Don’t shoot the messenger
THEY poison the mind and corrupt the morals of the young, who waste their time sitting on sofas immersed in dangerous fantasy worlds. That, at least, was the charge levelled against novels during the 18th century by critics worried about the impact of a new medium on young people. Today the idea that novels can harm people sounds daft. And that is surely how history will judge modern criticism of video games, which are accused of turning young people into violent criminals. This week European justice ministers met to discuss how best to restrict the sale of violent games to children. Some countries, such as Germany, believe the answer is to ban some games altogether. That is going too far.
Criticism of games is merely the latest example of a tendency to demonise new and unfamiliar forms of entertainment. In 1816 waltzing was condemned as a “fatal contagion” that encouraged promiscuity; in 1910 films were denounced as “an evil pure and simple, destructive of social interchange”; in the 1950s rock ’n’ roll music was said to turn young people into “devil worshippers” and comic books were accused of turning children into drug addicts and criminals. In each case the pattern is the same: young people adopt a new form of entertainment, older people are spooked by its unfamiliarity and condemn it, but eventually the young grow up and the new medium becomes accepted—at which point another example appears and the cycle begins again.
The opposition to video games is founded on the mistaken belief that most gamers are children. In fact, twothirds of gamers are over 18 and the average gamer is around 30. But the assumption that gamers are mostly children leads to a double standard. Violent films are permitted and the notion that some films are unsuitable for children is generally understood. Yet different rules are applied to games.
Aren’t games different because they are interactive? It is true that video games can make people feel excited or aggressive, but so do many sports. There is no evidence that videogaming causes longterm aggression.
Games ought to be agerated, just as films are, and retailers should not sell adultrated games to children any more than they should sell them adultrated films. Ratings schemes are already in place, and in some countries restrictions on the sale of adultrated games to minors have the force of law.
Oddly enough, Hillary Clinton, one of the politicians who has led the criticism of the gaming industry in America, has recently come round to this view. Last month she emphasised the need for parents to pay more attention to game ratings and called on the industry, retailers and parents to work together. But this week some European politicians seemed to be moving in the other direction: the Netherlands may follow Germany, for example, in banning some games outright. Not all adults wish to play violent games, just as not all of them enjoy violent movies. But they should be free to do so if they wish.
immerse［i5mE:s］
v.①使沉浸在；②使浸沒(méi)
accuse［E5kju:z］
v.（of）控告，譴責(zé)
［真題例句］ Historians, especially those so blinded by their research interests that they have been accused of “tunnel method ,” frequently fall victim to the “technicist fallacy.”［1999年翻譯］
［例句精譯］ 歷史學(xué)家常常淪為“技術(shù)謬誤”的犧牲品，尤其是那些因研究興趣而失去判斷力、被指控為“井蛙之見(jiàn)”的人。
restrict［ris5trikt］
v.抑制，制止
［真題例句］ 67. What does the author probably mean by “untaught mind” in the first paragraph?［1994年閱讀5］
［B］ A citizen of a society that restricts personal creativity.
