看電視與閱讀-Viewing vs.Reading

　　Viewing vs.Reading

　　The pace of reading, clearly,depends entirely upon the reader. He may read as slowly or as rapidly as he can or wishes to read. If he does not understand something, he may stop and reread it, or go in search of elucidation before continuing. The reader can accelerate his pace when the material is easy or less than interesting, and slow down when it is difficult or absorbing. If what he reads is moving, he can put down the book for a few moments and cope with his emotions without fear of losing anything.

　　The pace of the television experience cannot be controlled by the viewer; only its beginning and end are within his control as he clicks the knob on and off. He cannot slow down a delightful program or speed up a dreary one. He cannot "turn back" if a word or phrase is not understood. The pro-

　　gram moves inexorably forward, and what is lost or misunderstood remains so.

　　Nor can the television viewer readily transform the material he receives into a form that might suit his particular emotional needs, as he invariably does with material he reads.The images move too quickly. He cannot use his own imagination to invest the people and events portrayed on television

　　with the personal meanings that would help him understand and resolve relationships and conflicts in his own life~ he is under the power of the imagination of the show＇s creators. In the television experience the eyes and ears are overwhelmed with the immediacy of sights and sounds.

　　If someone enters the room while one is watching television--a friend, a relative, a child, someone, perhaps, one has not seen for some time--one must continue to watch or one will lose the thread. The greetings must wait, for the television program will not. A book, of course, can be set aside,with a little regret, perhaps, but with no sense of permanent loss.

　　看電視與閱讀

　　很明顯，閱讀的速度完全憑讀者決定。他可以按自己的能力和愿望讀慢一點或讀快一點。如果有什么他沒讀懂，他可以停下來再讀一遍，或在繼續讀之前弄清楚。當閱讀材料易懂或者不太有趣時，讀者可以加快閱讀速度；當它難懂或引人入勝時可以放慢速度。如果他讀的東西令人感動，他可以放下書停一會兒，整理一下情緒，而不必擔心錯過了什么。

　　電視的速度不能由看電視的人來控制；只有它的開始與結束在他的掌握中，因為他可以把開關打開或按下。他不能慢放一個令人愉快的節目，也不能快放一個令人乏味的節目。如果有一個字或一個詞組沒聽懂，他也不能“轉回去”再聽一次。節目無動于衷地進行著，而沒看到的還是沒有看到，誤解的仍然誤解了。

　　看電視的人也不能將他接收到的材料轉化為一種可能適合他的特殊感情需要的形式，像他在閱讀時通常做的那樣。圖像變得太快。他不可能用他的想象給電視中飾演的人和事賦予個人意義，以幫助他理解和解決自己生活中的關系和沖突；他被節目制作者的想象力控制住了�？措娨晻r，眼睛和耳朵被稍縱即逝的圖像和聲音控制住了。

　　當一個人正在看電視時，如果有人——朋友，親戚，小孩，可能是一個他很久沒見過的人—千進入房間，這個人必須繼續觀看電視，不然他就會亂了頭緒。必須等一會再招呼客人，因為節目不會等人。當然，一本書可以被放在一旁，可能會有些惋惜，但不會有永久的損失。