新奇事件簿 三分之一的孩子没有睡前故事

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，孩子们睡前听故事的古老传统似乎逐渐衰退。一项新的研究披露，大约三分之一的家长睡前不给孩子讲故事。这项研究来自英国在线零售商Littlewoods.com。研究还发现，与听故事相比，多达50%的孩子宁肯选择看电视或玩电脑游戏。研究人员进一步发现，5%的英国七岁以下儿童甚至连一本书都没有。家长不给孩子讲睡前故事的理由多种多样。13%的家长认为没有时间，9%的家长说他们“压力太大”，其他人则表示他们的孩子不感兴趣。

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."

Littlewoods与英国流行歌手娜塔夏·汉米尔顿合作试图逆转这种趋势。他们为七岁以下的孩子举行了睡前故事创作比赛。31岁的汉米尔顿告诉记者：“看到那些各种各样的故事创意，我非常激动，迫不及待地想看看孩子们创作出什么故事。选出冠军并不容易。”她描述了自己作为母亲给孩子讲睡前故事的乐趣：“作为三个孩子的母亲，我知道给孩子讲睡前故事多么开心。”Littlewoods.com一位发言人表示：“我们理解家长和孩子共度欢乐时光多么重要，讲睡前故事正是一个很好的方式。”

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。