命题Essay——通讯是如何影响你的未来

［Write a short essay (250-500 words).... To help us understand how your reason and formulate ideas, the Honors Committee would like you to write a short essay on the impact of communication on your future based on one of the articles. ]

Each morning I roll out of bed and stumble upstairs to my computer to check my e-mail.Without fail, waiting in my inbox is the daily New York Times. I scan the headlines and follow the hyperlinks to stories about the impeachment trial and the collapse of Brazil’ s currency.
Without internet access, the cost for subscribing to one of the world’ s greatest newspapers would be out of my reach. For reasons such as this, one of the most significant ways that the communications age has affected (and will continue to affect the world) is in the realm of news reporting. In November of 1995,when Michael Kinsley left the co-host seat of CNN’ s Crossfire to create and edit an on-line magazine, Slate, critics called him crazy.。

Few would realize that in only three years, on-line news reporting would revitalize the media business. Not only have on-line magazines such as Slate gained readership, but pioneers such as Kinsley have had countless effects on print magazines. Most magazines, journals, and newspapers have web sites offering full text articles free to any web citizen and release archived articles for nominal fees. This evolution of news reporting certainly has benefits. The obvious advantage to on-line magazines is the immediate turnaround on articles. Minutes after the air strikes against Iraq, on-line news sources had feature stories pasted on their homepages. With traditional newspapers and magazines, the story took hours and, in some cases, days to reach the homes of readers. In addition, on-line magazines save on postage and paper costs, and eliminate unwanted advertising waste.

The depth of articles can be increased greatly, allowing an article regarding social security reform to have hyperlinks to the privatization plan proposed on the Senate floor, the AARP position, and the Social Security Administration page. However, all progress has disadvantages. One prime adversity that on-line publications must face is attitudinal.

Who wants to curl up in their bathrobe with a cup of coffee to complete the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle in front of their computer terminal? As Ken Auletta points out in his article “ The Reëducation of Michael Kinsley” (New Yorker May 13,1996), Many individuals have difficulty paying subscription fees for something that doesn’ t physically “ exist” . More importantly however, creating an on-line magazine takes only a few hundred dollars, computer, and a reliable server. This creates many dangerous credibility problems and forces readers to check numerous sites before discovering the facts regarding a situation. Biased reporting is also more common on-line because of the availability of web space and the ease of publishing. Even Slate, while reputable, is a subsidiary of the Microsoft Corporation which could lead to prejudiced reporting concerning such issues as the Netscape/AOL merger or the anti-trust law suit.

The daily New York Times in my e-mail inbox has allowed me to gain a new perspective on the world that I live in. Similarly, the communications age has clearly reinvented the media industry. Michael Kinsley’ s extraordinary outlook has significantly changed the way that citizens of the world receive and interpret their news, leading to many benefits and drawbacks that will continue to be examined for decades to come.

点评

结构：

作者一开始用一种轻松明快的方式展开故事，作者用记叙自己的亲身感受说出了网络带给人们的方便与快捷，在一定程度上代表了一类网民的心声，同时作者又对网络的弊端和种种问题（网络文章的可信性，文章转载的合法性等等）做出了评论对比，表明了自己对网络可行性的态度！
 
分析：

文章选材不是非常新颖，缺少事例，给人一种空乏的感觉，读完整篇文章后感觉虎头蛇尾，作者应该更多的写些自己的事例，在表达上应该更多的运用第一视角来看待整个故事，让整个作故事感觉更有生趣，而不是长时间一味的叙述。

译文：

［命题要求：为了让我们更好了解你的观点、你的想法，请写一篇250－500字的短文，描述一下通讯是如何影响你的未来生活的。］

乔治华盛顿的荣耀

网络的出现无疑为人们的生活提供了方便快捷和有效资源的合理利用。了解了现代网络的同时作者用了一个“Netscape/AOL”的例子告诉我们合理合法的利用网络会给个人乃至公司带来不可限量的利益空间。提倡网络精神的同时让读者对将来的互联网发展颇感深思。了解和掌握计算机网络知识，就是闯荡未来信息时代的最强有力的武器。让我们相信，运用好这一时代工具，终将会聚沙成塔，终将会站在巨人的肩膀上。

每天早晨我从床上爬起平且上楼浏览我的计算机里是否有电子邮件。无疑, 等待我的是邮箱里的每日纽约时代周刊。我浏览着新闻摘要并在网上看到了对关于弹劾审判和巴西崩溃的故事。没有互联网,想订阅到一个这样世界性的报纸，在费用上会对我说是遥不可及的。这就是我为什么选择他的原因, 在新闻媒体的领域上，网络通信时代在我们的生活中气力最重大的作用 (并且将继续影响世界) 。

在1995 年11月, 当离开美国有线电视新闻网，主办创造和编辑一本网上杂志, 别的评论家多认为他疯狂。很少有人会意识到, 在仅仅三年里, 网上新闻报告成为重要的媒介。吸引了很多了读者, 迈克尔作为一个网络杂志之父，有着无可限量的影响在印刷品杂志。他为大多数杂志、学报, 和报纸有网站任意提供全文文章对于任一个网民和发布其归档的文章会象征性收取一定的费用。

这样的变革在一定程度上对新闻传播是有好处的。明显的好处就是网上杂志可以很快地出现在我们身边。在反对空袭伊拉克战争以后, 网上新闻来源在第一时间被粘贴在他们的主页。与传统报纸和杂志, 故事需要几小时和, 在某些情况下, 几天才能到达读者的家。另外, 网上杂志包含着邮费和纸张费用, 并且在一定程度上消灭不必要的广告垃圾。文章的内容可能很大地被增加。有一篇文章是关于网络杂志在上社会保险改革对私有化计划提议在参议院议席上出现,允许和赞成美国退休人员组织和保障社会保险管理位置的确保，但是, 所有网上杂志进展都有不利因素。网上出版物必须面对的第一个问题就是态度问题的。纵横两方面看，谁愿意在计算机前，围着他们的浴巾一边喝着咖啡完成星期天纽约时代周刊? 就像肯指出在他的文章里"迈克尔理论" (纽约人1996年5月13), 许多个人都有困难支付订购费的问题,不是完全存在的" 。然而更加重要地是创造一本网上杂志采取唯一办法就是几百美金、一台计算机, 和一台可靠的服务器。其中存在着许多潜在的可信度问题，使读者不得不搜索许多网站寻找到最佳答案。有些报告有存在着偏见，在网上同样由于网络空间的有限性和可读性而出版。值得一提的是, 当网络公司名声的好坏会导致带有偏见的报告，比如关于Netscape/AOL问题。合并或反垄断法都依赖于微软公司的辅助。

邮箱里每天更新的每日纽约时报的新闻，每天都让我对这个世界有一个全部的认识。与之类似，通讯时代已经彻底改变了现在的媒体工业。Michael Kinsley伟大的outlook正在让人们的生活方式发生成重大的改变：人们接受阅读新闻的方式，引导着很多的利益与退税在下一个十年继续接受检验。