TV in my life – a letter from Danny, a 15-year-old boy from India

Television plays a significant role in my life. When I was about nine years old, I used to
watch television for just 15 minutes a day. The programme which I watched was English
news because I wanted to improve my English. When I was eleven years old, I started to
watch a few sports channels because I was a baseball fan and wanted to learn more
about this discipline. My every day viewing time increased from 15 minutes to two hours
a day. Now I spend at least two hours a day watching TV, but it also depends on how
much free time I have, sometimes on holidays, weekends or special occasions I watch
television for three to five hours.

I watch television because it gives me much information about what’s happening in the
world, for example the news or current affairs programmes. TV also plays an educational
role in my life. I can learn a lot from many documentaries or even intelligent quiz shows!.
TV also entertains me. I can relax when I watch a movie, TV series, reality TV, makeover
shows or cookery programmes. But sports programmes are still on top of my list!

However, there also are some negative effects television has had on my family and
personal life. When watching television we forget about other ways of spending our free
time. My family and I used to do things together. We used to have hobbies, we visited
our friends, went to the cinema or just went for a walk in the park. Nowadays, we don’t
do it that often and the free time we have together, we spend in front of the TV screen. I
used to read more books and listen to music. Now I don’t, as switching TV on is much
easier than reading 200 pages of a book!

I. Read the text and answer the questions:

1. What positive roles does TV have in Danny’s life?

2. What are the negative aspects of TV Danny talks about?
3. How many hours does Danny watch TV on weekdays?
4. How many hours does Danny watch TV at the weekends?
5. What are Danny’s favourite TV programmes?