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.
看电视与阅读
很明显，阅读的速度完全凭读者决定。他可以按自己的能力和愿望读慢一点或读快一点。如果有什么他没读懂，他可以停下来再读一遍，或在继续读之前弄清楚。当阅读材料易懂或者不太有趣时，读者可以加快阅读速度；当它难懂或引人入胜时可以放慢速度。如果他读的东西令人感动，他可以放下书停一会儿，整理一下情绪，而不必担心错过了什么。
电视的速度不能由看电视的人来控制；只有它的开始与结束在他的掌握中，因为他可以把开关打开或按下。他不能慢放一个令人愉快的节目，也不能快放一个令人乏味的节目。如果有一个字或一个词组没听懂，他也不能“转回去”再听一次。节目无动于衷地进行着，而没看到的还是没有看到，误解的仍然误解了。
看电视的人也不能将他接收到的材料转化为一种可能适合他的特殊感情需要的形式，像他在阅读时通常做的那样。图像变得太快。他不可能用他的想象给电视中饰演的人和事赋予个人意义，以帮助他理解和解决自己生活中的关系和冲突；他被节目制作者的想象力控制住了。看电视时，眼睛和耳朵被稍纵即逝的图像和声音控制住了。
当一个人正在看电视时，如果有人——朋友，亲戚，小孩，可能是一个他很久没见过的人—千进入房间，这个人必须继续观看电视，不然他就会乱了头绪。必须等一会再招呼客人，因为节目不会等人。当然，一本书可以被放在一旁，可能会有些惋惜，但不会有永久的损失。
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