The telephone was an amazing invention. People could finally speak to each other instantly from one home to another. The mobile phone took this technology further, meaning we could make contact with people to and from almost anywhere in the world. But despite having the instant ability to talk to one another, it seems many of us prefer to communicate by text.
电话是一项了不起的发明。人们终于可以从一个家到另一个家立即相互交谈。手机进一步推动了这项技术，这意味着我们可以与世界上几乎任何地方的人联系。但是，尽管我们有即时相互交谈的能力，但我们中的许多人似乎更喜欢通过文本进行交流。
I don’t mean we have taken up letter writing again. Although a handwritten letter has a personal touch, sending it by snail mail is too slow to satisfy our desire to keep in touch immediately. But what our smartphones now allow us to do is enable us to communicate in any number of quick, cheap but silent ways. A study in the UK a few years ago found 49 per cent of teenagers preferred to send a text rather than speak to someone.
我并不是说我们又开始写信了。虽然手写信具有个人风格，但通过普通邮件发送太慢，无法满足我们立即保持联系的愿望。但是我们的智能手机现在允许我们做的是使我们能够以任意数量的快速、廉价但无声的方式进行通信。几年前在英国进行的一项研究发现，49% 的青少年更喜欢发短信而不是与某人交谈。
Certainly sending an SMS, text or message via a chat app means we can compose what we want to say, and we can be more efficient in saying it – especially if we express ourselves by using emojis. It can also be quicker than having to chat with someone, although I feel you can still end up wasting time by having a full discussion by text! Text messaging also allows privacy – other people can’t overhear your text if you’re in a public place such as on a train.
当然，通过聊天应用程序发送短信、文本或消息意味着我们可以编写我们想说的话，而且我们可以更有效率地说出来——尤其是当我们使用表情符号表达自己的时候。它也可以比与某人聊天更快，尽管我觉得你仍然可以通过文字进行全面讨论来浪费时间！短信还可以保护隐私——如果您在公共场所（例如火车上），其他人无法偷听您的短信。
But texting instead of talking can seem antisocial; we may even forget the art of pleasantries. A text can be misinterpreted too because you miss out on a speaker’s intonation. Neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott told the BBC: “We always speak with melody and intonation to our voice… you take that channel of information out of communication, you lose another way that sense is being conveyed.”
但是发短信而不是说话似乎是反社会的。我们甚至可能忘记寒暄的艺术。文本也可能被误解，因为你错过了说话者的语调。神经科学家索菲·斯科特教授告诉英国广播公司：“我们说话时总是带着旋律和语调……你把信息渠道从交流中拿走，你就失去了传达感觉的另一种方式。”
Of course texting and talking is the worst thing to do. Who deserves your attention when two people are communicating with you? It’s then we have to decide who has the most interesting thing to say!
当然，发短信和说话是最糟糕的事情。当两个人与你交流时，谁值得你关注？然后我们必须决定谁有最有趣的事情要说！
词汇表
instantly 立即地，马上地
mobile phone 手机
make contact with 与（人）取得联系
text 短信
personal touch 人情味，人性化色彩
snail mail 传统信件，平信
keep in touch 保持联系
smartphone 智能手机
SMS (short message service) 手机短信服务
chat app 聊天软件
compose 撰写（信息，信函等）
express ourselves 表达我们的想法或感受
emoji 表情符号
text messaging 发短信
privacy 隐私
antisocial 不爱社交的，不合群的
pleasantry 客套话
intonation 语调，腔调
convey 表达，传达
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