时代周刊:经常戴耳机会损害孩子的听力吗?

Will earbuds ruin my child's hearing?

耳塞式耳机会损害我孩子的听力吗？

About 20% of children have permanent hearing loss caused mostly by exposure to loud noise, according to the Hearing Health Foundation.

听力健康基金会的数据显示，约有20%的儿童存在永久性听力丧失的问题，而这大都是因为暴露在噪音环境下引起的。

Still, "listening to music with earbuds is not a major cause of hearing loss," says Dr. Robert Dobie,

尽管如此，“戴着耳机听音乐并不是听力丧失的主要原因，”

a clinical professor of otolaryngology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

圣安东尼奥德克萨斯大学健康科学中心耳鼻喉科的临床教授罗伯特·多比说道。

Instead, other common exposures to loud noise are much more likely to hurt your child's ears, he says.

相反，其他常见的噪音更容易伤害孩子的耳朵，他说。

"A lot more kids lose hearing from recreational shooting or hunting than from loud music," Dobie says.

“因为娱乐射击或狩猎丧失听力的孩子比因为大声听音乐丧失听力的孩子要多得多，”多比说。

That's not to say earbuds are always safe.

但这并不是说耳塞就百分百安全了。

Playing music loudly— especially to block out background noise—can damage hearing.

大声播放音乐——尤其是为了屏蔽环境噪音大声播放音乐——也会损害听力。

If children hear ringing in their ears when they pull out their buds¹, or if the world sounds a little muffled²,

孩子在取下耳机后出现耳鸣的情况，或觉得周围环境的声音听着有些模糊，

that's a sure sign they need to turn down the volume.

就是明确的信号，表明需要调低音量了。

But as long as the buds stay at a reasonable volume, Dobie says, "there's not much evidence that they offer any unique risks."

但只要保持耳机的音量在合理的大小，多比说，“表明这样会带来任何特别（严重）的风险的证据并不多。”

1 buds   

芽( bud的名词复数 )； 苞； 半开的花； 未长大的叶

参考例句：

• the first buds appearing in spring 春天的初芽
• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring. 柳枝绽青报春来。

2 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》