英语美文之Let kids rest their eyes in open country_其他

英语美文之Let kids rest their eyes in open country

What is more worrisome is that cases have been growing at an annual rate of 5 percent in recent years.

If this situation continues, the quality of our future workforce will deteriorate so much that our nation's development will be seriously impaired.

In fact, there are already signs of such deterioration. Some marine navigation colleges have reportedly had to lower the floor marks for enrolment to meet the requirement on eyesight. But still many students with high marks were disqualified because of myopia.

The phenomenon is the result of too heavy a burden of study, imposed by teachers and parents, on youngsters. Given the current trend - the teachers' aspiration for higher performance assessment and the parents' eagerness to see their children's "academic attainment", it seems unrealistic that the burden will be reduced significantly any time soon. But we could do at least one thing: reflect on, and correct, the way we let our kids spend their spare time.

Ophthalmologists tell us that the crystalline lens and ciliary muscle of a youth's eyes have a strong ability for self-recovery as long as proper methods are adopted to reduce the tension on the eyes caused by hard work. Looking into the distance, especially during outdoor activities, is the best way to let our eyes rest.

Chinese students, however, hardly perform much outdoor activities. Most of their pastime is spent playing video games or watching TV, which their parents allow as a reward for their "hard study". Their eyes hardly get any rest.