watching TV. Look through the schedule again and note down the programmes you would watch.

Example: 730 BBC 2 Young Musician of the Year

 

TELEVISION

 

TV is an incredibly varied ___ (1) which goes from awful to fantastic. Of course, what you consider worthwhile is a very ___ (2) matter. Personally, I think that ___ (3) such as The Bold and the Beautiful are the worst! There is nothing worse than being a ___ (4), sitting there ___ (5) from one ___ (6) to the new. There is certainly a lot to choose from, though. The major ___ (7) are having quite a lot of competition from the ___(8) and ___(9) channels. I really like these channels as they often offer ___ ___(10) that I really enjoy. Nature shows and other informational ___ (11) are wonderful. One thing I like to watch during the evening, the so called ___ ___ (12), are the question and answer shows. I also like a few of the ___ (13), such as Friends. The worst thing about television are the ___ ___ (14). Even worse are the ___ (15), which can last up to 30 minutes! I usually ___ (16) channels and ___ (17) something else. One of the strangest things about television are the ___ ___ (18). I don’t really understand what ___ (19) like about these shows. Oh well, what a world we live in.

 

Ex. 7.* Fill in the gaps with the articles.

“Three out of each four televiewers in Great Britain dislike __ (1) programmes British TV offers them daily so much that they are ready to give up watching the box. ”That was what __ (2) popular British newspaper wrote after its reporters had interviewed __ (3) large group of people to find out what public opinion was on __ (4) subject in __ (5) opinion of many viewers most of __ (6) programmes left __ (7) lot to be desired. Not all __ (8) adult viewers __ (9) interviewers talked to liked TV. Some even hated it, very often because of __ (10) harm it was doing to __ (11) children. __ (12) interview showed that __ (13) kid in __ (14) ordinary British family watched __ (15) telly about twenty – five hours __ (16) week. Most parents can’t control it, because they have to stay away from home most of __ (17) time, so __ (18) little televiewers can sit in front of __ (19) box as long as they like and watch all ___ (20) programmes they like.

QUIZ

1.	The company began by offering computer software solutions to local businesses in the greater Seattle metropolitan area.	+	-
2.	The company was founded on an approach to providing simple communication solutions.	+	-
3.	The company is reducing operations at the moment.	+	-
4.	Worldwide communications employs more than 40,000 specialists.	+	-
5.	The company expects to be servicing more than 50 million customers by 2005.	+	-

TEXT 3

 

IN PRAISE OF TELEVISION

(from “How to Be Inimitable” by G. Mikes)

 

When I first came to England, television was still a kind of entertainment and not a national decease. The English middle class people were as proud of not possessing television sets as they are of not knowing foreign languages. Television, however, has slowly conquered all layers of society and, whether we like it or not, it has come to stay.

On the whole I like television very much indeed. The reasons for my devotion are given below.

Television is one of the chief architects of prosperity. Certain TV personalities can give away money with great charm on the slightest provocation. Of you happen to know what the capital of France is called, or who our war-time Prime Minister was with the initials of WWC (Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill) – then you are certain to be sent to Majorca for three weeks’ holiday.

Television has united the family by keeping the family at home, gaping at it round the family hearth.

Television causes more friction in family life than any other single factor by offering unique reason for quarrels as to which programme to watch.

Television is of great educational value. It teaches you while still really young how to (a) kill, (b) rob, (c) shoot, (d) poison, and generally speaking, (e) how to grow up into a Wild West outlaw or gangster by the time you leave school.

TEXT 4

 

Think ahead.

1. Which people do newspapers like to gossip about in your country? Are they society people, pop stars, or film stars? 2. Why do people like to read the gossip about the rich and famous? Is it to envy? Is it to learn that they have similar weaknesses to ourselves? 3. What do you know about the Royal Family in Britain?

 

Read the interview with Nigel Dempster, a journalist who writes the most famous gossip column in Britain for the Daily Mail and translate it into Russian.

 

Assignments

Vocabulary exercises

Ex. 1. Give definitions for the following:

a) What do we call a paper that comes out daily / a magazine that is issued once a month / a paper that circulates in one town or district / a paper that circulates all over the country / a printed notice about things to be sold or things that are needed / a magazine that is published at regular intervals?

b) What do we call a man who is responsible for publishing a newspaper or a magazine / a man who writes articles, reviews, etc, to papers and magazines / a man who makes reports for the newspaper / a man who comments on some events?

