The first reality TV show in the world was called Expedition Robinson and it was shown in Sweden in 1997. Half the population of the country watched the final event and a new kind of TV program was born. Two years later in Holland , the first series of Big Brother was filmed. Again, it was a great success and the final program was watched by 15 million people. Now more than 20 countries around the world have Big Brother or Expedition Robinson on their TV screens. The ordinary people who take part in the programs are known by millions of people in their own countries and reality TV has become big, big business.
For the TV producers, reality TV is a dream come true because many of the programs cost nothing to make. At some point, the television viewers are asked to telephone the program to vote or to apply to take part in the show. It is the cost of these telephone calls that pays for the shows. One of the most popular shows is Pop Idol. In the show a group of attractive young people are made into pop stars. TV viewers vote for their favorite person on the show. The winner makes a record and millions of copies of the record are sold. His or her pictures are published on the covers of magazines or on the front pages of newspapers, and then, they are quickly forgotten.
But not everyone is happy about reality TV. In Portugal, two TV channels got into trouble because they showed too much of the personal lives of the people in the shows. In France, reality TV is called “rubbish TV” and the TV studios of Big Brother were attacked three times in one week. In Greece, Big Brother was described as “ against human rights and civilization”.
小题1:Those who take part in the reality TV shows are usually _____.
A．common people
B．pop TV stars
C．attractive people
D．famous film stars小题2:Who would pay for the cost of the reality TV shows according to the passage?
A．TV producers who make reality TV shows
B．TV actors who take part in reality TV shows.
C．TV viewers who telephone reality TV shows
D．TV companies which broadcast reality TV shows小题3:It can be concluded from the passage that ______.
A．everyone is happy about reality TV.
B．reality TV will do well in many countries.
C．all the people in Europe are in favor of reality TV
D．reality TV will not be broadcast in any countries.
