研究发现年轻人越来越不爱说话了
LearnAndRecord约 11 分钟🤔️小作业：
1. According to the passage, what can be inferred about the relationship between electronic communication and the decline in spoken words?
A. Electronic communication directly causes a reduction in speaking, especially among the young.
B. The decline is uniform across all age groups, proving electronic communication is not a factor.
C. Research confirms that electronic communication fully compensates for the loss of spoken interaction.
D. The data suggests a correlation, particularly stronger in younger people, but causation is not explicitly stated.
无注释原文：
Are People Speaking Less in This Age of Online Communication?
From: Psychology Today
We spend a good portion of our lives texting, DM-ing, and emailing. Is all of this electronic, written communication decreasing the amount of time we are speaking to other humans? Recent research suggests that the answer is yes and that the average amount of spoken words seems to decline with each passing year.
A group of researchers recently estimated the amount of daily words spoken from a sample of about 2,200 participants from the United States, Mexico, Australia, and Europe. The average number of spoken words per day was 12,792. They compared this to a similar study published in 2007. In that year, the average number of spoken words per day was nearly 16,000.
In a more recent study, researchers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Arizona estimated that the amount of speaking is declining by about 300 daily words per year (Pfeifer & Mehl, 2026). While this reduction in speaking may seem trivial, the researchers speculate on what we are losing.
“While putting a number to the loss, there is much about those lost conversations that these data cannot answer. Were they lost with friends, or family, or with strangers? Were they lost equally for everyone, or just for a select few? What were those conversations about? And, more consequentially, can we quantify the individual and societal costs of lost spoken conversations?”
An important question is whether electronic communication, such as texting, is compensating for the loss of spoken words. Of course, that would mean that younger people, who are more likely than older adults to communicate electronically, should have a larger decline in words spoken, and the researchers found that was indeed the case, with participants below 25 years of age having a 451-word-per-day loss, compared to older adults losing 314 words per day.
Who Speaks More, Men or Women?
This research on spoken words also addressed the question of sex differences in speaking. Although the common stereotype is that women speak more than men, the 2007 study did not find a significant difference between the number of daily words spoken by women and men. The more recent study explored gender differences in more depth. They found sex differences were affected by the age of the participants, with adolescent and young adult women speaking more than men, but older adult males speaking slightly more than their female counterparts. All in all, the researcher concluded that there was no firm evidence of a consistent sex difference in speaking across all ages.
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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译，仅供参考
含注释全文：
Are People Speaking Less in This Age of Online Communication?
From: Psychology Today
We spend a good portion of our lives texting, DM-ing, and emailing. Is all of this electronic, written communication decreasing the amount of time we are speaking to other humans? Recent research suggests that the answer is yes and that the average amount of spoken words seems to decline with each passing year.
我们一生中相当一部分时间都花在了发短信、私信和邮件上。这些电子化的书面交流，是否正在减少我们与他人开口说话的时间？最新研究表明，答案是肯定的，而且人们每天的平均话语量似乎逐年下降。
portion
portion /ˈpɔː.ʃən/ 1）表示“一部分；一份”，英文解释为“a part or share of something larger”举个🌰：A large/major portion of the company's profit goes straight back into new projects. 公司利润的一大部分/主要部分又直接投入了新的项目。
2）表示“（食物的）一份，一客”，英文解释为“the amount of a particular food that is served to one person, especially in a restaurant or a shop that sells food ready to be eaten”举个🌰：The portions are very generous in this restaurant. 这家饭店每份菜量都很足。
📍宝马mini道歉文中，路透社（Reuters）用serving，表示该含义，原文：A person familiar with the matter said the booth had finished giving out 300 servings of ice cream meant for visitors when the incident occurred and the foreigner in the video was a BMW employee. 一名知情人士表示，事发时，该展位已经发放完300份为参展者准备的冰淇淋，视频中的外国人是宝马公司的员工。
📍serving /ˈsɜː.vɪŋ/ 作名词，表示“（供一人食用的）一份；一客”，英文解释为“an amount of one type of food that is given to one person”举个🌰：The quantities given in the recipe should be enough for four servings. 食谱上给出的量足够4个人吃。
DM
DM /ˌdiːˈem/ 表示“（在社交网站上）发私信，收发直接信息（direct message 的缩写）”，英文解释为“abbreviation for direct message: to send someone a private message on a social media website”举个🌰：I'm selling my bike. DM me if you're interested. 我有一辆自行车出售，有兴趣的话可以给我发私信。
A group of researchers recently estimated the amount of daily words spoken from a sample of about 2,200 participants from the United States, Mexico, Australia, and Europe. The average number of spoken words per day was 12,792. They compared this to a similar study published in 2007. In that year, the average number of spoken words per day was nearly 16,000.
最近，一组研究人员以来自美国、墨西哥、澳大利亚和欧洲的大约2200名参与者为样本，估算出人们平均每天说12,792个词。他们将其与2007年发表的一项类似研究进行了对比，发现当年人们平均每天说近16,000个词。
In a more recent study, researchers at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Arizona estimated that the amount of speaking is declining by about 300 daily words per year (Pfeifer & Mehl, 2026). While this reduction in speaking may seem trivial, the researchers speculate on what we are losing.