Ex. 2.* Paraphrase the statements using the following words in the required form instead of italicized ones.

an editorial, to come out, to carry, home news, a daily, foreign news

1. Newspapers in all the countries publish a lot of advertisements. 2. In addition to national daily papers there are local papers published in every town. 3. Local papers publish local, national and world news. 4. As a rule, each paper begins with a leading article. 5. The majority of magazines are issued monthly.

 

B.

“Have you got any new recordings?”

“Yes, I recorded a few songs yesterday. Very good tapes.”

C.

“Play it again. I didn’t make out the words. But the tune is lovely.”

“I’ll record it for you. I’ve got spare cassettes.”

D.

“Make it louder, please.”

“I can’t. It’s full volume.”

 

E

“Tune down that awful music of yours.”

“I’ll turn it off.”

“Thank you. That’s much better.”

F

‘What make is your TV set, the one your family gave you for your birthday?”

“Panasonic. The latest model.”

“That’s what I call a wonderful present.”

 

TEXT 5

 

Vocabulary exercises

Ex. 1. Here are some words and expressions from four radio news items. They have been mixed up. Divide the words and expressions into four groups, and then try to decide what is probably reported in each news item.

Example: a woman (1) / drizzle on the hills (2) / gunmen (3)

 

a busload of women and children, at first, dry, figures, fridge door, has risen, have opened fire, little hope, picture, “Slimmer of the year”, temperatures up to 22, the economy, Ulster, unemployment, weight.

Ex. 2. Read the following news radio reports without a dictionary. Look carefully at the words in italics, and say what they probably mean. Discuss your answers with other students, and then use a dictionary to check.

A subpostmaster and his eight-month-old son have been hit by shotgun pellets in a raid in Sussex. A gunman opened fire when David Halberg set off an alarm at his post office in the village of Polegate. He had his baby son in his arms at the time. He was hit in the shoulder. Stray pellets struck the baby’s head. Police say neither, though, have been seriously hurt. Armed police have since surrounded the robbers at a house in nearby Eastbourne.

Ex. 3.* Computers and the Internet are becoming an increasingly important source of information. Match the words in the first column with the examples/definitions in the second column.

1) software	a) the memory available for temporary use on a computer
2) modem	b) the address where you can find information, e.g. about a company
3) scanner	c) programmes you use on your computer
4) spreadsheet	d) it makes it possible for one computer to communicate with another
5) website	e) a unit of measurement for storing information
6) virus	f) you can use it to transfer pictures to your computer
7) RAM	g) a programme that destroys data and damages computers
8) hardware	h) for example, a computer, a printer, a screen
9) hard disk	i) a series of linked electronic addresses all around the world
10)  megabyte	j) a program for doing mathematical calculations
11)  the Web	k) the place in your computer where information is stored

 

Ex. 4. * Choose the correct answer.

1. Some people spend hours___ the Web.

a) serving

b) serfing

c)  surfing

2. I can ___ you tomorrow and send you the information.

a) e-post

b) e-mail

c) e-letter

3. I managed to ___ an interesting program from the Internet the other day.

a) download

b)  downput

c)  downtake

4. Have you ever seen the Mayflower College’s ___?

a) own page?

b) home page?

c) net page?

5. Ivan spends hours in those ___ rooms on the Internet.

a) speak

b) chat

c) talk

 

Speech Exercises

Ex. 6. Do the tasks. A. Buy several newspapers on the same day and look at the various reports of the same incidents. Or listen to the news on two different radio/TV channels. Talk to the class about the differences you have found.

Final test

 

1.Some of the best books for learning English ______ by Cambridge University Press.

a) are published b) are shot c) are come out d) are picked up

 

2. A ____ allows you to change channels from your arm-chair.

a) control module b) sound module  c) colour picture tube 

d) remote control

3. This film ____ on location in Cornwall, England.

a) was shown b) was shot c) was edited d) was printed

4. Can you ____ Radio Plymouth on your radio?

a) tune down b) press c) pick up d) broadcast 

 

5. They ____ “Titanic” on TV again tonight.

a) were shown b) were broadcast c) were advertised d) showed  

 

6. A magazine that is published at regular intervals is ___.

a) a daily magazine b) a monthly magazine c) a periodical d) an editorial

 

7. A ___ is the name usually given to an academic magazine.

a) tabloid b) colour supplement c) comic d) journal

 

8. Some very good news programmes ____ on the radio.

a) are tuned b) are broadcast c) are listened d) are printed 

 

9. To devote a great amount of space to local news is ___.

a) отводить много места местным новостям b) быть предназначенным для широкого круга читателей c) отводить мало места местным новостям d) отводить мало места новостям в стране 

 

10. Sub-editors are often required ____ articles which are too long.

a) to cut b) to increase c) to edit d) to lay out  

 

I. Give the Russian equivalents of the following words.

Types of TV and radio programmes: documentaries, news broadcasts, newscasts, news programmes, current affairs programmes, soap operas, quizzes, talk shows, contests (a musical contest, a beauty contest), cartoons, sitcoms, dramas, chat shows, detective stories, sport programmes, weather forecasts, music programmes, game shows, plays, variety shows, commercials, advertisements, press round-ups, announcements, statements, commentaries (on), comments (on).

