Most people have a TV and watch it every day. But 100 years ago, people would not be able to watch TV. They would not even know what TV is.

In the 19th century (世纪), scientists started to think about how to ________ machines that could receive (接收) pictures. In 1900, they thought of a word ________ this kind of machine—television. Since then, many people around the world have tried to build TVs.

One TV inventor (发明家) was a Scottish engineer named John Logie Baird. He ________ the first TV in Britain in 1926. On his television, people could see a person’s face. But the face ________ very clear and the picture couldn’t move.

In 1927, American Philo Farnsworth built the first modern television. His television only showed a simple black line. It didn’t have any sound but the picture could move. Farnsworth was only 20 when he built the first television. But he was not the only inventor of TV. Russian Vladimir Zworkin also invented a few things that made TV ________.

Over the next few years, televisions started to improve. In the 1930s, people began to make TV programs. In 1938, families could ________ their own televisions and watch them at home.

Early televisions were black and white, and there were only ________ channels (频道). Some of them had to be used with a ________ so that people could listen as well as see. Later, people could buy color televisions. By 1967, most TV programs were in color.

Now, there are more and more different kinds of TV shows for people to choose on TV. I think     1     has his idea about these shows, such as talk shows, sports shows, talent shows, cartoons and so on. We find the following shows are the most popular in surveys.

One is talent shows. You can come     2     you have talent. Last month, Chinese Folk Song Festival (中国民歌盛典) from Zuoquan in Jinzhong, Shanxi     3     a good job on CCTV-1 in September, 2023. All kinds of people can join the show, some people are     4     talented. And these shows have one thing in common: Who can sing     5     and get best grades? That’s up to audience (观众), they play a role in     6     the first prize. And one great thing about the show is that they give people a way to make their dream come true. Maybe next time you want to see something     7     than you think, choose talent shows!

The other one is cartoons. Mulan is one of them. It comes from an old     8     story. It is an exciting action movie. Mulan dresses up     9     a boy and takes her father’s place to fight in the army. The movie shows her love for her family, friends and country.

In a word, all the performers are wonderful and they are the     10     of their lives. Boys and girls, let’s work harder to be the best of ourselves!

TV PK shows(选秀节目) have been popular for more than ten years. Even now, they can attract many people with talents to take part in. Many young people are very excited about them. Some of them even give up their jobs to take part in these shows in the hope of becoming famous overnight.

A company online did a survey among 800 teenagers. Here are parts of the survey results.

Which country’s TV PK shows do you like best?
America	30%(240)
UK	4%(32)
China	▲
Japan	18%(144)
Republic of Korea	16%(128)

However, different people have different opinions about these TV PK shows.

Do you like watching TV PK shows? What do you think of these shows? You can also take part in the survey and email your answer to the survey company at https://www. surcom. com.

A Lifelong Journey is a popular and educational soap opera. It tells us a story     1     Zhou Bingkun’s family. It is the epitome (缩影) of that era (时代) of life. They had a really hard time,     2     they never gave up. The main characters Lei Jiayin and Yin Tao     3     played their roles well. In the end, they won     4     best Leading Actor and Leading Actress awards at the 31st China TV Golden Eagle Award (金鹰奖). You can enjoy the TV show slowly if you have nothing     5     do in your free time.