P1
1. fit: be suitable for; be the right size for
2.
statistical average: an ordinary and usual level by
statistical figure
3. be exposed to: bare, uncover, show; (have been
sitting before TV…) According to the statistical figures,
if you are an ordinary (normal) viewer, then by the
time you reach 20, you will have watched TV shows
at least around 20,000 hours.
P2
1. Homer: the great Greek epic poet (around 700 B.C.),
who was regarded by the ancients and moderns as the
author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. “Reading Homer”
means reading the epics which are about great men
and wars, probably in the period 1200-1100 B.C.
2.
Dostoyevsky: (1821-81) born in Moscow, Russian novelist.
His major works: Poor Folk (1846); The House of the
Dead (1861); The insulted and the Injured (1862);
The Letters from the Underground; Crime and Punishment
(1866); The Gambler (1867); The Idiot (1868-1869);
The Eternal Husband (1870); The Possessed (1871-2).
His novels are noted for character analysis, preoccupation
with abnormal psychology and absurd humour. Crime
and Punishment is a study of criminal psychology,
and is the most popular of his novels. Dostoyevsky
regarded The Brothers Karamazov as his masterpiece,
but it was never completed. His reputation is now
so great that there is hardly a European novel of
the twentieth century that has not, in some way, been
influenced by the tradition that he established.
3. If it didn’t appeal to you, you could be reading
Homer in the original Greek or Dostoyevsky in Russian.
If it didn’t, you could … : Note the use of subjunctive
mood starting from Line 3 of P2.
4. discourage: divert from; attempt to prevent
5. rewarding: worth doing; repaying; compensating,
remunerating
6. constructive: helpful, productive, useful, practical,
handy, valuable, beneficial, advantageous/ destructive,
useless, unhelpful
7. the dullest, the least gifted: the most stupid
and slow ones among us…
8. gratification: satisfaction, pleasure, enjoyment,
comfort, happiness, solace exhilaration, jubilation,
rapture/ dissatisfaction, gloom, pain
9. instant: immediate, short and temporary;
10. miraculous: wonderful, phenomenal, supernormal,
wonder-working, magical, marvelous, amazing, astonishing,
unbelievable, preternatural; / ordinary, normal, routine,
unexceptional predictable
P3
1. divert: distract, amuse, entertain; turn from serious
thought, draw off to a different subject
2.
But the television… without pain: But the television
gives us full relaxation. It tries to offer us immediate
satisfaction and pleasure. It distracts our attention
from serious matters just to entertain us and to make
our time pass pleasantly.
3. consistently applied effort: continually used effort
4. It diverts us only to divert: It draws off our
attention to entertainment.
