Passage Nineteen

　　Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television? How often we hear statements like this! Television hasnt been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do anything, providing it doesnt interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.

　　Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly 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 doesnt matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism 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 programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programmes, 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 s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly.

　　1. What is the biggest harm of TV?

　　It deprives people of communication with the real world.

　　People become lazy.

　　People become dependent on second-hand experience.

　　TV consumes a large part of ones life.

　　2. In what way can people forget TV?

　　Far away from civilization.

　　To a mountain.

　　By the sea.

　　In quiet natural surroundings.

　　3. What does a mother usually do to keep her children quiet?

　　Let them watch the set.

　　Put them in the living room.

　　Let them watch the rubbish.

　　Let them alone.

　　4. What does the first sentence in the first paragraph mean?

　　We found it difficult to occupy our spare time.

　　We become addicted to TV.

　　What we used to do is different from now.

　　We used to enjoy civilized pleasures.

　　Vocabulary

　　1. goggle 轉動眼珠，瞪眼

　　goggle box 電視機

　　2. gulp 狼吞虎咽

　　3. telly 電視機

　　4. pacifier 平息者，撫慰者。這里指平靜人，使人不吱聲的東西。

　　5. rubbishy 垃圾的，無價值的

　　6. sadism 施淫虐

　　7. glue 膠;粘牢

　　glue to the sets 和電視機粘在一起，指成了電視迷

　　8. hypnotic 催眠的

　　難句譯注

　　1. There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world.

　　【參考譯文】世界上可以獲得的創造性才能的數量是有限的。

　　寫作方法與文章大意

　　這是一篇論說電視有害的文章。采用對比分析手法。先提出問題，對比過去和現在過去在業余時間，我們享受文明的歡樂，有各種嗜好，招待朋友，訪友，外出娛樂，在家讀書聽音樂現在一切受電視支配。匆忙趕回家，狼吞虎咽地吃完飯為的是準時看某個電視節目。只要不干擾節目，吃什么都可以!一塊三明治，一杯啤酒就行。看時，誰都不許說話，完全沒有了過去的那種悠閑，坐在一起吃晚飯，相互交談白天的一切。

　　然后列出電視種種惡果：整個幾代人成了電視迷，連孩子也不能幸免，電視消耗了大量的創造性工作，人們成為以來電視生存的人，被動娛樂，制止我們和真實世界交流。

　　最后結論：到大自然去，忘掉電視。

　　答案詳解

　　1. A 它剝奪了人們和真實世界的聯系。文章多次提到現在我們不能探親訪友，一家人互不交流，而一旦離開電視就進入了真是世界。

　　B. 人變懶。C. 人們變得依賴二手經驗。D. 電視浪費了人生的大量時間。這三項只是危害重具體一個組成部分。

　　2. D 在安寧的大自然的懷抱中。答案在最后一段最后一句在安詳寧靜的大自然環境中，我們很快發現我們對催眠的電視暴君連想都不怎么想!

　　A. 遠離文明。B.去山上。C.在海邊。

　　3. A 叫他們看電視。這在第二段第三句起電視是一個萬能安靜器。母親為使孩子們安靜，就把他們放在起居室內，打開電視看。這是現在最權威的一招。至于孩子們看的使垃圾般的商業廣告，還是施淫虐或暴力片都無關緊要，只要他們安靜不鬧。

　　B.把他們擱在起居室。C.讓他們看垃圾片。都是其中的具體一部分。D.讓他們呆著。沒有提到。

　　4. B 我們都成了電視迷。第一句是的，可是沒有電視之前，我們常干些什么?這說明人們已經習慣于電視，以來電視，到了沒有電視怎么辦的境地。不知道沒有電視前的情況。第二段整個幾代人越來越迷上了電視，飯不吃，家務不干，不睡覺。可以說整篇文章都描寫了人們對電視迷戀，依賴。第一句話是引言。所以B對。

　　A. 難以消遣。只是人們的一種感受。C.過去和現在不同。是一種對比，并沒有點出這句話的真正內涵。D.享受文明歡樂。是過去所作的一個具體例子。

　　Passage Nineteen

　　Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television? How often we hear statements like this! Television hasnt been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do anything, providing it doesnt interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.

