【原文】

For years I have been mercilessly lampooned by friends and acquaintances alike for my unorthodox lifestyle choice of having no TV. In an age of increasingly large plasma flat-screens and surround sound, digital home entertainment systems which accost you the minute you walk into someone’s house, people regularly look at me like I’m either severely handicapped or chronically hard done by when I mention that I have no television. I can see the mixture of genuine pity, raw pathos and sheer disbelief in their faces as they stare at me open-mouthed.

To be sure, television is a great invention, if handled in moderation. The composite etymological derivation (from the Greek and the Latin words – literally meaning “to see from afar”) tells of a tremendous technological feat which certainly deserves to be applauded. What’s more, if one is discerning, it can be the source of some quality entertainment, instruction and enjoyment. Some of the nature documentaries and arts programmes on BBC 2 are truly fantastic and are well worth the license fee alone.

But the sad reality is that young people are rarely discerning and, by dint of poor time management skills, often end up wasting an inordinate amount of precious, never-returning time watching trash, their brains wallowing in a trough of mental lethargy.

【译文】

多年来,我一直坚持不买电视,这种不合常规的生活方式使我受到朋友和熟人们的无情奚落。在这个等离子平板电视越来越大、数字家庭娱乐设备无处不在的时代, 你一进别人家便会感受到它们的存在。当我提到我没有电视时,人们看我的眼神往往就像我要么有严重的缺陷,要么就是长期受到不公平的对待。他们目瞪口呆地盯 着我,我能看出他们脸上混杂着发自内心的同情、毫不掩饰的怜悯和完完全全的不相信。

当然,电视是一项伟大的发明,如果使用适度的话。这个复合派生词(来自希腊和拉丁词汇,字面意思是“远远地看”)描述的是一个值得赞扬的、无与伦比的技术壮举。同时,如果我们有足够的辨识力,它还是优质的娱乐、指导和享受之源。BBC 2频道的一些自然纪录片和艺术节目就非常出色,单单是看这几个节目,你的有线电视费便花得值得了。

然而令人悲哀的现实是,年轻人大多缺乏辨识力,而且由于不善管理时间,他们最终往往浪费过多一去不复返的宝贵时间收看垃圾节目,让大脑沉溺于精神倦怠的深渊中。

【评析】

评析:文章出处为出处Mailonline,作者是Lindsay Johns,讲的是没有电视的好处。在这样一个信息化社会,没有电视确实很另类。作者在第一段中便生动地描绘了人们得知他没有电视时的反应。

第一段难度较大的单词有lampoon,讽刺;unorthodox,非传统的;还有一个需要注意的词组是hard done,受到不公平对待的。

第二段讲了电视积极的一面,如果使用得当的话,它可以提供高质量的娱乐和教育。生词有etymological,词源的。

第三段说很多青年会把宝贵时间用于收看垃圾节目,需要注意的词组是by dint of,由于;生词有inordinate,过度的,过多的;trough,水槽,低谷,这里意译为深渊。