World News for Students of English

03-06-2015 15:00

Reality shows often put contestants in uncomfortable positions… but in the Czech Republic, TV producers are taking that idea to the extreme. A new series called “Holiday in the Protectorate” sees a family of seven experience what it was like to live under Nazi occupation! The show’s creator says she wrote it in memory of her grandparents.

“When I was a little girl they would tell me how they tried to survive, how this time period was very hard to live in, how great the fear was among the people and how varied people’s characters were. Who was more courageous, who was less courageous, who was truly cowardly and who was collaborating.”

Internationally, the idea has attracted plenty of criticism but in the Czech Republic, viewers are curious. This man says the programme will show young people what living in that time was like. The majority of young people, he says, don’t have a clue about what happened.

So why would anyone want to live under Nazi occupation? Well, the family will win 1 million Czech Koruna, around 26,000 pounds, if they can endure two months of hardship and Nazi interrogation.

Difficult words: would (used to), varied (different), collaborate (to cooperate with the enemy), endure (to suffer through something hard), interrogation (the act of being interrogated – being asked questions closely and aggresively).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com