国外小天才手机走红
LearnAndRecord约 13 分钟🤔️小作业：
1. What can be inferred about the Nativity Parish School's initiative?
A. It was started by the school administration to reduce screen time.
B. It involved providing Tin Cans to all students for free.
C. It required students to memorize phone numbers from a directory.
D. It was part of a broader trend among schools to adopt the device.
无注释原文：
The Hottest Phone for Kids Right Now Is a $100 Landline
From: Bloomberg
When Justin Finn's two elementary-schoolers come home, they're not turning on the TV or grabbing an iPad. Instead, they head straight to the phone — not a smartphone, but a landline.
Calls come in on their cream-colored Tin Can, the $100 landline-inspired, Wi-Fi-enabled device that's gone viral over the last 12 months.
“It's not uncommon for the phone to start ringing within minutes,” Finn said. “There is a real excitement around it that we have not seen with many other additions within the home.”
Since debuting in April 2025, the retro-styled device has become a hit, with hundreds of thousands sold, mostly thanks to word-of-mouth recommendations, according to the company. That's despite limited marketing and a small fundraising haul, including $3.5 million over the summer and a $12 million seed round in December led by Greylock Partners.
The Tin Can plugs into a wall outlet and includes a speakerphone, speed dial buttons and an answering machine feature. The phone, which also comes in assorted bright colors, lets people make free calls between Tin Cans and to emergency services. Users can also pay $10 a month for the ability to ring and receive calls from parent-approved external numbers. The device is available in the US and Canada.
Tin Can has found a welcome reception at a time when parents, educators and lawmakers are searching for an antidote to constant screen time. Countries around the world are considering social media curbs for young users after Australia enacted a ban for under-16s. In the US, meanwhile, Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google lost a landmark court case in Los Angeles last month brought by a 20-year-old woman who said her addiction to these platforms fueled mental health problems.
The Finn family received their Tin Can for free as part of a parent-led initiative at Nativity Parish School outside of Kansas City — one of a growing number of schools seeding the device to students in an attempt to curb social media addiction early on.
Orders from schools are among the fastest-growing market segment for Tin Cans, according to the Seattle-based company, Tin Can Untechnologies Inc. The startup has seen an “overwhelming demand” from education institutions, it told Bloomberg News, with thousands of administrators across the US considering bulk orders and coordinating how to get their communities on the network.
At the Nativity Parish School, about 95% of kindergarten through fifth-grade families have signed on. Students know who to call from their phone by jotting down numbers in a paper directory, a nod to what people did last century when they wanted to ring someone.
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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：
The Hottest Phone for Kids Right Now Is a $100 Landline
From: Bloomberg
When Justin Finn's two elementary-schoolers come home, they're not turning on the TV or grabbing an iPad. Instead, they head straight to the phone — not a smartphone, but a landline.
贾斯汀·芬恩（Justin Finn）的两个孩子还在上小学，放学回家后，他们既不打开电视，也不拿起iPad，而是直奔电话——不是智能手机，而是座机。
grab
grab /ɡræb/ 1）表示“攫取，抢夺”，英文解释为“to take hold of something or someone suddenly and roughly”举个🌰：A mugger grabbed her handbag as she was walking across the park. 她穿过公园时一个劫匪抢了她的手提包。
2）表示“抓住，利用（机会做某事）；（借机）赶紧…”，英文解释为“to take the opportunity to get, use, or enjoy something quickly”举个🌰：If you don't grab this opportunity, you might not get another one. 如果你不抓住这次机会，可能就没有第二次了。
📍grab sb's attention 表示“吸引（某人的）注意”，英文解释为“to attract someone's attention”举个🌰：With your first sentence you must grab the reader's attention. 你的第一句话就必须抓住读者的注意力。
landline
landline /ˈlænd.laɪn/ 表示“固定电话”，英文解释为“a phone that is connected to the phone system by wires”
Calls come in on their cream-colored Tin Can, the $100 landline-inspired, Wi-Fi-enabled device that's gone viral over the last 12 months.
他们使用的是奶油色的Tin Can，这款售价100美元、以座机为灵感、支持Wi-Fi的设备，在过去一年里迅速走红。
cream
cream /kriːm/ 1）表示“奶油，乳脂”，英文解释为“the thick, yellowish-white liquid that forms on the top of milk”如：strawberries and cream 加奶油的草莓。
2）表示“奶油色，淡黄色，米黄色”，英文解释为“the colour of cream”
viral
viral /ˈvaɪ.rəl/ 表示“（通过网络在个体之间迅速）病毒式的（传播）”，英文解释为“used to describe something that quickly becomes very popular or well known by being published on the internet or sent from person to person by email, phone, etc.”举个🌰：Here's a list of the top ten viral videos this week. 以下是本周十大病毒式传播的视频。
📍常用短语 go viral，字面意思就是“像病毒一样传播、扩散”，引申为“走红，十分流行，疯狂传播”，比如朋友圈xxx刷屏了，也可以说go viral. 📍名词形式virality.
