中国儿童近视率为什么这么高？原因终于找到了！（附音频）
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英语口语·吉米老师说
世界卫生组织发布的《世界视力报告》显示，目前全球近视人数约26亿，其中19岁以下近视人数达3.12亿。从全球范围来看，青少年儿童近视率近年来不断上升，并且在未来几十年内还将继续大幅增长，而这一切似乎与教育有着密不可分的联系……人物·近视问题(本文选自《经济学人》20220611期)
What to do about myopia
如何解决近视问题Short-sightedness has become an epidemic近视已经成为一种流行病Few things come with no downsides at all. Rich countries have almost completely banishedinfectious diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera and malaria. Instead, their health ministries spend much of their time worrying about illnesses caused by wealth. 没有什么事情是完美无缺的。富裕国家几乎完全消灭了肺结核、霍乱和疟疾等传染病。于是，这些国家的卫生部门花费了大量精力关注由财富引起的疾病。Cheap, calorie-dense food has abolished starvation in the rich world, but it also encourages diabetes. Sedentary, white-collar jobs are less arduous (and less lethal) than manual work. They also promote obesity and heart disease.廉价、高热量的食物帮助富裕国家消除了饥饿，但也助长了糖尿病。久坐不动的白领在工作上不像体力劳动者那么辛苦（也没那么致命）。这也会导致肥胖和心脏病患病风险的增加。Even education is not always an unalloyed good. Over the past few decades, East Asia has seen a stunning rise in the rate of short-sightedness. And a growing pile of evidence suggests that the main underlying reason for this is education—specifically, the fact that children spend large parts of the day in comparatively dimly lit classrooms.甚至就连教育也不总是一种纯粹的好事。在过去的几十年里，东亚地区的近视率以惊人的速度增长。越来越多的证据表明，造成这一现象的主要潜在原因是教育——确切地说，是孩子们每天大部分时间都呆在光线相对昏暗的教室里。Before the long economic booms that began in the 1960s, myopia was uncommon in East Asia. These days, among the young, it is almost ubiquitous. In Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei more than 80% of school-leavers are short-sighted. 在上世纪60年代经济走向长期繁荣之前，近视问题在东亚并不常见。如今，近视问题在年轻人中广泛存在。在中国香港、新加坡和中国台湾，超过80%的中学毕业生患有近视。In Seoul over nine in ten young men are. China, which began its economic rise later, is catching up. Data from as far afield as Guangzhou in the south and Inner Mongolia in the north show myopia rates among young people of about 80%.在首尔，超过9成的年轻男性患有近视。经济崛起起步较晚的中国也步之后尘。远至南方广州和北方内蒙古的数据显示，年轻人的近视率约为80%。If East Asia is the centre of the epidemic, the West is not immune. Good data are harder to come by. But studies suggest rates of between 20% and 40% in Europe, an order of magnitude higher than the natural state of affairs. One study in California found a rate of 59% among 17- to 19-year-olds.如果说东亚是近视率增长的中心，西方也无法幸免。完整的数据很难获得。但研究表明，欧洲的近视率大概在20%至40%之间，比自然近视率高出了一个数量级。美国加利福尼亚州的一项研究发现，该州17至19岁青少年的近视率为59%。There are, admittedly, worse things to suffer from. But short-sightedness is not always benign. Glasses and contact lenses are an expensive, lifelong hassle. In parts of rural China, where some families cannot afford either, children struggle in the very schools that are causing the problem. 诚然，还有比这更糟糕的事情。但近视并不总是那么无关紧要。眼镜和隐形眼镜是一种昂贵的终身烦恼。在部分农村地区，一些家庭买不起眼镜，而孩子们还在造成近视问题的学校里奋斗着。And severe myopia predisposesthose enduring it to other eye diseases in middle age, some of which can cause untreatable loss of vision. Governments in Asia are increasingly worried about the public-health implications of entire generations growing up short-sighted. Those in other parts of the world should start worrying, too.