Addiction of Television Reading Answers

May 21, 2025

Addiction of Television Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Addiction of Television Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the question set given, you have to state whether the statement is true or false or not with the information in the text. In questions 31-33, options A- F are given. You have to choose three benefits of watching TV from the given options. In the question set 34-37, match each researcher with the correct statements. Write the correct letter, A-G. In the last IELTS Reading Section, you have to fill in the blank with the correct answer, with no more than three words.

The IELTS Reading Section assesses the candidate's skills in understanding and analysing academic and general texts. Practising with IELTS Reading Practice Questions can help you get accustomed to different question formats in reading tasks, improve your vocabulary, and enhance your critical reading abilities. Additionally, practising improves vocabulary and strengthens vital reading skills, which are essential for success. To achieve high band scores, it is important to understand the instructions for each question type and develop effective time management strategies.

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TOPIC:

ADDICTION OF TELEVISION

A. Excessive cravings do not necessarily involve physical substances. Gambling can become compulsive; sex can become obsessive. One activity, however, stands out for its prominence and ubiquity — the world's most popular pastime, television. Most people admit to having a love-hate relationship with it. They complain about the "boob tube" and "couch potatoes," then they settle into their sofas and grab the remote control. Parents commonly fret about their children's viewing (if not their own). Even researchers who study TV for a living marvel at the medium's hold on them personally. Percy Tannenbaum of the University of Californio at Berkeley has written: "Among life's, more embarrassing moments have been countless occasions when I am engaged in conversation in a room while a TV set is on, and I cannot for the life of me stop from periodically glancing over to the screen, This occurs not only during dull conversations but during reasonably interesting ones just as well,

B. Scientists have been studying the effects of television for decades, generally focusing on whether watching violence on TV correlates with being violent in real life. Less attention has been paid to the basic allure of the small screen — the medium as opposed to the message.

C The term "TV addiction" is imprecise and laden with value judgments, but it captures the essence of a very real phenomenon. Psychologists and psychiatrists formally define substance dependence as a disorder characterized by criteria that include spending a great deal of time using the substance; using it more often than one intends; thinking about reducing use or making repeated unsuccessful efforts to reduce use; giving up important social, family or occupational activities to use it; and reporting withdrawal symptoms when one stops using it.

D. All these criteria can apply to people who watch a lot of television. That does not mean that watching television in itself, is problematic. Television can teach and amuse; it can reach aesthetic heights; it can provide much-needed distraction and escape. The difficulty arises when people strongly sense that they ought not to watch as much as they do and yet find themselves strangely unable to reduce their viewing. Some knowledge of how the medium exerts its pull may help heavy viewers gain better control over their lives.

E. The amount of time people spend watching television is astonishing. On average, individuals in the industrialized world devote three hours a day to the pursuit - fully half of their leisure time, and more than on any single activity save work and sleep. At this rate, someone who lives to 75 would spend nine years in front of the tube. To some commentators, this devotion means simply that people enjoy TV and make a conscious decision to watch it. But if that is the whole story, why do so many people experience misgivings about how much they view? In Gallup polls in 1992 and 1999, two out of five adult respondents and seven out of 10 teenagers said they spent too much time watching TV. Other surveys have consistently shown that roughly 10 percent of adults calls themselves TV addicts.

F. What is it about TV that has such a hold on us? In part, the attraction seems to spring from our biological 'orienting response.' First described by Ivan Pavlov in 1927, the orienting response is our instinctive visual or auditory reaction to any sudden or novel stimulus. It is part of our evolutionary heritage, a built-in sensitivity to movement and potential predatory threats.

G. In 1986, Byron Reeves of Stanford University, Esther Thorson of the University of Missouri and their colleagues began to study whether the simple formal features of television - cuts, edits, zooms, pans, sudden noises - activate the orienting response, thereby keeping attention on the screen. By watching how brain waves were affected by formal features, the researchers concluded that these stylistic tricks can indeed trigger involuntary responses and 'derive their attentional value through the evolutionary significance of detecting movement... It is the form, not the content, of television that is unique.'

H. The orienting response many partly explain common viewer remarks such as: "If a television is on, I just can't keep my eyes off it," "I don't want to watch as much as I do, but I can't help it," and "I feel hypnotized when I watch television." In the years since Reeves and Thorson published their pioneering work, researchers have delved deeper. Annie Lang's research team at Indiana University has shown that heart rate decreases for four to six seconds after an orienting stimulus. In ads, action sequences and music videos, formal features frequently come at a rate of one per second, thus activating the orienting response continuously.

I. Lang and her colleagues have also investigated whether formal features affect people's memory of what they have seen. In one of their studies, participants watched a program and then filled out a score sheet. Increasing the frequency of edits (defined here as a change from one camera angle to another in the same visual scene) improved memory recognition, presumably because it focused attention on the screen. Increasing the frequency of cuts - changes to a new visual scene - had a similar effect but only up to a point. If the number of cuts exceeded 10 in two minutes, recognition dropped off sharply.

J. Producers of educational television for children have found that formal features can help to learn. But increasing the rate of cuts and edits eventually overloads the brain. Music videos and commercials that use rapid intercutting of unrelated scenes are designed to hold attention more

than they are to convey information. People may remember the name of the product or band, but the details of the ad itself float in one ear and out the other. The orienting response is overworked. Viewers still attend to the screen, but they feel tired and worn out, with little compensation psychological reward. Our ESM findings show much the same thing.

K. Sometimes the memory of the product is very subtle. Many ads today are deliberately oblique: they have an engaging storyline, but it is hard to tell what they are trying to sell. Afterwards, you may not remember the product consciously. Yet advertisers believe that if they have gotten your attention when you later go to the store you will feel better or more comfortable with a given product because you have a vague recollection of having heard of it.

