Description: This is
a VOA Special English General News Report.
See text below
Text:
Question: Which program is in Guinness World Records
as the world's longest running TV quiz show?
MAC McGARRY: "It's Academic!" "It's Academic" is a
Saturday morning television program for high school
students. The show has been broadcast in the
Washington area for 50 years.
Teams from local schools face subjects like history,
literature, mathematics, science, and sports. Susan
Altman is the producer of the show.
SUSAN ALTMAN: "It's a great age group to work with.
They're fun, they're enthusiastic, they say funny
things without even meaning to half the time."
Ms. Altman's mother, Sophie, was a TV producer in
the 1950's. She started "It's Academic" after local
officials asked her to create a program that showed
extraordinary students.
SUSAN ALTMAN: "And at that time - this was in 1961-
the United States, of course, was going through a
lot of upheaval with school integration, and they
wanted things to help out to make the schools look
good and to show that integration could work and
work well."
The show's host, Mac McGarry, says the teams became
more diverse over the years.
MAC McGARRY: "When we first started, the young
people from various countries were not in evidence
so much. But now, each program presents young people
from all over the world, at least descendants of
people from people all over the world. So this is a
microcosm of the way America is, today. "
Mac McGarry is 85 years old. He has hosted "It's
Academic" since the beginning. [Update: In November
2011 his retirement was announced.] He has asked
more than 200,000 questions. He has gotten more than
a few funny answers.
MAC McGARRY: "We had a question one time: 'Who
defeated Napoleon at Waterloo?' and the young fellow
answered Duke Ellington. Another time, we had a
question of 'Who along with Frederick Engels wrote
the Communist Manifesto?' Groucho Marx!"
The correct answers are the Duke of Wellington and
Karl Marx. Kelly Reeder knows that. She led the team
from Rockville High School in Maryland last year.
KELLY REEDER: "Me and all the other people on the
team, we've put in a lot of effort over the years
and a lot of time to be where we are. So, and I mean
it's a really huge honor to end up on the A Team."
Her school has won the championship on "It's
Academic" several times.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton competed on the
show when she was a teenager. So did astronaut
Timothy Creamer. Maybe one of these students will
also rise to fame. I'm Barbara Klein.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
