VOA慢速英语2019 你在智能手机上的打字速度有多快?（在线收听）

How Fast Can You Write on Your Smartphone?

Many Americans use smartphones for most or all of their day-to-day communication activities. One result is that people have gotten faster and better at typing emails and text messages on their phones.

许多美国人用智能手机进行大部分或全部日常交流活动。其中一个结果是：人们用手机写电邮或编辑短信的速度更快也更顺手。

But how fast are we at using an electronic device compared to typing words on a traditional, physical keyboard? A new study has some answers. A team of researchers carried out an experiment. It involved more than 37,000 volunteers from over 160 countries.

但与用传统实体键盘打字相比，我们在电子设备上打字的速度有多快？一项新研究给出了答案。一个研究员小组进行了一项实验。该实验由来自160多个国家的3.7万名志愿者参与。

The study was a project of researchers from Finland’s Aalto University, England’s University of Cambridge and ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. They used an Internet-based system to test the typing speed of people on their smartphones.

这项研究是芬兰阿尔托大学、英国剑桥大学和瑞士苏黎世联邦理工学院开展的研究项目的组成部分。研究人员用以互联网为基础的系统测试了志愿者在智能手机上的打字速度。

On average, the volunteers estimated they spent about six hours a day using their phones. The majority said they used two thumbs to write messages. Both Android and iPhone users were tested, and most said they used the device’s standard keyboard.

平均来说，志愿者估计他们每天使用手机的时间为6个小时左右。大多数志愿者表示他们用两个拇指编辑短信。安卓和iPhone用户都接受了实验，大多数人表示他们使用手机的标准键盘。

The experiment

实验

The volunteers were given 15 English sentences to type out on their phones “as quickly and accurately as possible.” The research team found that on average, people wrote about 36 words per minute. Those tested made a typing mistake 2.3 percent of the time.

研究人员让志愿者在手机上打出15个英语句子，要求是“越快、越准确越好”。研究团队发现，平均来说，人们每分钟能打出36个单词。测试者的打字错误率为2.3%。

The researchers noted that 36 words per minute is about 25 percent slower than the average rate for people using a computer keyboard. In a 2018 University of Cambridge study, the average speed for computer typists was about 52 words per minute.

研究人员指出，每分钟36个单词比人们用电脑键盘打字的平均速度慢25%左右。剑桥大学在2018年进行的一项调查表明，电脑打字者的平均速度为每分钟52个单词左右。

The researchers noted one reason for the narrowing of speed rates between smartphones and computers. They said people have become slower at typing on keyboards over the years.

研究人员指出了智能手机与计算机之间打字速度缩小的其中一个原因。他们说，这些年来人们用键盘打字的速度越来越慢。

Seventy-five percent of those taking part in the study had typing speeds below 44 words per minute. But the fastest phone typists reached speeds of over 80 words per minute.

研究参与者中有75%的人打字速度低于每分钟44个单词。但速度最快的手机打字者每分钟可打80余个单词。

The published results show there was no difference between males and females in the typing speeds.

这些已发表的结果表明，男性和女性在打字速度上没有差异。

Subjects who reported using two thumbs or two fingers reached speeds of 38 words per minute. Those who said they used only one finger typed 29 words per minute.

使用两个拇指或两个手指的手机打字者每分钟能打出38个单词。只用一根手指打字的人每分钟可打出29个单词。

Among age groups, the fastest typists on an electronic device were between 10 and 19 years old. They typed nearly 40 words per minute. People aged 40 to 49 wrote about 29 words per minute. And the rate dropped to 26 words per minute for those aged 50 to 59.

从年龄层来看，在电子设备上打字最快的是10到19岁这一群体。他们每分钟可打出近40个单词。40到49岁人群每分钟能打出约29个单词。而到50至59岁这一年龄组，打字速度降为每分钟26个单词。

Reaction to the findings

对研究结果的反应

Anna Feit, a researcher at ETH Zurich, helped lead the study. She said it makes sense that younger people have higher typing speeds because they generally spend a lot more time on their devices.

苏黎世联邦理工学院的研究员安娜·费特协助领导了这项研究。她表示，较年轻群体的打字速度更快这一结果合情合理，因为他们通常会在电子设备上花费更多时间。

"Such a large amount of experience transfers to the development of typing skill,” Feit said. “And explains why young people - who spend more time with social media, communicating with each other - are picking up higher speeds."

费特表示：“如此丰富的经验转换成了打字技能的发展。这也解释了在社交媒体上花费更多时间与对方交流的年轻人打字速度更快的原因。”

The researchers also found that a phone’s automatic correct tool can be extremely helpful. Users were able to type faster than those without the correct tool. But word prediction tools were not very helpful to users in the experiment, noted Aalto University researcher Sunjun Kim.

研究人员还发现，手机的自动纠错工具会极为有用。搭载这一功能的用户打字速度可快于没有工具者。但阿尔托大学的研究员Sunjun Kim指出，对参与实验的用户来说，单词预测工具的帮助不大。

“The given understanding is that techniques like word completion help people,” Kim said. “But what we found out is that the time spent thinking about the word suggestions often outweighs the time it would take you to type the letters, making you slower overall.”

Sunjun Kim说：“预测理解是帮助人们补全单词的技术。但我们发现，人们在思考预测单词上花费的时间多于他们打出单词的时间，整体来看这会减慢打字速度。”

The researchers call the difference between typing words on a smartphone and a physical keyboard "the typing gap." They predict this gap will further narrow in the future as people get less skilled with keyboards and as smart methods for typing on devices continue to improve.

研究人员将在智能手机和实体键盘上打字的差异称为“打字差距”。他们预测这一差距在未来将一步缩小，因为人们对实体键盘的熟练程度在逐渐降低，而在电子设备上打字的智能方式则在不断进步。

Words in This Story

type – v. write out letters on a keyboard

keyboard – n. a set of keys on a computer that a user presses to make it work

standard – adj. usual and not special

accurate – adj. correct or exact

per – prep. for each

transfer – v. to move from one thing to another

automatic – adj. happening as part of a normal process or system

gap – n. the difference between groups or situations