issue38 就快考试了，请大家指教~

青柠小可UID: 2662026

TOPIC: ISSUE38 - "In the age of television, reading books is not as important as it once was. People can learn as much by watching television as they can by reading books."
WORDS: 599
TIME: 00:45:00
DATE: 2009/8/30 0:58:36

Anyone knows it that we used to read book and absorb knowledge from it. As the social developing so fast, people have got new way, through television, to gain knowledge. The public may get the news from the television in the morning instead of the newspaper; The student would watch the educational program rather than taking a real class; The children may prefer to watch a cartoon program instead of reading a fairy story book. Although someone may argue that people can learn as much by watching television as they can by reading books, I strongly suggest people to take balance between watching television and reading a book to learn.

As a new technique, television has brought we human beings a lot convenience and joy. We could gain a lot information from it. For instance, by watching TV, some kids may get to know the Great Wall in China for the first time and fall in love with it, some housewives may would love to waiting for the cooking program to learn how to make new dishes, and some people may also learn how to play chase through the television. And many people prefer this kind of way to learn for it is more dynamic, convenient and easy to understand. Some time learning becomes easier because of the picture, action, and vivid explanation on the screen, which lead the audience to prefer learning by watching television.

However, learning by watching television isn't good all the time. As is known to all, it is very easy for people to forget the new things, so they need to review or use it after learning new things. If they have just read an excellent story, they may have to reread it in order to remember it. If they have just learned a new song, they may have to sing it now and then to make sure the tune to be right. But even if people have just forgotten what exactly they gained from the television, it will not show it to them for another time. It may lead people to learn things fast and forget it at the same pace which means they may attain nothing from the TV. Think about it: as the saying goes, 'learn until death', people may have to gain new knowledge or skills all their life, it'll ruin their health it they watch TV all day long throughout their life.

Since the television couldn't provide the perfect education to the public, people should also read books to learn. Many people say that it makes them feel comfortable to hold a thick paper book in their hands and they are very eager to read the book to learn. We all know that to read a book is much more convenient than watching television, because books are easier to carry. Unlike the television which only sending the message to audiences, books make the reader be able to choose the pages that they want to read. So to read a book may be more efficient than watching TV to learn. Of course, there are some flaws to learn only by reading books. For instance, some books are really hard to understand. And the readers may couldn't finish reading it. When this happened, they may turn to the television for help.

As mentioned above, reading books and watching television are both effective, and we couldn’t abandon either of them to gain new knowledge. Thus, as a learner, we should always take a balance between the two methods, learn by watching television and by reading books, in order to attain knowledge effectively.