四級六級閱讀練習(xí)（7）：美國小孩受電視的間接影響很大

小編寄語：熟悉四六級閱讀理解題型的同學(xué)應(yīng)該都了解，英語四六級考試閱讀理解材料大多選自《時(shí)代》《衛(wèi)報(bào)》《科學(xué)美國人》等外刊。要想閱讀理解這部分拿到高分，必須在平常多閱讀，掌握新詞匯，鍛煉閱讀速度。但對于很多同學(xué)來說，如何每日在浩瀚的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)世界尋找合適的閱讀材料進(jìn)行分析解讀是一項(xiàng)很耗時(shí)間的事情。為此，　英語每日精選《衛(wèi)報(bào)》《時(shí)代》等外刊上的文章供大家進(jìn)行閱讀練習(xí)。

【今日閱讀推薦】本篇閱讀材料“美國小孩受電視的間接影響很大”選自《時(shí)代》（原文標(biāo)題：American Kids Exposed to Too Much Background TV: Study 2012.4.20），如果大家覺得比較簡單，就當(dāng)作泛讀材料了解了解，認(rèn)識幾個(gè)新單詞或新表達(dá)方式也不錯。如果大家覺得這些材料理解上有難度，不妨當(dāng)做挑戰(zhàn)自己的拔高訓(xùn)練，希望大家都有進(jìn)步^^

Too much television can be detrimental for kids’ development, even when they’re not plopped directly in front of the screen. And your kids might be getting more exposure to such background TV than you think, a new study finds.

The researchers found that the average American kid was exposed to 232.2 minutes of background television per day — when the TV was on, but the child was engaged in another activity. Younger children and African-America children were exposed to the most background television on average.

“We were ready and willing to accept that the exposure would be high, but we were kind of shocked at how high it really was,” says study author Matthew Lapierre, a doctoral candidate and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. “The fact that kids are exposed to about four hours on average per day definitely knocked us back on our heels a bit.”

knock back 使……大吃一驚

Previous research has found that exposure to background television is linked to lower attention spans, fewer and lower-quality parent-child interactions and reduced performance in cognitive tasks, the authors said in the study.

attention span  注意力持續(xù)時(shí)間

The current findings came from data gathered in a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,454 American parents with at least one child between the ages of 8 months and 8 years. The parents were asked about how often their TV was on when no one was watching and whether their child had a TV in their bedroom.

“For every minute of television to which children are directly exposed, there are an additional 3 minutes of indirect exposure, making background exposure a much greater proportion of time in a young child’s day,” the authors say in the study.

What they found even more concerning was that kids under 2 and African-American children are exposed to 42% and 45% more background TV, respectively, than the average child.

“It’s particularly concerning because there is evidence this exposure has negative consequences for development,” says Lapierre. According to the authors, these high rates could be the result of parents not counting background TV as exposure or thinking their kids are too young to be affected by it.

“This study should be a warning to parents and day-care providers to shut off the television when no one is watching, and certainly to consider the consequences of having a television in a child’s bedroom no matter how young they may be,” said Cynthia Stohl, the International Communication Association president and professor of communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in a statement.

The researchers are hopeful their findings will further the understanding of how home media practices relate to background television exposure, so recommendations for reducing kids’ exposure can be made.

The new data will be presented at the International Communication Association’s annual conference in Phoenix next month.

Question time:

1. According to previous research, What does exposure to background television result in?

2. What does the word "concerning" mean in Para. 7?

3. What should parents do in order to decrease the negative consequences of exposure to Television?

【參考答案反白可見（按ctrl A即可）】

1. It will result in lower attention spans, fewer and lower-quality parent-child interactions and reduced performance in cognitive tasks.

2. It means worrying.

3. They should shut off the television when no one is watching, and make sure no television in in a child’s bedroom no matter how young they may be

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