今日导读
看到美丽的风景、打卡了网红餐厅，要拍照发朋友圈；想搞懂各种网络流行语、“吃”最新的“瓜”，要勤刷微博……真是难以想象，没有了社交媒体，我们的生活会变得多么无趣。如果某天有人给你一笔钱，要求你四个星期不使用社交媒体，你会愿意吗？在美国，就有一群人参与了停用脸书四周的研究。离开社交媒体的我们会有怎样的变化？我们是否有可能完全脱离社交媒体呢？让我们跟着毛西老师，在今天的新闻中一探究竟。
新闻原文
What would happen if Facebook were turned off?
The Economist
Facebook is blamed for all sorts of social horrors: from addiction and bullying to the enabling of genocide. New research suggests such accusations are not entirely without merit. It may be time to consider what life without Facebook would be like.
Several thousand Facebookers were recruited and sorted into control and treatment groups. Members of the treatment group were asked to deactivate their Facebook profiles for four weeks in late 2018.
Those booted off enjoyed an additional hour of free time on average. They consumed much less news, and were thus less aware of events but also less polarised in their views about them than those still on the network. Leaving Facebook boosted self-reported happiness and reduced feelings of depression and anxiety. Even so, most are loth to call it quits entirely. That reluctance would seem to indicate that Facebook, despite its problems, generates lots of value for consumers, which would presumably vanish were the network to disappear.
How could that be? A social network thrives thanks to increasing returns to scale. The more people on a network, the more potential connections it facilitates and the larger its value to each user. Such effects helped power Facebook’s rise. You could say Facebook is the world’s first digital megacity, thronging with people, enabling huge amounts of human contact, both good and bad.
带着问题听讲解
如何理解短语 call it quits？
停用脸书的研究得到了哪些结论？
为什么大多数被试表示不愿意完全弃用脸书？
新闻正文
What would happen if Facebook were turned off?
如果停用脸书，会发生什么？
Facebook is blamed for all sorts of social horrors: from addiction and bullying to the enabling of genocide. New research suggests such accusations are not entirely without merit. It may be time to consider what life without Facebook would be like.
从成瘾和欺凌，到使种族灭绝成为可能，脸书因为造成各种社会恐慌而受到责难。新的研究表明，这些指责并非毫无价值。也许是时候该考虑一下，没有脸书的生活会变怎样了。
Several thousand Facebookers were recruited and sorted into control and treatment groups. Members of the treatment group were asked to deactivate their Facebook profilesfor four weeks in late 2018.
数千名脸书用户被招募参加实验，并被分为对照组和实验组。实验组成员被要求在 2018 年年底停用他们的脸书账号四个星期。
Those booted off enjoyed an additional hour of free time on average. They consumed much less news, and were thus less aware of events but also less polarised in their views about them than those still on the network. Leaving Facebook boosted self-reportedhappiness and reduced feelings of depression and anxiety. Even so, most are loth to call it quitsentirely. That reluctance would seem to indicate that Facebook, despite its problems, generates lots of value for consumers, which would presumably vanish were the network to disappear.
那些被迫停用脸书的人平均额外享有一小时的空闲时间。相比那些仍在使用脸书的人，他们获取到的新闻更少，因此对新闻事件的了解程度也更低，并且对这些事件的看法也不那么的两极分化。离开脸书提高了他们自我觉察到的幸福感，也减少了抑郁和焦虑的情绪。即便如此，大多数人也不愿意完全弃用脸书。这种不情愿的态度似乎表明，尽管脸书存在问题，但它为消费者创造了许多价值。如果这个社交网络平台消失了，这种价值可能就不复存在了。
How could that be? A social network thrives thanks to increasing returns to scale. The more people on a network, the more potential connections it facilitates and the larger its value to each user. Such effects helped power Facebook’s rise. You could say Facebook is the world’s first digital megacity, thronging with people, enabling huge amounts of human contact, both good and bad.
怎么会这样呢？由于规模报酬递增，社交网络得以蓬勃发展。使用一个网络的人越多，它能促成的潜在联系就越多，对于它的每个用户而言，这个网络的价值就越高。这些效应助推了脸书的崛起。你可以说，脸书是世界上第一个数字化大都市，人们蜂拥而至，使得大量的、不论好坏的社交联系成为了可能。
重点词汇
genocide
/ˈdʒenəsaɪd/
n. 大屠杀，种族灭绝
e.g.
词根词缀：geno-（民族和人群）；-cide（杀死）
merit
/ˈmerɪt/
n. 优点，价值
e.g.
同义词：worth
搭配短语：on merit
例句：Zurini got the job on merit.
例句：Students are selected solely on merit.
deactivate
/ˌdiːˈæktɪveɪt/
v. 关闭，使无效
e.g.
