空中英语教室:大拇指文化
Thumb CultureHow are cell phones affecting youth communication?
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A crowd of teenagers huddles together on a sidewalk. But they’re not talking to each other. Their heads are bent down, and their thumbs are busy pushing tiny buttons on their cell phones.
This scene provides a glimpse-one of dozens we see each day –of Asia’s “thumb culture” Young cell-phone users are extremely adept at typing text messages using only their thumbs. These rapidly typed messages help them keep constantly in touch with one another. Increasingly, this constant messaging is replacing more traditional forms of communication.
Many young people think hand-written greeting cards are old-fashioned. Instead, they send a holiday greeting or birthday wish by text message. They can reach as many people as they want with a single text message. They pass on jokes and good news through digital greetings. In China , even marriage proposals have been sent in text messages!
Text-messaging is so popular that people actually hold speed-typing competitions. In 2004, a woman from Singapore typed a 25-word text message in less than 44 seconds.
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Of course, this woman isn’t the only person with super-fast text-messaging skills. Many young cell-phone users can dash off whole messages in under a minute. But all this rapid and constant thumb-typing has led to at least one unexpected consequence.
It’s created a new health problem, known as “text-messaging injury.” Cell –phone users sometimes develop severe swelling and pain in their thumbs. This injury is caused by the thumb making the same small movements hundreds of times a day.
“Because the movements are small, they do not cause the blood to circulate,” said Andrew Chadwick, an expert from the U.K. “That means the fingers are acting like an engine without oil.”
Doing “finger stretches” before and after text-messaging can reduce the health risk. Experts also recommend text-messaging no more than an hour and a half a day. The key is to keep messages short. Fortunately, cell-phone users have developed their own special abbreviations. That makes typing easier, and just might help prevent sore thumbs, too. CU L8ER!
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Word bank
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huddle (v) 聚集；挤在五起
The friends huddled together to keep each other warm.
Adept (adj) 熟练的
My dad thinks his new MP3 player is too confusing, but my 10-year-old sister isalready very adept at using it!
Old-fashioned (adj) 过时的；老式的
My grandmother has a beautiful, old-fashioned sewing machine. It looks it should be in a museum.
Proposal (n) 求婚
Matt’s proposal to Lisa was very special. He asked her to marry him at a baseball game in front of thousands of people.
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Consequence(n) 后果
The teacher taught her students about the dangerous consequences of smoking.
Swell (v) 肿胀
After the spider bit Jake’s hand, his fingers began to swell immediately.
Circulate (v) 循环；流通
The fan in my room helps the air to circulate and keep me cool.
Abbreviation (n) 缩写
The abbreviation for kilogram is kg, but the abbreviation for pound is lB.
More information
Text message (n) 文字短信
Tara sent Tom a text message to tell him she would be late for the concert.
Greeting card (n) 贺卡
People like to send greeting cards at Christmas. In fact, more than 2.6 billion cards are sent each Christmas!
Dash off something (v) 快速完成某事
I don’t have time to write a letter to Tom, so I’ll just dash off a quick note instead.
Talk about it:
1.Do you use test message to keep in contact with your friends? Why or why not?
2.Are you more likely to send your friends a greeting card or a digital greeting? Why?
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