长期不读书会降低表达能力吗？

LearnAndRecord 2022-07-26

收录于合集 #跟着LR吃瓜学英语 707个

北宋著名文学家、书法家黄庭坚说：“士大夫三日不读书，则义理不交于胸中，对镜觉面目可憎，向人亦言语无味。”

长期不读书会降低表达能力吗？今天微博上的这个话题引人深思，你有多久没读过书了？或者，最近有读过什么值得推荐的书吗？

无注释原文：

Study Finds Reading to Children of All Ages Grooms Them to Read More on Their Own

The New York Times

Jan. 8, 2015

Cue the hand-wringing about digital distraction: Fewer children are reading books frequently for fun, according to a new report released Thursday by Scholastic, the children’s book publisher.

In a 2014 survey of just over 1,000 children ages 6 to 17, only 31 percent said they read a book for fun almost daily, down from 37 percent four years ago.

There were some consistent patterns among the heavier readers: For the younger children — ages 6 to 11 — being read aloud to regularly and having restricted online time were correlated with frequent reading; for the older children — ages 12 to 17 — one of the largest predictors was whether they had time to read on their own during the school day.

The finding about reading aloud to children long after toddlerhood may come as a surprise to some parents who read books to children at bedtime when they were very young but then tapered off. Last summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced a new policy recommending that all parents read to their children from birth.

“A lot of parents assume that once kids begin to read independently, that now that is the best thing for them to do,” said Maggie McGuire, the vice president for a website for parents operated by Scholastic.

But reading aloud through elementary school seemed to be connected to a love of reading generally. According to the report, 41 percent of frequent readers ages 6 to 10 were read aloud to at home, while only 13 percent of infrequent readers were being read to.

Scholastic, which operates book fairs in schools and publishes popular children’s books including the Harry Potter and Captain Underpants series, has been commissioning the “Kids and Family Reading Report” since 2006. For the first time this year, the report, conducted by YouGov, a market research firm, looked at predictors that children of different ages would be frequent readers, defined as children who read books for fun five or more days a week.

Kristen Harmeling, a partner at YouGov who worked on the report, said that children in the survey frequently cited reading aloud as a special bonding time with their parents. As children age, “I don’t think that parents know how important that time and the role that it plays in children’s lives,” she said.

Of course, children who love to read are generally immersed in households with lots of books and parents who like to read. So while parents who read to their children later in elementary school may encourage those children to become frequent readers on their own, such behavior can also result from “a whole constellation of other things that goes on in those families,” said Timothy Shanahan, professor emeritus of urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a past president of the International Reading Association.

There is not yet strong research that connects reading aloud at older ages to improved reading comprehension. But some literacy experts said that when parents or teachers read aloud to children even after they can read themselves, the children can hear more complex words or stories than they might tackle themselves.

“It’s the idea of marinating children in higher-level vocabulary,” said Pam Allyn, founder of LitWorld.Org, a nonprofit group that works to increase literacy among young people. “The read-aloud can really lift the child.”

Other literacy experts say the real value of reading to children is helping to develop background knowledge in all kinds of topics as well as exposure to sophisticated language.

“It wouldn’t have to be reading” to accomplish that, said Catherine Snow, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “A two-minute conversation about something on television or something in a magazine or something that you’re reading yourself can also have some of the same positive effects as reading aloud.”

Although the Scholastic report found that teenagers were more likely to read frequently for fun if they had dedicated independent reading time in school, only 17 percent of all children surveyed reported having time to read a book of their choice at school daily. Just 10 percent of 12- to 14-year-olds and 4 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds reported having that time in class. Such reading time at school may be particularly important for low-income children, who reported that they were more likely to read for fun at school than at home.

While previous studies have shown little connection between independent reading time at school and better reading habits or comprehension, some large school districts, including Boston and Chicago, encourage teachers to include time in the day for students to pick books and read.

Parents also see a connection. Emily Skelding, a mother of four in New Orleans and a former middle school teacher, said that her eldest son, Sumner, 15, used to devour books as a child. But now that he has no time at school to read on his own — or perhaps more significant, to choose the books he wants to read — “he stopped reading for pleasure,” Ms. Skelding said.

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Study Finds Reading to Children of All Ages Grooms Them to Read More on Their Own

爱读书的孩子越来越少了，怎么办

The New York Times

Jan. 8, 2015

Cue the hand-wringing about digital distraction: Fewer children are reading books frequently for fun, according to a new report released Thursday by Scholastic, the children's book publisher.

为数字设备强大的分心效果痛心疾首吧。根据儿童图书出版商学乐教育集团（Scholastic）前不久发布的一份新报告，为享受乐趣而频繁读书的孩子比以前更少了。

groom

动词，表示“培养，培训，使做好准备”，英文解释为“to prepare someone for a special job or activity”举个🌰：

She was being groomed for leadership.

