Internet Addition @  Growing Problem(1)
    Are you spending too much time online?

 Like a roll of the dice or a sip of alcohol, the glow of the computer screen has an irresistible and dangerous allure to many people, according to a new nationwide study by Stanford University.

A random survey of 2,500 adults-the first-ever attempt to quantify "Internet addiction" in the general population-found that between 6 and 14 percent of computer users said they spent too manybleary-eyed hours checking e-mail, making blog entries or visiting websites or chat rooms, sometimes neglecting work, school, families, food and sleep.
The Stanford team, led by psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude, isn't worried about people who spend their lunch hours cruising travel sites for a summer vacation in Tuscany. Rather, they look for signs of compulsion.

Signs of trouble
"We worry when people use virtual interactions to substitutes for real social interactions-and seeing their real relationships suffer as a result," he said.
"Sneaking out of bed, once your partner is asleep, to go online. Missing deadline after deadline at work, while visiting chat rooms, and when you cut back, feeling irritable, anxious or restless. Those are red flags," he said.
Aboujaoude grew interested in the problem when he started to see a small but growing number of habitual Internet users visiting the university's Impulse Control Disorders Clinic.
"Over the last two to three years, more people have come in with this specific complaint, saying, ‘I spend way too much time online, but I can't help it,'" he explained. "They characterize it in terms that sound like almost a substance abuse problem."
Internet overuse is an easy trap because computers offer immediacy, a sense of connection and anonymity, Aboujaoude added. Connections are increasingly fast and wireless, and computers arepervasive in life.

Vocabulary Focus
bleary-eyed (adj)--- having red and watery eyes, and unable to see clearly, often because you are tired
compulsion (n)--- a very strong or uncontrollable desire to do something repeatedly
immediacy (n)--- a feeling of actual involvement in something
pervasive (adj)--- present everywhere
isolated (adj)--- not connected with otehrs; separate

Specialized Terms
quantify (v)--- 量化 to measure or judge the size or amount of something