　　Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly 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 doesnt matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism 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 programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programmes, 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 s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly.

　　1. What is the biggest harm of TV?

　　It deprives people of communication with the real world.

　　People become lazy.

　　People become dependent on second-hand experience.

　　TV consumes a large part of ones life.

　　2. In what way can people forget TV?

　　Far away from civilization.

　　To a mountain.

　　By the sea.

　　In quiet natural surroundings.

　　3. What does a mother usually do to keep her children quiet?

　　Let them watch the set.

　　Put them in the living room.

　　Let them watch the rubbish.

　　Let them alone.

　　4. What does the first sentence in the first paragraph mean?

　　We found it difficult to occupy our spare time.

　　We become addicted to TV.

　　What we used to do is different from now.

　　We used to enjoy civilized pleasures.

　　Vocabulary

　　1. goggle 轉動眼珠，瞪眼

　　goggle box 電視機

　　2. gulp 狼吞虎咽

　　3. telly 電視機

　　4. pacifier 平息者，撫慰者。這里指平靜人，使人不吱聲的東西。

　　5. rubbishy 垃圾的，無價值的

　　6. sadism 施淫虐

　　7. glue 膠;粘牢

　　glue to the sets 和電視機粘在一起，指成了電視迷

　　8. hypnotic 催眠的

　　難句譯注

　　1. There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world.

　　【參考譯文】世界上可以獲得的創造性才能的數量是有限的。

　　寫作方法與文章大意

　　這是一篇論說電視有害的文章。采用對比分析手法。先提出問題，對比過去和現在過去在業余時間，我們享受文明的歡樂，有各種嗜好，招待朋友，訪友，外出娛樂，在家讀書聽音樂現在一切受電視支配。匆忙趕回家，狼吞虎咽地吃完飯為的是準時看某個電視節目。只要不干擾節目，吃什么都可以!一塊三明治，一杯啤酒就行。看時，誰都不許說話，完全沒有了過去的那種悠閑，坐在一起吃晚飯，相互交談白天的一切。

　　然后列出電視種種惡果：整個幾代人成了電視迷，連孩子也不能幸免，電視消耗了大量的創造性工作，人們成為以來電視生存的人，被動娛樂，制止我們和真實世界交流。

　　最后結論：到大自然去，忘掉電視。

　　答案詳解

　　1. A 它剝奪了人們和真實世界的聯系。文章多次提到現在我們不能探親訪友，一家人互不交流，而一旦離開電視就進入了真是世界。

　　B. 人變懶。C. 人們變得依賴二手經驗。D. 電視浪費了人生的大量時間。這三項只是危害重具體一個組成部分。

　　2. D 在安寧的大自然的懷抱中。答案在最后一段最后一句在安詳寧靜的大自然環境中，我們很快發現我們對催眠的電視暴君連想都不怎么想!

　　A. 遠離文明。B.去山上。C.在海邊。

　　3. A 叫他們看電視。這在第二段第三句起電視是一個萬能安靜器。母親為使孩子們安靜，就把他們放在起居室內，打開電視看。這是現在最權威的一招。至于孩子們看的使垃圾般的商業廣告，還是施淫虐或暴力片都無關緊要，只要他們安靜不鬧。

　　B.把他們擱在起居室。C.讓他們看垃圾片。都是其中的具體一部分。D.讓他們呆著。沒有提到。

　　4. B 我們都成了電視迷。第一句是的，可是沒有電視之前，我們常干些什么?這說明人們已經習慣于電視，以來電視，到了沒有電視怎么辦的境地。不知道沒有電視前的情況。第二段整個幾代人越來越迷上了電視，飯不吃，家務不干，不睡覺。可以說整篇文章都描寫了人們對電視迷戀，依賴。第一句話是引言。所以B對。

　　A. 難以消遣。只是人們的一種感受。C.過去和現在不同。是一種對比，并沒有點出這句話的真正內涵。D.享受文明歡樂。是過去所作的一個具體例子。