Parents role models for their kids

by Rachel/王普(译)

□语篇导读

常言道：父母是孩子的第一任老师。孩子总是在模仿父母的言行举止，因此在孩子的身上总能找到父母的影子。那么，父母在要求孩子的同时，自己是否也能做到自律呢？让我们一起来从本文中寻找答案吧!

Most American parents think they are great role models for their kids.However，they admit they often stare at their smart phones，tablets and TVs for more than nine hours a day,according to a new survey.

And most of that time—seven hours or more—is the time they're using devices for work,the survey found.

The group,which focuses on the use of media,surveyed more than 1,700 parents for its report.They found parents of kids aged 8 to 18 admit that they usually spend 9 hours,22 minutes a day on screen media.Most—7 hours,43 minutes—is on their entertainment media.

“This is just a shocking study,in my opinion,”James Steyer,founder of Common Sense Media,told NBC News.“How can you be a good role model for your kids if you yourself don't find the proper balance in terms of media and technology use in your own life?”

Yet,the survey found,78 percent of those parents claimed to be good role models when it came to media use.The more educated the parents were,the more likely they were to believe they were better at making good use of time.

Black parents admitted to spending 14 hours a day on screen media,while white parents were closer to the average at 9 hours a day.

“We're not saying that they're terrible things.We're saying that you should use them wisely,properly,and have a healthy media diet for yourself just as you want to have a healthy media diet for your kids.Parents need to make it clear to kids that their use of media will be controlled.”James Steyer said.

◆词语积淀

survey/'sзːveɪ/n.调查；问卷；纵览；测量；观察

device/dɪ'vaɪs/n.设备；装置；策略；设计

entertainment/,entə'teɪnmənt/n.娱乐

educated/'edʒukeɪtɪd/adj. 受过教育的；有教养的

control/kən'trəʊl/v.控制；支配；掌管；抑制

in terms of根据；就……而言

admit to承认；许可进入……

◆典句赏析

1.Yet,the survey found,78 percent of those parents claimed to be good role models when it came to media use.然而，调查发现，当谈及使用媒体时，78%的接受调查的父母称(在这方面)他们是自己孩子的好榜样。

when it came to media use是一个比较常见的固定句型，意思是“当谈到……”，to是介词，后面接名词或者代词的宾格形式；claim在这里作为动词，意思是“声称，断言”，后面可接动词不定式或that引导的宾语从句。

【即时尝试】当谈到电脑游戏时，汤姆感到很茫然。

2.The more educated the parents were,the more likely they were to believe they were better at making good use of time.父母的受教育程度越高，他们越有可能相信自己更善于利用时间。

“the+比较级，the+比较级”结构，是英语中表达等级比较的重要句式之一，意思是“越……就越……”；make good use of是固定词组，意思是“善于利用……”，其中的good也可以替换成full，意思是“充分利用……”。例如：

We should make full use of time in our study.我们在学习中应充分利用时间。

【即时尝试】人们接受的教育程度越高，他们的社会责任感就越强。

译文助读

一项新的调查发现，大多数美国的父母认为他们是孩子们很好的榜样。然而他们也承认他们每天花在智能手机、平板电脑和电视上的时间超过了9个小时。

调查发现，大部分的时间——7个小时或者更多——是他们用这些设备在工作的。

关注使用媒体的研究组为了写这份报告，调查了1700多名父母。他们发现，8岁至18岁孩子的父母承认自己通常每天花在屏幕媒体上的时间为9小时22分。其中大部分时间——7小时43分——被花在了娱乐媒体上。

常识媒体公司首席执行官詹姆斯·施泰尔向《NBC新闻》透露：“我认为，这是一项令人震惊的研究。如果你自己在生活中无法建立与媒体、科技间的平衡，那么你如何能当孩子的好榜样呢？”

然而，调查发现，当谈及使用媒体时，78%的接受调查的父母称(在这方面)他们是自己孩子的好榜样。父母的受教育程度越高，他们越有可能相信自己更善于利用时间。

黑人父母承认自己每天在屏幕媒体上会花费14个小时，而白人父母更接近平均值，即每天花费9个小时。

詹姆斯·施泰尔表示，“我们不是说媒体和科技本身是糟糕的东西，我们要说的是，要聪明、恰当地使用它们，让自己合理有节制地使用媒体，就像你想要你的孩子合理节制它一样。父母需要让孩子们清楚，他们对媒体的使用情况将会被控制。”