After more than fifty years of television, it might seem only obvious to conclude that it is here to stay. There have been many objections to it during this time, of course, and (1)_____ a variety of grounds. Did it cause eye-strain? Was the screen bombarding us with radioactivity? Did the advertisements contain subliminal messages, persuading us to buy more? Did children turn to violence through watching it, either because so many programs taught them how to shoot, rob, and kill, or because they had to do something to counteract the hours they had spent glued to the tiny screen? Or did it simply create a vast passive (2)_____ drugged by glamorous serials and inane situation programs? On the other hand, did it increase anxiety by sensationalizing the news (or the news which was (3)_____ by unsuitable pictures ) and filling our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest? All in all, television proved to be the all – purpose scapegoat for the second half of the century, blamed for everything, but above all, eagerly watched. For no (4)_____ how much we despised it, feared it, were bored by lit, or felt that it took us away from the old paradise of family conversation and hobbies such as collecting stamps, we never turned it off. We kept staring at the screen, aware that our own tiny (5)_____ was in if we looked carefully.

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