新奇事件簿 1/3儿童无睡前阅读

It seems the age-old tradition of children getting a bedtime story before sleeping is on the wane¹ in Britain. A new study reveals that around a third of parents do not read bedtime stories to their children. The study, from British online retailer² Littlewoods.com, also found that up to 50 per cent of children would prefer to watch TV or play computer games than be read a story. Researchers further discovered that a paltry³ five per cent of British under-sevens do not even own a book. Parents came up with a myriad⁴ of reasons why they did not read to their little ones. Thirteen per cent of parents blamed a lack of time, nine per cent said they are just "too stressed", while others said their children were simply not interested.

在英国，历史悠久的睡前阅读正在逐渐陨落。一项新的研究发现有三分之一的父母不会在睡前为孩子阅读。来自网上零售商“小森林网”的研究还发现比起阅读故事，更喜欢看电视或是打游戏的孩子数量达到了50%。研究人员进一步发现7岁以下孩子中有5%的儿童没有书。父母不给孩子阅读的原因也是多种多样。有13%的父母没有时间，9%的父母称他们感到很有“压力”，还有人说孩子不感兴趣。

Littlewoods has teamed up with British pop star Natasha Hamilton to try and reverse this trend. They have launched a bedtime story writing competition for children under seven. Ms Hamilton, 31, told reporters: "I'm really excited to see all the different story ideas and can't wait to see what the kids come up with. Choosing a winner's not going to be easy." She spoke⁵ about her own joy as a mother in reading bedtime stories, saying: "As a mum of three, I know just how enjoyable reading bedtime stories to my kids is." A spokesman from Littlewoods.com said: "We appreciate how important it is for parents and kids to spend quality time together, and bedtime stories are a great way to do just this."

为了试图扭转这一情况，“小森林网”与英国流行歌手娜塔莎·哈米顿进行了合作。他们为7岁以下的孩子建立了睡前故事写作竞赛。今年31岁的哈米顿对记者说：“我非常高兴能够看到这么多的构思，我已经等不及想看看孩子们的想法了。挑选最终的获胜者不是一件容易事。”她谈及了她作为母亲为孩子进行睡前阅读时的喜悦感，称：“作为一名三岁孩子的母亲，给孩子进行睡前阅读是一件愉悦的事情。”“小森林网”发言人称：“父母与孩子一起度过时光，这非常重要，而睡前阅读是一种非常不错的方式。”

1 wane   

n.衰微，亏缺，变弱；v.变小，亏缺，呈下弦

参考例句：

• The moon is on the wane.月亮渐亏。
• Her enthusiasm for him was beginning to wane.她对他的热情在开始减退。

2 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

3 paltry   

adj.无价值的，微不足道的

参考例句：

• The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
• I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了，如果你不能振作你那点元气。

4 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。