她正在接受培训以担任领导。

hand-wringing

表示“绝望；过分担心，过度悲伤”，英文解释为“If you accuse someone of hand-wringing, you mean that they are expressing sorrow about a bad situation but are saying that they are unable to change it.”如：the public hand-wringing about the importance of voting 公众对选举的重要性产生了绝望。

distraction

表示“分心的事；分散注意力的东西”，英文解释为“something that prevents someone from giving their attention to something else”举个🌰：

I can turn the television off if you find it a distraction.

如果你觉得电视让你思想无法集中，我可以关掉。

In a 2014 survey of just over 1,000 children ages 6 to 17, only 31 percent said they read a book for fun almost daily, down from 37 percent four years ago.

在2014年针对大约1000名6岁至17岁孩子进行的一项调查中，仅有31%的受访者表示，他们几乎每天都会为获得乐趣而读书，这一比例较4年前的37%有所下降。

这些阅读量较大的孩子呈现出一些一致的模式：对于年幼的孩子（6岁至11岁）来说，时常听父母大声朗读，并限制上网时间，与频繁阅读呈正相关。而对于年龄较大的孩子（12岁至17岁）来说，最大的预测指标之一是，他们在校期间是否有时间自主阅读。

correlate

表示“相互关系；联系；相关”，英文解释为“If two or more facts, numbers, etc. correlate or are correlated, there is a relationship between them.”举个🌰：

Stress levels and heart disease are strongly correlated (= connected).

压力程度和心脏病密切相关。

predictor

表示“（可让人预报未来的事件或事实）预报性事物；预测器；预示物；预测因子”，英文解释为“something such as an event or fact that enables you to say what will happen in the future”。

给早已过了学步期的小孩大声朗读，竟然能够产生如此好的效果。一些家长在孩子很小的时候，经常在睡前给他们读书，但随后逐渐减少。这项发现或许会让他们感到惊讶。美国儿科研究院（American Academy of Pediatrics）去年夏天宣布了一项新政策，建议所有家长在小孩出生后给他们朗读。

toddlerhood

toddler +‎ -hood 表示“学步期”。toddler /ˈtɒdlə/ 表示“学步的儿童”，英文解释为“A toddler is a young child who has only just learned to walk or who still walks unsteadily with small, quick steps.”举个🌰：

I had a toddler at home and two other children at school.

我有一个刚学步的孩子在家中，另外两个孩子在学校。

🎬电影《相助》（The Help）中的台词提到：She's trying to blame it on a toddler. 她想把错赖在小孩子身上。

taper off

表示“逐渐变小；逐步减弱”，英文解释为“to become gradually smaller or weaker, or happen less often”举个🌰：

Her voice tapered off as she realized everyone was listening.

当她意识到大家都在听时，她的声音就越来越小了。

pediatrics

pediatrics /ˌpiːdiˈætrɪks/ 美式拼写；paediatrics 英式拼写。表示“儿科学”，英文解释为“the science or study of medical care for children”。

“A lot of parents assume that once kids begin to read independently, that now that is the best thing for them to do,” said Maggie McGuire, the vice president for a website for parents operated by Scholastic.

玛吉·麦圭尔（Maggie McGuire）在学乐教育集团专门为家长创建的一家网站担任副总裁。她说，“很多家长认为，一旦孩子开始独立阅读，他们就算大功告成了。”

但在孩子的整个小学阶段坚持给他们朗读，似乎有助于培养其热爱读书的习惯。这份报告显示，在6岁至10岁的孩子中，41%的频繁阅读者经常在家听父母朗读，而仅有13%的非频繁阅读者正在接受这种熏陶。

Scholastic, which operates book fairs in schools and publishes popular children's books including the Harry Potter and Captain Underpants series, has been commissioning the “Kids and Family Reading Report” since 2006. For the first time this year, the report, conducted by YouGov, a market research firm, looked at predictors that children of different ages would be frequent readers, defined as children who read books for fun five or more days a week.

学乐教育集团经常在学校举办图书展，出版过许多风靡一时的儿童读物，其中包括《哈利·波特》（Harry Potter）和《内裤超人》（Captain Underpants）系列图书。自2006年以来，这家公司一直委托研究机构制作《儿童与家庭阅读报告》（Kids and Family Reading Report）。这份由市场研究公司YouGov制作的报告，今年首次关注那些能够预测不同年龄段的孩子是否将成为频繁阅读者的指标。所谓“频繁阅读者”是指每周五天（或更多天数）会为享受乐趣而读书的孩子。

fair

熟词僻义，作名词，表示“商品展销会，商品交易会”，英文解释为“a large show at which people who work in a particular industry meet, and sell and advertise their products”如：a book/antiques/toy fair 书展/古玩交易会/玩具展销会。

commission

1）作动词，表示“委任（或任命）…为军官”，英文解释为“to give someone the official authority to be an officer in the armed forces”举个🌰：

She was commissioned in 1992.

