A big focus of the criticism of computer games has concerned the content of the games being played.When the narratives of the games are analyzed they can be seen to fall into some genres. The two genres most popular with the children I interviewed were‘Platformers’ and‘Beat-them-ups.’ Platform games such as Sonic and Super Mario involve leaping from platform to platform,avoiding obstacles,moving on through the levels,and progressing through the different stages of the game.Beat-them-ups are the games which have caused concern over their violent content.These games involve fights between animated characters.In many ways this violence can be compared to violence within children’ s cartoons where a character is hit over the head or falls of a cliff but walks away unscathed.
Controversy has occurred in part because of the intensity of the game play,which is said to spill over into children’ s everyday lives.There are worries that children are becoming more violent and aggressive after prolonged exposure to these games.Playing computer games involves feelings of intense frustration and anger which often expresses itself in aggressive‘yells’ at the screen.It is not only the‘Beat-them-up’ games which produce this aggression;platform games are just as frustrating when the characters lose all their‘lives’ and‘die’ just before the end of the level is reached.Computer gaming relies upon intense concentration on the moving images on the screen and demands great hand-to-eye coordination.When the player loses and the words‘Game over’ appear on the screen,there is annoyance and frustration at being beaten by the computer and at having made an error.This anger and aggression could perhaps be compared to the aggression felt when playing football and you take your eye off the ball and enable the opposition to score.The annoyance experienced when defeated at a computer game is what makes gaming‘addictive’:the player is determined not to make the same mistake again and to have‘one last go’ in the hope of doing better next time.
Some of the concern over the violence of computer games has been about children who are unable to tell the difference between fiction and reality and who act out the violent moves of the games in fight on the playground.The problem with video games is that they involve children more than television or films and this means there are more implications for their social behavior.Playing these games can lead to anti-social behavior,make children aggressive and affect their emotional stability.
11.What is the topic of this article?
[A]How does playing computer games affect the level of violence in children
[B]There is no difference between Platform games and‘Beat-Them-Ups’.
[C]How to control anger while playing computer games
[D]How to make children spend less time on computer games
12.Which of the following games is supposed to contain violent content?
[A]Sonic
[B]Super Mario
[C]Platformer
[D]Beat-Them-Up
13.What does unscathed(Paragraph 1,Last line)probably mean?
[A]unsettled
[B]unbeaten
[C]unharmed
[D]unhappy
14.According to the second paragraph,how does violence relate to playing computer games?
[A]When losing computer games children tend to experience frustration and anger.
[B]Beat-Them-Ups are more popular with children therefore more likely to produce violent behavior.
[C]People who have good hand-eye-coordination tend to be more violent than others.
[D]The violent content in the games gets children addicted to the games.
15.According to the author,why do video games lead to violence more than TV or movies?
[A]Because children cannot tell fiction from reality.
[B]Because children like to act out the scenes in the games on the playground.
[C]Because computer games involve children more than TV or films.
[D]Because computer games can produce more anti-social behavior.
答案: A D C A C