阅读理解
There are probably no people on Earth who like to gossip (说闲话) as much as the British.If prying into other’s lives were an Olympic sport，then Team GB would surely take the gold medal.
And when the British can’t watch the lives of real people with glee，they have another source of entertainment to fall back on—the soap opera.British soap operas are very different to US TV dramas.For one，they are normally longer running.The two most popular，Coronation Street and Eastenders，have been running for 48 and 24 years respectively.Both are broadcast several times a week，so remarkably there have been more than 7,000 episodes of Coronation Street.
The most obvious difference is that，unlike US dramas，the British soap operas focus on the real world.There is little glamour，the stars are rarely rich，and they normally have boring jobs.Perhaps the appeal is that the lives of the characters often mirror the lives of the audience—but with some drama added.This means the viewer can relate to the characters and feel the pain and happiness they go through on the show.
