US Bar Chat

Reality TV

This month, two young Americans, Alison and Carrie are talking about reality TV. Listen to the conversation and answer these questions: 1) What does one of the speakers say in favour of reality TV? 2) What does the other speaker say against reality TV?

Alison: Hey, did you watch Big Brother last night? Carrie: Oh my God, I can’t stand that show. It’s so boring! Alison: What are you talking about? It’s amazing! It’s got so much drama in it! Carrie: Ugh, how can you say that? I can’t stand it! Alison: I like watching it, because it’s, like, you get to see real people but they’re, they’re kind of celebrities. I like to imagine that I could be on it some day. Carrie: Oh, come on, the people on that show are just idiots! Alison: Well, thanks a lot! No, I mean it’s really interesting to see how they interact and to see what happens. And on some of the reality shows the people, like, what’s the one where they’re on the island? And they’re competing so they’re actually… Carrie: No, no no! Listen, I don’t know, I mean, I think these shows are, just, like, they’re really voyeuristic. You know, it’s just stupid. And, I don’t know, personally, I want to watch intelligent people speaking, as opposed to the people on these shows. Alison: Well, some of them are intelligent. It just depends and the ones that aren’t, I mean, they make fools of themselves and it’s funny. It’s entertainment. Carrie: But, I mean, they’re just basically like stupid showoffs who have a complete lack of IQ. It’s ridiculous. Alison: But it depends on the show. I mean, I saw one show where the guy was a scientist or something and he was really, you know, inspiring. And so, if these real people can be actors and, you know, communicate to the masses… Carrie: No, but they’re not real people. I mean, some reality shows are just as scripted as any other show. Alison: No, I mean, that’s the whole point of it being a reality show, is that they just put up a camera in somebody’s house. I mean, did you ever watch The Newlyweds with Jessica Simpson and her husband? Well, now they have a divorce. But, as you can see by watching the show, they should have a divorce. Carrie: Personally, I think there are much better things on TV. I mean, there’s news, there’s films, documentaries… Alison: All right. Well, I guess you don’t want to come over and watch the Top Idol show tonight. Carrie: Actually, I think I’m going to go watch a real movie with real actors. G L O S S A R Y

I can’t stand that show exp I hate that show amazing adj incredible; fantastic you get to see exp you can see come on exp an expression people say when they hear something they consider ridiculous or wrong to interact vb to talk/converse/socialise with other people I mean exp people often use this in conversations for emphasis voyeuristic adj something “voyeuristic” gives pleasure to someone because they are secretly watching it you know exp people often use this in conversations to check that the other person is listening/ understanding, etc to make a fool of yourself exp to do something that makes you appear to be stupid a show-off n someone who does things to demonstrate how good they are a lack of something exp an absence of something IQ abbr intelligence quotient: your level of intelligence that is measured by tests. An average person has an IQ of about 100 inspiring adj that makes you think positively about something scripted adj written and planned that’s the whole point of it exp that is the reason for it to put something up exp to install something there’s films exp notice how even native speakers make grammatical errors when they speak quickly. In standard English this would be: “there are films” I guess exp I suppose; I imagine