(来源：英语学习门户网站EnglishCN.com)

Middle-class teenagers are less intelligent than a generation ago due to the dumbing down of youth culture and school tests, a new study suggests.
最新研究显示，由于文化传播与校园教育的低能化，如今中产阶级家庭的青少年的智商要比他们的上代人偏低。
 IQ tests show that scores for the average 14-year-old have dropped by more than two points between 1980 and 2008.
分别在1980年和2008年对普通14岁青少年所作的智商测试发现，现在的青少年智商比28年前要低两分。

 For those in the upper half of the intelligence scale--a group typically dominated by the children of middle-class families--average IQ scores were six points down on 28 years ago.
在智商较高的一半人中——这个群体的孩子大部分来自中产阶级——平均智商要比28年前低六分。
 Leisure time is increasingly taken up with playing computer games and watching TV instead of reading and holding conversations.
休闲活动被电脑游戏和电视占据，而过去的青少年只能阅读看书或和朋友交谈说话。

 Education experts said a growing tendency in schools to "teach to the test" was affecting youngsters' ability to think laterally.
教育专家表示，学校越来越以考试为教学标准，这也导致现在的青少年缺乏思考的能力。

 For the study, Professor James Flynn, of the University of Otago in New Zealand, analysed UK children's scores in IQ tests over time.
进行调查的新西兰奥塔哥大学的詹姆斯·弗林教授分析了英国孩子们在这些年的智商得分数据。

 He found that IQs increased among children aged between five and 10 over the 28-year-period, at the rate of up to half a point a year.
他发现，在过去的28年间，5至10岁孩子的智商在以每年提高0.5分的趋势增长。

 He believes these gains are linked to changes to the home environment children experience when they are young, with parents increasingly providing stimulating activities.
他认为这是由于家庭环境所致，越来越多的家长乐于在孩子小的时候从事促进大脑发育的活动。

 But Professor Flynn also found that teenagers' scores had dipped slightly over the past generation.
但弗林教授也发现，青少年的得分却比他们的上代人有所降低。

 It is the first time IQ scores have fallen for any age group during the past century, his research suggests.
研究表明，在过去的一个世纪中，智力测试的分数下降还是头一次。

 "While we have enriched the cognitive environment of children before their teenage years, the cognitive environment of the teenagers has not been enriched."
“我们强化了小孩子的认知环境，却忽视了青少年这个年龄段。”

 "Other studies have shown how pervasive teenage youth culture is, and what we see is parents' influence on IQ slowly diminishing with age."
“其他研究也显示，青少年的特有文化已相当流行，家长对这个年龄段孩子的智商所能起到的影响随着他们年龄的增长而不断减弱。”

"What we know is that youth culture is more visually orientated around computer games than they are in terms of reading and holding conversations."
“据我们所知，年轻一代的文化明显倾向于电脑游戏，而冷落了阅读和与人聊天交往。”

 He said previous studies have tended to show IQ increasing as teenagers move into adulthood, entering university or starting work.
他还说，之前的研究倾向于另一种观点，即青少年在成人、上大学以至开始工作的这段时间里，他们的智商在不断地增长。”

Previous studies have claimed that using text messages and email can temporarily reduce IQ by causing concentration to drop, while smoking marijuana has also been linked with a decline in IQ.
此前有调查发现，发送手机短信和电子邮件会影响注意力，以至于短暂降低一个人的智商，而吸食大麻也与智商降低有关。