鍛鍊英文聽力，按時收聽NPR的廣播最有用，教練將聲音檔與其他可下載資料重傳提供大家下載，之後每周都會上傳一篇英文報導。

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From NPR

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想要鍛鍊英文聽力，聽英文廣播最有用，教練這陣子都在整理部落格之前上傳過的NPR廣播，並且把載點都更新再上傳，好提供大家下載。同時我也會整理全新的NPR或是科學人的報導，讓大家可以每周都按照進度下載，練習英文聽力。若發現檔案無法下載，麻煩請留言給教練。

本篇報導探討當今美國小孩子提前進入青春期的可能原因。食物與環境荷爾蒙都有嫌疑。如何讓小朋友提前適應成熟的身體？買書參考、醫院例行檢查與親子懇談都行。文章中有很多實用的英文單字以及用語，大家可以反覆聽同樣的廣播，勤加練習。

至於該怎麼讀NPR最有效，請參考下面幾個步驟。

1. 首先下載聲音檔與解析版transcript。

2.播放聲音檔，並且跟著transcript一起研讀
如果你聽個兩三遍就覺得差不多都懂了，就可以邁入下個階段。如果需要聽十遍才能完全懂，那就慢慢聽，不要急，一天聽個三四次無所謂，重點是要把文章裡面的字詞都弄清楚，所以一開始一定要有transcript(中英解析稿)。我保證如果同一篇聽二十次，不必刻意背，單字或用語幾乎都熟透了。

3.熟讀並且理解了之後，就可以只聽聲音檔不需要稿子。
此時不妨每聽20秒就停下來跟述。一邊跟述一邊記憶。然後每聽一段就停下來，讓自己再說一次剛才聽到的內容，這一次用你自己熟悉的英文句型來重述內容。

Like Girls, Boys Are Entering Puberty Earlier

by Patti Neighmond

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It has been known for some time that girls are starting puberty開始青春期 earlier than in the past, sometimes as young as age 7 or 8. It has been unclear whether boys are also entering puberty earlier. It appears they are, according to a study from the American Academy of Pediatrics美國小兒科醫學會. NPR's Patti Neighmond has the report.

PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE: Fred Goodall is the father of a 9-year-old boy. He thought he wouldn't have to have the puberty talk青春期對談 for a few more years. But the fact of the matter is for African-American非裔美人 boys puberty can begin as early as nine. Goodall wrote about his daughter going through puberty on his parenting blog育兒經部落格, Mocha Dad.

Now, with his son, there are similar feelings, a bit of sadness, a sort of premature loss of innocence提早消失的童真.

FRED GOODALL: He still plays with Legos樂高積木, he still plays with his action figures軍隊或是士兵造型的玩偶. He reads comic books漫畫書. You know, he wants me to give him piggyback rides騎在某人背後，讓某人揹著跑 and things like that things like that and, you know, all these things aren't the things you associate with聯想/連結 puberty.

NEIGHMOND: It's easier to tell when girls are going through puberty because of developing breasts胸部發育 and menstruation月經.

Marcia Herman-Giddens is a public health researcher 公共衛生研究員at the University of North Carolina. She did the original studies原始研究 looking at early puberty in girls. Now, she's replicated複製 those studies with more than 4,000 boys. And the findings are similar: Boys are entering puberty進入青春期 six months to two years earlier than they used to.

MARCIA HERMAN-GIDDENS: The first signs徵兆 of puberty in boys, for white boys we found they were 10.1 years of age, African-American boys were 9.1 years, and Hispanic拉丁裔boys were 10 years.

NEIGHMOND: As with girls, researchers don't know why. There are some ideas; most have to do with today's modern environment, starting with easy access to容易取得 lots of food.

HERMAN-GIDDENS: We have often-talked about the problem now of overweight體重過重, fast food, you know, really what some people call over-nutrition營養過剩, an abundance of calories卡路里過多, high-protein高蛋白 foods.

NEIGHMOND: For girls, being overweight has been linked to early puberty. And that could also be the case for boys. Another possible trigger for girls: estrogen-like chemicals in the environment環境雌激素(又稱內分泌干擾素Endocrine disrupter substance). That hasn't been proved - and it's likely not a cause for boys because estrogen isn't involved in the changes that come with puberty.

Whatever the reason, Herman-Giddens says the focus now should be on helping boys cope幫助男孩面對(問題/狀況).

HERMAN-GIDDENS: Just because the child's body is developing sexually earlier, that doesn't mean their cognition認知 and their judgment判斷力 and their other mental abilities精神/心理上的能力 that go along with becoming an adult are becoming earlier. They are not.

NEIGHMOND: Which is why pediatrician小兒科醫生 Richard Wasserman, who heads帶領 the research arm of the American Academy of Pediatrics, says the best way to deal with面對/因應 early puberty is to have a very specific and detailed discussion非常明確且仔細的討論 with your son about how his body is going to change.

RICHARD WASSERMAN: And he needs to be helped to understand that his body is changing and is going to continue to change as he progresses成長 from being a boy to being a young man.

NEIGHMOND: Doctors can help, so can books. Fred Goodall just bought one and hopes to have the talk when his son is off school for the holidays學校放假.

GOODALL: Because, you know, I want to give him some time to have it sink in沉澱/領悟. But I don't want it to be so fresh in his mind that he is, you know, going telling all his friends at school and, you know, causing some problems with them. So I want some time for it to marinate浸泡在滷汁中 within his mind讓這個話題在他的腦袋裡面轉久一點.

GOODALL: And for him to kind of think about it and have it not to be such a big deal有什麼大不了 when he returns to school.

NEIGHMOND: The important thing, says Dr. Wasserman, is being comfortable in your new and developing body對自己逐漸發育的新身體感到自在.

WASSERMAN: An earlier-maturing早熟的 boy, there'll be some good things about that for him in the short run短期內. He'll get bigger. He'll be stronger. But he also may feel awkward尷尬. He may feel clumsy笨拙的. And he may be teased. Certainly, these are things that parents need to be prepared for準備好.

NEIGHMOND: Which is a good reason for yearly medical checkups, even if your child is healthy.

Patti Neighmond, NPR News.