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Children who open social media accounts at the start of secondary school appear to perform worse in tests than those who sign up later. Researchers suspect that constantly checking for updates is a major distraction.

Pupils who opened their first social media account aged 11 to 12 scored lower in maths and reading tests than those who waited a few years, with scores at age 16 differing by the equivalent of about six months of learning. The work does not prove that social media is to blame, but the researchers took account of other factors that could skew the results, such as students’ earlier performance, family structure and parents’ education.

The findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, are based on surveys of more than 5,000 Italian schoolchildren and their results in standardised maths, Italian and English exams. When tested at age 13 to 14, early users scored worse than those who waited until at least 14. At age 15 to 16, the gap for Italian remained, but the gap for maths widened. Interestingly, English showed no impact, possibly because so much social media content is in English, giving early users “incidental exposure and practice”. Put another way, the benefit for those who delayed was about half that achieved through intensive tutoring.

Dr Marco Gui, the first author of the study, speculates that social media on smartphones keeps young people in a constant state of alert. The continuous need to check messages makes them less present in family life and less engaged in tasks that take time, such as homework. One of the best predictors of the gap was how often children picked up their phones day and night.

The study comes as the UK plans to introduce a social media ban for under-16s, following Australia’s ban last year. While Gui supports an age limit, he regards a ban as an “emergency policy” and says the platforms themselves need to be safer and less addictive. Dennis Ougrin, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Queen Mary University of London, said the message for parents and policymakers is not necessarily to ban social media, but to support young people in developing healthy habits.

1.1. What does the underlined word “skew” in paragraph 2 mean?

A Explain.

B Improve.

C Twist.

D Remove.

解析：选C。C词义猜测题。根据第二段“The work does not prove that social media is to blame, but the researchers took account of other factors that could skew the results, such as students’ earlier performance, family structure and parents’ education”可知，研究人员把这些因素考虑在内，正是为了不让它们“扭曲、带偏”研究结果，故skew在此意为“歪曲，使有偏差”，与twist同义。improve与语境相悖——控制这些变量是为了防止结果失真，而非让结果变得更好；explain、remove均与“使结果失真”的语境无关，原文并未说这些因素能够解释或简化结果。故选C。

2.2. Why does the author mention “intensive tutoring” in paragraph 3?

A To show the benefit of delaying social media.　

B To suggest students take tutoring.　

C To compare two learning methods.　

D To prove tutoring beats social media.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据第三段“the benefit for those who delayed was about half that achieved through intensive tutoring”可知，作者用“高强度家教”作参照，量化出“延迟使用社交媒体”的收益之大——约相当于高强度家教效果的一半。作者提及tutoring是为了让读者直观感受delayed的好处，而非建议学生去补课（B项，原文通篇未提任何补课建议）、比较两种学习方法（C项，原文比较的是早开通与晚开通账号的两类学生，不是学习方法）、更不是证明家教优于社交媒体（D项，tutoring与social media在文中并非被放在对立竞争的语境中）。故选A。

3.3. According to Gui, what effect does social media have on students?

A It encourages them to use phones only at night.　

B It helps them focus better on homework.　

C It shortens their time for outdoor activities.　

D It keeps them constantly alert and easily distracted.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第四段“social media on smartphones keeps young people in a constant state of alert”和“The continuous need to check messages makes them less present in family life and less engaged in tasks that take time, such as homework”可知，Gui认为社交媒体让学生持续处于警觉状态、难以专注投入。A项曲解了原文“how often children picked up their phones day and night”——原文指白天夜里都频繁拿起手机，而非“只在夜间使用”；B项与原文相悖——原文说学生更难投入作业这类任务（less engaged in homework）；C项在文中找不到依据，全文未涉及户外活动时间。故选D。

4.4. What is Dennis Ougrin’s attitude towards a social media ban for young people?

A Broadly supportive.

B Strongly opposed.

C Mostly cautious.

D Fully indifferent.

解析：选C。C观点态度题。根据最后一段“The message for parents, educators and policymakers is not necessarily to ban social media, but to support young people in developing healthy habits”可知，Ougrin认为重点不在于“禁”，而在于“导”，其态度谨慎、留有回旋余地。A项“大体支持（禁令）”与他的表述相左——他明确说not necessarily to ban；B项“强烈反对”言过其实，他并未激烈抨击禁令，只是认为引导比禁止更重要；D项“完全漠不关心”与事实相悖——他在文中明确给出了自己的建议。故选C。