发表评论-儿歌荟萃-万维博客-万维读者网（电脑版）

The anticipation of another trip out of the Continents is even greater than the last day of school today. The very air seemed to spark as we made our way onto the Philadelphia Intl. Airport, and so here we go.

This trip is to take us to places filled with lush culture and rich history spanning Southern Europe for more than three weeks. We would explore the remnants of the 7,000-year-old mythical Greek Isles in the Aegean Sea, scout out some of Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria’s wonders of Byzantine and Ottoman in the Black Sea, and then cap it all off with a visit to Italy’s finest cities of Roman Empire as well as Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. This vacation is a real exploration for me, with crazy sights and even crazier backdrops. I just began to learn about ancient history as a 6th grader this year, and the knowledge taught from pictures on this trip was about to become a reality. Whatever it brings, I’ll be expecting something adventurous from a tour of UNESCO World Heritage.

What I love about travel is the movies while I am taking international flights. They have all the famous blockbusters, and I really use what the TV offers well. I watched Big Hero 6, SpongeBob: Sponge Out of Water, and The Kingsman: The Secret Service. I traded sleep for movies, which in my eye was worth it. I still caught an hour or two of sleep. Other than that, I emerged from the tiny screen two feet from my face. It’s perplexing how a small screen could be so mesmerizing. Kids of the new generation are totally addicted to screens. All they do are tiny pixels changing color to form pictures, telling tales. In fact, they’re simply advanced storytelling machines. These machines are extremely addictive because, I think, it’s using the very thing that every kid preys on his/her imagination. The very thing that keeps the world moving and technology advancing are ironically also acting as a poison to the children. Adults are no different. Since they don’t have the same imagination, however, they are addicted to more realistic movies. These stories are based on what we can imagine and it’s like saying that the world’s most creative person is the most vulnerable to screens and electronics. Videogames are all too similar but in games. Players forge their own stories, choosing and imagining their own path instead of a movie, written out before them. Imagination can come in dangerous ways, and people can go in either direction in this world. But another factor in our society with electronics wasn’t a problem 20 years ago, so they seem like a one-two-punch combo. Kids are taking video games over sports and TV over chores. This is the start of society's breakdown. The key to our success is our imagination, for example, Steve Jobs. But the saving key is also a lethal knife. At present, people are changing sides.

Now, I am ready for the new adventure. When the plane lands in Rome of Italy, things become much more real than a screen with pixels of light on it. Much more real.

【红霞译文】

今天离开美洲大陆重又开始崭新的旅途，说来要比暑假前最后时刻更激动人心。在去费城国际机场的路上，连空气都洋溢着欢快，我们动身了。

此次旅行我们打算花费三个多星期的时间鉴赏文化底蕴深厚历史古迹丰富的南部欧洲，奔爱琴海饱览闪耀着七千年城邦神话色彩的希腊岛屿，到黑海探寻遍及土耳其、罗马尼亚和保加利亚拜占庭奥斯曼君主文明，去地中海涉猎影响意大利马耳他繁荣兴旺的古罗马帝国，对我而言，整个假日集疯狂观光及超级考察之大成。时下身为初中一年级学生，刚好学过古代历史，然而百闻不如一见，实践出真知，无论如何，我将从探寻世界文化遗产之旅中期待各种收获。

我喜欢旅行的另一个方面就是借助乘坐国际航班之机观赏电影，它们都是出了名的好莱坞迪斯尼大片，而我偏偏轻易不肯放过任何一个，已看过《超能陆战队》、《海绵宝宝:海陆大出击》、《王牌特工：特工学院》。每每此刻，我熬夜作战，从未虚度光阴；当然，我也舍得忙里偷闲眯瞪小憩，除此而外，我目不转睛紧紧盯住眼前两英尺之远半米开外的微型屏幕，真搞不懂丁点大的荧光板怎么会具有这般魅力，年轻一代趋之若鹜没有不着魔的，可显像器无非将各种颜色的细微像素转换成图片并依据情节播放出来，实际上，它们不过是个单一的高级故事器，我觉得电影之所以具有魅力无非就是善于调动少年儿童的想象力。不无讽刺地，这类玩艺既驱动世界进步领导科技潮流，又可成为迷惑孩童的毒剂；大人们没啥两样，只不过他们早已过了幻想阶段更倾向反映现实生活的电影而已，因为故事情节全部基于人类的想象，所以说世界上最富创意的人最迷恋屏幕和电子产品。视频游戏并无不同，只是侧重游戏罢矣，玩游戏的人选择特有方式及再现手段来编造故事，不像电影事先需要写好剧本。想象具有危险性，大千世界里人们发挥想象力的方式有好有坏，廿年前有限的家电使用不会给社会造成什么问题，而如今广泛的电子产品却给社会带来难以调和的矛盾，青少年一玩上游戏就忘了运动，一看上电视就忘了家务活，十足打破了固有传统。成功离不开想象，史蒂夫·乔布斯堪称时代先驱，但事物都有反正两面，人们往往顾此失彼。

现在我已做好新的冒险准备，一旦飞机着陆，现实世界将取代由像素构成的虚幻画面，活脱脱的。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2009: 与孩子同车上下班的路上(Car Pool)