Section B: Information Matching

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.

Teenagers and social networking

[A] As a parent of two boys at primary school, I worry about the issues associated with teenagers and social media. Newspapers are constantly filled with frightening accounts of drug addiction and aggressive behaviour supposedly caused by violent videogames. But even when these accounts touch on real concerns, they do not really reflect the great mass of everyday teenage social behaviour: the online chat, the texting, the surfing, and the emergence of a new teenage sphere that is conducted digitally.

[B] New technologies always provoke generational panic, which usually has more to do with adult fears than with the lives of teenagers. In the 1930s, parents worried that radio was gaining 'an irresistible hold of their children'. In the 80s, the great danger was the Sony Walkman. When you look at today's digital activity, the facts are much more positive than you might expect.

[C] Indeed, social scientists who study young people have found that their digital use can be inventive and even beneficial. This is true not just in terms of their social lives, but their education too. So if you use a ton of social media, do you become unable, or unwilling, to engage in face-to-face contact? The evidence suggests not. Research by Amanda Lenhart of the Pew Research Centre, a US think tank, found that the most passionate texters are also the kids most likely to spend time with friends in person. One form of socialising doesn't replace the other. It expands it.

[D] 'Kids still spend time face to face,' Lenhart says. Indeed, as they get older and are given more freedom, they often ease up on social networking. Early on, the web is their 'third space', but by the late teens, it's replaced in reaction to greater independence. They have to be on Facebook, to know what's going on among friends and family, but they are ambivalent about it, says Rebecca Eynon, a research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, who has interviewed about 200 British teenagers over three years. As they gain experience with living online, they begin to adjust their behaviour, struggling with new communication skills, as they do in the real world.

[E] Parents are wrong to worry that kids don't care about privacy. In fact, they spend hours changing Facebook settings or using quick-delete sharing tools, such as Snapchat, to minimise their traces. Or they post a photograph on Instagram, have a pleasant conversation with friends and then delete it so that no traces remain.

[F] This is not to say that kids always use good judgment. Like everyone else, they make mistakes—sometimes serious ones. But working out how to behave online is a new social skill. While there's plenty of drama and messiness online, it is not, for most teens, a cycle of non-stop abuse: a Pew study found only 15% of teens said someone had bullied them online in the last 12 months.

[G] But surely all this short-form writing is affecting literacy? Certainly, teachers worry. They say that kids use overly casual language and text-speak in writing, and don't have as much patience for long reading and complex arguments. Yet studies of first-year college papers suggest these anxieties may be partly based on misguided nostalgia. When Stanford University scholar Andrea Lunsford gathered data on the rates of errors in 'freshman composition' papers going back to 1917, she found that they were virtually identical to today.

[H] But even as error rates stayed stable, student essays have blossomed in size and complexity. They are now six times longer and, unlike older 'what I did this summer' essays, they offer arguments supported by evidence. Why? Computers have vastly increased the ability of students to gather information, sample different points of view and write more fluidly.

[I] When linguist Naomi Baron studied students' instant messaging even there she found surprisingly rare usage of short forms such as 'u' for 'you', and as students got older, they began to write in more grammatical sentences. That is because they want to appear more adult, and they know how adults are expected to write. Clearly, teaching teens formal writing is still crucial, but texting probably isn't destroying their ability to learn it.

[J] It is probably true that fewer kids are heavy readers compared with two generations ago, when cheap paperbacks boosted rates of reading. But even back then, a minority of people—perhaps 20%—were lifelong heavy readers, and it was cable TV, not the internet, that struck a blow at that culture in the 1980s. Still, 15% or more of kids are found to be deeply bookish. In fact, the online world offers kids remarkable opportunities to become literate and creative because young people can now publish ideas not just to their friends, but to the world. And it turns out that when they write for strangers, their sense of 'authentic audience' makes them work harder, push themselves further, and create powerful new communicative forms.

[K] Few would deny that too much time online can be harmful. Some of the dangers are emotional: hurting someone from a distance is not the same as hurting them face to face. If we're lucky, the legal environment will change to make teenagers' online lives less likely to haunt them later on. Just last week, California passed a law allowing minors to demand that internet firms erase their digital past and the EU has considered similar legislation.

[L] Distraction is also a serious issue. When kids switch from chat to mouse to homework, they are indeed likely to have trouble doing each task well. And studies show that pupils don't fact-check information online—'smart searching' is a skill schools need to teach urgently. It's also true that too much social networking and game playing can cut into schoolwork and sleep. This is precisely why parents still need to set firm boundaries around it, as with any other distraction.

[M] So what's the best way to cope? The same boring old advice that applies to everything in parenting: moderation. Rebecca Eynon argues that it's key to model good behaviour. Parents who stare non-stop at their phones and don't read books are likely to breed kids who will do the same. As ever, we ought to be careful about our own behaviour.

36. Research has found the use of digital technology benefits not only teenagers' social lives but also their studies.

37. It is urgent that schools teach kids how to verify online information.

38. Students now write longer and more complex essays than their counterparts in previous decades while the error rates remain unchanged.

