考研英語時(shí)文賞讀（138）： 是誰偷走了孩子們的童年？

　　Mobile devices stealing away childhoods, study finds

　　研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，移動(dòng)設(shè)備正在偷走孩子們的童年

　　Children in rural areas spend more time gazing at handset and computer screens than their peers in cities.

　　相比于城市中的同齡人，農(nóng)村的孩子們在手機(jī)和電腦前花費(fèi)了更多的時(shí)間。

　　A study by the China National Children’s Center found that after the school day ends, youngsters nationwide now spend more time in front of mobile and computer screens playing games and chatting－over 43 minutes a day－than they do reading, which on average is about 26 minutes a day on weekdays. And the time spent with eyes glued to screens rockets to over 90 minutes a day on weekends.

　　中國兒童中心的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，中國的青少年放學(xué)后花費(fèi)在手機(jī)和電腦游戲的時(shí)間（工作日平均每天超過43分鐘）比讀書的時(shí)間（工作日平均每天約為26分鐘）要多。而到了周末，花費(fèi)在手機(jī)和電腦上的時(shí)間激增至每天90分鐘以上。

　　The center’s Annual Report on Chinese Children’s Development (2019), released on Tuesday, noted a striking difference in screen time between children in the countryside and their counterparts in cities, with the average youngster in rural areas spending 20 percent more time using electronic devices.

　　該中心在本周二發(fā)布的《中國兒童發(fā)展年度報(bào)告（2019）》中指出，農(nóng)村兒童與城市兒童花費(fèi)在電子產(chǎn)品上的時(shí)間存在顯著差異，農(nóng)村地區(qū)青少年花費(fèi)在電子產(chǎn)品上的時(shí)間平均要多出20%。

　　The findings are based on a study that began in September involving 15,000 children from kindergarten to middle school. Respondents were spread across urban and rural areas in 10 cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Guangdong province and Duyun, Guizhou province.

　　這項(xiàng)研究從去年9月開始，共涉及了1.5萬名從幼兒園到中學(xué)的兒童。這些調(diào)查對象來自于北京市、廣東省廣州市、貴州省都勻市等10個(gè)城市的城市地區(qū)和農(nóng)村地區(qū)。

　　Sun Hongyan, director of the childhood research institute at the China Youth and Children Research Center, said the internet and electronic devices used to be luxuries for rural children.

　　中國青少年研究中心少兒研究所所長孫紅艷表示，對于農(nóng)村兒童來說，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和電子設(shè)備過去就是奢侈品。

　　But the increasing affordability of smartphones made it easier for migrant worker parents to provide electronic devices to children left behind in their hometowns.

　　但隨著智能手機(jī)的不斷普及，在外務(wù)工的父母很容易就能給留守家鄉(xiāng)的孩子買個(gè)智能手機(jī)了。

　　According to the China Internet Network Information Center, the number of rural internet users reached 222 million by the end of last year, accounting for 26.7 percent of the nation’s online population.

　　根據(jù)中國互聯(lián)網(wǎng)信息中心的數(shù)據(jù)，截至去年年底，農(nóng)村互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶已達(dá)2.22億，占全國網(wǎng)民總數(shù)的26.7%。

　　"It’s been getting harder for parents to monitor a lot of what their kids are seeing and doing, especially when they are not around," Sun said. "At the same time, they’re relying on the seeming safety benefit of being able to keep the kids at home with a device."

　　孫紅艷說：“家長們越來越難知道孩子們在看什么、做什么，尤其是當(dāng)他們不在孩子身邊時(shí)。同時(shí)他們也相信，能讓孩子待在家里玩電子產(chǎn)品似乎更安全。”

　　The report also found that children increasingly preferred playing electronic games and chatting online instead of other after-school activities such as reading and outdoor exercise. This was having a negative effect on their developing social skills, as well as impairing vision.

　　報(bào)告還發(fā)現(xiàn)，孩子們更喜歡玩電子游戲或在網(wǎng)上聊天，而非進(jìn)行閱讀和戶外活動(dòng)等其他課外活動(dòng)。這不利于孩子們社交能力的發(fā)展，也有害于他們的視力。

　　Sun Yunxiao, a specialist at the Chinese Association of Education, said schools should pay more attention to fostering children’s internet literacy to make them "masters" rather than "prisoners" of the internet.

　　中國教育協(xié)會的專家孫云曉表示，學(xué)校應(yīng)該更加注重培養(yǎng)孩子的網(wǎng)絡(luò)素養(yǎng)，讓他們做網(wǎng)絡(luò)的“主人”而非“囚徒”。

　　(全文共386個(gè)詞)

　　重難點(diǎn)詞匯：

　　counterpart  n. 副本；配對物；極相似的人或物

　　luxury  n. 奢侈，奢華；奢侈品；享受 adj. 奢侈的

　　literacy  n. 讀寫能力；精通文學(xué)