为什么读书，而非看屏幕？

六分钟英语

Six Minute English

来自bbclearningenglish.com。

from bbclearningenglish.com.

你好。

Hello.

这是来自BBC英语学习的六分钟英语。

This is six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

我是菲尔。

I'm Phil.

我是乔治亚。

And I'm Georgie.

对我来说，没有什么比读书更棒了。

For me, there's nothing like reading a book.

我喜欢翻页和纸张的香味。

I love turning the pages and the smell of the paper.

但如今，事实上我们大部分时间都是从电子屏幕而非纸张上阅读。

But nowadays, the fact is that much of the time we read from electronic screens, not paper.

是的。

Yes.

和乔治亚一样，我也喜欢读书。

Like Georgie, I love books.

我也发现，过多的屏幕时间会伤害我的眼睛。

I also find that too much screen time hurts my eyes.

但数字信息的易得性意味着我大多数日子都不得不从屏幕上阅读。

But the availability of digital information means that I end up reading from screens most days.

那么，除了眼睛酸痛，这会是个问题吗？

So apart from sore eyes, is this a problem?

从屏幕上阅读是无害的，还是可能以某种方式损害我们，比如缩短我们的注意力持续时间，即一个人能集中精力做某事的时间长度？

Is reading from screens harmless or could it be damaging us in some way, such as reducing our attention span, the length of time that someone can keep concentrated on what they are doing?

这正是我们将在本期节目中讨论的内容。

That's what we'll be discussing in this programme.

当然，我们还会学习一些有用的新词汇。

And of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary too.

太好了！

Great!

但首先，该轮到我的问题了。

But first, it's time for my question.

无论你更喜欢纸质书还是电子屏幕，作为人类，我们现在阅读的字数比以往任何时候都多。

Whether you prefer paper or screens, as humans we're now reading more words than ever before.

那么，普通人每天阅读多少个字呢？

So how many words does the average person read a day?

是 a) 50,000 个字，b) 100,000 个字，还是 c) 200,000 个字？

Is it a) 50,000 words b) 100,000 words or c) 200,000 words?

我猜是每天 50,000 个字。

I'll guess it's 50,000 words a day.

好的，Georgie，我们会在节目的后半部分揭晓正确答案。

Okay Georgie, we'll find out the correct answer later in the programme.

当然，任何形式的阅读对你都有好处。

Of course, there's little doubt that any kind of reading is good for you.

以下是《驯龙高手》儿童读物的作者克蕾西达·考威尔在接受BBC Ideas采访时的发言。

Here's Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon children's books, speaking with BBC Ideas.

阅读赋予我们三种神奇的力量：创造力、智慧和同理心。

Reading brings three magical powers: creativity, intelligence and empathy.

为了乐趣而阅读是孩子日后经济成功的关键因素之一。

Reading for the joy of it is one of the two key factors in a kid's later economic success.

你更有可能不入狱、更有可能投票、更有可能拥有自己的房子。

You're more likely to not be in prison, to vote, to own your own home.

所有这些优势和好处都是由于唇语同步而产生的。

All of these advantages and benefits happen as a result of lip sync.

克蕾西达谈到了为了乐趣而阅读的重要性。

Cressida talks about the importance of reading for the joy of it.

当你为了乐趣而做一件事时，你只是单纯地享受做这件事的过程，而不是为了获得其他东西。

When you do an activity for the joy of it, you do it simply for the pleasure of doing it, rather than as a way to gain something else.

克蕾西达列出了阅读对儿童的诸多好处，包括日后经济上的成功。

Cressida lists the many benefits of reading for children, including economic success in later life.

但这些好处中的许多都依赖于一种被称为深度阅读的状态，即分析文本以理解其深层含义。

But many of these benefits depend on a state known as deep reading analysing a text to understand its deeper meaning.

在一项又一项测试中，研究人员发现，当孩子从书籍中阅读时，深度阅读能力发展得更好。

And in test after test, researchers have shown that deep reading skills develop better when kids read from books.

玛丽安·沃尔夫教授是一位全球儿童识字教育的教师和倡导者。

Professor Marianne Wolfe is a teacher and advocate for children's literacy around the world.

在这里，她向BBC Ideas进一步解释了深度阅读。

Here, she explains more about deep reading to BBC Ideas.