39. Newspaper reports of teenagers give a false picture of their behaviour.

40. Parents are advised to mind their own digital behaviour and set a good example for their kids.

41. Contrary to parents' belief, kids try hard to leave as few traces as possible on the web.

42. Students' ability to learn formal writing is unlikely to be affected by texting.

43. Historically, new technologies have always caused great fears among parents.

44. The reading culture was seriously affected by cable television some four decades ago.

45. Teachers say that kids' writing is too casual, using language characteristic of text messages.

Answers & Explanations

36. C。解析：题干中的 benefits not only teenagers' social lives but also their studies（不仅有益于青少年的社交生活，也有益于他们的学习）对应 [C] 段的 This is true not just in terms of their social lives, but their education too（这不仅体现在他们的社交生活上，也体现在教育上）。

37. L。解析：题干中的 urgent that schools teach kids how to verify online information（学校急需教孩子们如何核实网上的信息）对应 [L] 段的 studies show that pupils don't fact-check information online—'smart searching' is a skill schools need to teach urgently（研究表明学生们在网上不核实信息——“智能搜索”是学校急需教授的技能）。

38. H。解析：题干中的 write longer and more complex essays... error rates remain unchanged（写出更长、更复杂的文章...同时错误率保持不变）对应 [H] 段的 But even as error rates stayed stable, student essays have blossomed in size and complexity（但即使在错误率保持稳定的情况下，学生的文章在篇幅和复杂性上也有了长足的发展）。

39. A。解析：题干中的 Newspaper reports of teenagers give a false picture of their behaviour（关于青少年的报纸报道给出了他们行为的虚假画面）对应 [A] 段的 Newspapers are constantly filled with frightening accounts... they do not really reflect the great mass of everyday teenage social behaviour（报纸上总是充斥着可怕的报道...它们并没有真正反映大量日常的青少年社交行为）。

40. M。解析：题干中的 Parents are advised to mind their own digital behaviour and set a good example for their kids（建议父母注意自己的数字行为，并为孩子树立好榜样）对应 [M] 段的 it's key to model good behaviour. Parents who stare non-stop at their phones... are likely to breed kids who will do the same（树立好榜样是关键。不停地盯着手机看的父母...很可能会培养出同样行为的孩子）。

41. E。解析：题干中的 Contrary to parents' belief, kids try hard to leave as few traces as possible on the web（与父母的看法相反，孩子们努力在网络上留下尽可能少的痕迹）对应 [E] 段的 Parents are wrong to worry that kids don't care about privacy. In fact, they spend hours... to minimise their traces（父母担心孩子不在乎隐私是错误的。事实上，他们花费数小时...以尽量减少他们的痕迹）。

42. I。解析：题干中的 Students' ability to learn formal writing is unlikely to be affected by texting（学生学习正式写作的能力不太可能受到发短信的影响）对应 [I] 段末句的 teaching teens formal writing is still crucial, but texting probably isn't destroying their ability to learn it（教青少年正式写作仍然至关重要，但发短信可能并没有破坏他们学习写作的能力）。

43. B。解析：题干中的 Historically, new technologies have always caused great fears among parents（从历史上看，新技术总是在父母中引起巨大的恐惧）对应 [B] 段的 New technologies always provoke generational panic... In the 1930s, parents worried that radio... In the 80s, the great danger was the Sony Walkman（新技术总是引起代际恐慌... 在20世纪30年代，父母担心收音机... 在80年代，最大的危险是索尼随身听）。

44. J。解析：题干中的 The reading culture was seriously affected by cable television some four decades ago（阅读文化在四十年前受到有线电视的严重影响）对应 [J] 段的 it was cable TV, not the internet, that struck a blow at that culture in the 1980s（在20世纪80年代，是对这种文化造成打击的是有线电视，而不是互联网）。

45. G。解析：题干中的 Teachers say that kids' writing is too casual, using language characteristic of text messages（老师们说孩子们的写作太随意，使用了短信特有的语言）对应 [G] 段的 Certainly, teachers worry. They say that kids use overly casual language and text-speak in writing（老师们当然会担心。他们说孩子们在写作中使用过于随意的语言和短信用语）。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• touch on：涉及，提及（touch on real concerns）
• have more to do with：与...有更多关系（has more to do with adult fears than...）
• in terms of：在...方面（not just in terms of their social lives）
• ease up on：放松，减少（often ease up on social networking）
• work out：解决，弄清楚（working out how to behave online）
• stay stable：保持稳定（error rates stayed stable）
• strike a blow at：对...造成打击（struck a blow at that culture）
• cut into：减少，侵占（时间）（cut into schoolwork and sleep）
• set boundaries：设定界限（set firm boundaries around it）

【亮点句型解析】

• This is not to say that... (澄清立场的过渡句型)：
  "This is not to say that kids always use good judgment. Like everyone else, they make mistakes..."
  （这并不是说孩子们总是有好的判断力。像其他人一样，他们也会犯错...）在辩驳父母的过度担忧后，使用 `This is not to say that` 来承认孩子确实也会犯错，使得论证更加客观、严谨，避免了绝对化，是四六级写作中的加分表达。
• It is/was... that... (强调句型)：
  "...it was cable TV, not the internet, that struck a blow at that culture in the 1980s."
  （...在20世纪80年代，对那种文化造成打击的是有线电视，而不是互联网。）使用强调句型突出 `cable TV`，并用插入语 `not the internet` 澄清误区，句式极具张力和说服力。