外研版选修二册第二单元阅读讲解

Unit 2 Improving yourself

第14页阅读讲解

SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX
社交媒体脱瘾

Moderator
主持人

Today marks the last day of the Social Media Detox, Brenton High's fundraising campaign for new sports equipment. At the start of the detox, over 100 students had been persuaded to stop using social media, in ANY form, for seven days. This meant no messaging friends, no posting photos, no blogging – nothing. They had been promised money by family and friends for each day spent without using social media. They were excited. They were nervous. But could they do it? With the detox now finished, they've switched on their devices and they're back online. I bet you're as eager as I am to find out just how many have been motivated enough to last the full seven days! And what, if anything, has been learnt from the experience?
布伦顿高中为给购置新的体育设备筹款，举办了一项名为“社交媒体脱瘾”的活动。今天是活动的最后一天。脱瘾活动初期，我们成功说服100多名学生连续七天不得使用任何形式的社交媒体。这就意味着他们在这段时间内不能给朋友发短信，不能上传照片，不能发博客，与社交媒体相关的任何形式的活动都不行。脱离社交媒体的每一天，他们都能收到来自家人和朋友的奖励金。对此，他们很兴奋，也很紧张。但他们真的能做到吗？如今，脱瘾活动已结束，他们纷纷开启电子设备，重返网络。相信你和我一样，迫切想知道多少人有足够的动力坚持了整整七天！而他们，又从此次经历中学到了什么？

Anna
17
安娜
17岁

I lasted two days. The detox was more difficult to tolerate than I had expected. I felt like I had lost an arm! Not eating for two days would have been easier! But on reflection, I can see how much of my time had been occupied with checking my phone. I'm now trying to spend less time online and more time picking up my hobbies.
我坚持了两天。社交媒体脱瘾比我预期的更加难以忍受。没了社交媒体，就像缺少一只胳膊一般。让我饿两天可能还更轻松些！但一番反思后，我也意识到平日花在看手机上的时间太多了。现在，我正试图减少上网时间，把更多精力用于重拾自己的爱好。

Devon
16
德文
16岁

I lasted four days. On Monday, my classmate and I spoke about what we did at the weekend – it felt really strange not to already know what he had done. We would usually have posted pictures and updated our profiles. Doing the detox meant we had to talk and explain what we were doing and thinking! It made me realise the value of real contact that I had forgotten.
我坚持了四天。周一，我和同学讨论了周末各自的活动——我并不知道他都做了些什么，这感觉太奇怪了。因为平时我们都会上传照片，更新各自的动态。参与这次脱瘾活动，意味着我们不得不互相交流并向对方解释自己的所做所想。这也让我意识到已经遗忘了的真正沟通的重要性。

Cindy
18
辛迪
18岁

I managed the whole week! At first, I really felt I was missing out. Then, instead of messaging my friend, I went round to her house. Without our phones, we had a proper conversation for over two hours, without being distracted by messages from other people. It felt so good! Then I decided to visit a different friend every day. By the fifth day, I wondered – was I really missing out by not constantly checking my phone to see what everyone else was up to?
我坚持了整整一周！最初，我真的感觉自己错过了无数消息。但我忍住没给朋友发消息，而是直接去了她家。没有手机的我们，好好地聊了两个多小时，没有被其他人的消息干扰，这感觉真棒！接下来我决定每天去见一位不同的朋友。到第五天时我在想，当我不再忙于查看手机关注他人生活的时候，我真的错过了很多吗？

George
16
乔治
16岁

I did all seven days, too! To be honest, I didn't find the detox too difficult, but I did give my phone to my dad to avoid giving in! My brother thought I should make full use of the time without my phone, so he took me to check out our local sports centre. An hour's sport each day left me tired out and wanting to go to bed early. The detox made me healthier!
我也坚持了整整七天！说实话，我觉得社交媒体脱瘾没那么难，但为了让自己不要半途而废，我还是把手机上交给爸爸了。哥哥觉得我应该充分规划好没有手机的日子，因此他带我去了我们当地的体育中心。每天一小时的运动让人筋疲力尽，想早点上床休息。脱瘾活动让我更健康了！

Max
17
马克斯
17岁

I'm embarrassed to say that I threw in the towel on the first day! I knew there was a party happening that evening, but without access to social media I couldn't remember where it was! In the end, I turned on my phone to check, but couldn't resist having a quick look at my social media accounts. What's worse, I then spent so much time catching up on news, I almost missed the party!
我都不好意思说自己第一天就打了退堂鼓。脱瘾活动开始的当晚有个聚会，但如果不靠社交媒体的话，我怎么也想不起地点在哪儿！最后我还是打开手机查看了一下，结果没忍住，偷看了一眼我的社交媒体账户。更糟的是，我花了大把时间刷新动态，差点错过了本该要去的聚会！

Moderator
主持人

The detox raised a total of £1,632.82 for new school sports equipment! Well done, everyone who took part! After reading the posts on this forum, it seems that something other than money has also been raised through the detox. Awareness of just how much we rely on social media can help us step away from it and communicate with each other better.
此次脱瘾活动总共为学校募集了1,632.82英镑用于购置新的体育设备！每位参与者都做得很棒！看了论坛上的各个帖子，这次活动对人们的影响似乎远远不止通过活动筹集到的钱。脱瘾活动还让我们意识到自己对社交媒体的依赖程度，从而帮助我们摆脱它的束缚，更好地互相沟通。

