Lesson 107 Part I

Lesson 107

Part I Warming-up Exercises

Note-taking: A TV Program Guide

Training Focus:

Note-taking: important facts: TV programs

Directions: You are going to hear a TV program guide. Listen carefully. Write down the programs.

Key: Good morning. Welcome to SBC and it's nice of you to be with us. Now, here's the program guide to SBC for the morning.

6:00 News, Weather

6:15 Rock and Pop Awards

6:30 Accident

6:40 Sports and Games

7:00 Nationwide

7:10 Family History

7:30 Open University

9:00 Regional News, Weather

9:15 The Long Search ---- Science Report

9:30 The Money Program ---- What Has Happened to Sterling

10:00 Play of the Week

11:40 What the Papers Say

12:00 Midweek Sports Special

12:30 This Is Your Life

13:15 Lecture Demonstrations

14:00 Open Poetry Reading

Lesson 107 Part Ⅱ Television: The Modern Wonder of Electronics

Lesson 107

PartⅡ Television: The Modern Wonder of Electronics

Ex. Ⅰ

Directions: Answer the questions in note form.

Key: 1． Greek word tele, “far,” Latin word videre, “to see,” “seeing far.”

2． Radio ---- sound changed into electromagnetic waves, TV ---- sound and light changed into electromagnetic waves.

3． Provides jobs, brings theater cultural events into home, influences life, thoughts, likes and dislikes, speech, dress, adds knowledge, helps business sell products, brings political campaigns to voters, offers teaching, assists operation observation in hospital.

Ex. Ⅱ

Directions: Write down in Column A all the time expressions mentioned in the passage. Then draw lines to match these time expressions with the facts and events in Column B.

Key: 1. A hundred years ago (c) 2. By the 1920s (e) 3. Thirty years later (d) 4. In 1946 (b) 5. By 1950 (g) 6. In the 1960s (f) 7. By the middle 1960s (a) 8. In 1964 (i) 9. In 1969 (h)

Tapescript:

Television: The Modern Wonder of Electronics (5′4″)

Television, or TV, the modern wonder of electronics, brings the world into your own home in signt and sound. The name television comes from the Greek word tele, meaning “far,” and the Latin word videre, meaning “to see.” Thus, television means “seeing far.” Sometimes television is referred to as video, from a Latin word meaning “I see.” In Great Britain, the popular word for television is “telly.”

Television works in much the same way as radio. In radio, sound is changed into electromagnetic (invisible light) waves which are sent through the air. In TV, both sound and light are changed into electromagnetic waves. Experiments leading to modern television took place more than a hundred years ago. By the 1920s, inventors and researchers had turned the early theories into working models. Yet it took another thirty years for TV to become an industry.

As an industry, TV provides jobs for hundreds of thousands who make TV sets and broadcasting equipment. It also provides work for actors, technicians, and others who put on programs. As an art, television brings the theater and other cultural events into the home. Its influence on the life of average Americans is incalculable: it can influence their thoughts, their likes and dislikes, their speech, and even their dress. It can also add to their store of knowledge. Through adver tising, television helps businesses and manufacturers sell their products to millions of persons. Television has broughtpolitical campaigns closer to the voters than in former days. Educational TV stations offer teaching in various subjects ranging from home nursing to art appreciation. Many large schools and universities have “closed-circuit” television equipment that will telecast lectures and demonstrations to hundreds of students in different classrooms; and the lecture can be put on video tape to be kept for later use. Some hospitals use TV to allow medical students to get close-up views of operations.

In 1946, after World WarⅡ, TV began to burst upon the American scene with a speed unforeseen even by the most optimistic leaders of the industry. The novelty of seeing TV pictures in the home caught the public's fancy and began a revolution in the world of entertainment. By 1950, television had grown into a major part of show business. Many film and stage stars began to perform on TV as television audiences increased. Stations that once telecast for only a few hours a day sometimes telecast around the clock in the 1960s.