Questions 27-30

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

TRUE - if the statement is true

FALSE - if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN - if the information is not given in the passage

27. Even researcher find sometimes it is more interesting in watching TV than talking with others in personal experience

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: Among life's, more embarrassing moments have been countless occasions when I am engaged in conversation in a room while a TV set is on,

Keywords: conversation, TV set

Keyword Location: Para A, Line 9

Explanation: Percy Tannenbaum, a researcher, has stated that he also experienced countless moments in his life when he was more interested in watching TV than having a conversation with the others present in the same space.

28. Information medium as TV has always been the priority for scientific research.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: Less attention has been paid to the basic allure of the small screen — the medium as opposed to the message.

Keywords: small screen, medium

Keyword Location: Para B, Line 3

Explanation: For decades, scientists have been researching the effects of television, but they have paid less attention to the basic appeals of the tiny television screen. Not taking TV as a priority for scientific research.

29. It is partially unscientific to use the term 'TV addiction.'

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: The term "TV addiction" is imprecise and laden with value judgments,

Keywords: TV addiction, judgments

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 1

Explanation: The term TV addiction is partially unscientific to use, as it is inaccurate and piled high with judgments.

30. Children do not know why they exercise too little.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: The text above contains no information about children having any idea of why they do not exercise

Questions 31-33

Choose THREE letters, A- F. Which THREE of the following are benefits of watching TV?

A. artistic inspiration

B. family reunion

C relieve stress

D. learn knowledge and education

E. work efficiency

F. ease communicative conflict

31……………..

Answer: A

Supporting statement: Television can teach and amuse; it can reach aesthetic heights;

Keywords: amuse, aesthetic

Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 2-3

Explanation: According to the text, Television can be informative and entertaining and provides artistic inspiration.

32…………….

Answer: C

Supporting statement: it can provide much-needed distraction and escape.

Keywords: distraction, escape

Keyword Location: Para D, Line 3

Explanation: According to the text, Television provides much-needed distraction and escape, which makes a person stress-free.

33……………

Answer: D

Supporting statement: Producers of educational television for children have found that formal features can help to learn.

Keywords: educational, learn

Keyword Location: Para J, Lines 1-2

Explanation: According to the text, Television provides education and knowledge to children.

Questions 34-37

Match each researcher with the correct statements. Write the correct letter, A-G.

34. Percy Tannenbaum

Answer: D

Supporting statement: I cannot for the life of me stop from periodically glancing over to the screen,

Keywords: glancing, screen

Keyword Location: Para A, Line 10

Explanation: According to Percy Tannenbaum, it is hard to ignore the effects of TV, as he had also experienced the same in his life when he could not stop glancing at the TV screen while having an ongoing conversation.

35. Ivan Pavlov

Answer: B

Supporting statement: First described by Ivan Pavlov in 1927, the orienting response is our instinctive visual or auditory reaction to any sudden or novel stimulus.

Keywords: Ivan Pavlov, 1927

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 2

Explanation: According to Ivan Pavlov, any sudden or unexpected stimulus activates our orienting response, a human physical reaction to a new stimulus.

36. Byron Reeves and Esther Thorson

Answer: A

Supporting statement: In 1986, Byron Reeves of Stanford University, Esther Thorson of the University of Missouri and their colleagues began to study whether the simple formal features of television

Keywords: 1986, formal features

Keyword Location: Para G, Lines 1-2

Explanation: According to a study done in 1986, Byron Reeves of Stanford University, Esther Thorson of the University of Missouri, the simple formal features of television - cuts, edits, zooms, pans, sudden noises - activate the orienting response that matters not the content.

37. Annie Lang

Answer: E

Supporting statement: Lang and her colleagues have also investigated whether formal features affect people's memory of what they have seen.

Keywords: Lang, memory

Keyword Location: Para I, Lines 1-2

Explanation: According to the text, Annie Lang and her colleagues have also looked into whether formal elements have a deeper impact on how individuals remember what they have seen.

List of Statements

A. It is the specific media formal characteristic that counts.

B. TV distraction shows a human physical reaction to a new and prompted stimulus

C. Conveying information is the most important thing.

D. It is hard to ignore the effects of TV.

E. Whether people can remember deeper of the content relates to the format.

F. The heart rate remains stable when watching.

G. Clinically reliance on TV does not meet the criteria of addiction.

Questions 38-40

Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

The TV is becoming a worldwide (38)...... Some people love it and spend a great deal of time watching it.

Answer: POPULAR PASTIME

Supporting statement: One activity, however, stands out for its prominence and ubiquity — the world's most popular pastime, television.

Keywords: popular pastime, television

Keyword Location: Para A, Line 3

Explanation: According to the text, TV is becoming an increasingly popular pastime all around the world. Some individuals adore it and watch it for extended periods of time.

According to some surveys, a small group even claim themselves as (39)......

Answer: TV ADDICTS

Supporting statement: Other surveys have consistently shown that roughly 10 percent of adults calls themselves TV addicts.

Keywords: 10 percent, TV addicts

Keyword Location: Para E, Lines 8-9

Explanation: According to the text, roughly 10% of adults describe themselves as TV addicts in a survey conducted.

One researcher believes that this attraction comes from our human instinct, described as (40).........which is a built-in part of our physiological evolution.

Answer: ORIENTING RESPONSE

Supporting statement: the orienting response is our instinctive visual or auditory reaction to any sudden or novel stimulus. It is part of our evolutionary heritage,

Keywords: orienting response, evolutionary

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 2-3

Explanation: According to the text, an orienting reaction is a natural component of our physiological evolution and is the source of the enchantment to television, according to one study.

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