VOA慢速英语2009-Health Report - Young Peoples' Risky Behavior on

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Researchers say more than half of young people who use MySpace often discuss high-risk behaviors. Two studies of the social networking site recently appeared in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

In one study, researchers examined the pages of five hundred eighteen-year-olds from the United States. They found that forty-one percent of the profiles chosen at random¹ included information about alcohol or drug use. Twenty-four percent discussed sexual² behavior. And fourteen percent included discussion of violence.

Young people who said they were active in religious groups, sports or other interests were less likely to discuss risky³ behaviors.

In the second study, the researchers read the MySpace profiles of about one hundred ninety individuals. All said they were eighteen to twenty years old. Each person discussed high-risk behaviors.

One of the researchers was Megan Moreno, now at the University of Wisconsin. Doctor Moreno sent a message to half the young people. Her e-mail suggested that they change their profiles. She also warned them about the risk of sharing personal information.

About fourteen percent of those receiving the e-mail removed information on sexual behavior. Among individuals who did not receive a message, about five percent later removed such information.

In the United States, about half of all young people use social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Doctor Dimitri Christakis at Seattle Children's Hospital worked on the research. He says parents have a responsibility to know what their children are doing on the Internet.

On February third, the top law enforcement officials in Connecticut and North Carolina announced some news about MySpace. MySpace told them it has identified and removed about ninety thousand registered sex offenders⁴ from its site in the last two years. These people were found guilty of crimes that require them to be publicly listed as sex offenders. The number is forty thousand more than MySpace has reported in the past.

The officials in Connecticut and North Carolina lead a group of state attorneys⁵ general who are seeking to make social networks safer. Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal said many other offenders may be using sites under false names and ages. A spokeswoman for North Carolina's Roy Cooper, Noelle Talley, says Facebook has not yet answered a demand for information.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Steve Ember.

1 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

2 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

5 attorneys   

代理人，律师( attorney的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The judge granted the condemned man a respite to enable his attorneys to file an appeal. 法官同意缓期执行，以便这个犯人的律师提出上诉。
• At five the attorneys would have gone home. ５点钟律师们就会回家了。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