Say the words ‘reality TV’ and the show that comes into most people’s minds is Big Brother. Love it or hate it, there have been versions ( 版本) in more than seventy countries! The basic format is simple: put a group of strangers into a house, record everything they do and watch how they manage to live together.

Actually the idea wasn’t original. A similar show, The Real World, was broadcast in 1992 on MTV. But the format really became popular with the success of Big Brother, and it has been copied again and again, including celebrity versions. In similar shows, contestants ( 参赛选手) have been sent to the jungle or a desert island. In Wife Swap a mother goes to live with a family of strangers and tries to manage their homes; in Young, Dumb and Living off Mum a group of spoilt ( 宠坏的) teenagers with no life skills learn to live together and look after themselves.

So what makes these shows so attractive? Actually, living with strangers is stressful and also personality problems are common. Contestants often have to share tasks and housework and this also brings conflict. “It’s all about relationships,” says TV critic ( 批评家) Jo Barnett. “Some characters are pleasant, and some are unpleasant, but they are all real people.”

But is it healthy to be so interested in other people’s private lives? And what kind of people want to appear in front of TV cameras twenty-four hours a day? Not everyone was in favour of such shows, including the first ever winner of Big Brother, Bart Spring. “I’m not a fan of the programme or of people becoming famous for being stupid.” he says.

1.Big brother is a TV show which has versions in over 70 countries, isn’t it?

______________________

2.Which of the following words has the same meaning as “original” (Para. 2) ?

A.narrow B.creative C.powerful D.favourite

3.What life skills can the spoilt teenagers learn in Young, Dumb and Living off Mum?

______________________

4.How is the life of the contestants living with strangers?

______________________

5.What does TV critic Jo Barnett think of the characters in these shows?

______________________

6.Do you like to take part in this kind of activity? Add your reason(s) .

______________________

Comfort Zone is a state(状态)of mind where there is the least stress. However, stepping into the learning zone can help to bring out the best in us. Here are the reasons.

Challenging yourself can help you do at your best.

Stepping outside one's comfort zone is important to personal development. How can we expect to make ourselves better if we only stick to habit and routine(日常)? We should try something we might not succeed at.

Taking risks is what helps us grow.

As children, we're natural risk-takers. But as we get older and learn to fear failure(失败), we start trying fewer new things. We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. There is no learning without some difficulty.

Facing new challenges can help us age better.

Our comfort zones seem to become smaller as we get older-but if we can keep expanding them, we'll open ourselves up to a greater world as we age. As we step into the learning zone, we will get more comfortable with the skills gradually and we'll start to move into the comfort zone. A study found that learning new life skills can help our brain stay sharp(敏锐的)as we get older.

However, don't push yourself too far. Have you heard of "Yerkes-Dodson Law”? It means performance increases as stress grows, but only up to a point. If the level of stress becomes too high, performance will go down. When stress becomes too great for us to deal with, we enter the danger zone.

1.Compared with the comfort zone, people in the learning zone may .

A.feel less stress B.face more challenges

C.make fewer efforts D.refuse more changes

2.From paragraph 3, we will learn more if we .

A.spend money B.fear failure C.take risks D.feel natural

3.The best title of the passage might be .

A.Comfort Zone Makes Us Safe

B.What Is Comfort Zone

C.Step Outside Comfort Zone

D.Never Fear Comfort Zone

4.“Yerkes-Dodson Law” can be described by Graph .

A. B.

C. D.

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