The Trouble With Television- Test

According to Robert MacNeil in "The Trouble With Television," how many hours of television does the average American watch?

• 10,000 hours per decade

• 100 hours per decade

• 10,000 hours per year

What is author Robert MacNeil trying to persuade readers to do in "The Trouble With Television"?

• avoid violent television programs

• boycott products made by television advertisers

• watch less television

According to Robert MacNeil in "The Trouble With Television," what is "one of the most precious" human gifts?

• the ability to read and write

• the ability to be entertained

• the ability to focus your attention on yourself

According to Robert MacNeil in "The Trouble With Television," what problem in the United States is linked to watching a lot of television?

• poverty

• mental illness

• illiteracy

What is one main point Robert MacNeil makes in "The Trouble With Television"?

• Escapist entertainment helps relieve the stress of modern life.

• Television decreases a person's ability to focus on worthwhile pursuits.

• Television is only useful as a tool for advertising.

What is one idea Robert MacNeil uses to support his argument in "The Trouble With Television"?

• Television requires no effort on the part of the viewer, but provides instant gratification.

• Television encourages violent behavior in both children and adults.

• Television has too many comedy programs that have no educational value.

In "The Trouble With Television," Robert MacNeil says that much of television news is "machine gunning with scraps." What does he most likely mean by this statement?

• Television news covers too many incidents of violent crime.

• Television news stories are too short and are presented too quickly.

• Television news stories concentrate too much on war.

Which of the following sentences from "The Trouble With Television" is most clearly a statement of fact?

• But I see its values now pervading this nation and its life.

• I think it tends to make things ultimately boring and dismissible (unless they are accompanied by horrifying pictures) because almost anything is boring and dismissible if you know almost nothing about it.

• One study estimates that some 30 million adult Americans are 'functionally illiterate' and cannot read or write well enough to answer a want ad or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.

Which of the following sentences from "The Trouble With Television" is most clearly a statement of opinion?

• If you fit the statistical averages, by the age of 20 you will have been exposed to at least 20,000 hours of television.

• You can add 10,000 hours for each decade you have lived after the age of 20.

• I believe that TV's appeal to the short attention span is not only inefficient communication but decivilizing as well.

According to Robert MacNeil in "The Trouble With Television," how do television programs hold viewers' attention?

• They are brief.

• The characters are funny.

• They are realistic.