English Conversation Questions

Television

Questions

1. How much television do you watch every day?
2. What are the good things and bad things about television?
3. What would life be like without television?
4. What are your earliest memories of television?
5. How would society be different if TV had never been invented?
6. How long can you sit watching TV?
7. What do you think of television shows in your country?
8. How will television change over the next few decades?

Videos

Fifteen-year-old Tavi Gevinson had a hard time finding strong female, teenage role models — so she built a space where they could find each other. At TEDxTeen, she illustrates how the conversations on sites like Rookie,

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her wildly popular web magazine for and by teen girls, are putting a new, unapologetically uncertain and richly complex face on modern feminism. (Filmed at TEDxTeen.)

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Category:  Psychology
Vox
The 2018 World Cup football is a nod back to an iconic design.
When you think of a soccer ball, you probably imagine a classic black-and-white paneled ball. It’s known

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as the Telstar ball, and it was created thanks to TV.

The 1966 World Cup in England was broadcast live across the globe and it was at this point that television became a huge part of the sport. Thanks to the BBC, it was seen by four hundred million people. But spotting the ball was a bit challenging.

Back then, soccer balls looked more like reddish-brown volleyballs. And on black-and-white TVs, it didn’t really stand out from the green field.

By the 1970 World Cup, the soccer ball had changed to that classic Telstar. The contrasting panels made it stand out on TV. Plus, the players loved it because the 32 panels brought the ball closer to an actual sphere.

This year’s World Cup ball is called the Telstar 18, a nod to the original design. While the panels have changed to just six propeller-shaped pieces to make the ball even more spherical, the black-and-white checkered design is back.

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Category:  Art | Sports
Keywords: Design | Fashion | Sports | Television
It’s 2 a.m., primetime television is long since over, but you can’t sleep. So you turn on the tube. You’re flipping through the channels and the only thing you see are those weird 30-minute commercials for things you probably

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don’t need, but kind of want now. What’s behind this world of too-good-to-be-true products, zany commercials and enthusiastic salespeople? You, my friend, have just entered the world of infomercials—where professional pitchmen like Anthony Sullivan are king. Get the inside scoop on that “as seen on TV” magic.

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Category:  Business & Marketing
Keywords: Marketing | Shopping | Television

Vocabulary:
cove
secluded
float
shore
anchor
lighthouse
greenhouse
handsaw
hammer
power tool
nail
board (noun)
ton
land sick
biomass
canoe
paddle
real estate
prosper
fulfilled

Expressions:
subsistence living
hon

Vocabulary:
word
word
word
word
word
word
word
word
word

Expressions:
expression
expression
expression
expression

Vocabulary:
prestigious
involuntary
swindler
fraudulence
unwarranted
concern
unfounded
impostor
syndrome
faculty
pervasive
prevalent
disproportionately
underrepresented
downplay
abnormality
self-esteem
spiral
accolade
threshold
susceptible
voice (verb)
peer
dismiss
excel
ease
mentor
competence
banish
frank

Expressions:
nagging doubt
shake a feeling
put something to rest
surefire way

Vocabulary:
filmmaker
principle
handcuff
clown
distill
underdog
aspect
familiar
unfamiliar
chopsticks
keyboard
organic
grounded
clarity
stuntman
steady
gag
perfectionist
rhythm
distinct
continuity
elbow
bunch
flail around
unlike
invincible
impressive
humanize
asset
payoff
relentlessness
finale

Expressions:
kick ass
going above and beyond
get smacked in the face
sell a joke

Vocabulary:
explosion
smoke (noun)
engine
unique
pilot
route
unemotional
terror
instant
reach out (to someone)
postpone
urgency
purpose
regret
humanity
ego
reflect
eliminate
frame (verb)
artistic
talent
bawl
miracle

Expressions:
bucket list
brace for impact
mend fences
make sense
connecting dots