VOA慢速英语2015 十亿年轻人因为听大声的音乐面临失去听力的危险

One Billion Young People Risk Hearing Loss From Loud Music 十亿年轻人因为听大声的音乐面临失去听力的危险

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle report.

美国之音这里是健康和生活方式报道。

One billion teenagers and young adults around theworld risk losing their hearing by listening to loud music. This is according to the World Health Organization. The U.N. agency is asking young people to turn down thevolume to prevent irreversible damage to their hearing.

根据世界卫生组织的调查，全世界有十亿的青少年因为听音乐开很大声，面临失去听觉的危险。世卫组织要求孩子们关小音乐的声音，来阻止这种对耳朵不可逆性的损伤。

Few things get the blood pumping like good music.Many people believe louder is better if you are listeningto rock and roll.

没有几件事情像好音乐一样可以使血液兴奋。许多人认为如果听摇滚的话，声音越大越好。

But experiencing really loud music, even really goodmusic, can have a serious effect on your hearing.

但是听过很大声的音乐，甚至真的是好音乐后，你的听觉系统会受到严重影响。

Dr. Shelley Chadha is a specialist on hearing damagefor the World Health Organization. Dr. Chadha says that the cells we use to hear, called sensory¹ cells, canbe permanently² damaged by loud sounds that happen over a long period of time, or are prolonged, and happen regularly, or are habitual³.

Shelley Chadha博士是世卫组织听觉伤害方面的专家。Chadha博士说我们通常用来听的细胞称为感觉细胞，它会因为通过长时间听很大的声音，或者定期的或者说习惯性的很大的声音，遭到永久性的损伤。

"When this exposure is particularly loud or prolonged or habitual, the sensory cells are damaged permanently leading to irreversible hearing loss."

当声音特别大，或者长期习惯性接触，感觉细胞就会遭到严重损伤，导致不可逆的听力丧失。

Studies in middle-and high-income countries show nearly 50 percent of teenagers and young adults aged12 to 35 years listen to unsafe levels of sound. They are listening on theirpersonal audio devices as well as at concerts, nightclubs and otherentertainment places.

在中等和高收入国家的调查显示，几乎50%的12岁到35岁之间的年轻人会把音乐的声音调到不安全的级别。他们通过自己的音乐设备或者音乐会，夜店以及去其他的娱乐场所听音乐。

But what is an unsafe level of sound?

但是什么是不安全级别的声音?

The WHO says there can be many kinds of unsafe levels of sound. Itdepends on how loud the sound is and how long you listen to it. Unsafe can mean noise levels of 85 decibels⁵ for eight hours a day or 100 decibels for just15 minutes.

世卫组织表示有许多的不安全声音。取决于声音有多大，你听了多长时间。一天听8小时85分贝的声音，或者听15分钟100分贝的声音都意味着那是不安全的噪音。

Dr. Chadha told VOA when the intensity⁶ of sound increases by only three decibels, safe listening time goes down by half.

Chadha博士告诉美国之声，声音强度增加3个分贝时，安全的听力时间要下降一半。

"If a person takes a subway to go from one place to the other for half an hourin the morning and a half an hour in the evening, and every day has to turn upthe volume on his device because there is so much of noise of the train andeverything around, and is listening to - let us say 100 db (decibels) for onehour every day, his hearing is going to get irreversibly damaged in a fewyears, in a couple of years time, for sure."

“如果一个人从一个地方做地铁到另一个地方，早上半小时，晚上半小时，每天在地铁上他不得不把他的耳机声调很大声，因为地铁上的噪音很大，比如他每天听1小时100分贝的声音，那么在几年之内他的听觉系统会遭到不可逆的损伤，这是一定的。”

Simple ways to prevent irreversible hearing loss

几个简单的办法帮助阻止不可逆的听力丧失。

Dr. Chadha says there are simple measures to protect people from unsafesound levels. She says young people who wear earplugs during concerts canenjoy music at 90 decibels as much as they can at 110 decibels. But shead mits that earplugs may not look very cool.

Chadha博士说有几个简单的办法可以保护人们在安全级别内。年轻人在听音乐会时带着耳塞尽可能听90分贝，但是耳塞可能看起来不那么酷。

"The fact that earplugs may look un-cool may be true today, but if there is achange in behavior that may not necessarily be true in the future and wearingearplugs may actually be cool."

“事实上现在带耳塞看起来确实不怎么酷，但是如果我们的行为观念发生变化后，将来带着耳塞听音乐，可能看起来会非常酷。”

A common sense suggestion is to turn down the volume on your personalaudio devices. The WHO also advises young people to limit their use of suchdevices to less than one hour a day. It reminds people to use their technologyto stay safe. Smart phone apps can help to monitor safe listening levels.

一个大众化的建议就是把你音乐设备的声音调小。世卫组织也建议年轻人每天限制听这种设备在1小时之内。这使人们联想到运用科技保护自己。智能手机apps可以帮助监测安全的声音级别。

The U.N. agency estimates 360 million people suffer hearing loss linked tomany causes, including noise, genetic⁷ conditions, infectious diseases and aging. It notes half of all cases of hearing loss are avoidable.

世卫组织测试了3600万遭受听力丧失人的诱因，包括，噪音、形成条件、传染性疾病和年龄问题。它表明一半听力丧失的诱因都是可以避免的。

Words in This Story

irreversible – adj. impossible to change back to a previous condition or state

prolonged – adj. something that lasts or continues for a long time

habitual – adj. doing something regularly or repeatedly

decibel⁴ – n. a unit for measuring how loud a sound is

1 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

2 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

3 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

4 decibel   

n.分贝(音量的单位)

参考例句：

• The noise pollution reached a high decibel level.噪音污染达到了很高分贝。
• In sound we use the decibel scale.在声学中我们采用分贝标度。

5 decibels   

n.分贝( decibel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The typical lawn mower makes about 90 decibels of noise. 典型的割草机发出的声响约为90分贝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A normal conversation reaches 55 decibels. 普通的谈话即可达55分贝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

7 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。