Television Today(今日电视)

       Television Today
      Whole generations are growing up addicted to television.  Food is left uneaten,homework undone and sleep is lost. Television is a universal pacifier.  It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living room and turning on the set. It doesn't matter that the children watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadi and violence--so long as they are quiet. There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programs are so bad; it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programs, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.
     Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself, Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prnts us from communicating with each other.

今日电视
    一代又一代的人在迷恋于电视中长大。饭没来得及吃，作业没来得及做，觉也没有睡足。电视成了人们惯用的抚慰工具。母亲为了不让孩子们吵闹，将他们赶到起居室，然后打开电视，这已成了通行的做法。只要孩子们不吵不闹，他们是看“垃圾”商业广告还是施虐和暴力场景，那都无关紧要了。人世间的创造力是有一定限度的。  日复一日，电视消耗掉大量的创造力。这就是大多数节目何以如此糟糕的原因；既满足需求同时又保持高标准，那是不可能的。当数以百万计的人观看着相同的电视节目的时候，整个世界就变成了一个村落，社会也就退化到文字出现前的状态。我们完完全全依赖于两个最原始的传播媒介：图像和口头语言。
    电视助长了消极的享受。我们变得满足于间接的经验。躺在扶手椅中旁观他人干活再舒心不过了。逐渐地，电视将我们跟真实的世界割裂开来。我们变得极为懒惰。在一个阳光灿烂的日子，我们宁愿呆在昏暗的屋子内，眼睛死盯着电视不放，而不愿走出去投身真实的大自然之中。电视或许是一种极好的传媒，但它阻止了人们的相互交流。