严重的近视会使人在中年时患上其他眼疾，其中一些会导致无法治愈的视力丧失。亚洲各国政府越来越担心一代又一代人的近视会对公共健康造成影响。世界其他地区的人们也应该开始担忧了。The evidence suggests that regular exposure to bright daylight is vital in properly controlling the growth of children’s eyes. Too little light leads to elongated, short-sighted eyes. Researchers think that this explains why rates are so high in Asia, where a strong cultural emphasis on the value of education leads to long school days and, often, private tutoring in the afternoon and evening. 有证据表明，经常暴露在明亮的日光下对于保证儿童眼睛的健康发育至关重要。光线过暗会使眼睛变得细长、近视。研究人员认为，这就解释了为什么亚洲的近视率如此之高，在亚洲，人们对教育价值的强烈重视导致上学时间过长，而且通常还会在下午和晚上进行私人补习。That leaves little time for sunshine. Western children, whose parents are increasingly worried by a hyper-competitive jobs market that threatens much less secure employment than they enjoyed, are beginning to go the same way.如此一来孩子就没有多少时间晒太阳了。西方的孩子们也开始走上同样的道路，他们的父母越来越担心竞争激烈的就业市场会威胁到他们所享受的就业保障。Special eyedrops, as well as clever glasses and contact lenses, may be able to slow the progression of myopia once it has started. But prevention is better than mitigation, and the science suggests a cheap, straightforward measure. A series of encouraging trials, many conducted in Taiwan, show that giving schoolchildren—and especially those in primary education—more time outside can cut the number who go on to develop myopia. 一旦患上近视，一些特殊的眼药水、近视眼镜以及隐形眼镜或许能够减缓近视的发展。但预防胜于缓解，科学建议采取一种廉价、直接的措施。一系列令人鼓舞的试验（其中许多是在中国台湾省进行的）表明，给学生（尤其是小学生）更多户外活动的时间可以减少患近视人数的比例。An island-wide policy of doing just that seems to have begun reversing the decades-long rise in myopia rates. Similar attempts in Singapore relied on parents, who proved more reluctant to change their behaviour, perhaps worried that other parents might not follow suit, leaving their children at a disadvantage in the classroom.一项在台湾省全岛范围实施的政策似乎已经开始扭转几十年来近视率上升的趋势。新加坡也进行了类似的尝试，但有无效果还在于父母，事实证明，他们更不愿意改变自己的行为，也许是担心其他父母不会效仿，让自己的孩子在课堂上处于不利地位。Governments are well placed to solve such collective-action problems, while reassuring anxious parents that a bit less classroom time is unlikely to be catastrophic. After all, countries such as Finland and Sweden do well in global education rankings with a less intense approach to education. 政府完全有能力解决此类集体行动的问题，同时让焦虑的家长们放心，课堂时间缩短一点不太可能造成灾难性后果。毕竟，像芬兰和瑞典这样在全球教育排名中表现出色的国家也没有采取那样高强度的教育方式。Giving more outdoor time to young children would still leave room for them to cram for exams in their teenage years. And longer breaks in the playground may also make a dent in other rich-world problems such as childhood obesity. Far-sighted governments should send the kids outdoors.给孩子们更多的户外时间仍然会给他们在十几岁的时候为应付考试临时抱佛脚留下空间。增加孩子们在操场上的活动时间可能还有助于解决其他富裕国家的问题，例如儿童肥胖。有远见的政府应该让孩子们多呆在户外。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
重难点词汇：myopia [maɪˈoʊpiə] n. 近视；目光短浅banish [ˈbænɪʃ] v. 放逐；流放；清除arduous [ˈɑːrdʒuəs] adj. 艰巨的；困难的；累人的ubiquitous [juːˈbɪkwɪtəs] adj. 普遍存在的；无所不在的predispose [ˌpridəˈspoʊz] v. 使倾向于 ; 使偏向于reluctant [rɪˈlʌktənt] adj. 不情愿的；勉强的
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