2024年3月12日发(作者：)

北师大版高中英语新教材(选择性必修第一册)课文及录音（Unit 1 | LESSON 3)

Lesson 3 So Close, Yet So Far

第三课 这么近，但又那么远

Mark never stops socializing with his friends online. But he’s also never felt

more alone.

马克一直在和网上的朋友们交往却也从未感到如此孤独。

Where am I? What am I doing? If you're one of my 500 friends online, you’ll

always be the first to know. My phone and laptop are never out of touching

distance, so I’m constantly posting updates on social media—whether I’m

having a coffee, on my way to school, even when I’m in the shower.

As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, I check through all my social

networking apps, read my emails and answer text messages. I do the same thing

all over again while I’m having breakfast.

我在哪里？我在做什么？如果你是我的500个网友之一，你总会第一个知道。我的手

机和笔记本电脑一直在身边，所以我可以不断地在社交媒体上更新——无论是在喝咖啡、

上学的路上、看电视……甚至在洗澡的时候。早上一睁开眼，我就会立刻查看所有社交网络

应用程序，阅读电子邮件并回复短信。我在吃早餐的时候会再做一遍这些事情。

I live in a university dorm with a couple of great roommates. I have a

never-ending flow of messages and updates from all the people I associate with

online. Yet the truth of the matter is: I feel lonely.

我住在大学宿舍里，室友们都很好。我总是不停地收到交往的网友发来的信息和最新

消息。然而事实却是：我感到孤独。

I’m barely the only person who feels this way. According to research, over

two-thirds of young people find it easier to make friends online than it is “in real

life”. I’m way beyond a shy or reserved person, but I’m wired up every day, like

most of my friends. On the surface, I have an active social life. I attend parties and

play sports but I’m always distracted. They say that phones bring people closer

together but in reality, my mind is always a million miles away. I obsess over exactly

how many followers I have on my account, but I can’t remember the birthdays of

some of my oldest mates.

我不是唯一个有这种感觉的人。研究显示，超过三分之二的年轻人发现在网上交朋友

比在“现实生活中”交朋友更容易。我远非一个害羞或含蓄的人，但是我每天都在网上，

我的朋友们大多也是如此。从表面上看，我的社交生活很丰富。我也参加派对和体育运动，

但总是不能专心。他们说手机让人们联系更加紧密，但实际上，我的思绪总是“飞到十万

八千里之外。我总是掂记自己的账号有多少人关注，但却记不起一些老朋友的生日。

Social networking dominates my life in so many ways. Sometimes I set

deadlines for myself: I will start doing my homework at 8 pm, and aim to finish in

two hours. At 7.50 pm, I'm still scrolling through my friends’ silly posts and

photos. Before I know it, it's 9.30 pm and I still haven’t moved an inch from the

sofa. I download song after song, video after video, but I’m not really paying

attention. The stimulation is in chasing after the next song rather than truly

enjoying it. My friends try to drag me away from my phone, but as soon as I’m

alone again, I’m desperate to get back to the online world and the intense

activity that it provides.

社交网络在很多方面都控制着我的生活。有时我会为自己设定截止时间：我要在晚上

8点开始做作业，并且要在两小时内完成。晚上7:50，我还在浏览朋友们发的无聊帖子和

照片。等我意识到的时候已经是晚上9:30了，我还在沙发上坐着一动没动。我下载一首又

一首歌曲、一个又一个视频，但其实并不在意。刺激来自于获取下一首歌而不是真正欣赏

音乐。朋友们试图让我远离手机，但是一旦我独自一人，就会不顾一切地回到网络世界和

网上紧张的活动中。

I constantly feel depressed, dissatisfied and alone. Since I spend so much time

socialising online, I keep delaying things that are important in my real life:

homework, tasks, connecting with my friends and family members in a meaningful

way. It’s funny that my friends and I chatter away online so much, but we end up

having nothing to say when we meet.

我经常感到沮丧、不满和孤独。因为我花了很多时间上网社交，所以我一直在推迟现

实生活中重要的事情：家庭作业、任务、以有意义的方式和家人朋友联系。有趣的是，我

和朋友们经常在网上聊天，但我们见面时却无话可说。

A few days ago, I went out for a dinner get-together with some friends. My

best friend left the table for 30 minutes because he had to take a call. Some spent