TOEFL® essay sample: The worldwide distribution of television programs...

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The worldwide distribution of television programs and advertisements is seriously diminishing the differences among cultures.

For the last decades with a great progress in electronic development, television became one of the most integral part of our everyday life. Today, it is almost impossible to think of the apartment without television. Content of such entertainment does vary greatly and especially advertisement and movie part of it is permeated and saturated with diverse cultural traits. Certainly, that fact cannot not influence and affect the culture.

The most vulnerable culture groups are teenagers and youths. While their consciousness is not totally formed, they can be molded and and involved in new cultural trends and fades. Either the movie super hero drinks coca-cola in a free time and eats chips, or courageous cowboy in the Lucky-strike advertisement smokes cigarettes, everyone wants to imitate him. New samples of behavior joining old culture style and even replace old. Skateboarding, piercing, rap music, all these american teenage elements already penetrated european and even asian teenage cultures. Took you a look at a group of teenagers in the street and didn't mind the language they were speaking, usually you wouldn't be able to recognize what country they are from.

At the same time, many of characteristics of european cultures, can be totally inappropriate as a part of muslim religion countries. Knowing that, many restrictions and prohibiting measures like a censorship of programs content are implemented. That allows to control to the acquisition of new and loss of old material and spiritual values.

Therefore, the elimination of the culture alteration in the direction of another culture is inevitable. The borders between cultures with the time will be erased insensibly. But with the desire and deliberate efforts of people, they will still be able to save the unique traits of their own culture.