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T

elevision is an inescapable part of modern culture and it has good and bad things to offer to children. There are some wonderful television programs that promote learning and growth.

Many educational programs, such as Sesame Street and Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, teach important skills such as spelling and reading. These kinds of programs can help children learn more about social interaction and behavior. However there are other children’s shows, such as Teletubbies or Transformers that are designed to entertain, not to educate. Parents must help children to choose shows, videos and video games that are appropriate for their ages and interests. Parents must pay attention to what their children watch. Several studies suggest that television viewing by children younger than 3 years old can damage their reading comprehension and short-term memory. These studies also say that children are watching television more than any other activity except sleeping. The fact is that 70 per cent of British children are regular TV viewers by the age of three. The fact is that television cuts the time kids need for activities crucial to healthy mental and physical development. Most of children’s free time, especially during the early formative years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports. TV viewing is a sedentary activity, and has been proved to be a significant factor on childhood obesity because children spend much of their time in front of television. There is no doubt that television has become an important part of most children’s lives. So, parents must schedule TV times and children’s choices for their benefit. Find the meanings to: inevitable (1st paragraph) ___________ excellent (1st paragraph) _____________ encourage (1st paragraph) ________________ abilities (2nd paragraph) ______________ 1

divert (3rd paragraph)____________ suitable (3rd paragraph) ___________ habitual (3rd paragraph) __________ involving little physical activity (3rd paragraph) _____________ extremely fatness (3rd paragraph) _____________ Say if the following sentences are True or False. Support your answers from the text. 1. Children’s shows such as Teletubbies or The Lion King teach important cognitive skills to children.______ ____________________________________________________________________________ __ 2. Parents mustn’t care about what their children watch in television. _______ ____________________________________________________________________________ __ 3. Children don’t see much television. ______ ____________________________________________________________________________ __ 4. Television is important to many children. ____ ____________________________________________________________________________ __ Answer the following questions 1. What is this text about? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ____ 2. Which didactic programs are mentioned in the text? Why are they didactic? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ______

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3. What could happen to the youngest children if they watch too much television? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ____ 4. Is television a sedentary activity? Justify your answer. _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ____ _________________________________________________________________________ __ Put these phrases in the negative and interrogative form: 1. Children spend much of their time in front of television. _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ____ 2. Television has become a prevalent media influence in modern culture. _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ____ 3. Television has good and bad aspects to offer to people. _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ____ 4. Parents must choose their children programmers. _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ ____ Choose the correct form (Gerund, Infinitive with or without to).

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1. I hate________ (be) at home without ________ (do) anything. 2. You may ______ (use) the phone if you want _____. 3. She is _________ (prepare) the lesson for tomorrow. 4. She isn’t very good at _________ (dance). 5. She is going to ________ (tell) you an amazing story. 6. She was _______ (play) violin when someone knocked at door. 7. She loves _______ (swimming) in the lake. 8. Peter can ________ (speak) French very well. 9. I don’t mind ______ (wait) for them. 10. They go on _______ (read) the book. Use these verbs and prepositions in the sentences below. Use the correct form of the verbs. agree with/ on

talk about

suffer from smile at

think about listen to

insist on

pay for

belong to

look at

1. Do you _______ me about this? 2. That beautiful house _________ my friend Suzy. 3. Keep enough money to ________ your ticket. 4. Nurses are very badly paid. I think that they should ________ higher rates of pay. 5. They _________ a plan of action. 6. Tonight I’m going to ________ engines. 7. I said to you I was _________ going to work in Africa. 8. With only 5 years old that boy likes ________ documentary programs. 9. Peter is very tired, he is___________ exhaustion. 10. I don’t know why he was __________. I didn’t recognize him. 11. ________ that magnificent house. It looks like a palace. Rewrite the sentences in Passive voice. a. They

make

shoes

in

that

factory.

_____________________________________________

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b. They

built

that

skyscraper

in

1934.

___________________________________________ c. They

make

these

tools

from

plastic.

the

letter.

__________________________________________ d. Jennet

has

just

written

_____________________________________________ e. James

Joyce

wrote

“Dubliners”.

_____________________________________________ f. I

ate

a

piece

of

chocolate

cake.

______________________________________________ g. We

saw

her

at

the

cinema.

__________________________________________________ h. They

are

repairing

the

car.

__________________________________________________ Ask a question about the underlined words: 1. I

saw

that

movie

in

a

big

cinema.

____________________________________________ 2. I

will

see

my

girlfriend

next

summer.

_________________________________________ 3. I

love

this

film

because

I

love

Tom

Cruise.

_____________________________________ 4. Peter

has

broken

the

vase.

__________________________________________________ 5. I

went

to

Spain

in

1998.

____________________________________________________ 6. This

bag

belongs

to

my

cousin

Christine.

______________________________________

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Complete the table with the correct form of the verbs Infinitive be

Simple Past

Past Participle

did talked read written cut said taken began speak come woke swum slept paid run rung buy

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