英语听力精选进阶版 6239

Living without the Media 在没有网络媒体的世界中生活

Are you a media addict¹ who would go mad after two hours without TV, friend requests, exciting online games and your mobile – or would you easily survive?

Recently, university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged. It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban by unplugging all forms of media devices for 24 hours.

Unplugged is being run by Dr Roman Gerodimos, a lecturer in Communication and Journalism² at Bournemouth University. The experiment is now over but he doesn't yet know the full findings.

However, during the experiment, Dr Gerodimos said there were already signs of how much the exercise affected³ volunteers. He said: "They're reporting withdrawal⁴ symptoms, overeating, feeling nervous, isolated⁵ and disconnected."

During their 24-hour ordeal⁶, three of the experiment's guinea pigs had to endure one intrusion from the media: a BBC reporter plus cameraman who followed them around for the day. They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline, but of course, they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops.

Elliot Day wrote: "Today, my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air. Despite being aware of the social importance of the media, I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers."

From Caroline Scott, we read: "I didn't expect it, but being deprived of the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual… I didn't break out in a cold sweat like our lecturer expected us all to, but it's not something I would like to do again!"

And Charlotte Gay wrote: "I have to say the most difficult item for me to be without has been my mobile; not only is it a social gadget⁷, it's my main access point of communication."

Earlier in the year, a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media, often plugged into several things at once. And a recent study by Nielson found that on average, US teenagers send and receive over 3,000 texts per month – that's about six texts per waking hour.

So, with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate, how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?

Glossary 词汇表

addict 有…瘾的人 

friend request 好友请求 

to observe 尝试去做某事 

unplugging 停止（原意指拔掉插头） 

the full findings 完整的调查结果 

withdrawal symptom 脱瘾症状(戒除某习惯时所引起的痛苦和不适) 

overeating 过度饱食 

isolated 与世隔绝的 

to be disconnected （与现实）分离的 

ordeal 煎熬 

guinea pig 参加试验的人 

to endure 忍受 

intrusion 入侵 

offline 脱机的 

to be thrown up into the air 被打乱 

to be deprived of 不能使用 

to break out into a cold sweat 吓得浑身冒冷汗 

gadget 小工具 

waking hours 醒着的时间 

to set aside 留出来

1 addict   

v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人

参考例句：

• He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
• He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。

2 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

5 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

6 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

7 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。