［例句精譯］ 67.作者在第一段中提到的untaught mind 指什么？
［B］限制個(gè)人創(chuàng)造性的社會(huì)中的一員。
condemn［kEn5dem］
v.①譴責(zé)，指責(zé)；②判刑，宣告有罪
［真題例句］ Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned (①) or made illegal.［2004年閱讀2］
［例句精譯］ 在過(guò)去的一個(gè)世紀(jì)里各種各樣的不公和歧視遭到了譴責(zé)或被定為非法。
interactive［7intEr5Aktiv］
a.交互式的
［真題例句］ Its an interactive feature that lets visitorskey in job criteria such as location, title, and salary, then Emails them when a matching position is posted in the database.［2004年閱讀1］
［例句精譯］ 它(“個(gè)人搜索代理”)的特點(diǎn)是互動(dòng)，允許訪問(wèn)者自定求職標(biāo)準(zhǔn)諸如工作地點(diǎn)、職位和薪水，當(dāng)資料庫(kù)里出現(xiàn)與個(gè)人要求相匹配的工作崗位時(shí)它就會(huì)通過(guò)電子郵件通知求職者。
aggressive［E5gresiv］
a.①侵略的，好斗的；②大膽的，積極的
［真題例句］ Now it is a social policy, the most important and aggressive (②) promoter of gambling in America is the government.［2006年新題型］
［例句精譯］ 現(xiàn)在這是一種社會(huì)政策，美國(guó)賭博業(yè)最重要的和最激進(jìn)的支持者是政府。
emphasis［5emfEsis］
n.強(qiáng)調(diào)，重點(diǎn)
［真題例句］ By far the worst form of competition in schools is the disproportionate emphasis on examinations.［1995年閱讀4］
［例句精譯］ 學(xué)校里最糟糕的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)形式就是過(guò)分強(qiáng)調(diào)考試。
最近一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，青少年上網(wǎng)仍以玩游戲?yàn)橹?，而且長(zhǎng)期沉溺其中會(huì)誘發(fā)種種身心健康問(wèn)題。由中國(guó)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)絡(luò)信息中心進(jìn)行的針對(duì)10所大中城市中學(xué)生上網(wǎng)情況的調(diào)查顯示：中學(xué)生上網(wǎng)主要使用的功能分別是網(wǎng)絡(luò)游戲(62%)、網(wǎng)上聊天(54.5%)、發(fā)送電子郵件(48.6%)，用于查資料的時(shí)間不到5%。此外，62.9%的中學(xué)生出現(xiàn)了個(gè)性化情緒，20%的中學(xué)生有情緒低落和孤獨(dú)感，12%的中學(xué)生與家人、朋友疏遠(yuǎn)，5.1%的中學(xué)生身體健康狀況下降，因此青少年使用網(wǎng)絡(luò)的情況急需得到關(guān)注。
電視游戲：不是我的錯(cuò)
它們毒害年輕人的心靈，腐化年輕人的靈魂。正是它們，讓年輕人坐在沙發(fā)上虛度時(shí)光，沉浸于危險(xiǎn)重重的幻想世界。18世紀(jì)的批評(píng)家們對(duì)于新媒體對(duì)年輕人的沖擊感到憂心忡忡，他們向小說(shuō)提出了如此的控訴。時(shí)至今日，小說(shuō)害人的說(shuō)法聽(tīng)起來(lái)已是如此的荒謬。對(duì)于當(dāng)今時(shí)代那些控訴電視游戲使年輕人變成暴力罪犯的批評(píng)者們，歷史最終也將對(duì)他們做出同樣的審判。就在本周，歐洲司法部長(zhǎng)舉行會(huì)晤，討論如何地限制暴力游戲?qū)⒆觽兊匿N售。有些國(guó)家，例如德國(guó)，相信的方法就是完全禁止某些游戲。這種做法太過(guò)火了。
有一種趨勢(shì)，人們傾向于對(duì)新奇陌生的娛樂(lè)形式進(jìn)行妖魔化。對(duì)游戲的批評(píng)也僅僅是其中的一個(gè)最新實(shí)例。在1816年，華爾茲被指責(zé)為鼓勵(lì)濫交的“致命傳染病毒”；在1910年，電影被批評(píng)為“純粹的邪惡，對(duì)社會(huì)交際的破壞”；在1950年，搖滾音樂(lè)被批評(píng)“誘使年輕人產(chǎn)生惡魔崇拜”，漫畫(huà)被指控為“誘使兒童成長(zhǎng)為癮君子和罪犯”。上述每一個(gè)實(shí)例都有著相同的模式：年輕人接受了一種新的娛樂(lè)形式，年長(zhǎng)的人因陌生而受驚，于是對(duì)其批評(píng)指責(zé)。最終，年輕人長(zhǎng)大成人，于是新媒體被社會(huì)承認(rèn)——此時(shí)，另一種娛樂(lè)形式出現(xiàn)，循環(huán)模式再次開(kāi)始。
調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，對(duì)于游戲的敵對(duì)，往往是由于一種錯(cuò)誤的觀念：大部分玩家都是兒童。實(shí)際上，三分之二的玩家超過(guò)18歲，而且玩家的平均年齡在30歲左右。就算是大部分玩家都是兒童，這里依然存在一個(gè)“雙重標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”問(wèn)題。暴力電影被允許，電影業(yè)中有些不適合兒童觀看的作品，這個(gè)概念也被普遍理解。然而對(duì)于游戲業(yè)卻采用了不同的規(guī)則。
難道游戲就應(yīng)該特殊對(duì)待嗎？只因?yàn)樗鼈兙哂小盎?dòng)性”？電視游戲的確可以讓人激動(dòng)興奮爭(zhēng)強(qiáng)好勝，別忘了相當(dāng)多的運(yùn)動(dòng)也是如此。沒(méi)有證據(jù)表明電視游戲?qū)е麻L(zhǎng)期的侵犯性。
