A window on the world       A window on the world
如果没有电视，世界将会怎样？

ON''T have much time to watch TV? This Sunday, November 21, you may have a good excuse — it''s World Television Day.

The United Nations (UN) made the day in 1996. It wants different countries to know each other better by watching TV.

Today, there are more than one billion (十亿) televisions around the world. There are more televisions than homes with running water. In many countries, television even goes into places without electricity (电). They use batteries (电池) to watch TV.

Television is a window on the world. Without TV, we couldn''t watch the Olympic Games in Athens. We could not see our favourite shows, or the NBA...

Without TV, we would not see the lives of foreign kids. Do they also have a lot of homework? Do they also like watching TV?

Without TV, we would not meet Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. We would miss (错过) many great cartoons. We could not share (分享) them with our friends.

"Television can be very good. It can teach lots of people about the world around them. It can show us we are in many ways the same as our neighbours, near and far. It can bring light to the dark places," said Kofi Annan, the Secretary General (秘书长) of the UN.