1.Howtoagreestronglywithanopinion

　　Icouldn’tagreemore!

　　That’sabsolutelytrue!

　　Absolutely!

　　Itakeyourpoint.

　　I’dgoalongwithyouthere.

　　I’mwithyouonthat.

　　That’sjustwhatIwasthinking

　　That’sexactlywhatIthink

　　That’sgoodpoint

　　That’sjusthowIseeit.

　　That’sexactlymyopinion.

　　2.Howtohalfagreewithanopinion.

　　Yes,perhaps.

　　Well,yes.

　　Yes,inaway

　　Mum,possibly

　　Yes,Iagreeuptoapoint

　　Well,you’vegotapointthere.

　　There’ssomethinginthat,Isuppose

　　Eguessyoucouldberight

　　Yes,Isupposeso.

　　That’sworththinkingabout.

　　3.Howtodisagreepolitelywithanopinion

　　Iamnotsosurereally.

　　Doyouthinkso?

　　Well.Itdepends.

　　I’mnotsocertain.

　　Well.Itdon’tknow.

　　Well,I’mnotsosureaboutthat.

　　Mmm,I’mnotreallysureyou’reright.

　　I’minclinedtodisagreewiththat.

　　No,Idon’tthinksoreally.

　　4.Howtodisagreestronglywithanopinion

　　Idisagree.

　　Idisagreewithyouentirely.

　　I’mafraidIdon’tagree.

　　I’mafraidyouarewrongthere.

　　Ireallycan’tagree.

　　Iwouldn’tacceptthatforoneminute.

　　Youcan’treallymeanthat.

　　Iwouldn’tgoalongwithyouthere.

　　Youcan’tbeserious.

　　Youmustbejoking.

　　NotethatyouneedtobeverypolitewhendisagreeingwithsomeoneinEnglish,evensomeoneyouknowquitewell.Withsomeoneyouknowverywell,youcandisagreemoredirectly.

　　5.Howtopresentbothsidesofanargument

　　Ontheonehand...ontheotherhand...

　　Althoughit’struetosaythat...it’salsotruetosaythat...

　　Lesson1

　　DoesTelevisionPlayaPositiveorNegativeRoleintheModernSociety?

　　Text

　　DotheAdvantagesofTelevisionOutweightheDisadvantages?

　　Televisionisnowplayingaveryimportantpartinourlife.Buttelevision,likeotherthings,hasbothadvantagesanddisadvantages.Dotheformeroutweighthelatter?

　　Inthefirstplace,televisionisnotonlyaconvenientsourceofentertainment,butalsoacomparativelycheapone.Forafamilyoffour,forexample,itismoreconvenientaswellascheapertositcomfortablyathome,withalmostunlimitedentertainmentavailable,thantogooutinsearchofamusementelsewhere(1).Theydonothavetopayforexpensiveseatsatthetheatre,thecinema,ortheopera,onlytodiscover,perhaps,thattheshowisdisappointing(2).Alltheyhavetodoispressabutton,andtheycanseeplays,films,operas,andshowsofeverykind,nottomentionpoliticaldiscussionsandthelatestexcitingfootballmatch.Somepeople,however,maintainthatthisispreciselywherethedangerlies.Thetelevisionviewertakesnoinitiative(3).Hemakesnochoiceandexercisesnojudgmenttohimwithoutanyeffortonhispart.

　　Television,itisoftensaid,keepsoneinformedaboutcurrentevents,allowsonetofollowthelatestdevelopmentsinscienceandpolitics,andoffersandendlessseriesofprogrammeswhicharebothinstructiveandentertaining.Themostdistantcountriesandthestrangestcustomsarebroughtrightintoone’ssitting-room.(4)Itcouldbearguedthattheradioperformsthisservicejustaswell;butontelevisioneverythingismuchmoreliving,muchmorereal.Yethereagainthereisadanger.Wegetsousedtolookingatit,sodependentonitsflickeringpictures(5),thatitbeginstodominateourlives.

　　Therearemanyotherargumentsforandagainsttelevision.Thepoorqualityofitsprogrammesisoftencriticized.Butitisundoubtedlyagreatcomporttomanylonelyelderlypeople.anddoesitcorruptorinstructourchildren?Ithinkwemustrealizethattelevisioninitselfisneithergoodnorhad.Itistheusestowhichitisputthatdetermineitsvaluetosociety.