Passage Three

A big focus of the criticism of computer games has concerned the content of the games being played. When the narratives of the games are analyzed they can be seen to fall into some genres. The two genres most popular with the children I interviewed were ‘Platformers’ and ‘Beat-them-ups.’ Platform games such as Sonic and Super Mario involve leaping from platform to platform, avoiding obstacles, moving on through the levels, and progressing through the different stages of the game. Beat-them-ups are the games which have caused concern over their violent content. These games involve fights between animated characters. In many ways this violence can be compared to violence within children’s cartoons where a character is hit over the head or falls of a cliff but walks away unscathed.

Controversy has occurred in part because of the intensity of the game play, which is said to spill over into children’s everyday lives. There are worries that children are becoming more violent and aggressive after prolonged exposure to these games. Playing computer games involves feelings of intense frustration and anger which often expresses itself in aggressive ‘yells’ at the screen. It is not only the ‘Beat-them-up’ games which produce this aggression; platform games are just as frustrating when the characters lose all their ‘lives’ and ‘die’ just before the end of the level is reached. Computer gaming relies upon intense concentration on the moving images on the screen and demands great hand-to-eye coordination. When the player loses and the words ‘Game over’ appear on the screen, there is annoyance and frustration at being beaten by the computer and at having made an error. This anger and aggression could perhaps be compared to the aggression felt when playing football and you take your eye off the ball and enable the opposition to score. The annoyance experienced when defeated at a computer game is what makes gaming ‘addictive’: the player is determined not to make the same mistake again and to have ‘one last go’ in the hope of doing better next time.

Some of the concern over the violence of computer games has been about children who are unable to tell the difference between fiction and reality and who act out the violent moves of the games in fight on the playground. The problem with video games is that they involve(转载自中国教育文摘http://www.edUzhai.net，请保留此标记。) children more than television or films and this means there are more implications for their social behavior. Playing these games can lead to anti-social behavior, make children aggressive and affect their emotional stability.

11. What is the topic of this article?

[A] How does playing computer games affect the level of violence in children

[B] There is no difference between Platform games and ‘Beat-Them-Ups’.

[C] How to control anger while playing computer games

[D] How to make children spend less time on computer games

12. Which of the following games is supposed to contain violent content?

[A] Sonic

[B] Super Mario

[C] Platformer

[D] Beat-Them-Up

13. What does unscathed (Paragraph 1, Last line) probably mean?

[A] unsettled

[B] unbeaten

[C] unharmed

[D] unhappy

14. According to the second paragraph, how does violence relate to playing computer games?

[A] When losing computer games children tend to experience frustration and anger.

[B] Beat-Them-Ups are more popular with children therefore more likely to produce violent behavior.

[C] People who have good hand-eye-coordination tend to be more violent than others.

[D] The violent content in the games gets children addicted to the games.

15. According to the author, why do video games lead to violence more than TV or movies?

[A] Because children cannot tell fiction from reality.

[B] Because children like to act out the scenes in the games on the playground.

[C] Because computer games involve children more than TV or films.

[D] Because computer games can produce more anti-social behavior.

答案及解析

11. 答案是[A] How does playing computer games affect the level of violence in children

解析：文章的主题，可以从第一段中看出。作者开头就说，A big focus of the criticism of computer games has concerned the content of the games being played(计算机游戏的内容遭到很多非议)。第二段开头，作者又用这样的话引出下文：Controversy has occurred in part because of the intensity of the game play, which is said to spill over into children’s everyday lives. There are worries that children are becoming more violent and aggressive after prolonged exposure to these games.(计算机游戏引起争议，有部分原因是因为，小孩打游戏总是过了头，游戏已经渗透到他们生活中去。人们担心，孩子们因为打游戏时间过长，渐渐变的有暴力倾向。)第三段开头，作者说，Some of the concern over the violence of computer games has been about children who are unable to tell the difference between fiction and reality对计算机游戏的一些担心，来自于孩子无法辨别虚构世界和现实世界。可见，作者本文主要讨论的问题，是计算机游戏中的暴力给孩子们带来的影响。

12. 答案是[D] Beat-Them-Up

解析：该细节可以在文章第一段找到。文章第一段介绍了主要的两类电子游戏：Platformers和Beat-Them-Ups。前者包括Sonic和超级玛丽。后者是打游戏者作为游戏中的卡通人物的单人独斗类游戏，后者一般被认为有暴力内容。关键语句为Beat-them-ups are the games which have caused concern over their violent content.

13. 答案是[C] unharmed

解析：可以根据上下文判断：文章第一段结尾，unscathed出现的语句为，In many ways this violence can be compared to violence within children’s cartoons where a character is hit over the head or falls of a cliff but walks away unscathed. (从很多方面来说，可以把电子游戏里的暴力和卡通片里的暴力比较：卡通片中的人物被击中脑袋，或者从悬崖上掉下去，也可以毫发无损地走开。)只有[C]正确。其他选项，[A] unsettled：紊乱的，无人居住的，东飘西荡的，不安定的。[B] unbeaten：未捣碎的，未被击败的;未被超越的;[D] unhappy：不快乐的，不幸福的，都是错误选项。

14. 答案是[A] When losing computer games children tend to experience frustration and anger.

解析：文章第二段介绍为什么沉迷于电子游戏中会使孩子们产生暴力倾向。作者先将本段内容在开头进行综述，小孩打游戏总是过了头，游戏已经渗透到他们生活中去。人们担心，孩子们因为打游戏时间过长，渐渐变的有暴力倾向。尤其是游戏即将失利的时候，玩家就会觉得沮丧，为自己曾经的失误气恼， 总想再来一次(have ‘one last go’)。作者说，Platforms和Beat-Them-Ups同样会使孩子们觉得失利后的沮丧，因此[B] 的说法，Beat-Them-Ups更受欢迎，因此更容易激发暴力行为，是错误的。[C] ，手眼协调出色的人更容易有暴力倾向，文章并没有相关内容。[D]，游戏中的暴力使得孩子们沉迷于游戏中，文章也没有这样的说法。作者认为，容易使孩子们沉迷于其中的，是他们自己玩游戏时候的失利，游戏结束时，看到GAME OVER，他们对自己在打那一局时所犯错误的懊恼。

15. 答案是[C] Because computer games involve children more than TV or films.

解析：问的是为什么电子游戏比电影和电视更容易激发孩子们的暴力行为。解题的关键语句是The problem with video games is that they involve children more than television or films and this means there are more implications for their social behavior.电子游戏比电影或电视都更容易让孩子们有身临其境的参与感，从而对他们的社会行为影响更大。容易错选成[A]，孩子们分不清虚构和现实世界，这虽然是文章原句，但这并不是作者想引出的游戏和影视的根本区别。[D]是打游戏的结果，并不是作者想探究的，为什么游戏比影视更容易让孩子产生暴力行为的原因。

注释 Notes

narrative n. (本文中作名词)叙述，故事

genre n. 类型，流派

obstacle n. 障碍物

animated adj. 动画的

cliff n. 悬崖

unscathed adj. 毫发无损的

controversy n. 争议

spill over into 深入到，渗透到

prolonged adj. 长时间的

frustration n. 挫折

coordination n. 协调，协调性

annoyance n. 烦恼，烦扰，恼怒，恼火

addictive adj. 让人上瘾的

implication n. 含义，内涵

stability n. 稳定性，稳定