当我们浅层阅读时，只是获取信息。

When we read at a surface level, we're just getting the information.

当我们深度阅读时，会动用大脑皮层的更多区域。

When we read deeply, we use much more of our cerebral cortex.

深度阅读意味着我们进行类比和推断，这使我们能够成为真正具有批判性、分析性和同理心的人。

Deep breathing means that we make analogies, we make inferences, which allows us to be truly critical, analytic, empathic human beings.

现实是，重要的不是我们读什么或读多少，而是我们如何阅读。

The reality is it's not what or how much we read, but how we read that's really important.

阅读量本身正在产生负面影响，因为要吸收这么多内容，人们倾向于浅读。

The very volume is having negative effects because to absorb that much, there's a propensity towards skimming.

沃尔夫教授的研究表明，从屏幕阅读会促使人们进行表面层次的阅读，快速而肤浅地浏览那些容易理解的内容。

Professor Wolff's research shows that reading from screens encourages reading at the surface level, quickly and superficially looking at what can be easily understood.

另一方面，阅读书籍会激活大脑的不同区域，帮助读者培养同理心等积极特质，并理解书籍的深层含义，包括类比和推理。

Reading books, on the other hand, activates different areas of the brain, allowing a reader to develop positive traits like empathy and to understand the deeper level of a book, including analogies and inferences.

类比是具有相似特征的事物之间的比较。

An analogy is a comparison between things that have similar features.

例如，你可能会用泵的类比来描述人类的心脏。

For example, you might talk about the human heart using the analogy of a pump.

推论是基于你已有的信息所做出的猜测、观点或结论。

An inference is a guess, opinion or conclusion that you make based on the information you already have.

例如，看到远处有烟，你会推断那里有火。

For example, seeing smoke in the distance, you would make an inference that there's fire.

正是通过阅读书籍，我们才能获得这种更深层次、更微妙的理解。

It's these types of deeper, more subtle understanding that we get from reading books.

那么，为什么从屏幕上阅读无法以同样的方式培养这些技能呢？

So why is it that reading from screens doesn't develop these skills in the same way?

答案与数量有关——屏幕每天向我们推送的海量文字、提示和通知。

Well, the answer has to do with the volume the sheer number of words, pings and notifications that screens bombard us with every day.

这种阅读方式鼓励的是略读，即快速浏览以获取大致概要，而非深度阅读。

Instead of deep reading, this encourages skimming reading rapidly in order to get a general overview of something.

我想是时候揭晓我问题的答案了，乔琪。

I think it's time to reveal the answer to my question, Georgie.

我问过你，现代人平均每天阅读多少个字？

I asked you how many words does the average modern person read a day?

我猜是五万个字。

And I guessed it was 50,000 words.

嗯，你答对了一半。

Well, you were half right.

事实上，正确答案是那个数字的两倍，即10万字。

In fact, the correct answer was double that 100,000 words.

对。

Right.

让我们回顾一下本节目中学到的词汇，首先是注意力持续时间，指一个人能专注于一件事的时间长度。

Let's recap the vocabulary we've learnt from this programme, starting with attention span the length of time that someone can stay concentrated on one thing.

如果你做某事是出于乐趣，那就是单纯为了享受过程带来的快乐，而不是为了获得其他东西。

If you do something for the joy of it, you do it simply for the pleasure you get, rather than as a way to get something else.

短语‘表面层次’描述的是快速、肤浅地看待某事，而不是试图理解其更深层的含义。

The phrase on the surface level describes looking at something quickly and superficially, rather than trying to understand its full deeper meaning.

类比是指对具有相似特征的事物进行比较。

An analogy is a comparison between things that have similar features.

例如，人的心脏和泵。

For example, a human heart and a pump.

而推论则是你根据已有的信息做出的猜测或结论，比如看到烟就推断出有火。

And an inference is a guess or conclusion that you make based on the information you already have, like inferring fire from seeing smoke.

最后，略读是指快速阅读以获取文本的大致概览。

And finally, skimming is reading rapidly in order to get a general overview of the text being read.

再次提醒，我们的六分钟到了。

Once again, our six minutes are up.

暂时再见。

Goodbye for now.

再见。

Bye.