18._MASS_MEDIA_AND_CULTURAL_LIFE

it is wasting of time = time consuming

it is passive way of spending leisure time, people become lazy and stop reading

For many people the TV or the Internet are the only ways of entertaining themselves. The sick, the unemployed, the disabled or lonely people normally watch it much more than people who have families or who are busy.

However, there are people, especially children and the youth, who are obsessed with watching the TV or surfing the Internet several hours a day.

Newspapers and magazines

- broadsheets = serious press, which are large and often have more serious news, it informs people

- tabloids = a popular press, which are smaller and have more gossip and scandal

- some well-know/leading/popular newspapers are:

- UK-The Times, The Guardian

- US – The New York Times, The Washington Post

- famous magazines are: Time, Rolling Stone, Vogue, National Geographic, The Economist

- a journal – it is a serious magazine or newspaper that is published regularly about a particular subject:

The Internet

- the Internet is the large system of connected computers around the world that allows people to share information and communicate with each other

- how is it used it in general:

- we can contact our friends from the other side of the Earth

- the Internet is a good helper if you need to find some information

- we can do our shopping in minutes

- if we want to buy something, you search for it on the Internet (quality, price,..)

- the Internet saves money and time because we don’t have to go to the shop and we can read news

to pay their bills

to listen music

watch films

read books on the internet

chat on social networks such as Facebook

buy things, food, holidays,...

someone (hackers) might misuse you

it spoils your health

it spoils normal friendships and social life

you lose touch with reality

- a serial - is a story that continues from one episode to the next one. It has the same figures in all episodes.
- a series - is about the same characters but each episode is different, it is completed/finished.

It has only the same main figures in each episode.
- a sitcom /a situation comedy/ - is a show that is on television regularly and that is about a group of characters who are involved in different funny situations. At the background you can hear people laughing. A sitcom is concentred on characters who share a common environment (home, workplace) with often-humorous dialogues.
- a soap opera - is a series of television or radio programmes about the lives and problems of particular

group of characters. The series continues over a long period and is broadcast (several times) every week.

* MUSIC, ART, LITERATURE IN GENERAL

Art

- music, the fine arts and architecture are inevitable parts of our everyday lives as they bring as beauty and joy

- it is art that help us better understand the history and meaning of life

- many people think art heal the mental state of their bodies and it also takes part in various therapies involving

dance, music, drama and arts