Does television play a positive or negative role in the modern world?

Arguments

1. Television is now playing a very important part in our lives.

2. Television is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also acomparatively cheap one.

3. Television keeps one informed about current events, allows one to followthe latest developments in science and politics and offers an endless series ofprogrammes which are both instructive and entertaining.

4. A lot of television programmes introduce people to things they havenever thought or heard of before.

5. Television has been good company to those who do not work, likehousewives, lonely old people, etc.

6. Television provides enormous possibilities for education, like schoolprogrammes via closed-circuit television.

7. Television provides special broadcasts for those in TV university, oropen university. It also offers specialised subjects like language teaching,sewing, cooking, painting, cosmetology, etc.

8. Television does the job of education in the broadest sense. Instructivepmgrammes achieve their goal through entertaining the viewers.

9. Compared with the radio, everything on television is more lifelike,vivid, and real.

10. Television may be a vital factor in holding a family together wherethere are, for example, economic problems and husband and wife seem at breakingpoint.

Counter-arguments

1. Television is a great time-waster.

2. Television makes the viewer completely passive because everything ispresented to him without any effort on his part.

3. Television is to blame for the fact that children take longer to learnto read these days and barely see the point at all of acquiring the skill.

4. Television takes up too much of our time. We no longer have enough timefor hobbies, entertaining activities, and other outside amusements liketheatres, cinemas, sports, etc.

5. People rush home, gulp their food, which is often as simple as sandwichand a glass of beer, and start watching the TV programmes.雅思听力核心词汇

6. The monster, i.e. television, demands absolute silence and attention. Noone dares to open his mouth during a programme.

7. People have grown addicted to television, often neglecting the necessaryand more important things like meals, sleep and even work.

8. A lot of parents use television as a pacifier for their children. Theyput their children in front of the set and don't care whether the children areexposed to rubbishy commercials or spectacles of violence as long as thechildren are quiet.

9. What the viewer receives from television is nothing but second-handexperience. He is completely cut off from the real world.

10. Television prevents people from communicating with each other. It hasdone a lot of harm to the relationship between family members.