Name__________________________________________Date___________________________
Reading Comprehension
Volume 1, Number 20, February 3, 1997
www.rhlschool.com

More Choices

     They say that before long, we will be able to receive more than 500
television networks on cable or by satellite. Some people think that it’s
ridiculous to have that many channels. Their usual criticism goes
something like this:
     “I already get more channels on my TV than I have time to watch. No
one needs to see that much TV. There’s not enough time in the day to
watch all that!” They also assert that most of what’s on television now
isn’t worth watching in the first place.
     I think they’re missing the point. If the local library wanted to add
another 5,000 books, would we say, “That’s silly, we’ll never have time
to read all those books.” The point is that we would have more choices.
     I don’t believe that most people should watch more television. And if
we had 500 or even 1,000 channels to choose from, we wouldn’t have
to spend more time watching the tube. We would, however, have a
better selection of programming to choose from. That means that the
quality of our viewing time would improve.
     I, for one, say that the more channels we can access, the better.
Give me more choices! If they’re not worth my time, I’ll just hit the “off”
button.

1.  The author is writing mainly to ___________________.

   a. give important information
   b. express an opinion
   c. complain about cable television
   d. his girlfriend


2.  The author wants ________________________.

   a. to read more books
   b. more television sets
   c. more choices
   d. to watch more sports


3.  The number of television channels is _________________.

   a. increasing
   b. decreasing
   c. never going to be more than 1,000
   d. the same as the amount of books in the library


4.  To make his point, the author creates an analogy that compares
cable and satellite systems to ___________.

   a. junkyard
   b. computers
   c. libraries
   d. amusement parks


5.  The author probably wants to ___________________.

   a. watch at least three hours of TV each day
   b. have less libraries built
   c. persuade readers to agree with him
   d. keep his television off


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Copyright 1997 RHL