考研英语时文阅读12ab
考研时文阅读（12）(2009-02-22 10:08:02)转载标签： 考研时文阅读教育 分类： 阅读篇
Text 11 Why texting harms your IQ
为什么收发短信会降低智商？
The regular use of text messages and e-mails can lower the IQ more than twice as much as smoking marijuana. That is the claim of psychologists who have found that tapping away on a mobile phone or computer keypad or checking them for electronic messages temporarily knocks up to ten points off the user's IQ. This rate of decline in intelligence compares unfavorably with the four-point drop in IQ associated with smoking marijuana, according to British researchers, who have labeled the fleeting phenomenon of enhanced stupidity as infomania.
经常收发短信和e-mail会降低人的智商。这种损害比吸食大麻对智商带来的损害要高两倍多。心理学家发现，使用手机或敲击电脑键盘发送或接收电子信息会暂时降低使用者约十个百分点的智商。根据英国研究人员的研究，吸食大麻会使智商下降个百分点，而与之相比，经常使用电子文本信息造成的智力衰减率更加严重。研究人员将这种暂时变笨的现象称为“信息狂躁”。
Research on sleep deprivation suggests that the IQ drop caused by electronic obsession is also equivalent to a wakeful night. Infomania is mainly a problem for adult workers, especially men, as the study commissioned by Hewlett Packard, the technology company, has concluded.
The noticeable drop in IQ is attributed to the constant distraction of always on technology when employees should be concentrating on what they are paid to do. Infomania means that they lose concentration as their minds remain fixed in an almost permanent state of readiness to react to technology instead of focusing on the task in hand. Workers lose productivity by interrupting a business meeting and disrupt social gatherings because of their infirmity, the report said.
关于剥夺睡眠的研究表明因为痴迷于电子产品而造成的智力衰退相当于一夜失眠。惠普科技公司委托进行的研究结果表明，信息狂躁主要表现在成年人身上，尤其是成年男性。
造成这种智力明显衰退的原因在于当员工们应该集中精力工作时，“无处不在”的科技却总是不断分散他们的注意力。信息狂躁是指他们的意识近乎一直处于一种随时对“技术”做出反应的状态，因而无法将注意力集中在手头的工作上。报告中说，因为工人们的虚弱，通过中断了业务会议而失去生产效率，并且破坏了社交聚会的范围。
The brain also finds it hard to cope with juggling lots of tasks at once, reducing its overall effectiveness, it added. And while modern technology can have huge benefits, excessive use can be damaging not only to a person's mind, but to their social life.
F
urthermore, infomania is having a negative effect on work colleagues, increasing stress and dissenting feelings. Nine out of ten polled thought that colleagues who answered e-mails or messages during a face-to-face meeting were extremely rude. Yet one in three Britons believes that it is not only acceptable, but actually diligent and efficient to do so.
The effects on IQ were studied by Dr Glenn Wilson, a University of London psychologist, as part of the research project. This is a very real and widespread phenomenon, he said. We have found that infomania, if unchecked, will damage a worker's performance by reducing their mental sharpness. Companies should encourage a more balanced and appropriate way of working.