“It's not uncommon for the phone to start ringing within minutes,” Finn said. “There is a real excitement around it that we have not seen with many other additions within the home.”
芬恩说：“电话经常在几分钟内就响起来。它带来的那种兴奋感，是我们在家里添置其他东西时很少见到的。”
Since debuting in April 2025, the retro-styled device has become a hit, with hundreds of thousands sold, mostly thanks to word-of-mouth recommendations, according to the company. That's despite limited marketing and a small fundraising haul, including $3.5 million over the summer and a $12 million seed round in December led by Greylock Partners.
据该公司介绍，这款复古风格的设备自2025年4月上市以来大受欢迎，已售出数十万台，主要靠的是口口相传。尽管营销投入有限，融资规模也不大——包括夏季的350万美元和12月由格雷洛克合伙公司（Greylock Partners）领投的1200万美元种子轮融资——但依然取得了这样的成绩。
debut
debut /ˈdeɪ.bju/ 作动词，表示“首演，首次登台；首次亮相”，英文解释为“to perform or be introduced to the public for the first time”举个🌰：The Broadway show debuted last year to great acclaim. 这个百老汇节目去年首次演出就受到了广泛赞扬。
作名词，表示“（演员、运动员等的）首次登台，初次亮相；新事物的问世”，英文解释为“The debut of a performer or sports player is their first public performance, appearance, or recording.”举个🌰：She made her debut in a 1937 production of "Hamlet." 她在1937年《哈姆雷特》的演出中首次登台。
retro
retro /ˈret.rəʊ/ 表示“怀旧的；重新流行的；模仿过去式样的”，英文解释为“similar to styles, fashions, etc. from the past”如：retro clothes/music 怀旧服装/音乐。
retro- 表示“追溯过去；模仿过去”，英文解释为“looking at or copying the past”如：retro-pop (= popular music from the past) 过去的流行歌曲。
word-of-mouth
word-of-mouth /ˌwɜːd.əvˈmaʊθ/ 表示“口头的，口传的”，英文解释为“given or done by people talking about something or telling people about something”如：word-of-mouth publicity 通过口头推荐方式的宣传，举个🌰：We get most of our work through word-of-mouth recommendations. 我们大部分工作都是通过人们口头推荐得到的。
The Tin Can plugs into a wall outlet and includes a speakerphone, speed dial buttons and an answering machine feature. The phone, which also comes in assorted bright colors, lets people make free calls between Tin Cans and to emergency services. Users can also pay $10 a month for the ability to ring and receive calls from parent-approved external numbers. The device is available in the US and Canada.
Tin Can插入墙上插座即可使用，具备免提通话、快速拨号和答录机功能。这款电话还有多种亮色可选，用户可以在Tin Can之间免费通话，也能免费拨打紧急服务电话。如果每月支付10美元，还可以拨打和接听家长批准的外部号码。该设备目前在美国和加拿大销售。
outlet
outlet /ˈaʊt.let/ 或者outlets一词经常出现，media outlet / news outlets 都可以表示媒体/新闻机构；outlet本身表示“商店，商行；销售公司；专卖店；直销店”，英文解释为“An outlet is a shop or organization which sells the goods made by a particular manufacturer or at a discount price, often direct from the manufacturer.”如：a fast-food outlet 快餐店，a retail outlet 零售店，举个🌰：At the factory outlet you'll find discounted items at up to 75% off regular prices. 在工厂的直销店里，你会找到比常规价低75%的打折商品。
📍而我们日常生活中常见的“奥特莱斯”商场就是outlets的音译，指的就是品牌直销购物中心。
此外，也可以指“（情绪或精力的）发泄方式，发泄途径，施展的机会”，英文解释为“a way in which emotion or energy can be expressed or made use of”举个🌰：Her work provided no outlet for her energies and talents. 她的工作没有给她提供发泄精力及施展才华的机会。
📍美式英语里还可以表示“电源插座（同 power point）”
assorted
assorted /əˈsɔː.tɪd/ 表示“各种各样的；混杂的；什锦的”，英文解释为“consisting of various types mixed together”如：a case of assorted wines 混装于一箱的不同品牌的酒。
Tin Can has found a welcome reception at a time when parents, educators and lawmakers are searching for an antidote to constant screen time. Countries around the world are considering social media curbs for young users after Australia enacted a ban for under-16s. In the US, meanwhile, Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google lost a landmark court case in Los Angeles last month brought by a 20-year-old woman who said her addiction to these platforms fueled mental health problems.