词根词缀：de-（否定）
相关词汇：activate
搭配短语：deactivate the alarm
profile
/ˈproʊfaɪl/
n. 档案；账号
boot sb. off
迫使…停止；迫使…离开
e.g.
相关词汇：boot（v. 猛踢）
英文释义：to force someone to stop taking part in an activity
polarise
/ˈpoʊləraɪz/
v. 使两极分化，使截然对立
e.g.
词性拓展：polar (adj.)
词根词缀：-ise（…化）
boost
/buːst/
v. 提高；增强
e.g.
英文释义：to make something increase, or become better or more successful
搭配短语：boost one’s morale
self-reported
/ˌself rɪˈpɔːrtɪd/
adj. 自我报告的
e.g.
词性拓展：self-report (v.)
loth
/loʊθ/
adj. 不愿意的
e.g.
例句：I’m loth to spend it all at once.
call it quits
停止做；同意已互不相欠
e.g.
英文释义：to stop doing something
例句：I’m calling it quits.
例句：Let’s call it quits.
reluctance
/rɪˈlʌktəns/
n. 勉强；不情愿
e.g.
词性拓展：reluctant (adj.)
同义词：unwillingness
例句：I accepted his advice with great reluctance.
vanish
/ˈvænɪʃ/
v.（尤指突然）消失
e.g.
搭配短语：vanish into thin air
thrive
/θraɪv/
v. 繁荣，兴旺；茁壮成长
e.g.
例句：The company managed to thrive during a recession.
搭配短语：lavender that thrives in poor soil
returns to scale
规模报酬
facilitate
/fəˈsɪlɪteɪt/
v. 使…更容易，使便利；推动
e.g.
搭配短语：to facilitate the development of tourism
megacity
/ˈmeɡəsɪti/
n. 特大城市
e.g.
词根词缀：mega-（巨大的；很重要的）
派生词：megastar（n. 超级巨星）
throng
/θrɔːŋ/
v. （人群）蜂拥，群集
e.g.
搭配短语：throng/be thronged with sb./sth.
例句：The street is thronging with people.
例句：The street is thronged with people.
词性拓展：throng (n.)
补充词汇知识
blame A for B
把 B 归罪于 A
horror
n. 恐惧；厌恶
addiction
n. 成瘾
bullying
n. 欺辱；恐吓
enable
v. 使…成为可能
genocide
词根词缀：-cide（杀死）
-cide 派生词：suicide（n. 自杀）；homicide（n. 谋杀）
artistic merit
艺术特长
It may be time to do sth.
做…的时候可能到了
recruit
v. 招募
be sorted into …
被分为…
control group
对照组
treatment group
实验组
additional
adj. 额外的，附加的
on average
平均
consume
v. 获取，了解；消耗
depression
n. 抑郁
anxiety
n. 焦虑
generate
v. 产生，发生
thanks to
近义词：because of
effect
n. 效果；影响
power
v. 为…提供动力，驱动
human contact
社交联系
长难句解析
That reluctance would seem to indicate that Facebook, despite its problems, generates lots of value for consumers, which would presumably vanish were the network to disappear.
这种不情愿的态度似乎表明，尽管脸书存在问题，但它为消费者创造了许多价值。如果这个社交网络平台消失了，这种价值可能就不复存在了。
主句为 That reluctance would seem to indicate that…，that 引导了一个宾语从句。其中，which would presumably vanish were the network to disappear 是修饰 value 的定语从句。 在这个定语从句中，were the network to disappear 是在虚拟语气下，省略了连词 if 并且进行了倒装的条件状语从句，正常语序的句子为 if the network were to disappear。
一句话总结新闻
本期《经济学人》给我们介绍了一个有关停用社交媒体的研究，研究表明：不使用社交媒体可以使我们在生活、心理、对待新闻的态度等各方面，都受到积极的影响，但由于社交媒体存在着大量价值，我们不可能完全放弃使用它。
拓展阅读
规模报酬
规模报酬（returns to scale）是一个经济学名词，它指在其他条件不变的情况下，企业内部的各种生产要素按相同比例变化时，产量相应产生的变化。企业的规模报酬变化可以分为三种情况：规模报酬递增（increasing returns to scale）、规模报酬不变（constant returns to scale）和规模报酬递减（decreasing returns to scale）。
如果产量增加的比例大于生产要素增加的比例，这种情况就是新闻中提到的规模报酬递增。当一个企业发生规模报酬递增时，随着生产规模不断扩大，生产所需的单位成本不断减少。
社交网络是一个规模报酬递增型行业。社交网络的规模越大，能够吸引到的用户就越多。而用户为了获得更多便利和价值，愿意为规模更大的网络支付更高的价格，所以，与运营平台的成本相比，企业能够得到的收益也越多。
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