Question

    “You’ll get square eyes!” my mother used to say as I sat for hour after hour glued to the TV. I ignored her, of course. Past-forward a few decades and now I’m the parent. My 5-year-old lives in a world where screens aren’t fixed pieces of furniture. You can’t even avoid them by going outside. Screens are not only in our pockets; they’re everywhere.

The concerns have grown with the screens. In the past decade, we have heard that they will damage our mental health. Many of us feel more distracted by them, feeling guiltier and more tired as a result.

The apps and websites we can access on our phones have also sparked widespread concern. Big tech companies are also good at making use of our need for social recognition, hooking us on likes, retweets and follower counts. Social media has created a culture of mass narcissism (自恋), which has led many to worry about the emotional stresses on teenagers. A quick online search brings up dozens of papers linking screen use or social media with harmful effects on mental health, including depression and suicide.

Such statements are alarming. They are also widely believed, thanks to popular books like iGen by Jean Twenge, which claims that digital technology has ruined a generation. Yet, Amy Orben at the University of Oxford, who studies the impact of digital technology and social media in particular on mental health, holds different views. She claims that the underlying data can be used to tell different stories. She also spotted shortcomings in several large studies that claimed to show correlations (相关性) between the use of devices with screens and depression in users.

Twenge stands by her own finding, pointing in turn to what she considers flaws in Orben’s research methods. For David Max, at Royal College of Child Health in London, the effect of screen time and social media use on mental health remains speculative. “We cannot regard social media overall as good or bad,” says Davie. “We don’t know whether in individual cases social media is not responsible,” he says.

The explosion of mobile phone use has revolutionized our lives. I can download movies, write articles, communicate with my family and broadcast to the world all at the push of a button. Rather than impose constraints (限制), we should take a look at our use of screens and ask how they fit with the activities and lifestyle.

Every new technology with widespread impact has given rise to new fears. So the best bet may simply be to ask yourself what level of screen use makes you and those around you happy and try to stick to it. If you find yourself over addictive, don’t panic—and certainly don’t feel guilty. Nobody knows anything worth getting scared about.

1.According to the passage, people give likes, retweet or count followers to __________.

A.share one’s lifestyles B.show respect for others

C.seek social recognition D.relieve emotional stresses

2.The underlined word “speculative” probably means “__________”.

A.doubtful B.specific

C.important D.abstract

3.What can be learned from the passage?

A.Teenagers are more affected by screen use both physically and mentally.

B.Orben claims it is far too early to blame screen use for ruining a generation.

C.Big tech companies help to produce many research papers on mental health.

D.Twenge mainly introduces the overall benefits of digital technology in her books.

4.The passage is written to __________.

A.encourage readers to reduce the time of screen use

B.share different opinions on the effects of screen use

C.explain why screen use may have negative effects on people

D.relieve people’s concerns and worries about the use of screens

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了牛津大学的艾米•奥本通过研究发现屏幕时间和使用社交媒体对心理健康的影响仍然是不确定的，她认为现在就指责数字技术毁了一代人还为时过早，人们不必为此过分担忧。

1.细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Big tech companies are also good at making use of our need for social recognition, hooking us on likes, retweets and follower counts.”可知，大型科技公司也善于利用我们对社会认同的需求，吸引我们点赞、转发和关注，由此可知，我们点赞、转发和关注是为了寻求社会认同，故C项正确。

2.词义猜测题。根据画线词后的““We cannot regard social media overall as good or bad,” says Davie. “We don’t know whether in individual cases social media is not responsible,” he says.”可知，戴维斯说：“我们不能把社交媒体的整体状况看作是好是坏，他还说：“我们不知道在个别情况下，社交媒体是否负有责任”，这说明屏幕时间和使用社交媒体对心理健康的影响仍然是不确定的，由此可知画线词词义为“不确定的”，故A项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段中的“They are also widely believed, thanks to popular books like iGen by Jean Twenge, which claims that digital technology has ruined a generation. Yet, Amy Orben at the University of Oxford, who studies the impact of digital technology and social media in particular on mental health, holds different views.”可知，Jean Twenge声称数字技术已经毁掉了一代人，然而，牛津大学的艾米•奥本持有不同的观点，她研究数字技术和社交媒体尤其是对心理健康的影响，由此可知，奥本认为现在就指责屏幕的使用（数字技术）毁了一代人还为时过早，故B项正确。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段Every new technology with widespread impact has given rise to new fears. So the best bet may simply be to ask yourself what level of screen use makes you and those around you happy and try to stick to it. If you find yourself over addictive, don’t panic—and certainly don’t feel guilty. Nobody knows anything worth getting scared about.可知，每一项影响广泛的新技术都会引起新的担忧，所以，最好的办法是问问你自己，什么程度的屏幕使用让你和你周围的人高兴，并努力坚持下去。如果你发现自己上瘾过度，没有必要惊慌和内疚，由此判断出，这篇文章的目的是缓解人们对屏幕使用的担忧，故D项正确。