A serial is a story that continues from one programme or episode to the next. A series is about the same characters or has the same format each week but each programme is complete in itself.

T ypes of TV and newspaper people: a viewer (televiewer), an audience, a newscaster, a newsreader, a newsman, a duty presentation an officer (ответственный редактор), a rewrite man, an editor, a sub-editor, an announcer, a commentator, a sound (control) engineer, an interviewee, an interviewer, a readership, a cartoonist, a columnist, a correspondent, a camera-operator, a censor, critic, a continuity person, a make-up artist.

Parts of the newspaper: items, news reports, the editorial, feature articles (about fashion or social trends), horoscopes, crosswords, small ads, business news, sports reports, scandals, the letters page, titles, headlines, headings, a cover, a binding.

Words used with the newspapers: a national newspaper (paper), a country-wide newspaper (paper), a local newspaper (paper), a weekly magazine, a weekly, a monthly magazine (a monthly), a consumer magazine, a periodical, a copy, an issue, a circulation, a subscription, a supplement, a publication, a section, an article (on), a leading article, an editorial, a report on, a pamphlet/a newssheet, a summary, an event, developments, the events (developments) at home and abroad, the latest events (developments), current events (developments), news, home news, foreign/international/world news, local news, the latest news, affairs, home/national/domestic/internal affairs, foreign/international/world/ex-ternal affairs, coverage, information (on), a review, a round-up, a press round-up, mass information media, entertainment, relaxation, the key-note, the main idea, a question/problem/issue, a (an) disputable/vital/ur-gent/burning question, a key question, a stand/position (on), a purpose/aim/objective/goal.

Purpose – 1) an intended result (назначение); 2) intention to act, determination (намерение): on purpose – by intention, not by chance;      3) determination, resolve (стремление).

Aim – 1) the act of aiming (намерение); 2) purpose, intention (цель, мишень): to take the aim at - прицеливаться, is your aim good? – у Вас хороший глаз?

Objective – something one is trying to achieve, reach or capture (цель, стремление, задача).

Goal – 1) structure or area into which players try to send a ball in certain games (ворота): to be in goal, to keep goal – стоять в воротах; 2) a point scored in this game (гол): to win by one goal – выиграть со счётом 1:0; 3) an objective (цель, задача): to set oneself a difficult goal – поставить перед собой трудную цель.

A popular or tabloid newspaper focuses more on sensation than real news. A quality newspaper professes to be more interested in real news than in sensation. A tabloid usually has a smaller format than a quality paper, it has larger headlines and shorter stories and, in Britain, it prefers stories about film stars, violent crimes and the royal family.

A journal is the name usually given to an academic magazine. A colour supplement is a magazine which comes out once a week (often on Sundays) as an addition to a newspaper. A comic is a magazine, usually for children or teenagers, with lots of picture stories and/or cartoons.

Verbs used with the newspapers: to issue, to come out, to publish, to carry, to edit, to print, to subscribe to, to report (on), to cover, to interview s.o. (to have an interview with s.o.), to advertise, to announce, to state, to declare, to urge, to inform (of), to comment on, to review, to picture, to feature, to deal with, to touch upon, to devote to, to headline, to believe, to consider, to explain, to describe, to discuss, to point out, to emphasize, to conclude.

Types of equipment and words used with it: equipment, modern lab equipment, electronic equipment, ordinary equipment, interior equipment (on-board equipment), stereo equipment, the latest models, video cassette recorder, monitoring and control panel, data display terminal (video data terminal), record turntable, television (TV) reception aerial (receiving aerial) for channel I, colour television receiver (set), television cabinet (корпус), control module, sound module, colour picture tube (кинескоп), contrast control, brightness control, dubbing (монтаж), portable, volume, picture, channel, on the first/second channel, remote control unit, sound, in the foreground/background.

Verbs used with types of equipment: to switch on/to turn on/to put on, to switch off/to turn off, to adjust, to tune in, to appear, to disappear, to sound.