在更近的一项研究中，密苏里大学堪萨斯城分校和亚利桑那大学的研究人员估算，人们每天的口语量正以每年约300个词的速度减少（Pfeifer & Mehl, 2026）。尽管这一降幅看似微不足道，研究人员仍不禁思考：我们究竟在失去什么？
trivial
trivial /ˈtrɪvɪəl/ 表示“无关紧要的；微不足道的，琐碎的；没有价值的；容易解决的，不费吹灰之力的”，英文解释为“If you describe something as trivial, you think that it is unimportant and not serious.”举个🌰：He tried to wave aside these issues as trivial details that could be settled later. 他对这些问题置之不理，视它们为可以后解决的无关紧要的细节。
speculate
speculate /ˈspek.jə.leɪt/ 表示“推测；猜测；推断”，英文解释为“to form an opinion about sth without knowing all the details or facts”举个🌰：We all speculated about the reasons for her resignation. 我们大家都推测过她辞职的原因。
📺美剧《24小时》（24 Hours）中的台词提到：I wouldn't want to speculate at this time, 这次我不想妄加揣测。
“While putting a number to the loss, there is much about those lost conversations that these data cannot answer. Were they lost with friends, or family, or with strangers? Were they lost equally for everyone, or just for a select few? What were those conversations about? And, more consequentially, can we quantify the individual and societal costs of lost spoken conversations?”
“虽然我们为这种损失标上了一个数字，但关于那些消失的对话，这些数据仍有许多无法回答的问题。那些对话是和朋友、家人，还是陌生人之间消失的？它们是人人均等失去，还是仅发生在少数人身上？那些对话原本在谈论什么？更重要的是，我们能否量化失去口头对话所带来的个人与社会代价？”
consequentially
1）表示“因此；作为结果”，英文解释为“as a result; consequently”举个🌰：The company went bankrupt, and consequentially, thousands of workers lost their jobs. 公司破产了，因此成千上万的工人失业了。
2）表示“重要地；有重大影响地”，英文解释为“in a way that is important or has significant effects”
quantify
quantify /ˈkwɒn.tɪ.faɪ/ 表示“以数量表述；量化；确定…的大小（或数量）”，英文解释为“to measure or judge the size or amount of something”举个🌰：It's difficult to quantify how many people will be affected by the change. 很难确定将有多少人受到该变化的影响。
An important question is whether electronic communication, such as texting, is compensating for the loss of spoken words. Of course, that would mean that younger people, who are more likely than older adults to communicate electronically, should have a larger decline in words spoken, and the researchers found that was indeed the case, with participants below 25 years of age having a 451-word-per-day loss, compared to older adults losing 314 words per day.
一个重要的问题是，像发短信这样的电子交流是否在弥补口语的损失。如果是这样，那意味着比老年人更依赖电子交流的年轻人，其口语量的下降幅度理应更大。研究人员发现事实确实如此：25岁以下的参与者平均每天少说451个词，而老年人每天则少说314个词。
compensate
compensate /ˈkɒm.pən.seɪt/ 表示“弥补，补偿，抵消”，英文解释为“to provide something good or useful in place of something or to make someone feel better about something that has failed or been lost or missed”举个🌰：Nothing will ever compensate for his lost childhood. 什么也不能弥补他失去的童年。
Who Speaks More, Men or Women? 谁说得更多，男性还是女性？
This research on spoken words also addressed the question of sex differences in speaking. Although the common stereotype is that women speak more than men, the 2007 study did not find a significant difference between the number of daily words spoken by women and men. The more recent study explored gender differences in more depth. They found sex differences were affected by the age of the participants, with adolescent and young adult women speaking more than men, but older adult males speaking slightly more than their female counterparts. All in all, the researcher concluded that there was no firm evidence of a consistent sex difference in speaking across all ages.
这项关于口语的研究也探讨了说话中的性别差异。尽管普遍的刻板印象认为女性比男性话多，但2007年的研究并未发现女性和男性每日说话量存在显著差异。而更新的研究则更深入地探讨了性别差异。他们发现，性别差异受参与者年龄影响：青少年和年轻成年女性比男性说得更多，而年长男性则比同龄女性说得略多。总体而言，研究人员得出结论：没有确凿证据表明在所有年龄段都存在一致的说话性别差异。
stereotype
stereotype /ˈster.i.ə.taɪp/表示“模式化形象；成见；刻板印象”，英文解释为“A stereotype is a fixed general image or set of characteristics that a lot of people believe represent a particular type of person or thing.”举个🌰：There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen. 对成功的商人们总有一种成见。
adolescent
adolescent /ˌædəˈlesnt/ 作名词，表示“青少年”，英文解释为“a young person who is developing into an adult”
作形容词，表示“青春期的；青少年的”，英文解释为“being or relating to an adolescent”如：an adolescent boy 青春期的男孩；也可以指“（成年人或其行为）孩子气的，幼稚的”，英文解释为“used to describe an adult or an adult's behaviour that is silly and like a child's”如：adolescent humour/behaviour 孩子气的幽默/幼稚的举止。
counterpart
counterpart一词经常出现，counter-表示“相反的；对立的；相应的”（opposite; against; in return; corresponding），和part一起就是“对立的，相应的事物”，从而表示“职位相当的人；作用相当的事物”，英文解释为“Somene's or something's counterpart is another person or thing that has a similar function or position in a different place.”
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