Are animations (动画片) only for children?

Maybe it was the case before the US animated series (系列) The Simpsons (《辛普森一家》). The show     1     out in 1989 and its first season was a success.

The Simpsons changed the very concept (概念) of     2     in Western society. It     3     each episode (剧集) with a lot of cultural topics. This way, it made animations a serious television show for adults.

Once it was clear how popular an animated TV show for adults could be, more and more were made. Video websites have put a lot of     4     into making animated shows for adults. Bob’s Burgers (《开心汉堡店》), BoJack Horseman (《马男波杰克》) and Rick and Morty (《瑞克和莫蒂》) are just some of the popular     5    .

Then     6     are these shows so popular? Maybe one reason is that they often talk about serious topics that viewers rarely (很少) see on television. For example, many of these shows take a look at     7     topics, such as mental health and depression (抑郁症). Another show, titled Big Mouth (《大嘴巴》), talks about the     8     that teenagers face during puberty (青春期).

Compared to live-action shows and movies, animations also offer     9     freedom for creators. They can use     10     and different kinds of creatures (生物) to personify (拟人化) almost everything.

5 . Alex, 21-year-old young man from England came to Beijing to study Chinese last year. National Treasure (《国家宝藏》) is one of Alex’s favorite Chinese TV     1    . People can watch it     2     TV or online. There are many cultural relics (文物) from large     3     across the country. The story and the history under each cultural relic was     4     by the show.

“    5     is interesting and educational. I can not only enjoy the beauty of cultural relics, but also know about Chinese     6     and civilization (文明). I often have     7     with others about this,” said Alex.

As a beginner of     8     Chinese, Alex sometimes finds it a little difficult to follow the program.     9    , he says it isn’t a problem. His Chinese will     10     better if he stays in China for a longer time.

Untangle this mini mystery

HBO’s new limited dramatic crime series The Night Of will keep you on edge as it unfolds the fate of Nasir “Naz” Khan, an American-born college student of Pakistani descent from the New York borough of Queens, trying to fit into a United States of America that is often hostile.

A night that begins with promise ends up going very wrong for the shy and mild-mannered Naz, played by Riz Ahmed. He takes his father’s cab without permission to go to a party in Manhattan, hoping to meet girls. And when an attractive, but troubled, young woman named Andrea Cornish gets into the cab believing he’s on duty, Naz can’t turn her away.

But happiness soon turns to horror. After a debauched night of sex and drugs at her place, Nasir wakes up to find Andrea dead, the victim of multiple stab wounds. Did he kill her? Later-shown ample evidence seems to confirm that he did, but we don’t know for sure.

Based on the BBC series Criminal Justice (2008), the eight-part show is on the surface procedural, yet it has something of the feel of the crime-based podcast Serial (2014-) or the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer (2015-) as it explores a tangled case, with elements of racism and a justice system overburdened by human failings.

“Growing up as a Muslim-American, post-9/11, you kind of have a very (unpleasant) relationship toward the authorities; you are told you are automatically a suspect,” Ahmed says. “It certainly does play into what you can expect in the criminal justice system. People view you as a threat.”

Rather than present a carousel of would-be killers as so many prime-time whodunits are prone to do, The Night Of invites the viewer to ponder the fate of its single key suspect without trying to pull the wool over their eyes in the process. Did he do it? If he didn’t, who did and why? Is the soon-to-be-retired police detective (Bill Camp) making too many easy assumptions? Will the anti-Muslim tensions in the community further hamper Nasir’s chances of acquittal?

The Night Of dutifully delves into the social and political undertones present in American criminal cases – along with the emotional carnage they cause – as it explores the police investigation and legal proceedings. And it takes on added layers when it follows Nasir to prison, where he is the proverbial fish out of water.

The miniseries unfolds in leisurely fashion – maybe too leisurely for some viewers. But it’s hard not to admire how carefully observed and precisely rendered the scenes are. You could do worse than to lock yourself away to watch this carefully put together masterpiece.

Young cook enters the big time

CHLOE Langis, of California in the US, is just 15, but she’s loved to cook for as long as she can remember.

As a little girl, she helped her grandma prepare meals in her restaurant. While other kids watch cartoons, Chloe’s idol (偶像) is Rachel Ray, the famous host of a TV cookery show.

A year or two ago, Chloe wrote a letter to Ray’s show. “I thought maybe they’d give me tickets to be in the audience (观众),” she said.

She heard nothing for many months so she thought she never would. Until one day in March, that is, when Chloe got a phone call.

Ray wanted five teen chefs to help run a restaurant for a night. The event would be filmed and shown later on the show.

The program was called Cafe One Night. It was to promote Yum-o!, a nonprofit (非赢利的) organization that works to promote healthy eating for kids.

In mid-April Chloe flew to New York City, meeting Rachel Ray and the other teen chefs. The night of the filming soon arrived.

“We were in charge of (掌管) prep work,” Chloe says of the work they did that day. “Mostly we did the plating of the food. We were working so hard.”

The menu was healthy and tasty. The teen chefs specially made the dessert (甜点): fresh sorbet (果汁冻糕) and berries.

Guess who came to eat the delicious food? The guests included former US president Bill Clinton, talk show host Larry King and some celebrity chefs.

Everyone knows The Voice! It’s a talent show for people who want to become famous singers. All of the singers on the show are good and some of them are excellent! There are lots of other talent shows around the world as well. In many countries, talent shows are the most popular shows on TV.

There are shows like Got Talent for musicians, people doing magic, singers... and lots more. There’s a show for dancers, too. It’s called Strictly Come Dancing. Every year there are new ideas for talent shows. There are even some national talent shows for robots and singing dogs!

Yes, most of the talent shows on TV are live. It’s also possible to go to the TV station and watch a talent show live on stage.

I’m sure you know the answer to this one. Usually, the people watching the show on TV and in the theatre vote (投票) for who (or what!) they like best. Sometimes famous people are the judges(评委) as well. On Masterchef, only the professional chefs choose the winner.

In a competition there is always a winner. The winner of the final usually gets a prize and sometimes becomes a star. On some shows the runner-up gets a prize too and a few of them become stars. On a few shows, the winner gets nothing—but they often become famous!

Most of the time, the people on the shows can say, sing or do what they want to. Sometimes, the show tells them the words to say, so they are a bit like actors or performers. But this doesn’t happen on all the shows.