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in the garage. I am alone. I carefully check all the rooms, almost expecting something to happen
suddenly. I hold my bag in my hand as if it were a weapon. After the whole house has been
declared "clear," I start to breathe normally again and a smile appears on my face as I realize,
once again, how a simple movie seen at the cinema a week earlier can modify my actions.
Sometimes I wonder if I should watch TV, with all its shows that make me wonder whether I
exercise enough, whether I am slim enough, or whether I treat my pets with the care they deserve:
am I really concerned about their mental health? Not to mention the hundreds of commercials that
try to make me believe I need a water purifier to remain alive since the water I am currently
drinking is heavily polluted! And countless are the times when I have heard people talking by
quotations learned from movies. We need to watch shows and films to know what to say, how to
be, how to act. We are so addicted to all this that it almost seems like we cannot think on our own.
I cannot help thinking about what happened to me some days ago, an example that clearly shows
what kind of power TV has over people. My husband and I were in a restaurant when I heard my
young neighbor pronouncing violent words in a low angry voice. Surprised, I turned to better
understand the situation and I saw that he was holding a fake military device and was acting as if
he were filming a war movie. I am sure that if I had been a little be more updated about this type
of movie, I would have recognized what he was saying as a quotation. Now, I wonder if he uses
such a language also with his friends and with his parents, if he is aggressive, and if so, whether
his attitude has really nothing to do with what he watches on TV.
That same evening on the way home I saw two cars stopped one next to the other at a traffic light
and as soon as the light turned green they started racing, in the middle of town. In this case not
even a major knowledge of movies and TV programs would have helped me: there are just to
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many of them on the market showing the exact same thing: people racing with cars.
I am sure that everybody, if asked, could easily list many other examples of how TV and movies
can modify our behavior and therefore our life but, I wonder, if we will always be able to draw the
line between a TV show and real life, between what they make us think we want and what instead
we really need and are and believe.
(Essay ID: 332 . Sample essay provided by Erin Billy of www.TestMagic.com)
Topic: 8
Television is undoubtedly one of the most powerful means of communication in the history of
humankind, rivaled only by such other forms of communication as the Internet, the telephone,
movies, and, of course, simple, low-tech speech. Television, with its wide availability and rich
media with image and sound, is difficult to ignore and even seductive in its appeal. Television is as
much a part of our lives as are our meals, work, or school; studies consistently show that the
average American child spends almost as much time watching television as she does in school.
Furthermore, because television is so rich in its media, it often requires our full attention or is
more attraction to us than are our daily lives. Naturally, the more time one spends watching
television, the less time she has with her family and friends. Thus, we can clearly see why some
have claimed that television has been harmful for communication among family and friends.
However, I believe that, while television has been somewhat harmful in its effects, it has hardly
"destroyed" communication among family and friends for most people, although for some, this
may be true.
Most people much prefer spending time with their families and friends to spending time watching
television. Television is of course an important part of many people's lives, but most people would
gladly choose family and friends over television were they given the choice. Furthermore, most
educated people are aware of the deleterious effects of too much television and either avoid
excessive time watching television, or actually do not enjoy it. I, for example, after a long day at
work, would much rather spend time talking with my wife and playing with my children than I
would watching some unrealistic portrayal of life on television. For me and my family, our time
together is precious and beautiful, and could never be replaced or hurt by television.
Furthermore, the effect of television is simply not so great that it could be said to have
"destroyed" communication among family and friends. Granting that communication among
family and friends in industrialized countries has decreased in recent years, it might be tempting to
blame this problem on television since its rise roughly coincided with the decrease in time we
spend with our families. However, I believe this situation is more likely due to increased pressures
relating from work, school, and the economy. In my case, for example, I find that my pressures
from work are so great that I must often sacrifice time at home so that I can meet the challenges
of running my own business. Many of my friends are in similar situations--my best friend, for
example, has just finished law school, which took about sixty hours a week of his time. In a word,
people nowadays have very little time for anything, but television is not the cause--it is increased
desire to succeed.
In some situations, however, television has surely contributed to a decrease in communication
among family members. In my childhood in the countryside, I often saw parents and children
watching television for hours on end, rarely speaking with one another. It seemed for them that
television was a way to escape from their sad, miserable existence. However, even in this case, I
would say that television merely contributed to the bad situation, but did not cause it; were
television not existent, surely these people would have found other escapes, alcohol or gambling,
for example. In other words, people always find a way to do what they want to do.
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In short, I do not believe that television has destroyed or even harmed interpersonal
communication among most people. Most people realize that television is merely a temporary
diversion and do not use it to replace interpersonal communication. I believe that the damage
attributed to television is greatly exaggerated and that such damage is most likely attributable to
other more powerful social factors.
(Essay ID: 339 . Sample essay provided by Erin Billy of www.TestMagic.com)
Topic: 8
When asked about what has been brought by television , different people have different answers.
There is some people who don't like TV saying that television has destroyed communications
among friends and family. however other people take a negative attitude on this issue. In my
opinion, I disagree with the above statement . The reasons are given below.
Television is only one instrument for people to relax. There is many ways of amusement for
people to select after the working time nowadays. You can select to meet your friends, to
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