音频下载[点击右键另存为][00:00.66]Passage 24. Of Media

[00:05.67]International media such as TV network and magazine

[00:11.14]always give people in an information age mixed feelings.

[00:16.29]Like many other things, media is double-edged.

[00:20.23]As primary channels of information,

[00:23.40]TV and magazine are convenient and economic sources of information for knowledge, entertainment, and shopping.

[00:32.05]Interestingly,sometimes the same piece of information varies considerably

[00:38.39]in its influences on audiences of different age.

[00:42.11]For example,in a TV commercial,a beautiful lady promotes a certain brand of perfume,

[00:49.22]which supposablely makes girls more attractive to boys.

[00:53.60]For potential grown-up buyers,

[00:56.00]the ad is useful because they might be spending time searching for such products.

[01:01.58]We save time in shopping and making decision by making use of such advertisements.

[01:08.04]However, a teenage girl might get the wrong idea about the concept of perfume.

[01:13.73]She could get money from her parents to buy the advertised product.

[01:18.10]Worse yet, she might use the appeal strategy employed in the commercial

[01:23.57]to get ahead in the future.

[01:25.65]This is classic bad influence of media for young people’s overspending

[01:31.01]and inappropriate behaviors.

[01:34.08]However, we find it very difficult to weigh between merits and problems of media

[01:39.66]because they are often tightly incorporated.

[01:42.72]For instance, violent scenes in movies are believed to be

[01:46.56]partially responsible for violence-related crimes,

[01:49.95] particularly those committed by young people.

[01:53.44]But on the contrary,such movies also give people a channel to release their anger,anxiety, and pressure.

[02:00.88]Moreover,these movies show us bad and evil as well as punishments for wrongdoings.

[02:07.78]Imagine we live in a world whose media is completely clean in such sense.

[02:13.36]The dark side of media does not disappear just because we do not talk about it.

[02:18.94]Nevertheless certain kinds of information such as porn are better kept away from young people.

[02:26.16]In conclusion, media should not be seen simply as bad or good

[02:31.41]because we need to use information properly to the best of our ability.

[02:35.89]But for certain segments of viewers,

[02:38.74]we should be very careful with regard to the content of information

[02:43.45]and take measures to keep viewers from possible harmful influences of media.