游戲應(yīng)該向電影一樣實(shí)行年齡分級(jí)制度。零售商被禁止向孩子出售成人電影，對(duì)于游戲亦應(yīng)當(dāng)如此。分級(jí)制度已經(jīng)付諸實(shí)踐，而且在某些國(guó)家對(duì)于成人游戲的銷售限制還具有法律效力。
非常奇怪的是，作為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)批判美國(guó)游戲產(chǎn)業(yè)的政客之一希拉里·克林頓，最近也開(kāi)始接受這種觀點(diǎn)。在上個(gè)月，她強(qiáng)調(diào)了父母關(guān)注游戲分級(jí)的重要性，并且號(hào)召產(chǎn)業(yè)、零售商、父母三方共同努力。不過(guò)本周在歐洲的某些政客似乎選擇了另一個(gè)方向：比如說(shuō)，新西蘭可能會(huì)跟隨德國(guó)的腳步，完全禁止某些特定游戲。正如不是所有的成年人都喜歡暴力電影一樣，并不是所有的成年人都喜歡暴力游戲。不過(guò)如果他們喜歡的話，他們應(yīng)該有選擇的自由。
THEY poison the mind and corrupt the morals of the young, who waste their time sitting on sofas immersed in dangerous fantasy worlds. That, at least, was the charge levelled against novels during the 18th century by critics worried about the impact of a new medium on young people. Today the idea that novels can harm people sounds daft. And that is surely how history will judge modern criticism of video games, which are accused of turning young people into violent criminals. This week European justice ministers met to discuss how best to restrict the sale of violent games to children. Some countries, such as Germany, believe the answer is to ban some games altogether. That is going too far.
Criticism of games is merely the latest example of a tendency to demonise new and unfamiliar forms of entertainment. In 1816 waltzing was condemned as a “fatal contagion” that encouraged promiscuity; in 1910 films were denounced as “an evil pure and simple, destructive of social interchange”; in the 1950s rock ’n’ roll music was said to turn young people into “devil worshippers” and comic books were accused of turning children into drug addicts and criminals. In each case the pattern is the same: young people adopt a new form of entertainment, older people are spooked by its unfamiliarity and condemn it, but eventually the young grow up and the new medium becomes accepted—at which point another example appears and the cycle begins again.
The opposition to video games is founded on the mistaken belief that most gamers are children. In fact, twothirds of gamers are over 18 and the average gamer is around 30. But the assumption that gamers are mostly children leads to a double standard. Violent films are permitted and the notion that some films are unsuitable for children is generally understood. Yet different rules are applied to games.
Aren’t games different because they are interactive? It is true that video games can make people feel excited or aggressive, but so do many sports. There is no evidence that videogaming causes longterm aggression.
Games ought to be agerated, just as films are, and retailers should not sell adultrated games to children any more than they should sell them adultrated films. Ratings schemes are already in place, and in some countries restrictions on the sale of adultrated games to minors have the force of law.