在家长、教育工作者和立法者都在寻找对抗屏幕时间过长的方法之际，Tin Can受到了欢迎。继澳大利亚对16岁以下用户实施禁令后，世界各国也在考虑对年轻用户实施社交媒体限制。与此同时，在美国，Meta Platforms Inc.和Alphabet Inc.旗下的谷歌上个月在洛杉矶输掉了一场具有里程碑意义的官司。一名20岁女性提起诉讼，称她对这些平台的成瘾加剧了心理健康问题。
antidote
1）表示“解毒剂；（尤指）解毒药”，英文解释为“a chemical, especially a drug, that limits the effects of a poison”
2）表示“矫正方法；缓解办法；对抗手段”，英文解释为“a way of preventing or acting against something bad”举个🌰：Regular exercise is the best antidote to tiredness and depression. 经常锻炼是消除疲劳和抑郁的最好方法。
The Finn family received their Tin Can for free as part of a parent-led initiative at Nativity Parish School outside of Kansas City — one of a growing number of schools seeding the device to students in an attempt to curb social media addiction early on.
芬恩一家免费获得了他们的Tin Can，这是堪萨斯城外基督诞生教区学校（Nativity Parish School）一项由家长主导的倡议的一部分。越来越多的学校开始向学生分发这种设备，试图及早遏制社交媒体成瘾。
curb
可以作动词，也可以作名词，表示“控制，抑制，限定，约束（不好的事物）”，英文解释为“to control or limit sth, especially sth bad”举个🌰：A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。（名词）He called for much stricter curbs on immigration. 他呼吁对移民实行更为严格的限制。
Orders from schools are among the fastest-growing market segment for Tin Cans, according to the Seattle-based company, Tin Can Untechnologies Inc. The startup has seen an “overwhelming demand” from education institutions, it told Bloomberg News, with thousands of administrators across the US considering bulk orders and coordinating how to get their communities on the network.
总部位于西雅图的Tin Can Untechnologies Inc.公司表示，来自学校的订单是Tin Can增长最快的市场之一。这家初创公司告诉彭博新闻社，教育机构的需求“非常旺盛”，全美有数千名管理人员正在考虑批量订购，并协调如何让他们的社区接入网络。
segment
segment /ˈseɡ.mənt/ 1）作名词，可以表示“（群体或事物的）部分，片，段；（柑橘、柠檬的）瓣；（圆的一部分）弓形”，举个🌰：She cleaned a small segment of the painting. 她擦干净了这幅画的一小部分。
2）表示“分割；划分”，英文解释为“to divide sth into different parts”举个🌰：Market researchers often segment the population on the basis of age and social class. 市场研究人员常常按年龄和社会阶层划分人口。
3）表示“（电视、广播或互联网节目的）节，段”，英文解释为“a short piece of film that forms part of a television or radio programme, or that is broadcast on the internet”举个🌰：CNN last week broadcast a segment on homicides in the city. CNN上周播出了有关这座城市凶杀状况节目的一段。
bulk
bulk /bʌlk/ 1）表示“巨大的东西；大块，大团”，英文解释为“something or someone that is very large”举个🌰：She eased her large bulk out of the chair. 她缓缓地将她那庞大的身躯从椅子上挪开。
2）表示“大规模；大量”，英文解释为“large size or mass”举个🌰：It was a document of surprising bulk. 这是一份篇幅惊人的文件。
At the Nativity Parish School, about 95% of kindergarten through fifth-grade families have signed on. Students know who to call from their phone by jotting down numbers in a paper directory, a nod to what people did last century when they wanted to ring someone.
在基督诞生教区学校，大约95%的幼儿园到五年级家庭已经加入。学生们通过在一本纸质电话簿上记下号码来知道该给谁打电话，这让人想起上世纪人们想打电话时的做法。
jot sth down
jot /dʒɒt/ sth down表示“匆匆记下，草草记下”，英文解释为“to write something quickly on a piece of paper so that you remember it”举个🌰：I carry a notebook so that I can jot down any ideas. 我随身带了个笔记本，这样可以把想法随手记下来。
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