第20页阅读讲解

Valuable Values
珍贵的价值

1 The spending power of young people varies from person to person. Each, however, is faced with the same question: what to do with their money? Some handle this less well than others. Recent headlines have seen more and more teens maxing out their parents' credit cards on games or other online activities.
年轻人的消费能力因人而异。然而，每个人都面临一个同样的问题：该如何对待自己的钱？有些人并不那么擅长理财。最近的新闻头条中报道了越来越多的青少年刷爆了父母的信用卡，将钱肆意挥霍在网络游戏或其他网络活动中。

2 In contrast to these big spenders, there are also teens that prove age is no barrier to making good use of money. With the help of her grandmother, eight-year-old Khloe Thompson started making “Kare Bags” for the homeless people in her district. Inside the bags are necessities such as toothpaste, soap and socks, bought first with her pocket money and then through crowd funding. These items helped to make the lives of poor and homeless people a little bit easier. On receiving a Kare Bag, one woman said, “You make me feel like a human being.”
与这些花钱大手大脚的人相比，也有一些青少年证明了年龄并非善于利用金钱的障碍。年仅八岁的科洛·汤普森在祖母的帮助下，开始为她所在区的流浪者们制作“爱心包包”。包里面装着一些生活必需品，比如牙膏、肥皂和袜子等。最初购买这些物品用的都是她自己的零花钱，后来则是通过众筹购买。这些物品让贫穷和无家可归的人生活得稍微轻松了一些。在收到“爱心包包”时，一位女士说： “你让我觉得自己活得像个人。”

3 However people intend to use their money, managing it seems to be unprecedentedly important to younger generations. A 2016 study said 17 states of the US require high school students to take courses in personal finances. For those who have no access to courses, help might be at hand thanks to Jerry Witkovsky and his method of using four jars to teach teenagers how to spend their money wisely.
无论人们打算怎样使用自己的钱，理财对于年轻一代来说似乎变得前所未有地重要。2016年的一项研究表明，美国有17个州要求高中生修个人理财的课程。对于那些无法接触理财课程的人来说，多亏杰里·维特科夫斯基和他的理财方法—他用四个罐子教青少年如何智慧理财。

4 When Jerry's grandchildren turned 13, his present to each of them was three jars: one for Spending, one for Saving, and another for Giving – he has since added a fourth jar for Investing. It was from then on that his grandchildren started to be in control of what to do with the money they receive: spend, save, invest or give? Jerry's birthday present to his grandchildren is, however, much more than money and a few jars – he is giving them the opportunity to learn lifelong values.
当杰里的孙子孙女们年满13岁时，杰里给他们每个人的礼物都是三个罐子：一个用于消费，一个用于储蓄，另一个用于给予——之后他还增加了第四个罐子，用于投资。从那时起，他的孙子孙女们就开始自己掌控如何处理所得的钱：用于消费、储蓄、投资还是给予他人？然而，杰里送他们生日礼物的价值远远不止金钱和这几个罐子——他为他们提供了终身树立正确价值观的机会。

5 The value taught with the Spending jar is that you are responsible for your own happiness. Money gives you independence and the opportunity to buy something you like. After all, it's OK to be nice to yourself!
“消费”罐子传递的价值是：你要为自己的幸福负责。金钱让你独立，并给你购买自己所爱之物的机会。毕竟，对自己好一点是可以的！

6 While the Spending jar is about the here and now, the Saving jar gives you a vision for the future. This could involve saving for university, but it could also mean saving for that special something you've seen in the stores – it's up to you.
“消费”罐子关注的是眼前和当下，而“储蓄”罐子则为你提供了未来的愿景。它可以是为大学教育准备的存款，也可以是为自己在商店里看到的心仪之物而攒的钱——这都取决于你。

7 The Investing jar not only represents a vision for the future, but gives the opportunity to build for the future. Although this could likewise involve putting aside money for your university education, it also means investing in yourself.
“投资”罐子不仅代表着对未来的愿景，还为未来的发展提供了机会。虽然它同样包括为大学教育而把钱存起来，但它同时还意味着对自身的投资。

8 The Giving jar is all about kindness and helping. Whether you want to help out a friend, give money to an animal charity or to children in another country, it's your money to give to whatever cause you believe in.
“给予”罐子其实就是指善良与帮助。无论你是想要接济朋友，为动物慈善机构捐款，或是救助另一个国家的孩子，这都是你的钱，你可以把它捐给任何你相信的事业。

9 The wider aim of the jars is to encourage teenagers to think more objectively about money and the things that it can do, so that they grow up understanding, if you like, the value of the valuable. In this way, they will be better equipped in their adult lives to make informed choices about how they use the money they have. Indeed, the small change inside their jars could mean a big change in how they manage their money.
介绍这四个罐子，更深远的目的在于鼓励青少年以一种更客观的方式思考金钱以及用钱能做的事情，让他们在成长的过程中逐渐理解重要事物的真正价值。这样，他们在步入成人社会时才会更加得心应手，并且能够对如何管理金钱做出明智的选择。事实上，他们罐子中的细微变化可能意味着日后他们理财方式的巨大变化。