盤點加拿大90后的顯著特征

A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

　　在加拿大新斯科舍省哈利法克斯的米爾伍德高中，最近有一位17歲的男生被抓到在課堂上發(fā)短信，隨后他被送到了副校長的辦公室。

　　The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone. The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap.

　　副校長加拉格爾告訴這個男孩，要把注意力放在老師身上，而不是他的手機上。男孩禮貌地聽著，頻頻點頭，而就在這個時候，加拉格爾發(fā)現(xiàn)他放在膝頭的手指還在動個不停。

　　He was texting while being reprimanded for texting.

　　他在發(fā)短信，在因為發(fā)短信而受訓的時候。

　　"It was a subconscious act," says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. "Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It's compulsive."

　　加拉格爾拿走了手機。他說，男孩的動作是下意識的。如今的年輕人，從早晨睜眼直到晚上睡覺，一直都處在社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)中。都已經(jīng)上癮了。

        Because so many people in their teens and early 20s are in this constant whir of socializing--accessible to each other every minute of the day via cellphone, instant messaging and social-networking Web sites -- there are a host of new questions that need to be addressed in schools, in the workplace and at home. Chief among them: How much work can 'hyper-socializing' students or employees really accomplish if they are holding multiple conversations with friends via text-messaging, or are obsessively checking Facebook?

　　很多十幾歲、二十出頭的人就像這樣一刻不停地進行著社交活動。他們無時無刻不在通過手機、即時通信和社交網(wǎng)站相互聯(lián)絡(luò)。這個人群之龐大，讓學校、工作單位和家庭面臨著一大堆新問題需要應對。而其中首要的問題是：如果都在通過短信跟不止一位朋友交談，或者是止不住地查看Facebook，那么這種“高度社交”的學生或雇員到底能夠完成多少課業(yè)或工作？

　　Some argue they can accomplish a great deal: This generation has a gift for multitasking, and because they've integrated technology into their lives, their ability to remain connected to each other will serve them and their employers well. Others contend that these hyper-socializers are serial time-wasters, that the bonds between them are shallow, and that their face-to-face interpersonal skills are poor.

　　一些人認為，他們可以完成大量工作：這一代人天生就會同時處理多重任務(wù)，而且由于他們把科技融入到了生活之中，他們相互之間保持聯(lián)絡(luò)的能力將會給自己和雇主帶來很大幫助。另一些人則認為，高度社交的人群浪費著大量時間，他們相互之間的關(guān)系很淡薄，而面對面的人際交往能力也很弱。