新奇事件簿 1/3儿童无睡前阅读（在线收听）

It seems the age-old tradition of children getting a bedtime story before sleeping is on the wane 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 retailer 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 paltry five per cent of British under-sevens do not even own a book. Parents came up with a myriad 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 spoke 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。”