Counter-arguments

　　1. Television is a great time-waster.

　　2. Television makes the viewer completely passive because everything is presented to him without any effort on his part.

　　3. Television is to blame for the fact that children take longer to learn to read these days and barely¹ see the point at all of acquiring the skill.

　　4. Television takes up too much of our time. We no longer have enough time for hobbies, entertaining activities, and other outside amusements like theatres, cinemas, sports, etc.

　　5. People rush home, gulp² their food, which is often as simple as sandwich and a glass of beer, and start watching the TV programmes.

　　6. The monster, i.e. television, demands absolute silence and attention. No one dares to open his mouth during a programme.

　　7. People have grown addicted³ to television, often neglecting the necessary and more important things like meals, sleep and even work.

　　8. A lot of parents use television as a pacifier for their children. They put their children in front of the set and don't care whether the children are exposed to rubbishy commercials or spectacles⁴ of violence as long as the children are quiet.

　　9. What the viewer receives from television is nothing but second-hand⁵ experience. He is completely cut off from the real world.

　　10. Television prevents people from communicating with each other. It has done a lot of harm to the relationship between family members.