Level 3 · Reading series
Lesson 20 · What We Leave in a Search Box
Audio track 20
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
I was looking for help with a class presentation about sleep. My first search was a full question that included my school name and my friend's name. Before pressing Enter, I looked at it again.
The names were not needed. I changed the search to “how sleep affects learning.” The results were easier to compare because they focused on the topic. I opened more than one page and checked who had written each explanation.
A search box feels private when only one person is typing, but the words we enter can be stored or used to shape later suggestions. I do not need to be afraid of every search. I only need to leave out details that do not help answer my question.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
我在为一场关于睡眠的课堂展示找资料。第一次输入搜索框的，是一个完整的问题，里面还带上了学校名称和朋友的名字。按回车键前，我又看了看那串字。
这些名字并不需要。我把搜索内容改成‘睡眠如何影响学习’。结果都围绕主题，比较起来也更容易。我打开了不止一个网页，还查了每篇说明是谁写的。
独自打字时，搜索框似乎是私密的；但输入的词可能被保存，也可能影响之后看到的建议。我不必害怕每一次搜索，只需要去掉那些无助于回答问题的个人细节。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- search
- 搜索；为了课堂展示寻找睡眠相关资料。
- include
- 包含；最初的问题带上了学校与朋友的名字。
- press Enter
- 按回车键；主人公在真正提交搜索前停了下来。
- affect
- 影响；how sleep affects learning 指‘睡眠如何影响学习’。
- result
- 搜索结果；修改关键词后更容易比较。
- focus on
- 聚焦于；结果更集中在睡眠与学习这个主题。
- explanation
- 解释、说明；主人公核对每篇资料的作者。
- private
- 私密的；独自输入不代表内容一定不会被保存。
- store
- 储存、保存；搜索词可能留下记录。
- leave out
- 省略、不写入；去掉与问题无关的个人细节。
Background notes (Chinese)
删去无关的姓名，不仅减少了不必要的个人信息，也让搜索结果更集中。include 是‘包含’，leave out 是‘省略’；两者一起看，能看出主人公在筛选要输入的信息。搜索记录如何被处理取决于服务及其设置，使用时可查看相关说明。