智能手机和平板电脑已经成为很多家庭的常用电子产品。但与此同时，家长也开始担心孩子们使用这些电子设备对健康的影响。一项新研究称，使用屏幕给年轻人的健康造成的危害极小，所以家长们不必多虑。《随身英语》浅谈儿童使用电子设备与其健康之间的联系。

Vocabulary: health 词汇: 健康

If I could have your attention, please. I’d like to talk to you about young people’s screen time. It’s a tempting habit for them to glance at their smartphone or tablet rather than make eye contact with someone and make conversation! There is so much to look at: photographs, social media feeds, messages and emails; it’s no wonder they are glued to their screens. But is it good for them?

There have been many claims about the damage looking at screens does to our eyesight. Some people feared staring at a small bright box could make us short-sighted or lead to headaches. This is a particular concern for children and young people, who spend a higher percentage of time using electronic gadgets. BBC technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, says: “there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that no matter how long teenagers are spending looking at screens, they are encountering material about issues such as anorexia and self-harm that could prove damaging to their mental health”.

But a new study says time in front of computers and phones might not be as bad for young people as many think. Research by the Oxford Internet Institute examined data from more than 17,000 teenagers in the UK, Ireland and the United States. Their study concluded that most links between life satisfaction and social media use were "trivial", accounting for less than 1% of a teenager's wellbeing. Professor Przybylski, director of research at the institute, said: "99.75% of a person's life satisfaction has nothing to do with their use of social media." The research found that family, friends and school life all had a greater impact on wellbeing.

So, does this mean young people can spend longer looking at social media? The Oxford researchers are confident that their study is robust in its findings and that any correlation between screen time and mental health is very small. Dr Max Davie, officer for health improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, calls the study a “small first step”, but he said there were other issues to explore, such as screen time's interference with other important activities like sleep, exercise and time with family or friends. Perhaps for now, deciding what the ‘right’ amount of screen time is has to be down to personal judgement.

词汇表

glued to 全神贯注地盯着…看
eyesight 视力
short-sighted 近视的
headache 头痛
anorexia 厌食症
self-harm 自残行为
damaging 有害的
mental health 精神健康状态
life satisfaction 生活满意度
wellbeing 健康
paediatrics 儿科学
sleep 睡眠
exercise 体育活动，运动

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. What is one of the concerns listed on the UK’s government’s plan for regulation of the internet and social media?

2. According to new research, how much of a young person’s wellbeing is affected by using social media?

3. True or false? The research found there was only a small relationship between screen time and mental health.

4. Who does the article suggest should be the person to make a judgement on how much social media time young people have?

5. Which word in the text means 'strong and accurate’?

2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. The football match was so exciting; we were ______ the TV until the final whistle was blown.

glued to                     glued onto                  glued with                glued in

2. My boss takes a serious interest in my ______ by giving me the opportunity to work flexibly.

self-harm                   anorexia                    wellbeing                  anecdotal

3. My blind date didn’t go well – my date didn’t ______ all evening. I won’t be seeing her again!

make contact eyes     make eye contacts    make eye contact   making eye contact

4. I couldn’t get a job with the police force because they said I was ______.

mental health             short-sighted              paediatric               anorexia

5. Stories that the rock star was involved in a road accident were just ______ - there’s been no official announcement.

anecdotal                   anecdoting                anecdotally              anecdoted

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. What is one of the concerns listed on the UK’s government’s plan for regulation of the internet and social media?
The UK government's plan for regulation of the internet and social media contains a long list of online harms, including excessive screen use by teenagers.

2. According to new research, how much of a young person’s wellbeing is affected by using social media?
The study by the Oxford Internet Institute concluded that most links between life satisfaction and social media use were "trivial", accounting for less than 1% of a teenager's wellbeing.

3. True or false? The research found there was only a small relationship between screen time and mental health.
True. The Oxford Internet Institute is confident its study is robust in its finding and that any correlation (or relationship) between screen time and mental health is very small.

4. Who does the article suggest should be the person to make a judgement on how much social media time young people have?
The article suggests it's down to personal judgement.

5. Which word in the text means 'strong and accurate’?
Robust. “The Oxford researchers are confident that their study is robust in its finding.”

2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. The football match was so exciting; we were glued to the TV until the final whistle was blown.

2. My boss takes a serious interest in my wellbeing by giving me the opportunity to work flexibly.

3. My blind date didn’t go well – my date didn’t make eye contact all evening. I won’t be seeing her again!

4. I couldn’t get a job with the police force because they said I was short-sighted.

5. Stories that the rock star was involved in a road accident were just anecdotal - there’s been no official announcement.