A 17-year-old boy, caught sending
text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at
Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The vice principal, Steve
Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone.
The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the
student’s fingers moving on his lap. He was texting while being scolded for
texting. “It was a subconscious act,” says Mr. Gallagher, who took the
phone away. “Young people today are connected socially from the moment they
open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It’s
compulsive.”
A study this year by psychology
students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time
young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades
and weaker study habits. Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more
sociable, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (
Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to “night texting” for
disturbing the sleep patterns of teens. )
Almost a quarter of today’s teens
check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a 2009 survey by Common
Sense Media, a nonprofit group that monitors media’s impact on families. Will
these young people get rid of this habit once they enter the work force, or
will employers come to see texting and “social-network checking” as accepted
parts of the workday? Think back. When today’s older workers were in their 20s,
they might have taken a break on the job to call friends and make after-work
plans. In those earlier eras, companies discouraged non-business-related calls,
and someone who made personal calls all day risked being fired. It was
impossible to imagine the constant back-and-forth texting that defines
interactions among young people today. Educators are also being asked by
parents, students and educational strategists to reconsider their rules. “In
past generations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class. Now
students are adept（熟练的） at texting with their phones still in their pockets,” says
40-year-old Mr. Gallagher, the vice principal, “and they’re able to communicate
with someone one floor down and three rows over. Students are just
fundamentally different today. They will take suspensions rather than give up
their phones.”
1.The underlined word “a
subconscious act” refers to an act __________.
A. on
purpose B. without realization C.
in secret D. with care
2.Young people addicted to the
use of Facebook _________.
A. are
good at dealing with the social relationships and concentrate on their study
B. have
high spirits and positive attitudes towards their life and work
C. have
been influenced mentally in the aspects of behaviors and habits
D. are
always in bad mood and have poor performance in every aspect
3.Through the situation of
today’s older workers in their 20s, it can be inferred that ___________.
A. the
employers will accept young people’s sending text messages
B. a
cellphone is a must for today’s older workers instead of young people
C. the
employers prefer older workers to young people
D. the
employers will find it hard to control the interaction among young people
4.Mr. Gallagher reminds us that
the students in the past and those today _________.
A. like
to break rules and have the same means of sending messages
B. are
always the big problem for the educators and their parents
C. like
sending text messages but those today do it in a more secret and skillful way
D.
cannot live without a cellphone
5.What’s the best title of the
passage?
A.
Teenagers and Cellphones B.
Teenagers’ Texting Addiction
C.
Employers and Teenagers D.
Teenagers’ Education