TV—Blessing or Curse?
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ---Zhang Chenge

　　 Few things in the modern world have so much influence on people as the television does. Being besieged with TV news, absorbing teleplays, well-masterminded programmes, one can easily conclude that TV is a real blessing to the human society, offering affluent entertainment and information. Yet, convenient and helpful as it is, the television also brings negative effects.

　　 To begin with, TV makes people more passive than before: since everything on TV is ready-made, there is no space for audience’s initiatives. The news has been carefully edited, teleplays well shot, programmes rehearsed, so all you need to do—and all you can do is to sit on a comfortable sofa and look at the screen. Though a lot of people enjoy doing this, the undoubted truth is that people are becoming more passive simply because there is no interaction and no efforts on them.

　　 Television also contributes to the fact that people nowadays are more distant to each other. Since most of our free time is taken away by the act of watching TV, we can no longer find enough time to visit friends, call on relatives or go to interesting places. This is also true within a family, parents and children and other members are less close to each other, because family get-togethers and conversations are disturbed by TV—when one member is watching TV, he would like others to keep quiet.

　　 Of course I am not denying the great conveniences and huge benefits the TV brings us, but to make it a really blessing to us, we should try to avoid its negative effects.