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READING PASSAGE13TV ADDICTIONAThe amountof timepeople spendwatching televisionis astonishing,Onaverage,individuals in the industrialisedworld devotethree hoursa dayto thepursuit-fullyhalf of their leisuretime,and morethan onany singleactivity savework andsleep.At thisrate,someone wholives to75would spendnine yearsin front of thetube.To somecommentators,this devotionmeans simplythat peopleenjoy TVand makea consciousdecisionto watchit.But ifthat isthe wholestory,why doso manypeople experiencemisgivingsabout howmuch theyviewIn Galluppolls in1992and1999,two outof fiveadultrespondents andseven outof10teenagers saidthey spenttoo muchtime watchingTV.Other surveyshave consistentlyshown thatroughly10percent ofadults callthemselves TV addicts.B Tostudy peoplesreaction to TV,researchers haveundertaken laboratoryexperiments inwhichthey havemonitored thebrain wavesusingan electroencephalograph,or EEGtotrack behaviourand emotionin thenormal courseof life,as opposedto theartificialconditions of the lab.Participants carriedbeeper,and wesignaled themsix to eight timesaday,at arandom,over theperiod ofa week,whenever theyheard thedeep,they wrotedownwhat they were doingand howtheywerefeeling usinga standardizedscorecard.C Asone mightexpect,people whowere watching TV whenwe beepedthem reportedandpassive.The EEGstudies similarlyshow lessmental stimulation,as measuredby alphabrain-wave production,during viewing than duringreading.What ismore surprisingis thatthesense ofrelaxation endswhen the set isturned off,but thefeeling ofpassivity andloweredalertness continue.Survey participantssay theyhave moredifficulty concentratingafterviewingthan before.In contrast,they rarelyindicate suchdifficulty afterreading.Afterplaying sportsor engagingin hobbiespeople reportimprovements in mood.After watchingTV,peoples moodsare aboutthe sameor worsethanbefore.That may be becauseviewersvague learnedsense that they willfeel lessrelaxed ifthey stop viewing.So theytend nottoturn theset off.Viewing begetsmore viewingwhich isthe sameas theexperience ofhabit-forming drugs.Thus,the ironyof TV:people watcha greatdeal longerthey planto,even thoughprolonged viewingis lessrewarding.In ourESM studiesthe longerpeoplesat infrontof theset,the lesssatisfaction theysaid derivedfrom it.For some,a twingeofunease orguilt that they theyarent doingsomething moreproductive mayalso accompanyanddepreciate theenjoyment ofprolonged viewing.Researchers inJapan,the U.K and theU.S havefound thatthis guiltoccurs muchmore amongmiddle-class viewersthan amonglessaffluent ones.D Whatis itabout TVthat hassuch ahold onus Inpart,the attractionseems tospring fromourbiologicalorienting response