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Television And Violent Crime

Children are born ready to imitate adult behavior. That they can imitate an array of adult facial expressions have been demonstrated in newborns as young as a few hours old, before they are even old enough to know that they have facial features. It is a most useful instinct, for the developing child must learn and master a vast repertoire1 of behavior in short order.

But while children have instinctive desire to imitate, they do not possess an instinct for determining whether a behavior ought to be imitated. They will imitate anything, including behavior that most adults regard as destructive and antisocial2. It may give pause for thought, then, to learn that infants as young as fourteen months demonstrably observe and incorporate behavior seen on television.

The average American preschooler watches more than twenty-seven hours of television per week. This might not be bad if these young children understood what they were watching. But they don’t. Up through ages three and four, most children are unable to distinguish fact from fantasy3 on TV, and remain unable to do so despite adult coaching. In the minds of young children, television is a source of entirely factual information regarding how the world works4 . There are no limits to their credulity. 5 To cite one example, an Indiana school board had to issue an advisory to young children that, no, there is no such thing as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles6. Children had been crawling down storm drains looking for them.

Naturally, as children get older, they come to know better, but their earliest and deepest impressions are laid down at an age when they still see television as a factual source of information about the outside world. In that world, it seems, violence is common and the commission7 of violence is generally powerful, exciting, charismatic, and effective. In later life, serious violence is most likely to erupt at moments of severe stress — and it is precisely at such moments that adolescents and adults are most likely to revert to8 their earliest, most visceral sense of the role of violence in society and in personal behavior. Much of this sense will have come from television.

阅读自测

Ⅰ. Fill in each blank with the proper form of the words given in the brackets :

1. She has an________ ( instinct) sympathy with the poor people.

2. These conclusions are ________ ( demonstrate ) wrong.

3. There is a slight________ ( face ) resemblance between the two men.

4. This man has coaxed millions of pounds from a________ ( credulity) public .

Ⅱ. Are these statements True o r False according to the article :

1. Babies know they have facial features just after they come to the world.

2. Children can imitate everything because imitation is their instinct.

3. Television is a source of entirely factual information regarding how the world works.

4. Television plays an important role in giving rise to social violence .

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参考答案

Ⅰ. 1. instinctive 2. demonstrably 3. facial 4. credulous

Ⅱ. 1. F 2. T 3 . F 4 . T

参考译文

电视与暴力犯罪

孩子生下来就会模仿成年人的行为。出生几个小时的婴儿就能够模仿成年人的一些 面部表情, 那时他们太小, 还不知道自己长有一副容貌。模仿是孩子最有用的本能, 因为正在发育的孩子必须在短期内学习并掌握大量的行为技能。

尽管小孩子天生具有模仿别人的欲望, 但他们却不具备判断一种行为是否应该模仿的本能。孩子们会模仿一切行为, 其中包括被多数成年人视为破坏性和违背社会公德的行为。因此, 当我们认识到只有14 个月大的婴儿就能观察并模仿电视里的行为的时候, 我们是否应该静下心来, 好好反思一下。

普通美国学龄前儿童每周看电视的时间超过27 小时。如果孩子们知道他们在看什么的话, 这也许并不是件坏事; 而问题是孩子们并不理解电视内容。大多数三四岁左右大小的孩子还不能很好地辨别电视里的现实世界与虚幻世界, 即使大人进行教育引导, 他们还是 辨别不清。在小孩子看来, 电视是世界如何运行的最真实信息的来源。他们对电视里的东西笃信不疑。举例说, 印第安纳州一所学校的董事会曾被迫发布公告, 告诉学校里的孩 子: 世界上没有忍者神龟。学校之所以这样做是因为有许多孩子为了寻找忍者神龟而爬入 下水道。

当然, 随着孩子慢慢长大, 他们对这个世界会有更深入的了解, 但在他们仍将电视视为有 关外面世界真实信息的来源的时候, 电视给他们留下了最早、最深刻的印象。在电视中的世 界里, 暴力似乎平常无奇, 实施暴力通常是一种强有力的行为, 而且令人激动, 充满魅力, 颇为 有效。孩子们长大成人后, 当他们处于巨大压力下的时候, 很有可能会爆发严重的暴力事件。 就是在这些时候, 青少年和成年人的心中很有可能又泛起他们最早对暴力在社会以及在个人行为中所起的作用的真实感觉, 而这种感受主要来自于电视。

阅读导评

电视已发展成为一个有蛮横性格的巨人。电视中的暴力经常被美化, 被描绘成有魅力、解决争端所必须的手段, 并且不受法律的约束。因此, 社会要对此给予足够的重视, 家长也要正确引导孩子, 而成长中的孩子更要训练自己的判断能力, 学会识别一条优秀的猎犬和恶狗之间的差异。

阅读导释

1. repertoire n. ( 某个人的) 全部技能, 全部本领, 如: The comedian’s repertoire of jokes becoming stale. ( 喜剧演员那些插科打诨的招儿变得陈腐乏味起来。) 本文中是指“ 婴儿 要模仿的所有行为技能”。was

2. antisocial adj. 反社会的, 如: These homosexuals are termed antisocial. ( 这些同性恋者被称为 违背社会公德。) anti-是前缀, 意为“ 反对, 抵抗”, 如: anti-abortion ( 反对堕胎的) ; antiscience ( 反科学) 。

3. distinguish . . .from . . . 把⋯⋯和⋯⋯区别开, 这里是指“ 将现实与虚幻区别开”。fantasy n. 空想, 幻想。

4. 电视是有关世界如何运转的最真实信息的来源。regarding prep. 关于, 至于。意思与其相 近的短语有with regard to, as regards ( 注意: to 为介词, 不是不定式符号; as regards 中的s 不可省) , 如:With regard to studying English, you should read extensively and speak more. ( 至于学英语, 你应该多说多读。) The new sofa is correctly placed as regards size and color. ( 考虑到大小和颜色, 新沙发被放在了一个适当的位置。)

5. 他们对电视里的东西笃信不疑。There are no limits to = without limit 无限制地。credulity n. 轻信, 易信, 其形容词形式是credulous ( 轻信的) 。

6. 忍者神龟( 连环漫画, 诞生于1984 年, 四个憨态可掬的忍者龟广受青少年的喜爱, 现已被 多次拍成电影, 做成游戏) 。teenage a. 十几岁的; mutant a. 变异的; ninja n. ( 受过偷窃技 术专门训练被雇作间谍或刺客的) 日本武士, 忍者; turtle n. 龟。

7. commission n. 实施, 犯罪。其动词形式是commit, 如: commit a crime ( 犯罪) 。

8. 恢复( 原先的做法或习惯) , 如: He reverted to smoking when under stress. ( 因受到压力, 他 又开始吸烟。
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