Oddly enough, Hillary Clinton, one of the politicians who has led the criticism of the gaming industry in America, has recently come round to this view. Last month she emphasised the need for parents to pay more attention to game ratings and called on the industry, retailers and parents to work together. But this week some European politicians seemed to be moving in the other direction: the Netherlands may follow Germany, for example, in banning some games outright. Not all adults wish to play violent games, just as not all of them enjoy violent movies. But they should be free to do so if they wish.
immerse［i5mE:s］
v.①使沉浸在；②使浸沒(méi)
accuse［E5kju:z］
v.（of）控告，譴責(zé)
［真題例句］ Historians, especially those so blinded by their research interests that they have been accused of “tunnel method ,” frequently fall victim to the “technicist fallacy.”［1999年翻譯］
［例句精譯］ 歷史學(xué)家常常淪為“技術(shù)謬誤”的犧牲品，尤其是那些因研究興趣而失去判斷力、被指控為“井蛙之見(jiàn)”的人。
restrict［ris5trikt］
v.抑制，制止
［真題例句］ 67. What does the author probably mean by “untaught mind” in the first paragraph?［1994年閱讀5］
［B］ A citizen of a society that restricts personal creativity.
［例句精譯］ 67.作者在第一段中提到的untaught mind 指什么？
［B］限制個(gè)人創(chuàng)造性的社會(huì)中的一員。
condemn［kEn5dem］
v.①譴責(zé)，指責(zé)；②判刑，宣告有罪
［真題例句］ Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned (①) or made illegal.［2004年閱讀2］
［例句精譯］ 在過(guò)去的一個(gè)世紀(jì)里各種各樣的不公和歧視遭到了譴責(zé)或被定為非法。
interactive［7intEr5Aktiv］
a.交互式的
［真題例句］ Its an interactive feature that lets visitorskey in job criteria such as location, title, and salary, then Emails them when a matching position is posted in the database.［2004年閱讀1］
［例句精譯］ 它(“個(gè)人搜索代理”)的特點(diǎn)是互動(dòng)，允許訪問(wèn)者自定求職標(biāo)準(zhǔn)諸如工作地點(diǎn)、職位和薪水，當(dāng)資料庫(kù)里出現(xiàn)與個(gè)人要求相匹配的工作崗位時(shí)它就會(huì)通過(guò)電子郵件通知求職者。
aggressive［E5gresiv］
a.①侵略的，好斗的；②大膽的，積極的
［真題例句］ Now it is a social policy, the most important and aggressive (②) promoter of gambling in America is the government.［2006年新題型］
［例句精譯］ 現(xiàn)在這是一種社會(huì)政策，美國(guó)賭博業(yè)最重要的和最激進(jìn)的支持者是政府。
emphasis［5emfEsis］
n.強(qiáng)調(diào)，重點(diǎn)
［真題例句］ By far the worst form of competition in schools is the disproportionate emphasis on examinations.［1995年閱讀4］
［例句精譯］ 學(xué)校里最糟糕的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)形式就是過(guò)分強(qiáng)調(diào)考試。