With the development of programming also came the introduction of television in full color. By the middle 1960s, the national networks were broadcasting most of their programs in color. The obvious appeal of television, whether in color or black-and-white, can be documented by the increasing number of TV sets in homes around the country. By the mid-1960s, 90 percent of the households in the United States had at least one TV set, and 12 percent had two or more sets. TV had become a part of the daily life of the adults and children of America.

The programs that people watch are not only local andnational ones. Since the launching of the first communications satellite, more and more programs are televised “live” from all over the world. Television viewers in San Francisco were able to watch the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo by means of a communications satellite named Syncom. The Olympic Games in Mexico City and in Munich, Germany, were also telecast live, as were parts of the historic visit of President Nixon to the People's Republic of China. And live telecasts now come from outer space: In 1969, the first astronauts to land on the moon televised their historic “moon walk” to viewers on the earth. Since then, astronauts have regularly sent telecasts to the earth.

It looks as if the uses of television----in education, entertainment, and communication----appear to be endless. Certainly it is one of the major modern wonders of electronics in our changing world.

Lesson 107 Part Ⅲ About Television InBritain

Lesson 107

Part Ⅲ  About Television In Britain

Ex.

Directions: Write down the answers to the questions according to what you hear on the tape.

Key: 1. Since 1936.

2. British Broadcasting Corporation.

3. No.

4. Independent Television.

5. It's the capital and also the largest centre of population.

6. It depends. A lot of people appreciate the idea as TV can pay its way. Some others hate TV advertising. They regard it as an insult to their intelligence.

7. People pay a TV licence of ￡ 7 a year, or ￡ 12 for colour.

8. Some aren't.

9. The BBC has two, and the ITV one.

10. A university for people who've never been to university. It uses TV for lectures.

Tapescript:

About Television In Britain (2′54″)

Bob: You're not still watching television, are you?

Andre: I enjoy your television ----I'll have to watch lots more while I'm here. The camera-work was very good. It looked like the work of real experts. Er … how long has television been going in Britain?

Bob: Oh, since 1936.

Andre: Ah'

Bob: Only in the London area at that time, though. There wasn't any television during the Second World War. It was started up again afterwards. The BBC was the organization responsible for it.

Andre: What do the initials BBC stand for?

Bob: British Broadcasting Corporation. It's a public corporation. It isn't controlled by the government, but it's not a private company either. That means that the government can't use the BBC for propaganda purposes, and nor can private individuals or firms.

Andre: Is there any advertising?

Bob: Not on the BBC. ITV gets its money from advertising, though.

Andre: ITV?

Bob: ITV stands for Independent Television. It was started in 1954----again in the London area. It covers the whole country now, though.

Andre: Why does everything start in London?

Bob: Well … it's the capital after all----and the largestcentre of population by a long way. If you start up a public service ---- like TV ---- there, it gets to as many people as possible to start with.

Andre: What do people think of the advertisements on television?

Bob: It depends. A lot of people think it's a good idea because it means that television can pay its way----the ITV gets all its money from the advertisements.

Andre: What about the BBC?

Bob: You have to pay a TV licence of ￡ 7 a year ---- that goes to the BBC. Or ￡ 12 for colour. A lot of people don't like having to pay and wish that there were advertisements on the BBC too. On the other hand, other people hate TV advertising because they think it's an insult to their intelligence.

Andre: Mm. The advertisements aren't very subtle, then?

Bob: Well … some aren't, anyway. Lots of people go out to the kitchen to make a cup of tea when the adverts are on … or take their dog for a walk.

Andre: Oh. How many channels are there?

Bob: Three. The BBC has two. ITV has only got one. ITV don't think that's fair. They want another channel to make them equal with the BBC, but so far the government hasn't allowed them to have one. The BBC say that if there's to be another channel, then they should have it, not ITV. The BBC think the fourth channel should be used for the Open University, which er …

Andre: The Open University?

Bob: Oh, you must have heard about the Open University.It's a university for people who've never been to university and want a chance to go.

Andre: Oh.

Bob: The university uses BBC television for its lectures.They're on the radio too.