??loneliness behind seniors’ ’internet addiction’

网瘾老人的背后是孤独

“internet addiction” was once a term used to describe youngsters?hooked?on watching videos or playing games online. but today, an increasing number of seniors are falling victim, yinchuan daily has reported.

“网瘾”曾被用来形容那些沉迷于网络视频或游戏的年轻人。但据《银川日报》报道，如今，越来越多的老年人成为网瘾的受害者。

a woman surnamed wang from yinchuan, ningxia hui autonomous region, recently experienced a worrying episode. one morning, just as she arrived at her office, wang noticed some missed calls from her mother.

来自宁夏银川市的王女士最近的一段经历让人忧心。一天早上，当王女士来到办公室时，她在手机上看到了母亲打来的几个未接电话。

when she called her mother back, to her surprise, wang found her mother only wanted her phone charger, which wang?mistakenly?took to the office.?when she hurried home, it turned out her mother’s phone was still 70 percent charged. nevertheless, she was worried the phone would run out of power as she continued using it.

于是她给母亲回拨了电话，而令她惊讶的是，母亲只是想要回被她误带走的手机充电器。当她匆忙赶回家时，她发现母亲的手机还有70%的电量。尽管如此，母亲还是担心手机在继续使用的过程中会没电。

it was then that wang realized how grave her mother’s addiction was. wang said her mother suffered from?dizziness?recently. after a physical checkup, she was?diagnosed?with cervical spine deformity, as well as impaired eyesight.

就在那时，王女士意识到她母亲的网瘾有多严重。王女士说，她母亲最近经常感到头晕。经体检，她被诊断为颈椎畸形，并导致视力受损。

wang’s mother spends eight hours a day

playing games, watching news or short video clips online.?she is just one in a growing population of chinese seniors who are more and more glued to their phones.

王女士的母亲每天花8个小时在网上玩游戏、看新闻或刷短视频，而她只是越来越多沉迷于手机的中国老年人中的一员。

according to a report on the internet use of china’s elderly people released by mobile content aggregator qutoutiao last year, 38.6 percent of people aged 60 or older were internet users.?the report showed around 0.2 percent of surveyed elderly spend at least 10 hours online per day.

移动内容聚合服务商趣头条去年发布的一份关于中国老年人互联网使用的报告显示，60岁及以上人群中，互联网用户占比38.6%。报告显示，约0.2%的受访老年人每天至少上网10小时。

medical experts said phone overuse could worsen?cervical spondylosis?and lead to higher risk of cardiovascular disease.?in addition to health problems, elderly people’s phone addiction also triggers family disputes.

医学专家表示，过度使用手机可能会使颈椎病恶化，并导致患心血管疾病的风险增加。除了健康问题外，老年人的手机成瘾还会引发家庭矛盾。

“my mother started to use a smartphone three years ago. now she shoots video clips every day, and often stays up late playing on the phone,” a woman surnamed zhao complained. “she turned a deaf ear to my words, and even got angry with me.”

一位赵姓女士说：“我妈妈三年前开始使用智能手机。现在她每天都拍视频，还经常玩手机到很晚。我说她她也不听，甚至还跟我生气。”

another man surnamed ma said: “since my father installed a shopping app on his phone, he became a frequent buyer. every day there are parcels delivered to our home.”

另一位姓马姓男子说:“自从我爸爸在手机上安装了购物应用后，他就成了那个应用的常客。我们家每天都能收到快递。”

“but many of the goods he bought are discounted and of poor quality”. ma asked his father to reduce his time online, which fell on deaf ears.

马先生让他父亲少上网，但他父亲并不听，“他买的一些东西都很便宜，但质量很差。”

wei junping, a psychological consultant, said seniors’ heavy reliance on mobile phones is attributed to large amounts of spare time after retirement, and their desire to communicate with others.?”some elderly people, once retired, have fewer opportunities to contact others, thus falling into a spiritual void and loneliness,” wei said.

心理咨询师魏俊平表示，老年人极度沉迷于手机的原因是退休后有大量的空闲时间，他们希望能与他人交流。魏俊平说：“一些老年人一旦退休，就很少有机会与他人接触，从而陷入精神空虚和孤独。”

for many retirees, a smartphone is the best way to kill the time, he said. in addition, the elderly can interact with their friends through social media platforms such as wechat, which give them a sense of connection, while short video-sharing platforms such as douyin could satisfy their curiosity.

他说，对于许多退休老人来说，智能手机是打发时间的最佳方式。此外，老年人可以通过微信等社交媒体平台与朋友互动，这为他们建立一种联络感，而抖音等短视频分享平台可以满足他们的好奇心。

wei said though it is natural for the elderly to meet their emotional needs and get recognition through a smartphone, they should limit their time on the internet and get regular rest at night.

魏俊平表示，尽管老年人通过智能手机来满足自己的情感需求和获得认可是很自然的事情，但他们应该限制上网时间，并在晚上有规律地休息。

adult children, for their part, should go home more frequently to talk with their parents and relieve their sense of loneliness, or help seniors to do more healthy activities to enrich their lives, he said.

他说，对于成年子女来说，他们应该常回家与父母交谈，以减轻他们的孤独感，或者帮助老年人开展更多健康的活动，从而丰富他们的生活。

(全文共544个词，黑体单词为考研重难点词汇)

重难点词汇：

hook?[h?k] vt. 钩住；引上钩

mistakenly?[m??ste?k?nli] adv. 错误地；曲解地

dizziness?[?d?zin?s] n. 头晕；头昏眼花

diagnose?[?da??ɡ?no?s] vt. 诊断；断定

cervical spondylosis?颈椎病

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