看電視和閱讀是我們生活中兩個很重要的休閑方式，那么它們都有什么樣的優點和缺點呢?讓我們來比較一下!
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 anything①.
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 program 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 thread②. 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.
[331 words]
行文點評
本文結構屬于comparison and contrast,把兩類事物進行對照比較。comparison and contrast不要求作者有鮮明的立場，即支持哪一方，或反對哪一方，只要清楚明白地說出兩者之間的異同就可以了，這是它與議論文(argument)不同的一點。
縱觀全文，可以明顯看出，作者偏向于閱讀，所以在對比過程中作者肯定了閱讀的優點。在第一段中clearly的插入，使句式新穎。文章的前兩段從速度方面將viewing與reading兩者進行了對比。句首The pace of...排比句的應用形成了段落間的并列，使文章結構嚴謹。這兩段都是首句提出主題，然后圍繞這句話再展開具體的論述。第三段作者旨在說明看電視限制了人們的想象空間。在第四段中作者通過生活中一個非常普遍的例子論證了前文談到的觀點，其中插入語的運用增加了文章句式的變化。
好文妙譯
看電視與閱讀
很明顯，閱讀的速度完全由讀者決定。他可以按自己的能力和意愿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，或看一下注釋說明再繼續往下讀。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。如果閱讀的東西令人感動，他可以放下書停一會兒，調整一下情緒，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“倒回去”再聽一次。節目無動于衷地進行著，而錯過的就這樣錯過了，沒看懂的也沒機會看懂了。
看電視的人也不能像他在閱讀時通常做的那樣，將他接收到的材料轉化為一種可能適合他的特殊感情需求的形式。圖像變化得太快。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。看電視時，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進入房間，他必須繼續觀看電視，不然就會亂了頭緒。必須等一會兒再招呼客人，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。
詞匯斟酌
elucidation n. 注釋，解釋
knob n. 旋鈕
drearya. 沉悶的，枯燥無味的
inexorablyad. 無動于衷地，無情地
invariablyad. 不變地，始終如一地，總是
portrayvt. ①描寫，描繪②扮演，飾演
set aside 把…置于一旁，不理會
permanent a. 永久(性)的
佳句臨摹
①【注釋】cope with (成功地)應付，(妥善地)處理
【臨摹】The task looks a formidable one ,but I think we can cope with it.這項任務看起來很難，但我想我們能夠應付。
②【注釋】lose the thread 失去頭緒
【臨摹】He had lost his thread and didn’t know what to say next.他斷了思緒，不知道接下去該講什么。
思如泉涌
Choice of the end covers choice of the means. 選擇目的包含著選擇手段。
Eyes are as eloquent as lips. 眼睛會和嘴一樣說話。
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