该报告还补充说大脑很难同时应付许多难题，其整体效率会降低。此外，虽然现代科技可以给予我们巨大的帮助，但过多地使用科技也会给人们的大脑和社会生活带来危害。
此外，信息狂躁对同事也有负面影响，增加他们的压力和敌对情绪。90％的被调查者认为在面对面会议时回电子邮件是非常无礼的行为。但是三分之一的英国人不仅可以接受这种行为，而且觉得这样做说明自己工作勤奋、高效。
伦敦大学的心理学家Glenn Wilson博士正在做一个名为“这是一个真实的普遍现象”的研究项目，信息狂躁对智商的影响是其中的一个部分。他说：“如果不进行检查控制，信息狂躁将会降低员工的精神敏感度，进而影响其工作效率。所以，公司应提倡一种更加平衡的适当的工作方式。”
核心单词记忆：
1. text v. 发送短信（文字讯息）[新词义]
2. tap on vt. 在……上轻敲，轻拍
3. knock up v.（使）筋疲力尽，（使）累垮
4. label vt. 贴标签于，指……为，分类，标注
5. deprivation n. 剥夺 动词为 deprive vt. 剥夺，使丧失
6. be equivalent to 相等(当) 于……，等（同）于，与……等效
7. commission vt. 委任，任命，委托，委托制作；n. 委任，委托，代办（权），代理（权），犯
（罪），佣金
8. attribute to v. 归因于
9. cope with v. 与……竞争，应付
10. while conj. 虽然，尽管 例句：While the grandparents love the children， they are strict
with them. 虽然祖父母们都爱他们的孩子，但却对他们要求严格。
11. dissenting adj.（=dissentient）不同意的
12. poll v. 投票，获得选票，选举中获得
13. face-to-face adv. 面对面地
14. unchecked adj. 未受制止的，未经检查的，未加抑制的
15. appropriate adj. 适当的
Text 2 使用不健康网络可能有损心理健康
Internet use appears to cause a decline in psychological well-being, according to research at Carnegie Mellon University. Even people who spent just a few hours a week
on the Internet experienced more depression and loneliness than those who logged on less frequently, the two-year study showed. And it wasn't that people who were already feeling bad spent more time on the Internet, but that using the Net actually appeared to cause the bad feelings.
卡内基麦伦大学的研究表明，使用因特网可能会导致心理健康程度下降。两年的研究表明，上网次数多的人与较少的人相比，即使是一周仅上网几小时也会经常地感觉到沮丧和孤独。这不是说已经有不良感觉的人在网上花费了更多的时间，而是说使用因特网似乎确实诱发了人们的不良感觉。
Researchers are puzzling over the results, which were completely contrary to their expectations. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose their information and to communicate with others.
研究人员对这些结果困惑不解，因为这与他们的预料截然相反。他们预测，和看电视相比，从社交角度来说，上网可能更健康一些，因为网络允许使用者选择自己需要的信息并且和别人进行交流。
The fact that Internet use reduces time available for family and friends may account for the drop in well-being, researchers hypothesized. Faceless, bodiless virtual communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversation, and the relationships formed through it may be shallower. Another possibility is that exposure to the wider world via the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives.
研究者推测说，实际情况是上网使网民减少了和家人及朋友共度的时光，这也许可以解释他们心理健康状况下降的原因。和面对面的交谈相比，这种见不着面、看不见人的“虚拟”的交流可能会使人从心理上缺乏满足感。人们通过这种交流结下的友谊也不会太深。还有一种可能是，网民通过因特网所了解到的广阔世界使他们对自己的生活不那么满意了。
But it's important to remember this is not about the technology; it's about how it is used, says psychologist Christine Riley of Intel, one of the study's sponsors. It really points to the need for considering social factors in terms of how you design applications and services for technology.
“然而，重要的是不要忘记这与技术本身是无关的，问题在于如何使用因特网。”这项研究的发起人之一、心理学家、英特尔公司的克里斯廷·赖利说，“这的确表明在考虑从技术上如何设计应用和服务时有必要把社会因素考虑进去。
核心单词记忆：
1. available 可利用的，可支配的； 例句The swimming pool is available only in summer. 这个游
泳池只在夏天开放。
2. contrary to 与……相反 例句：What you are doing now is contrary to the doctor's advice.
3. hypothesize 假设，假定；
4. virtual [电脑]虚拟的，虚的；对于这个词可以结合上下文理解. Faceless, bodiless virtual
communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversation, and the
relationships formed through it may be shallower. 文中virtual communication对应着后面的
actual conversation，又有than，可以想到这是两个对应的反义词。
5. actual 现实的；
6. exposure to 暴露，（文中引申为了解） 例句：The paint came off as the result of exposure
to the rain.油漆因受雨淋而剥落。
7. sponsor 发起者，主办者，赞助者