儿童使用电子设备的情况已经非常普遍了，与此同时，关于这一问题的讨论声音也不绝于耳：儿童是否应该使用电子设备？一方面，儿童可以通过电子设备获取丰富的信息，收获趣味的互动方式；另一方面，长时间使用电子设备不仅会对孩子的视力造成损伤，还会造成负面的精神影响。如何在二者之间寻求平衡，的确成了父母们亟需解决的问题。
本篇课程首发于2019年2月27日，节选自 the Economist 长文章 "How children interact with digital media" （文字稍有改动）
原文链接：https://www.economist.com/special-report/2019/01/05/how-children-interact-with-digital-media
文本难度：
话题难度：
How children interact with digital media
① Children are starting on digital devices at ever younger ages, and opinions on the effects of children's digital-media habits are deeply polarised.
② Jean Twenge, a psychology professor, thinks excessive use of the internet and social media makes children lonely and depressed and poses serious risks to their physical and particularly their mental health, sometimes to the point of driving them to suicide.
③ However, Daniel Kardefelt-Winther of the Innocenti research office of Unicef examined various evidence and found less cause for alarm than is often suggested.
④ Most of the studies he examined seem to show that the technology helps children stay in touch with their friends and make new ones.
⑤ The relationship between the use of digital technology and children's mental health, broadly speaking, appears to be u-shaped.
⑥ Researchers have found that moderate use is beneficial, whereas either no use at all or extreme use could be harmful.
⑦ What worries some experts more is that screens are becoming part of the middle-class armoury for perpetuating social advantage.
⑧ Children from well-off homes are enrolled in private classes to learn skills like "How to be a YouTuber", which poorer parents cannot afford.
▍生词好句
digital media: 数字媒体
polarise /'pəuləraiz/: vt. 两极化
excessive /ɪkˈsesɪv/: adj. 过度的；不节制的
depressed /dɪ'prest/: adj. 压抑的；抑郁的
pose serious risks to: 给……带来风险
Unicef /'ju:nisef/: 联合国儿童基金会
broadly speaking: 一般地说（常位于句首）
moderate /'mɒd(ə)rət/: adj. 温和的；有节制的
armoury /ˈɑːrməri/: n. 武器装备；武器库；宝库
perpetuate /pə'petʃʊeɪt/: vt. 使延续、永恒
well-off /ˌwelˈɒf/: adj. 富裕的
enroll /ɪn'rəʊl/: vt. 注册；参加（某个课程、学校）
private class: 一对一教学
▍词汇拓展
1. digital media: 数字媒体
·print media: 纸质媒体
2. ever+比较级: 越来越……
·近义词：increasingly, constantly
3. polarise: vt. 两极化
The debate is getting polarised without any middle grounds.
争论越来越两极化，没有任何中间立场。
4. depressed: adj. 压抑的；抑郁的
·depression n. 抑郁症
5. sometimes to the point of…: 有时会达到更加极端的程度
He controls his girlfriend's life too much, sometimes to the point of restricting her freedom.
他过于控制他女朋友的生活，这种控制有时会达到非常极端的程度——限制她的人身自由。
6. Unicef: 联合国儿童基金会
·全称：United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
7. less… than is ...: 比……要少
If you are brave to try new things, you'll lose less than is imagined.
你要勇敢地去尝试新事物，失去的不会比想象中多的。
8. enroll: vt. 注册；参加（某个课程、学校）
enroll (vi.) at university 上大学
9. private class: 一对一教学
·private school: 私立学校
·public school: 公立学校
▍责任编辑
高晴、杨晶妍
▍内容校对
武志琳、章晓丹
digital media
数字媒体
·print media: 纸质媒体
ever+比较级
越来越……
·近义词：increasingly, constantly
polarise /'pəuləraiz/
vt. 两极化
The debate is getting polarised without any middle grounds.
争论越来越两极化，没有任何中间立场。
excessive /ɪkˈsesɪv/
adj. 过度的；不节制的
depressed /dɪ'prest/
adj. 压抑的；抑郁的
·depression n. 抑郁症
pose serious risks to
给……带来风险
sometimes to the point of
有时会达到更加极端的程度
He controls his girlfriend's life too much, sometimes to the point of restricting her freedom.
他过于控制他女朋友的生活，这种控制有时会达到非常极端的程度——限制她的人身自由。
less… than is ...
比……要少
If you are brave to try new things, you'll lose less than is imagined.
你要勇敢地去尝试新事物，失去的不会比想象中多的。
Unicef
联合国儿童基金会
·全称：United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
broadly speaking
一般地说（常位于句首）
moderate /'mɒd(ə)rət/
adj. 温和的；有节制的
armoury /ˈɑːrməri/
n. 武器装备；武器库；宝库
perpetuating /pə'petʃʊeɪt/
vt. 使延续、永恒
well-off /ˌwelˈɒf/
adj. 富裕的
enrolled /ɪn'rəʊl/
vt. 注册；参加（某个课程、学校）
enroll (vi.) at university 上大学
private class
一对一教学
·private school: 私立学校
·public school: 公立学校