TV talk shows dominate daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style. But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as possible. For example, the show takes the forever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and the quality of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.
Compared with Oprah, the Jerry Springer looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the main idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.
Clear as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middle-class Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tougher problems. The Jerry Springer show, on the other hand, has more of connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drugs. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation (开发，挖掘).
小题1:Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows are _____.
A．more popular
B．less interesting
C．more uninviting
D．more informal小题2:What is the audience’s reaction to the social problems that Jerry Springer talks about?
A．They are interested in them.
B．They are not ready to face them.
C．They are cold to them.
D．They want to get away from them.小题3:Which of the following topics is the most suitable one for the Oprah show?
A．Cheating.
B．A love story.
C．Mental health.
D．Sex.小题4:From the passage we can learn that the two talk shows _____.
A．are the only ones of their kind
B．exploit weaknesses in human nature
C．appear at different times of the day
D．have their own specific viewers
