大学英语综合教程 第三册 1textB

[06:08.98]12 These days,few people have time to shop for and prepare"homestyle"meals.
[06:16.45]The Cleavers were used to dinners of pot roast or chicken.Potatoes,salad,and vegetables went with the main course,
[06:25.85]With pie or cake for dessert.But this kind of meal takes several hours to fix.
[06:33.85]People can't spend hours in the kitchen if they get home at 5:30.
[06:39.67]13 So what do working families eat?They choose meals that are easy to prepare or are already prepared.Fast food,
[06:51.09]takeout,and heat-and-serve dishes make up much of the modern American diet.
[06:58.40]Dad may arrive home with a bag of Big Macs and shakes.Mom may phone out for Chinese food
[07:06.95]or ask the local pizza parlor to deliver.And more and more people rely on microwaves to thaw frozen food in minutes.
[07:18.23]14 One consequence of these quickly prepared meals is that families spend less time dining together.And classic fast foods,
[07:28.21]like hamburgers and fries,are meant to be eaten on the run,not slowly enjoyed at the dinner table.
[07:36.93]The modern family no longer shares the evening meal.
[07:42.52]As a result,it no longer shares the day's news...or the feeling of togetherness.
[07:49.86]15 Finally,what about after dinner?Is the family evening at least something the Cleavers could relate to?
[07:59.19]16 Not a chance.
[08:02.04]17 We don't have to look outside the home to see the changes.
[08:07.03]The modern American family entertains itself in ways the Cleavers would never have dreamed of.
[08:14.79]18 Thirty years ago,families gathered around a radio each evening.Later,television took over.Most families had just one set,
[08:26.75]which they watched together.Today,television and computers bring a dizzying array of entertainment into the home.
[08:37.04]Cable television provides everything from aerobics classes to Shakespeare.VCRs expand the choices even more.
[08:48.61](3)If there's nothing good on network TV or cable,the video store offers the best and worst of Hollywood:
[08:57.39]recent movies,cartoons,"adult"films,exercise programs,travel,sports,how-to tapes. Computer games,
[09:10.37]which make viewers part of the action,also provide excitement.Players can compete in the Olympics,
[09:19.05]search out aliens,or wipe out entire civilizations on their little screens.
[09:26.15]19 With all these choices,it makes sense to own more than one television set.The two-or-more-TV family used to be rare.
[09:36.68](4)Nowadays,Dad might want to rent an action movie when Mom's cable shopping service is on.
[09:44.52]Or Junior is playing a let's-below-up-Saturn video game while Sis wants to see The Simpsons.
[09:53.16]Why not invest in several sets?Then each family member can enjoy himself or herself in peace.
[10:02.31]20 What's wrong with this picture of today's family?
[10:06.93]21 Only this.Today's Cleavers spend their evenings in front of their separate TV screens.Then they go to bed.
[10:16.86]The next morning,they rush off to their separate jobs(work and school).They come home at separate times.
[10:26.00]They eat separately.Finally,they return to their separate TV screens for another evening's entertainment.
[10:35.95]During all these times,when do they talk to each other or even see each other?When are they a family?
[10:43.40]22 Certain realities of modern life cannot change.One is the need, in most families,
[10:50.84]for both parents to bring home a paycheck.Another is the distance many of us must travel to work or to school.
[11:00.66]But must everything change?And must we lose the family structure in the process?
[11:09.20]23 No one is suggesting that we go back to the 1950s.The Cleaver household was a fantasy even then,not reality.
[11:19.68]But we might borrow one important lesson from the Cleavers.
[11:24.98]It is that family life is just as important as work or play.
[11:31.38]If we agree,we'll find ways of spending more time together.
[11:37.26]We'll find things to share.And then there will be something right with the picture.
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