British Broadcasting Corporation(the BBC) was founded in 1922, including radio and television services. It is based at Broadcasting House in London. The BBC is controlled by some governors chosen by the government, but these people have complete freedom and government can’t interfere. That is, the BBC is not the mouthpiece (喉舌) of the government. It has to be as fair as possible in giving radio and television time to, for example, political parties and religious groups. There is a kind of interesting services in Britain- rental (租借) services. Many people prefer to rent their television sets instead of buying them. The rent for a black and white set is about 80 pence a week. The rent of a color set is more than twice that of a black and white set. If the sets go wrong, people can have them repaired free of charge or replace immediately. Everyone who owns or rents a television set has to pay a yearly licence, there is no advertising on BBC radio or television. It is from the sale of licence that the BBC gets most of its money. A licence for a black and white set costs 8 pounds, and for a color set 18 pounds a year. There are four specialized radio channels, which broadcast different kinds of programmes. Radio I is mainly pop music. Radio 2 deals with light music, sports and other programmes. Radio 3 broadcasts serious music, talks on serious subjects etc. News broadcasts are mainly given by Radio 4. There are special programmes for Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and certain parts of England. It also broadcasts programmes about Britain - in many different languages as well as in English to all parts of the world. 小题1:The BBC Broadcasting House lies in ______.
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