(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle report.
One billion teenagers and young adults around the world 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 the volume to prevent irreversible damage to their hearing.
Few things get the blood pumping like good music. Many people believe louder is better if you are listening to rock and roll.
But experiencing really loud music, even really good music, can have a serious effect on your hearing.
Dr. Shelley Chadha is a specialist on hearing damage for the World Health Organization. Dr. Chadha says that the cells we use to hear, called sensory cells, can be permanently damaged by loud sounds that happen over a long period of time, or are prolonged, and happen regularly, or are habitual.
"When this exposure is particularly loud or prolonged or habitual, the sensory cells are damaged permanently leading to irreversible hearing loss."
Studies in middle-and high-income countries show nearly 50 percent of teenagers and young adults aged 12 to 35 years listen to unsafe levels of sound. They are listening on their personal audio devices as well as at concerts, nightclubs and other entertainment places.
But what is an unsafe level of sound?
The WHO says there can be many kinds of unsafe levels of sound. It depends on how loud the sound is and how long you listen to it. Unsafe can mean noise levels of 85 decibels for eight hours a day or 100 decibels for just 15 minutes.
Dr. Chadha told VOA when the intensity of sound increases by only three decibels, safe listening time goes down by half.
"If a person takes a subway to go from one place to the other for half an hour in the morning and a half an hour in the evening, and every day has to turn up the volume on his device because there is so much of noise of the train and everything around, and is listening to - let us say 100 db (decibels) for one hour every day, his hearing is going to get irreversibly damaged in a few years, in a couple of years time, for sure."
Simple ways to prevent irreversible hearing loss
Dr. Chadha says there are simple measures to protect people from unsafe sound levels. She says young people who wear earplugs during concerts can enjoy music at 90 decibels as much as they can at 110 decibels. But she admits that earplugs may not look very cool.
"The fact that earplugs may look un-cool may be true today, but if there is a change in behavior that may not necessarily be true in the future and wearing earplugs may actually be cool."
A common sense suggestion is to turn down the volume on your personal audio devices. The WHO also advises young people to limit their use of such devices to less than one hour a day. It reminds people to use their technology to stay safe. Smart phone apps can help to monitor safe listening levels.
The U.N. agency estimates 360 million people suffer hearing loss linked to many causes, including noise, genetic conditions, infectious diseases and aging. It notes half of all cases of hearing loss are avoidable.
And that's the VOA Learning English Health and Lifestyle report.
I'm Anna Matteo.
词汇解释
1.irreversible adj. 不可逆的；不能取消的；不能翻转的
She could suffer irreversible brain damage if she is not treated within seven days.
如果在7天内得不到治疗，她的大脑有可能会受到不可恢复的损害。
2.habitual adj. 习惯的；惯常的；习以为常的
If bad posture becomes habitual, you risk long-term effects.
如果不良姿势成为习惯，你会有遭受长期影响的危险。
3.sensory adj. 感觉的；知觉的；传递感觉的
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。
4.decibel n. 分贝
Continuous exposure to sound above 80 decibels could be harmful.
持续曝露于超过80分贝的声音可能有害。
5.earplug n. (睡觉时防噪音、挡冷空气或游泳时防水用的)耳塞；(半导体收音机等的)耳塞
Luckily we take earplug with us, as the traffic outside our room is very noisy.
真幸运，我们带有耳塞，因为房间外面的车辆噪音太大。
内容解析
1.One billion teenagers and young adults around the world risk losing their hearing by listening to loud music.
risk doing 冒险干某事
The skipper was not willing to risk taking his ship through the straits until he could see where he was going.
这位船长不愿意冒险在看不见方向之前将船开过海峡。
Don't risk disassembling the machine yourself.
不要冒险自己去拆卸机器。
2.A common sense suggestion is to turn down the volume on your personal audio devices.
turn down 减小，关小，调低；拒绝(请求、劝告等)，屏斥；拒绝(某人)的请求(或劝告等)；驳回：
Some impractical suggestions were turned down by the committee.
一些不切实际的建议被委员会驳回了。
Would you turn down your radio a little?
把收音机关小一点好吗?
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康与生活方式报道。
全世界有10亿青少年因听嘈杂音乐而面临失聪的危险，这是世卫组织宣称的，该联合国机构请年轻人们减少音量，以避免对听力造成的不可逆转的伤害。
很少有东西能像音乐那样让人血液沸腾，很多人认为听摇滚乐时大音量更好。
但即使是好音乐，放的声音过大，也会对听力造成严重后果。
雪莱·查达博士是世卫组织听力损害方面的专家，查达博士说，我们用来听东西的细胞叫感知细胞，这种细胞会被长期、定期、习惯性发出的吵闹声音永久损害。
“如果声音过大，听得太久或成为习惯性的，这种感知细胞就会受到永久损害，导致不可逆转的听力损失。”
对中高收入国家的研究表明，年龄在12到35岁的青少年中有一般人听的声音属于不安全等级，他们通过个人音频设备、音乐会、夜总会和其他娱乐场所听声音。
究竟什么是不安全声音等级呢？
世卫组织称，不安全等级有多种，这取决于声音有多大，以及听的时间有多长。不安全意味着每天8小时接受85分贝的噪音水平，或者接受15分钟100分贝的噪音水平。
查达博士告诉美国之音，声音强度只要增加3个分贝，安全聆听时间就会减半。
“如果一个人早晚乘地铁半小时从一个地方到另一个地方，因为地铁吵闹每天必须将设备音量加大。假设他每天听100分贝音量的时间为一小时，那么几年后他的听力会遭受不可逆转的损伤。”
查达博士说，有很简单的措施来保护人们免受不安全声音等级的伤害，她说在音乐会上戴耳塞的年轻人听到90分贝的声音相当于110分贝的声音，但她承认耳塞可能看起来不那么酷。
“耳塞在现在看起来可能不那么酷，但如果如果行为有所改变，让未来不必如此，那么戴耳塞可能会酷。”
一个常识性的建议是降低个人音频设备上的音量，世卫组织还建议年轻人每天使用此类时间不要超过一小时，还提醒人们使用技术来保证安全，智能手机应用可以帮助人们检测声音等级。
该联合国机构估计有3.6亿人有听力损失，原因有多种，包括噪音、遗传原因、感染疾病和年龄，并指出其中一半的听力损失是可以避免的。
这就是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道，我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
