According to a 2011 survey， UK children aged five to 16 watch， on average， more than 2.5 hours of television a day.

But what are they watching？

Series like Good Luck Charlie and Doctor Who frequently top viewer ratings. Yet it is into the animated[動畫片的] comedy category that many of the most popular programmes fall.

The crazy underwater antics[小丑] of SpongeBob SquarePants captivate[迷住] younger viewers but， for the biggest animated hits for older children， the award has to go to Matt Groening， creator of The Simpsons and Futurama.

With its 500th episode[（電視劇的）一集] being shown in February 2012， The Simpsons is now the longest-running scripted[照稿子念的] show in television history. A quirky[古怪的]， instantly recognisable[可認(rèn)出的] family （comprising[包括] Homer， Marge， Bart， Lisa and Maggie）， a clever comic script[劇本] and a long list of special guest-stars has made the show a worldwide phenomenon[現(xiàn)象].

Meanwhile Futurama stars[讓某人擔(dān)任主角] Fry， a pizza delivery boy transported[流放] to the year 3000 after being accidentally frozen in time. Along with his one-eyed alien friend， Leela， and kleptomaniac[盜竊癖者] robot， Bender， Frys adventures are literally[確實] out of this world.

根據(jù)一項2011年的調(diào)查，5至16歲的英國兒童平均每天看電視超過2.5小時。

但是他們到底在看什么節(jié)目呢？

雖然《好運查理》和《神秘博士》等電視劇經(jīng)常在收視榜單上登頂稱霸，但最受（青少年）歡迎的節(jié)目大多都是喜劇動畫片。

《海綿寶寶》那些瘋狂的水下鬧劇讓年紀(jì)較小的觀眾著迷不已，不過對年長一點的孩子來說，最有人氣的動畫出自作者馬特·格勒寧——《辛普森一家》以及《飛出個未來》。

在2012年2月播出第500集的《辛普森一家》目前是電視史上最長壽的劇集節(jié)目。這部動畫片之所以能風(fēng)靡全球，除了那個讓人一眼就能認(rèn)出來的古怪家庭（成員包括霍默、瑪姬、巴特、麗莎以及麥琪）以外，還要歸功于精彩巧妙的漫畫劇本以及一份長長的明星嘉賓名單。

另一邊，《飛出個未來》講的是弗萊的故事——這個披薩送餐員意外地被冷藏起來送到了公元3000年。加上他那獨眼的外星朋友莉拉以及有盜竊癖的機器人班德，弗萊的大冒險真可謂當(dāng)世無雙。

Word of the day： Kleptomaniac （n.）

A kleptomaniac is a person who cant stop themselves from stealing things. Kleptomaniacs often steal things that have very little value. Kleptomaniac comes from Greek and the first known English use was in 1861.

True or False

a） British Children like animated television shows best.

b） The Simpsons finished in February 2012.

c） People in many countries watch The Simpsons.

d） Leela is a human character in Futurama.

Vocabulary

Find a word from the text to complete these sentences.

a） are the people who watch a television programme.

b） A television show that becomes very popular is called a .

c） The measurement of how many people watch a television show is called viewer .