CCTV9英语新闻：智能手机成瘾的危险性

With the development of the Internet and related technology, we are all getting more and more reliant on our smartphones. Following this trend, a new word, "phubber", has also been coined, conflating the words "phone" and "snubber," which refers to people who often lower their heads, locked-in to their smart phones, oblivious to the world around them. But "phubbing" is not always a light matter. In fact, it is often the cause of dangerous accidents.

 

A surveillance video captured a tragic scene on Tuesday evening. Gazing with her head down and walking toward the edge of a river without knowing, 28-year-old Wang lost her life in a just few minutes after missing her step and falling.

 

"After repetitively checking the surveillance footage, we found that Ms. Wang was focusing on her cellphone. She was distracted and fell into the river afterwards," said Lin Yunxuan of Aojiang police station.

 

The obsession with cellphones has led to another emergency when a young man passed out on a bus in central China's Henan. He was sent to a local hospital, where doctors said his brain had received an inadequate supple of blood because he had been staring into his phone for so long.

 

According to a recent survey led by Sohu.com, about a third of Chinese people admit they are probably "phubbers"

 

Experts say that smartphone addicts, by avoiding normal social interaction, could acquire psychological problems.

 

Even Chinese social media users are trying to alert the public to stop "phubbing" and start acting with more responsibility.