Televisione - Lettura - Trascrizione
Hello everybody! Welcome to the EnglishBlog. In this podcast, you’ll be learning some interesting survival English on “Reality TV”.
Before starting, let me first explain that the lesson is divided into two parts:
PART ONE: you’ll be listening to some useful English expressions; you’ll then hear a short explanation of these words, followed by an example of how they are used.
PART TWO: you’ll be listening to information about “Reality TV:”
So let’s start!
Woman: Reality TV
Man: Reality TV has become very popular in recent years. It involves ordinary people applying to go on a programme, to be put in an artificial environment such as the “Big Brother” house, a farm or on an island etc. Whereby they have to do different tasks, and are filmed 24 hours a day.
Listen to this short conversation:
Man: Is reality TV popular in your country?
Woman: Yes, very. Every night there is a different programme on.
Man: Do you watch them?
Woman: Now and again, not every day. What about you?
Man: Not really, and I hate it when they do the celebrity ones.
Woman: Contestants.
Man: A contestant is a person who takes part in a contest. Hence, the people who take part in Big Brother for example, are contestants, as there can only be one winner at the end of the show.
For example
Woman: Crikey, there already down to four contestants, I wonder who will win?
Man: Well you’ll know next week, and at least we can watch something different for a change, instead of this silly programme.
Woman: Viewers.
Man: Viewers are people who watch television. For “reality TV” programmes they can also participate by eliminating contestants with a phone call.
For example:
Woman: You see, “Big Brother” is still popular, they had 6 million viewers yesterday, and 2 million voted.
Man: Unbelievable.
Woman: No it’s not, it’s fun.
Woman: Major.
Man: Major means very large or important.
For example:
Woman: I don’t understand why you don’t like “Reality TV”, it’s a major success all over the world.
Man: Each to their own, but, it’s a major headache for me.
Woman: Now let’s listen to some information about “Reality TV” adapted from www.education.theage.com.au
Man: What is reality TV?
Reality TV is a new genre of programs (British English: programmes) in which ordinary people are put in unusual situations, from which a winner will emerge.
“Big Brother”, which confines a group of people in a small house with cameras running 24 hours a day, first screened in Holland. Since then, reality TV has become a major phenomenon with most networks screening some type of reality program. So what's the attraction? For the networks, reality TV shows are a cheap alternative to other programming. No scriptwriters, paid actors or complex sets are required. Viewers enjoy watching the relationships of the contestants from a safe distance and they can affect the result with a phone call.
Critics argue that "reality" shows have little in common with reality, because they feature a selected group of people, confined in an artificial environment.
Supporters instead argue that the audience can identify with the contestants, who belong to different social and age groups.
Woman: If you wish you can hear this lesson again. In the meantime we hope we have helped you to be more confident with your English. Watch out for the next topic. Thank you for using the EnglishBlog.
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