Make up a dialogue using active vocabulary

1. You have come to Britain to obtain information about radio and television broadcasting.

Prepare questions to ask the British colleagues.

2. You are British specialists working in broadcasting. Get ready to speak about how you operate radio and TV channels.

9. Role-play. Read the following joke and dramatise it with your group.

Newsboy: “Great mystery! – Fifty victims! Paper, sir?”

Passer-by: “Here, boy, I’ll take one” (after reading a moment) “Say, boy, there is nothing of that kind on this paper. Where is it?”

Newsboy: “That’s the mystery, sir. You are the fifty-first victim”.

C. TELEVISION IN OUR LIFE

Lead-in: Television. Being developed not so long ago, it is nowadays a part of every family’s life. For some people it is a kind of a member of family. It was found out that a TV-set is one of the first thing people try to take away when fire starts. What’s role of television in your life? Do you consider it useful or not?

1. Comment on the following quotation.

Television: Chewing gum for the eyes.

Frank Lloyd Wright

& 2. Read the text below to get to know researchers’ point of view.

Harmful or not?

Experts are at war over whether watching television is harmful to the development of a child. Researchers in the United States claim TV deprives youngsters of the social contact they need for mental and physical development and recommend that children under the age of two should not watch it at all.

But British scientists say other factors, such as home background, social environment are far more significant to individual growth. A seven year project in the south Atlantic island of St Helena - where TV was only introduced in 1995 – concludes that four years' TV has had no behavioural effects on young viewers.

Research leader Tony Charlton, professor of psychology at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, said: “All children are vulnerable, but some are more vulnerable than others. It can depend on what they watch but more importantly on parenting and community. We often use TV as a whipping boy but used prudently it has an enormous educational potential. Our findings challenge claims that TV makes young viewers violent. Learning violence from the TV becomes a problem only when family, community and school influences fail to check and control young viewers.

"Adults, not the TV, are responsible for youngsters' good behaviour or lack of it." However, Prof Charlton did concede that TV can affect concentration levels in children under the age of two.

Child psychologists and television experts criticised the latest study in the US by The American Academy of Paediatrics, which claimed that even innocent programmes have unfavourable long-term effects and that exposure to computers games, feature films and the Internet pose health risks to children.

Dr. Brian Young, lecturer in psychology at Exeter University, said: "TV is one of many elements in the information mix. We live in a world of information and there's no point in trying to remove children from it. This is not a problem with television, it's a problem with parenting. There is a temptation for parents to use the TV as a babysitter. But the way to deal with children is to allow them to watch programmes appropriate to their age group and then talk about them. The parent becomes a buffer in a very positive way."

Anna Home, who commissioned The Teletubbies when head of BBC children's programmes, said: "Children need a balanced diet and of course TV should not be treated as the only provider. This criticism comes in cycles and it's very easy to blame TV for society's ills."

Child psychologist Dr Anne Sheppard added: "Some programmes, like Teletubbies and Sesame Street, can have a real educational benefit. Children should not beplonked in front of the television for hours on end, but stopping them from watching television altogether could be considered a form of deprivation. "

3. Comprehension Check: Define if the statements are true or false.

ØExperts from different countries agree that watching television is harmful to the development of a child.

ØHome background and social environment are of great importance for individual growth.

ØTelevision has an enormous educational potential.

ØThough family and school are checking and controlling young viewers, learning violence from TV is still a great problem.

ØAdults are the least responsible for good behaviour of the children.

ØUS researchers claim TV has unfavourable long-term effects.

ØAs we live in a world of information, we have to keep children away from it as long as possible.

ØTV is the best babysitter.

ØIt is TV that is to blame for society’s ills.

ØSome programmes can have a real educational benefit.

4. Find out the meaning of the word-combination underlined in the text. Explain them in English and give their Ukrainian equivalents.

5. There are two points of view presented in the text. Which one do you support? Do you agree with American scientists that watching TV has unfavourable long-term effects? Can you give any examples from your own experience? Or do you think the way British researchers do – that TV has an enormous educational potential used prudently? Why/Why not?

6. Discuss the problem described in the text above in two groups. One group are researches from the USA who claim TV poses health risks to children. Others agree that TV has a great educational potential if used properly. Make use of the following expressions.

t o deprive of the social contact; to have behavioural effects on smb; to be vulnerable; to fail to check and control; to have an enormous educational potential; to use prudently; to depend on parenting; to challenge claims; to affect concentration levels; to have unfavourable long-term effects; to pose health risks to children; to use TV as a babysitter; to become a buffer; to have an educational benefit

7. As you can see from the text above, some people are sure that if used properly, television is one of the best educational tools. Do you agree with it? Are there any educational programmes you were fond of as a child? Would you like to have such in English?

8. Comment on the following quotation.

What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish.

