Ways of exploring
the world
There are many ways of exploring the
world. Previously the choice of the means of exploring the world was rather
limited. It was confined to books and meeting other people. Transport was
poorly developed to allow people to travel throughout the world without
difficulties. With the appearance of newspapers in the 17-th century people had
a chance to learn about current events more quickly. The technical progress of
the 20-th centuries has made our planet a small world. Any distance is covered
in a twinkle of an eye. Today besides books and travelling the world can be
explored with the help of mass media and the Internet.
Books are considered to be a
traditional way of learning about the world around us. This is quite natural
because books give information about various subjects. From the point of view
of the 21-st century it is possible to say that this source of knowledge is
proved by time. Books introduce us to the experience of the present, past, and
future. In every day life we are limited by Time. We cannot enter the distant
future or return to the past. Every moment we live only in the present. Books
make an easily accessible time machine. They give everybody a wonderful
opportunity to travel into the past and future. With the help of books we can
almost eyewitness the major historical events, the way people lived in distant
epochs. Ancient and medieval writers show us the world of the past centuries as
it was. For example, by reading books about the expeditions to the North and
South Poles we live the lives of the people who participated in them. From
books we derive all possible knowledge of arts and sciences. Textbooks and
manuals are written to give knowledge and information about different special
things. It is held that nothing can be more important but the book acquired in
time. All the revolutions are conceived first in mind and then put into
practice. From the books we understand that the idea of an ideal society has
interested people since antiquity. The stories about an ideal society were
written by Plato, Thomas Moor, Adam Smith; modern scholars developed them. In
the last two centuries attempts were made to put the dream into reality through
a number of successive revolutions. I think that books play a very important
part in our education. Every specialist first derives information from books.
Travelling as a way of learning also
has a long tradition. In the past travelling was the final stage of the
education of aristocrats. Lord Byron described his journey in his poem
"Childe Harolde". It is very useful to visit different countries and
get familiar with different cultures. People today are travelling far more than
they ever used to. In the past people did not travel so much as we do today;
they set sail in search of new lands and trade routes. Now a person travels in
order to learn more about the culture of the country he is visiting and compare
the real life of the people with the information given in the books. Sometimes
the reality and the books do not coincide. The information given in the books
does not often reflect the reality of the day. For example, the pictures of the
great painters given in the albums do not show the size, colour or emotion of
the paintings. That is why it is better to see paintings, sculpture and
architecture in the original. Travelling is indispensable for learning foreign
languages. Pupils go to different countries to learn the chosen language. In
all European countries there are a lot of summer schools. They are not
expensive, but are very useful. The effect is great. After studying at such
schools pupils can speak English more fluently. They do not have a language
barrier any more. They can establish contacts with people easier. Travelling is
very popular today. The most fantastic wishes are put into life due to modern
technologies. Millions of people move from their own countries. By mountain
biking or skiing, flying into outerspace, feeding sharks or just sight seeing
people explore both themselves and the world around them. It should be said
that now people travel by car, train, plane, ship, spacecraft or on foot.
Travelling, going from one place to another, gives a person a kind of social
experience.
I am fond of travelling because it
is the best way to learn the world. It gives me a chance to see new places and
meet new people. Reminiscences about my travelling experience will stay with me
forever and a day. I guess that the most impressive was the trip to Greece a
year ago. I spent there a fascinating fortnight. I visited Athens, Delphi, and
Corinth. The trip was especially important to me because we were through with
the history of Ancient Greece and it gave a rare opportunity to see the place
where Ancient Greek history happened. I saw the region where ancient heroes
lived, fought and died. I visited the temples of incomparable beauty,
especially the Parthenon. And may be there in Greece I made up my mind to be a
historian.
Unfortunately, the majority of the
Greek monuments and ancient cities lie in ruins. Everything that I saw seemed
unreal to me. The temple in Delphi, the citadel in Mycenae, the theatre in
Epidaurus, the tombs of the ancient kings seemed to be the remnants of an alien
race to which we do not belong. People had abandoned the cities before they
were forgotten for centuries to come. Only excavations returned most of the
monuments to humanity. I saw St. Paul's Pulpit in Ancient Corinth, the mask of
Agamemnon from Mycenae, the reconstructed Athenian treasury in the Sanctuary of
Apollo in Delphi. Although the Ancient Greek civilisation has vanished we still
admire its temples and statues. We want to know more about the people who
erected them. Nauplia, the first capital of modern Greece, is full of life. The
fortress, erected by the Venetians in the 18-th century, has become a museum to
remind people of the heroic deeds of the past. In 1822 it was the stronghold of
the rebellious Greeks that led them to independence from the Turks.
By travelling we get new
information. The period of extensive travelling is called the Age of Discovery.
Tourism, activity or practice of touring for pleasure, is the phenomenon of the
20-th century.
Another phenomenon of the 20-th
century is the Internet. It is a brand-new way of exploring the world. This
symbol of the 20-th century is becoming more and more popular among the people
of different ages and social standing. Through the Internet people get all kind
of information. The Internet as a means of communication is very convenient: a
person can get a lot of information without leaving his apartment. The Internet
breaks the traditional frontiers. Through it a person, who lives in Moscow,
gets information which is stored in the libraries of Oxford, Cambridge or
Washington.
The Internet is the global
communication system. With its help a person can find friends, who share his interests
and tastes in any part of the world. Such programmes as ICQ (I Seek You) and
AOL (America Online) Messenger, specifically designed for communication, make
it easy and thrilling. Through the Internet it is not only possible to receive
messages from a friend in the United States, but see a picture of him and hear
his voice. The only problem is that people in different countries speak
different languages and in order to explore the full depth of the Internet one
should know the universal language of international communications, English.
The invention of the mobile phone, the wireless means of communication, allows
a contemporary man to communicate and get information 24 hours wherever he/she
is.
We can not imagine our life without
mass media. They are one more source of information. Mass media give not only
the current information about the situation in the world. They impose certain
values on contemporary man. Sometimes information given by television, radio,
newspapers is contradictory and man must decide which one is more reliable. The
received information moulds the way of thinking. It is imposed on people in
such a way that they hardly understand that they are robots and the greatest
task of mass media is to programme man to do certain things. Of course it is
possible to switch everything off and live in isolation but then people will
deprive themselves of one of the sources of information. Previously it took
news months to travel from Asia to Europe; today it takes it only several
seconds. It is better to be selective to all the received information, for it
is really important to live with mass media.
- What are other ways of getting
information?
- Films can be regarded as one more
source of information, especially educational and documentary. It is better to
watch such films at home with the help of television or video.
- Does television help pupils in
their education?
- Yes, it does. There are
educational programmes, which help pupils to study history, geography, biology,
and learn foreign languages.
- Which way of getting information
is the best for you?
- I cannot say which way of getting
information is the best. It depends upon various factors. Sometimes it is
necessary to travel to get more information. I think that books continue to be
the best and the most traditional way of getting information. We cannot deny
that to get information through the Internet is very convenient. As for me, I
think that all the above mentioned manners are useful and important. It is
impossible for me to chose one way at the expense of others.
- Do you often go to the museums?
- No, I do not. Unfortunately I do
not have much free time. But I like to go to the museums, especially to the art
galleries. Visiting museums is another possible way of exploring the world.
There are a lot of museums in Moscow. I like to go to the State Tretyakov
Gallery. There I can walk for hours to enjoy my favourite paintings by
Bryullov, Vrubel, Petrov-Vodkin, and other great artists.
Список літератури
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