Texting while walking can be dangerous

 

Hello, and welcome to AS IT IS! … your daily magazine show from VOA Learning English. 

I’m June Simms.

Marathon runner Fauja Singh will celebrate his 102 birthday in April. Today we hear why the so-called “Turbaned Tornado” is calling it quits as a long distance runner.

Also, several states in America have made it illegal to text while driving. They say the dangers related to the behavior are far too great. Today, we talk about how texting while walking can be just as dangerous, and how a non-profit group is trying to reduce the behavior, especially among young people. 

Sixteen-year-old Tessa Youngner sees walking to school as a chance to do what she likes best: listen to music. 

“There is a lot of work to be done, especially in high school. When you take harder classes, so there’s not always a lot of free time to listen to music or watch TV or be with friends.”

Two other teenagers, Andrew Summers and Nailah Philips, also admit to using wireless¹ devices a lot while on the go.

“I usually text or go on the Internet while I’m walking.”

“I will listen to music. If my Mom texts or calls me I’m talking to her, because if I miss her call that’s it.”

These Virginia students attended a class about the risks of distracted² walking. A group called Safe Kids Worldwide organized the event. 

“I’m going to ask you some questions about pedestrian³ safety. And it’s not a test, so there is no right or wrong answers. We want your honest opinion. OK?”

Linda Watkins is Injury Prevention Coordinator⁴ for Safe Kids Worldwide. She says she understands why young people do not see a problem with walking while texting or listening to music.

“Kids these days think that they can really multi-task. So they think that, 'I can listen to my music. I can watch for the traffic, and then I can cross the street all at the same time.'“

But often, she says, teenagers do not realize how dangerous crossing the street has become.

“There is the problem with the distracted driver, too. So you’re a distracted driver. You’re a distracted pedestrian. And that is just a recipe for disaster. So the pedestrian has to accept some responsibility also when it comes to being safe.”

The Safe Kids Worldwide class made students part of the solution. Angela Mickalide is the director of research for the group. She says putting facts in front of teenagers increases their understanding of the problem.

“Today in the United States, 61 children will be hit while crossing the street. And this year, 500 children 19 and under will be killed from a pedestrian incident.”

She says her group is suggesting a number of measures to lessen⁵ the risks. 

“We’re trying to educate kids and drivers and families that they need to put away their distracting⁶ technologies when they cross the street. We’re also working very hard to create better infrastructure⁷. We’re building roads, putting in signage, putting in crosswalks all around the country and in nine other countries throughout the world. And finally, we’re conducting research on this important issue.”

That research shows that distracted walking has become a problem worldwide with the growth of mobile phones.

“For example, in South Africa in the last 10 years alone the percentage of the population who owns a cell phone has grown from 17 percent to 76 percent. In fact, South Africans have greater access to cell phones than they do clean running water.”

She says another reason is urban development.

“We’re building highways without having the proper education for people in learning how to cross the street. This is a particular problem in India. And, in China, we have many people moving from the rural to more urban areas.” 

Linda Watkins says she is not asking teenagers to stop using their hand held devices all the time while walking -- just some of the time.

“The 20 to 25 seconds that they are crossing the street is more important than the call or the text.”

She says the golden rule of safety remains⁸ the same: look both ways, then again, before crossing the street. 

You are listening to AS IT IS on the Voice of America. I’m June Simms. 

The world's oldest long distance runner has competed in his last race. As Jim Tedder⁹ reports, the Indian-born, British man retired¹⁰ from competitive¹¹ running at the end of last month. 

Fauja Singh completed a ten kilometer race in the Hong Kong Standard Chartered¹² Marathon on February 24th. The 101 year old runner finished with a time of one hour, 32 minutes, 28 seconds. He announced earlier that it would be the last long distance race of his career. He said he wanted to retire from marathon running while he was still at the top of his game. 

In April of last year, Fauja Singh celebrated¹³ his 101st birthday by running in the London Marathon. He broke his own record as the world's oldest marathon runner. He set that record a year earlier when he crossed the finish line at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. 

The Sikh man started running as a way to deal with depression after the death of his wife and one of his sons. He competed in his first marathon at age 89. Since then, he has set several world records for his age group. He credits his success to his love of the sport.

Fauja Singh was a farmer in India for most of his life. He cannot read and speaks only Punjabi. But that has not prevented him from being an inspiration¹⁴ to his fans who have nicknamed¹⁵ him the “Turbaned Tornado” and also the “Turbaned Torpedo¹⁶.” 

The world’s oldest marathon runner says that while he is retiring from competitive running, he is not hanging up his running shoes. He says he will continue running for the pure pleasure of it and his love of the sport. I’m Jim Tedder.

Well that’s AS IT IS for today. I’m June Simms. Thanks for joining us. Stay tuned¹⁷ for VOA world news at the beginning of every hour Universal Time.

And tune¹⁸ in again tomorrow for AS IT IS with Kelly Jean Kelly.  

1 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

2 distracted   

a.注意力分散的，思想不集中的

参考例句：

• When working, one should concentrate and not allow oneself to be distracted. 工作时要集中精力，不要分心。
• Noise outside distracted her mind from her studies. 门外的噪音使她心神不宁，无法集中注意力学习。

3 pedestrian   

n.行人，步行者；adj.徒步的，呆板的，通俗的

参考例句：

• The criminal pushed a pedestrian down and ran away.罪犯推倒了一个行人逃跑了。
• The city built a pedestrian overpass over the highway.城里在公路上建了一座过街天桥。

4 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

5 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

6 distracting   

v.使（人）分心，分散（注意力）( distract的现在分词 )；打扰

参考例句：

• You're distracting me from my work. 你使我不能专心工作。
• Nothing is more distracting than a neurotic boss. 没有什么比神经过敏的老板更恼人的了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

10 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

11 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

12 chartered   

a.特许的，持有特许证的

参考例句：

• the Institute of Chartered Accountants （英国皇家）特许会计师协会
• The government chartered the new airline. 政府给这家新航空公司颁发了许可证。

13 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

14 inspiration   

n.灵感，鼓励者，吸气

参考例句：

• These events provided the inspiration for his first novel.这些事件给了他创作第一部小说的灵感。
• What an inspiration she was to all around her!她对于她周围所有的人是一种多么大的鼓舞！

15 nicknamed   

vt.给…起绰号（nickname的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• 'The human sound-track' he nicknamed her in his own mind. 在心里他给她个绰号，就叫"人体录音带"。 来自英汉文学
• People said that he had jaundice and urchins nicknamed him "Yellow Fellow." 别人说他是黄胆病，孩子们也就叫他“黄胖”了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

16 torpedo   

n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏

参考例句：

• His ship was blown up by a torpedo.他的船被一枚鱼雷炸毁了。
• Torpedo boats played an important role during World War Two.鱼雷艇在第二次世界大战中发挥了重要作用。

17 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。