20100429 Teens and Texting (1)

Teens and Texting

What is keeping teens up at night?

When Greg Hardesty saw his December 2008 telephone bill, he was shocked. The 440-page bill listed 14,528 text messages from his daughter Reina's cell phone. If Hardesty handn't had an unlimited texting plan, the bill would have cost almost $3,000. Hardesty's situation is not unique. Families all over America are waking up to the large number of text messages teens send. A 2009 study reported that the average teen sends 2,899 texts a month.

They send text messages during class, while drivingand in the middle of the night. Parents, teachers and doctors are becoming very concerned.

Teens and sleep
Only 20 percent of teens get the eight hours of sleep recommended by the National Sleep Foundation. Fifteen percent get as little as three to five hours a night. Experts believe technology-related distractions are causing teens to get less sleep than they should. One big distraction is texting - especially when teens wake up late at night to text.




text n. 文字/本文
text message n. 簡訊
eg: I got a text message from my brother saying he'll visit me next week.
=> 我收到我兄弟的簡訊說他下星期來看我。

text v. 傳簡訊
eg: My thumb is sore because I texted too much.
=> 因為我t傳太多簡訊，所以我的大拇指很酸。

wake up to something v. 意識到某種重要的事情/狀況
eg: It's time for us to wake up to the fact that we need to solve the problem of global warming.
=> 現在是我們該意識到必需解決地球暖化問題的時候了。
eg: She should wake up to the fact that her health condition is failing.
=> 她必需醒意識到自己的身體狀況越來越差的事實。

distract v. 使分心
distraction n. 使分心的事情
eg: Many can listen to music while working, but I find it a great distraction.
=> 許多人都可以邊聽音樂邊工作，但我發現聽音樂很容易讓我分心。
eg" Ellen decided to go to the library where she is free from distractions.
=> 艾倫決定要去圖書館那裡沒有容易她分心的事情。


//== Chat room ==//

What is keeping teens up at night?

tee為teenager的簡稱
teenager n. 13到19青少年
=> between 13 and 19
=> 13~19的英文都有teen結尾
thirteen
nineteen

adolescent n. 泛指青少年
=> someone who is transitioning between childhood and adulthood
=> 含意最廣泛指青少年

preteen n. 少年
=> 9~12 歲
=> tween(表示8~12)這個用法越來越popular，也是少年的意思

tween
=> teen and between組合而成的新字


//== Grammar on the Go ==//

Hardesty's situation is not unique.

unique
=> very special
eg: Van Gogh's style is veyr unique.

subject + is not unique

eg: Janet is a single mother of two and has to work three jobs in order to pay the bills, her situation is not unique.
eg: At age 9, Maggie was diagnosed with childhood diabetes; her problem is not unique in America.