On April 19, millions of TV screens in the United States of America will go blank for seven full days. April is TV-Turnoff Week. TV-Turnoff Network, a non-profit organization, has promoted the annual event since At first, only a few thousand people took part. This year, there will be participants in every American state and in more than 12 countries. to go blank погаснуть non-profit [,non'profit] некоммерческий to promote [pr ә 'm ә ut] продвигать, проводить annual event [,ænju ә l i ' vent] ежегодное мероприятие participant [pa:'tisip ә nt] участник

SCARY STATISTICS The average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day (that's more than 52 days of non-stop TV-watching per year). By the age of 65 the average American will have spent nearly nine years glued to the TV-set. The number of videos rented daily in the United States is six million while the number of books borrowed from public libraries is three million. scary [ske ә ri] страшный, пугающий statistics [st ә 'tistiks] статистика average ['ævri  ] средний, обычный to be glued [glu:d] to the TV-set быть «приклеенным» к телевизору, не отходить от телевизора to rent [rent] брать напрокат to borrow [bor ә u] брать (на время)

40% of Americans watch television while eating dinner. By the age of 18 the average American child will have seen 200,000 violent scenes on television. An average child sees 30,000 TV commercials a year. By the age of 65, the average American will have seen two million TV commercials. violent scene [,vai ә l ә nt 'si:n] сцена насилия, жестокости commercial [к ә ’mз:∫l] телереклама SCARY STATISTICS

TV'S BAD FOR HEALTH Each year, both kids and adults in the US spend more time glued to the TV- set than doing anything else, except for sleeping! People have worried about the effects of TV ever since the 1940s, when television became popular. Studies show that too much TV watching leads to such problems as bad eating habits, lack of exercise, obesity and depression. And far from relaxing us, TV actually raises stress levels. adult ['ædлlt] [ ә ’dлlt] взрослый effect [i ' fekt] влияние, воздействие lack of недостаток чего-либо obesity [ ә u'bi:siti] тучность, ожирение depression [di'pre∫n] депрессия, подавленное состояние to raise stress levels повышать уровень стресса

More than one in eight American kids today is overweight. Sitting in front of the tube for long hours is one reason. The steady stream of commercials advertising sugary soda, chocolate and fast food is another. It has been counted that during four hours of Saturday- morning cartoons, American TV companies run more than 200 ads for junk foods. As US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher said, "We are raising the most overweight generation of youngsters in American history... This week is about saving lives.” overweight [ ә uv ә 'weit] страдающий ожирением tube [tju:b] амер. разг. телевизор steady [ ' stedi] stream непрерывный поток to advertise ['ædv ә taiz] рекламировать cartoon [ka:'tu:n] мультфильм ad (сокр. от advertisment [ ә d‘vз:tism ә nt]) реклама junk food [ '  л ŋ к fu:d] вредная, нездоровая пища (в закусочных, автоматах) surgeon general [,sз:  n '  еn ә r ә l] главный хирург to raise [reiz] растить generation [,  en ә 'rei∫n] поколение youngsters [ ' jл ŋ stez] молодежь, подростки

GOOD FOR THE BRAIN? Lots of people admit that the quality of television could be better. They would prefer to see fewer soap operas and crime series, and more history, drama, and science. One reason for the poor quality is that the TV companies make most of their money by selling advertising. Advertisers pay more money for time during popular shows, especially in the evenings when the audiences are biggest. "If we show serious programs," say the TV companies, "the advertisements will look meaningless, and that won't please the advertisers." to admit [ ә d'mit] признавать quality ['kwoliti] качество soap opera [ ' s ә up,oр ә г ә ] сериал, «мыльная опера» crime series [,kraim 'si ә ri:z] криминальный сериал audience ['o:di ә ns] телезрители, зрительская аудитория meaningless [ ' mi:niŋl ә s] бессмысленный

TV AND VIOLENCE Not long ago, a new study published in the journal Science gave fresh evidence of a connection between TV watching and violence. Psychologist Jeffrey G. John­son and his research team followed children in 707 families for 17 years. The researchers found that kids who watched more than one hour of TV a day were more likely than other kids to take part in aggressive and violent behaviour as they grew older. evidence ['evid ә ns] доказательство, факты connection [k ә 'nek∫n] связь psychologist [sai'kol ә  ist] психолог research [ri'sз:tf] team группа, команда исследователей aggressive [ ә 'gresiv] агрессивный behaviour [bi'heivi ә ] поведение

Elvis Presley, the late king of rock, once became so angry with what he was watching that he grabbed his gun and shot the TV set. Who says that watching TV doesn't lead to violence?

"BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE" SYNDROME The "beautiful people" syndrome is what happens when you watch too much TV. You begin to believe, or expect, ordinary people to act, behave, and look like TV stars. After watching hours and hours and hours of beautiful, skinny and wealthy people on TV you realize that your life isn't as wonderful as it should be. What is the result of the "beautiful people" syndrome? A lot of unhappy citizens. syndrome ['sindr ә um] синдром skinny ['skini] очень худой wealthy ['wel θ i] богатый, состоятельный citizen ['sitiz ә n] гражданин, житель

TURN IT OFF! TV-Turnoff Network wants to encourage life outside the tube. "We're not anti-TV," says the group's director, Frank Vespe. The goal is to help people tune into real life so that "they won't have time for TV." to encourage [in'клri  ] поддерживать, поощрять goal [g ә ul] задача, цель

Do you have any idea how much TV you and your family watch ? Have you ever spent a week without TV?