她于1992年被任命为军官。

2）作动词，表示“（正式地）安排…做，委托…做”，英文解释为“to formally choose someone to do a special piece of work, or to formally ask for a special piece of work from someone”举个🌰：

She's commissioned an artist to paint her portrait.

她请了一位艺术家为她画肖像。

define

表示“给（尤指单词）下定义；说明，解释”，英文解释为“to say what the meaning of something, especially a word, is”举个🌰：

Before I answer your question, could you define your terms a little more (= explain what you mean by the words you have used)?

在回答你的问题之前，你能不能再解释一下你用词的意思？

Kristen Harmeling, a partner at YouGov who worked on the report, said that children in the survey frequently cited reading aloud as a special bonding time with their parents. As children age, “I don't think that parents know how important that time and the role that it plays in children's lives,” she said.

参与这项研究的YouGov公司合伙人克里斯汀·哈梅林（Kristen Harmeling）指出，许多受访的孩子都认为，听父母朗读是一段特殊的亲密时刻。随着孩子一天天长大，“我不认为父母真正明白这段时间的重要意义，以及它在孩子的生活中扮演的角色，”她说。

bonding

不可数名词，表示“人与人之间的关系（或联结）；亲密关系的形成”，英文解释为“the process of forming a special relationship with sb or with a group of people”，如：mother-child bonding 母子亲情，female bonding 女性的情谊。

Of course, children who love to read are generally immersed in households with lots of books and parents who like to read. So while parents who read to their children later in elementary school may encourage those children to become frequent readers on their own, such behavior can also result from “a whole constellation of other things that goes on in those families,” said Timothy Shanahan, professor emeritus of urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a past president of the International Reading Association.

当然，爱读书的孩子通常来自拥有许多书籍，父母都喜欢读书的家庭。因此，尽管父母在孩子上小学高年级时坚持给他们朗读，或许有助于鼓励他们成为主动拿起书本的频繁阅读者，但这种行为也有可能产生自“这些书香门第发生的其他一系列事情。”伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校（University of Illinois at Chicago）城市教育学荣誉教授，国际阅读协会（International Reading Association）前会长蒂莫西·沙纳汉（Timothy Shanahan）说。

immerse

表示“（使）深陷于，沉浸在”，英文解释为“to become or make sb completely involved in sth”举个🌰：

She immersed herself in her work.

她埋头工作。

constellation

constellation /ˌkɒnstəˈleɪʃn/ 1）表示“星座”，英文解释为“A constellation is a group of stars which form a pattern and have a name.”

2）表示“群英荟萃；人才济济；明星群集”，英文解释为“a group of famous or admired people all together in one place”举个🌰：

At our annual ceremony we had a whole constellation of movie stars and directors.

在我们的年度庆典上，影星导演济济一堂。

emeritus

emeritus /ɪˈmɛrɪtəs/ 表示“（常指大学教师）退休后保留头衔的，荣誉退休的”，英文解释为“(often Emeritus) used with a title to show that a person, usually a university teacher, keeps the title as an honour, although he or she has stopped working”，如：the Emeritus Professor of Biology 荣誉退休的生物学教授。

目前还没有强有力的研究成果显示，给较大年龄的小孩大声朗读，有助于提高他们的阅读能力。但一些识字专家表示，甚至在小孩能够独立阅读之后，如果父母或老师继续给他们朗读，这些孩子就能够听到一些他们依靠自身能力还无法掌握的复杂单词或故事。

literacy

表示“识字；读写能力”，英文解释为“Literacy is the ability to read and write.”举个🌰：

Many adults have problems with literacy and numeracy.

很多成年人有读写和计算的困难。

反义词：

📍illiteracy表示“文盲”（Illiteracy is the state of not knowing how to read or write.）

“It’s the idea of marinating children in higher-level vocabulary,” said Pam Allyn, founder of LitWorld.Org, a nonprofit group that works to increase literacy among young people. “The read-aloud can really lift the child.”

LitWorld.Org是一家致力于提高年轻人识字水平的非营利性组织，其创始人帕姆·阿林（Pam Allyn）表示，“这就是让孩子接受更高级别词汇熏陶的理念。听大声朗读，真的能够提升孩子的阅读能力。”

marinate

原意表示“腌，浸泡（食物）；（食物）腌，浸泡”，英文解释为“if you marinate food or it marinates , you leave it in a marinade before cooking it”举个🌰：

Marinate the chicken for at least 4 hours.