最近一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，青少年上網(wǎng)仍以玩游戲?yàn)橹?，而且長(zhǎng)期沉溺其中會(huì)誘發(fā)種種身心健康問(wèn)題。由中國(guó)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)絡(luò)信息中心進(jìn)行的針對(duì)10所大中城市中學(xué)生上網(wǎng)情況的調(diào)查顯示：中學(xué)生上網(wǎng)主要使用的功能分別是網(wǎng)絡(luò)游戲(62%)、網(wǎng)上聊天(54.5%)、發(fā)送電子郵件(48.6%)，用于查資料的時(shí)間不到5%。此外，62.9%的中學(xué)生出現(xiàn)了個(gè)性化情緒，20%的中學(xué)生有情緒低落和孤獨(dú)感，12%的中學(xué)生與家人、朋友疏遠(yuǎn)，5.1%的中學(xué)生身體健康狀況下降，因此青少年使用網(wǎng)絡(luò)的情況急需得到關(guān)注。
電視游戲：不是我的錯(cuò)
它們毒害年輕人的心靈，腐化年輕人的靈魂。正是它們，讓年輕人坐在沙發(fā)上虛度時(shí)光，沉浸于危險(xiǎn)重重的幻想世界。18世紀(jì)的批評(píng)家們對(duì)于新媒體對(duì)年輕人的沖擊感到憂心忡忡，他們向小說(shuō)提出了如此的控訴。時(shí)至今日，小說(shuō)害人的說(shuō)法聽(tīng)起來(lái)已是如此的荒謬。對(duì)于當(dāng)今時(shí)代那些控訴電視游戲使年輕人變成暴力罪犯的批評(píng)者們，歷史最終也將對(duì)他們做出同樣的審判。就在本周，歐洲司法部長(zhǎng)舉行會(huì)晤，討論如何地限制暴力游戲?qū)⒆觽兊匿N售。有些國(guó)家，例如德國(guó)，相信的方法就是完全禁止某些游戲。這種做法太過(guò)火了。
有一種趨勢(shì)，人們傾向于對(duì)新奇陌生的娛樂(lè)形式進(jìn)行妖魔化。對(duì)游戲的批評(píng)也僅僅是其中的一個(gè)最新實(shí)例。在1816年，華爾茲被指責(zé)為鼓勵(lì)濫交的“致命傳染病毒”；在1910年，電影被批評(píng)為“純粹的邪惡，對(duì)社會(huì)交際的破壞”；在1950年，搖滾音樂(lè)被批評(píng)“誘使年輕人產(chǎn)生惡魔崇拜”，漫畫(huà)被指控為“誘使兒童成長(zhǎng)為癮君子和罪犯”。上述每一個(gè)實(shí)例都有著相同的模式：年輕人接受了一種新的娛樂(lè)形式，年長(zhǎng)的人因陌生而受驚，于是對(duì)其批評(píng)指責(zé)。最終，年輕人長(zhǎng)大成人，于是新媒體被社會(huì)承認(rèn)——此時(shí)，另一種娛樂(lè)形式出現(xiàn)，循環(huán)模式再次開(kāi)始。
調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，對(duì)于游戲的敵對(duì)，往往是由于一種錯(cuò)誤的觀念：大部分玩家都是兒童。實(shí)際上，三分之二的玩家超過(guò)18歲，而且玩家的平均年齡在30歲左右。就算是大部分玩家都是兒童，這里依然存在一個(gè)“雙重標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”問(wèn)題。暴力電影被允許，電影業(yè)中有些不適合兒童觀看的作品，這個(gè)概念也被普遍理解。然而對(duì)于游戲業(yè)卻采用了不同的規(guī)則。
難道游戲就應(yīng)該特殊對(duì)待嗎？只因?yàn)樗鼈兙哂小盎?dòng)性”？電視游戲的確可以讓人激動(dòng)興奮爭(zhēng)強(qiáng)好勝，別忘了相當(dāng)多的運(yùn)動(dòng)也是如此。沒(méi)有證據(jù)表明電視游戲?qū)е麻L(zhǎng)期的侵犯性。
游戲應(yīng)該向電影一樣實(shí)行年齡分級(jí)制度。零售商被禁止向孩子出售成人電影，對(duì)于游戲亦應(yīng)當(dāng)如此。分級(jí)制度已經(jīng)付諸實(shí)踐，而且在某些國(guó)家對(duì)于成人游戲的銷售限制還具有法律效力。
非常奇怪的是，作為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)批判美國(guó)游戲產(chǎn)業(yè)的政客之一希拉里·克林頓，最近也開(kāi)始接受這種觀點(diǎn)。在上個(gè)月，她強(qiáng)調(diào)了父母關(guān)注游戲分級(jí)的重要性，并且號(hào)召產(chǎn)業(yè)、零售商、父母三方共同努力。不過(guò)本周在歐洲的某些政客似乎選擇了另一個(gè)方向：比如說(shuō)，新西蘭可能會(huì)跟隨德國(guó)的腳步，完全禁止某些特定游戲。正如不是所有的成年人都喜歡暴力電影一樣，并不是所有的成年人都喜歡暴力游戲。不過(guò)如果他們喜歡的話，他們應(yīng)該有選擇的自由。