W. H. Auden

D. INTERNET HAS NO BORDERS

Lead-in: Have you ever had an experience with electronic communications? Certainly, you have. But have you ever thought of what exactly the Internet is? Do you know when and where this technology was developed?

1. Comment on the following quotation.

A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.

Mitch Ratliffe

& 2. Read the text below to get to know more about the technology you use every day.

What exactly is the Internet?

Research on dividing information into packets and switching them from computer to computer began in the 1960s. The U.S. Department of Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) funded a research project that created a packet switching network known as the ARPANET. ARPA also funded research projects that produced two satellite networks. In the 1970s ARPA was faced with a dilemma: each of its networks had advantages for some situations, but each network was incompatible with the others. ARPA focused research on ways that networks could be interconnected, and the Internet was envisioned and created to be an interconnection of networks.

The Internet technology was developed principally by American computer scientists Vinton Cerf in 1973 as part of an ARPA project managed by American engineer Robert Kahn.

In 1989 many of these technologies were combined to create the World Wide Web. Initially designed to aid communication among physicists who worked in widely separated locations, the Web became immensely popular and eventually replaced other tools. Also during the 1980s, the U.S. government began to lift restrictions on who could use the Internet, and commercialization of the Internet began. In the early 1990s, with the users no longer restricted to the scientific or military communities, the Internet quickly expanded to include universities, companies of all sizes, libraries, public and private schools, local and state governments, individuals, and families.

A sprawling and loosely organized computer communications network made up of many smaller networks patched together, Internet is owned and controlled by no single entity.

Several technical challenges must be overcome if the Internet is to continue growing at the current phenomenal rate. The primary challenge is to create enough capacity to accommodate increases in traffic. Internet traffic is increasing as more people become Internet users and existing users send ever greater amounts of data.

The Post-industrial Age is the information age, and the means to acquire, store, manipulate and use information will lead to success and power. That is why electronic transfer of information is so important to education. Moreover, since electronic communications are global, this technology creates many opportunities for cultural and linguistic exchange, impacting on language education and our roles as language teachers and cultural ambassadors.

3. Comprehension Check: Complete the sentences with the correct answer.

1). The Internet technology was developed by

A. American computer scientists

B. English physicists

C. Russian researchers

2).Commercialization of the Internet began

A. in 1989

B. during the 1980s

C. in the late 1990s

3).Internet is owned and controlled by

A. no single entity

B. the scientific and military communities

C. the physicists

4) If the Internet continues growing the primary challenge is to

A. rise the restriction

B. expand information

C. create enough capacity for traffic

5) The World Wide Web was created in

A. 1980

B. 1989

C.1999

6) Thr US Government began to

A) rise restriction

B) lift restriction

C) ban restriction

4. Find the English equivalents in the text above and make sentences of your own with them.

знімати обмеження на користування інтернетом; передача інформації між комп’ютерами; швидко поширюватись; подолати технічні перешкоди/труднощі; збільшення обсягу інформації, яка передається; зіткнутись з ділемою; першочергове завдання; бути несумісним; створювати багато можливостей для культурного та лінгвістичного обміну.

5. Fill in the blanks in the sentences with suitable words from the previous exercise.

1.To create the Internet technology the researches had to ____________________.

2.The Internet becomes extremely popular in our country and __________ so ____________ that today almost every company has its own site.

3.With the ___________________ servers are often down.

4.E-commerce is the result of __________________________________ as initially the Internet was designed for military and scientific purpose.

5.When the first computers were invented it was next to impossible to imagine ___________________.

6._____________________ of this research is developing wireless Internet technologies.

7.I always _____________________while buying modern appliances: whether to buy powerful and fashionable one or the same but of simple design.

8.As the Internet becomes global phenomenon, one of its main functions is __________________________.

9.It’s better to buy both a computer and a printer manufactured by the same company as they could _________________________.

— 6. The Internet is considered to be new technology. Having read the text, do you agree with this statement? What was the reason for the Internet to be initially owned and controlled only by governmental agencies, to your mind? Is this kind of control possible nowadays?

Why is the Internet important for education? Does it play a great role in your education? Can a person get information about other country via Internet? Could it be compared to live communication with foreigners?

7. Work in groups. One group are heavy Internet users and list all the advantages of the Internet, the other – its disadvantages as they are strongly believe that the Internet only harms people and society. Try to convince your opponents of your point of view, giving advantages/disadvantages as your arguments.

? 8. Make a plan of the text. You are participating in the students’ conference on electronic communications. Write a report about the history of the Internet basing on your plan of the text.

9. What is the Internet for you? How often do you surf the Web? What for? Have you ever thought whether it is safe to communicate with your friends in chat rooms or on social sites? Haven’t you ever been afraid of the fact that this information can be used to harm you?

The Internet and e-mail

Дата добавления: 2014-11-29