把鸡肉放在腌汁里浸泡至少四个小时。

Other literacy experts say the real value of reading to children is helping to develop background knowledge in all kinds of topics as well as exposure to sophisticated language.

其他识字专家说，给孩子朗读不仅能够让他们接受复杂语言的熏陶，其真正的价值在于帮助他们掌握各种话题的背景知识。

sophisticated

sophisticated /səˈfɪstɪˌkeɪtɪd/ 1）表示“老练的；久经世故的”，英文解释为“Someone who is sophisticated is comfortable in social situations and knows about culture, fashion, and other matters that are considered socially important.”举个🌰：

He was a charming, sophisticated companion.

他是个有魅力、见多识广的伙伴。

2）表示“干练的”，英文解释为“A sophisticated person is intelligent and knows a lot, so that they are able to understand complicated situations.”举个🌰：

These people are very sophisticated observers of the foreign policy scene.

这些人是外交政策领域干练的观察家。

3）表示“高级的；复杂的”，英文解释为“A sophisticated machine, device, or method is more advanced or complex than others.”举个🌰：

Honeybees use one of the most sophisticated communication systems of any insect.

蜜蜂所使用的交流系统是昆虫中最复杂的之一。

“It wouldn't have to be reading” to accomplish that, said Catherine Snow, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “A two-minute conversation about something on television or something in a magazine or something that you're reading yourself can also have some of the same positive effects as reading aloud.”

“要实现这一目标，不见得一定要给孩子朗读，”哈佛大学教育研究生院（Harvard Graduate School of Education）教授凯瑟琳·斯诺（Catherine Snow）说。“花上两分钟时间跟孩子谈论电视、杂志或你自己正在阅读的书籍上出现的某个话题，也能产生与大声朗读同样积极的效果。”

尽管学乐教育集团的报告发现，如果青少年在校期间有时间独立阅读，他们就更有可能为享受乐趣而频繁读书，但只有17%的受访孩子表示，他们每天在学校有时间阅读自己选择的书籍。仅有10%的12岁至14岁孩子，以及4%的15岁至17岁青少年报告说，他们在课堂上有时间进行独立阅读。对于低收入家庭的孩子来说，在校阅读的这段时间或许尤为重要。这些孩子报告说，相较于在家中，他们更有可能在学校享受读书的乐趣。

句子解析

📍这个句子看似很长其实不难，Although the Scholastic report found that [xxx], only 17 percent of all children reported [xxx]. 去掉其他部分，剩下这些：尽管学乐教育集团的报告发现，[xxx]，只有17%的孩子表示[yyy]。其中，xxx为if引导的条件状语从句。

📍最让人困惑的可能是：only 17 percent of all children surveyed reported having time to ... 为什么会有两个“动词”，surveyed和reported？

📍实际上reported才是句子的谓语动词，而surveyed过去分词作定语，修饰children，字面意思就是被问卷调查的孩子，即受访孩子。当然，也可以补充完整理解为定语从句：only 17 percent of all children (who were) surveyed reported ...

虽然以前几乎没有研究显示，在校独立阅读和更好的阅读习惯或理解力存在关联，但包括波士顿（Boston）和芝加哥（Chicago）在内的一些大学区鼓励教师每天给学生留一些时间，供他们挑选和阅读书籍。

Parents also see a connection. Emily Skelding, a mother of four in New Orleans and a former middle school teacher, said that her eldest son, Sumner, 15, used to devour books as a child. But now that he has no time at school to read on his own — or perhaps more significant, to choose the books he wants to read — “he stopped reading for pleasure,” Ms. Skelding said.

一些家长也发现了这种关联。居住在新奥尔良市（New Orleans）的前中学教师艾米莉·斯科汀（Emily Skelding）有四个孩子。她说，15岁的大儿子萨姆纳小时候酷爱读书。但由于他现在在校期间没有时间自主阅读——或许更重要的是，无法选择自己想读的书，“萨姆纳已经不再为获得乐趣而读书了，”斯科汀说。

devour

devour /dɪˈvaʊə/ 1）表示“狼吞虎咽，吞食”，英文解释为“to eat something eagerly and in large amounts so that nothing is left”举个🌰：

The young cubs hungrily devoured the deer.

幼狮们贪婪地吞食着鹿肉。

2）表示“如饥似渴地阅读”，英文解释为“to read books or literature quickly and eagerly”举个🌰：

She loves to read - she devours one book after another.

她非常喜欢读书——如饥似渴地读了一本又一本。

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