A recent report said that China’s TV usage (使用率) dropped from70 percent to less than 30 percent in 2022. Also, TV sales dropped from 48.94 million in 2019 to 36.34 million in 2022. So why do we watch less TV?

I seldom watch TV mainly because of the annoying advertisements (广告). They always show up when a show or a movie is half way through its run. And some movies have to be paid for if you want to enjoy them. So my family and I hardly ever turn on the TV.

—Song Ruiqi, 14, Zhejiang

We have a busy schedule filled with both study and entertainment (娱乐) activities, leaving us with little time to watch TV. Also, the TV shows we enjoy are different from the ones our parents like. In my family, for example, I enjoy watching variety shows (综艺节目), while my parents prefer historical dramas.

—Zhang Linhui, 13, Guangdong

Mobile phones, computers and other portable devices (便携式设备) can easily meet our needs for watching videos. Smart TVs have long suffered from disadvantages such as hidden fees (费用) and complex interfaces (复条的界面). These problems have led to situations where young people are not interested in using them, while the elderly find them difficult to use.

—He Liyan, 13, Jiangsu

The Awakening Age, a TV series telling the story of how the Party was founded in 1921 has become a hot topic and has won praise (赞扬) among lots of young people in China recently, who found the part of history encouraging.

The history of the birth and growth of the CPC (中国共产党) has drawn the interest of many young Chinese audiences. It is reported that some young audiences even look through history books while watching the shows to better understand them.

“I love the scene in which young Mao Zedong first appears in the series so much and have watched the two-minute video several times. He walks through the rain, shining like a light,” one reviewer wrote.

Director Zhang said that the biggest pressure in making The Awakening Age comes from how to make it more accepted by young audiences in China, who have set very high standards for historical movies and TV shows.

Using the New Youth magazine as background material, the series linked shining names in the history such as Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and Hu Shi. Stories about how Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and other passionate youths (有志青年) pursued truth and explored knowledge were also included in the series. Those great men of that generation have great love for the family and the nation. These spirits, passing down from generation to generation, will continue to enlighten (启发) the young generation of today. Many audiences look forward to the sequel (续集) to the series.

3 . Are young people interested in news? How do they get news? In order to get the answers, a survey was carried out by the US. The survey covered 6,000 Americans. They were between the ages of 16 and 40.

The survey also asked the young people about their favourite types of news. Entertainment (娱乐) and music, at 49%, topped the list. Food and cooking followed closely behind them at 48%. News about the environment and education is also popular among young people.

Reading is important in our daily life. But have you ever thought what we read     1    , information or skills? How do we feel when we read, excited or upset? We read word by word aloud and think about them. Is that enough? I think reading is more than     2     (pronounce) or thinking about words.

    3     (recent), The Reader, a very popular TV program, is staged(上演) in the form of reading. It’s a     4     (nation) reading program. Dong Qing works     5     both a hostess and a producer. The Reader hopes to tell us     6     the world is like and it takes us to see the beautiful world by reading. The show has invited some influential(有影响力的) guests who have rich experiences and touching stories, like Ni Ping, Wang Yuan from TFboys and Yao Chen.

“Reading touches people’s hearts” is the slog(口号) of The Reader. What it wants     7     (show) isn’t reading skills but real feelings. They are what touches the audience most. “I have long thought about working on a program related to the human spirit, so far The Reader     8     (become) a turning point in my career in hosting and the program has bought me quite a huge challenge.” said Dong.

The Reader is of great     9     (important) to the audience and Chinese culture. It also tells us if we understand what we are reading, we will know what reading really is and will become better     10     (reader).

8 . There are many TV cook shows where you wish you could reach through your screen and taste the delicious recipes (食谱) yourself.

Now, Japanese scientists have taken a huge step towards making that a reality, with the development of a lickable (可舔的) TV screen.

The device is called Taste the TV (TTTV) and has 10 taste boxes that can put taste samples (样本) onto the surface of the screen. The different tastes in the cans can then mix to create tastes similar to those being shown on screen, for example, coffee or pizza.

It is a technology under test, produced by Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan, with its developers expecting a commercial version to cost about £650.

Japanese professor Miyashita and 30 students have developed all kinds of taste types. In his version the 10 taste cans spray a mixture of samples on to a roll of hygienic (卫生的) film that is placed over a flat TV-screen.

“During the COVID-19, this kind of technology can improve the way people connect and communicate with the outside world,” said Miyashita.

“The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while at home,” he said.

Miyashita has also been in talks with companies about using his spray technology for applications like a device that can apply a pizza or chocolate taste to a piece of toasted bread.

9 . The 2021 Henan Spring Festival Gala appeared on Wednesday evening. Since Thursday, a video of the dance show “Night Banguet in Palace of Tang Dynasty《唐宫夜宴》” caused a hot discussion. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the program has been viewed 10 million times on SinaWeibo.

According to Chen Lei, the director of the show, “We hope the 2021 Spring Festival Gala can give everyone more joy and warmth,” Chen said. “We used 5G and AR technology to connect virtual (虚拟的) scenes with a real place, bringing singing and dancing into a museum setting and creating a feeling of a wonderful night in the museum.”

People have been drawn into learning more about traditional culture after watching the Henan Spring Festival Gala because of this show. Chen said that after enjoying the gala, netizens (网友) said that they would like to go to visit the Henan Provincial Museum and that made him filled with a sense of pride. “We have done a little bit to the revival (复兴) of traditional culture,” he said.

A netizen named @kenanyis said that the program really brought our national treasure back to life. After watching it, I really want to go to the Henan Provincial Museum. Another netizen named @aichiyu said that it was amazing how popular the show was after being replayed millions of times!