David Beckham waves beside his wife Victoria at a party at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles July 22, 2007.
 
An unhealthy obsession¹ with celebrity² culture is damaging the academic success of British students, a survey of teachers found on Friday, with celebrity couple the Beckhams the favorite inspiration.

Many students are ignoring career aspirations³ to pursue the chance of fame instead, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) survey found.

Almost two-thirds of teachers said sports stars were the type of celebrity most pupils wanted to emulate⁴ while more than half of students wanted to be pop stars.

The celebrities⁵ students aspired⁶ to be most like, the survey said, were Los Angeles-based David and Victoria Beckham, arguably Britain's most famous couple.

Soccer player "Becks" topped the poll, with more than half the teachers saying their students modeled themselves on the 32 year-old. In second place, with almost a third of the poll's vote, was his 33 year-old wife and pop star "Posh."

In an era of reality television "stars" and a media fixation with celebrities, a majority of teachers said celebrity culture negatively impacted the aspirations of their pupils.

Almost half of the 300 teachers polled said pupils tried to look like and/or behave like celebrities they most admired, fuelling fears that girls particularly dressed in "unsuitable," or provocative⁷ styles.

"We are not surprised about infiltration⁸ of celebrity culture in schools -- it reflects the current media obsession with celebrity and the effect of celebrity culture on society as a whole," ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said in a statement.

"Celebrities can have a positive effect on pupils. They can raise pupils' aspirations and ambitions for the future.

"However ... celebrity culture can perpetuate⁹ the notion that celebrity status is the greatest achievement and reinforces the belief that other career options are not valuable."

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard ranked third on the favorites list with 26 percent, actress Keira Knightley finished fourth (25 percent).

Other celebrities on the list included U.S. heiress and socialite Paris Hilton (sixth) and Leona Lewis, a winner of Britain's "The X Factor" television talent show (ninth).

 
英国上周五公布的一项针对教师的调查发现，英国学生对明星的过度“痴迷”影响到了他们的学业。调查发现，“小贝”夫妇是英国学生最崇拜的明星。

这项由英国教师与讲师协会开展的调查发现，很多学生由于追逐“明星梦”而忽视了正常的成才之路。

近三分之二的教师称，大多数学生最想成为体育明星，一半以上的学生梦想成为流行歌星。

该调查称，学生们最渴望自己能成为贝克汉姆夫妇那样的名人。已移居美国洛杉矶的小贝和维多利亚堪称英国最著名的夫妇。

民调结果显示，足球巨星贝克汉姆最受学生崇拜，一半以上的受访教师称他们的学生以这位32岁的足球明星为榜样。小贝的爱妻、33岁的流行歌星“高贵辣妹” 以三分之一的得票率名列第二。

多数受访教师称，在电视选秀明星大行其道、媒体大肆宣传明星的今天，名人文化对学生的志向产生了不良影响。

在300名受访教师中，近一半的人称一些学生在外表或举止上效仿自己崇拜的明星，一些女孩着装“不当”或装扮过火，惹人担忧。

英国教师与讲师协会秘书长玛丽•鲍斯蒂德在一份声明中说：“明星文化深入校园其实并不奇怪——这体现了媒体过于关注名人的现状及名人文化对整个社会的影响。”

“名人可以给学生带来积极影响。他们能激励学生们梦想未来。”

“然而，名人文化也会助长一种错误观念，即‘成为明星才是最大成功，从事其它行业都没有价值’。”

切尔西中场球员弗兰克•兰帕德以26%的得票率成为第三大最受学生欢迎的明星，女星凯拉•奈特莉名列第四（25%）。

上榜的其他名人包括美国豪门女星、社交名媛帕里斯•希尔顿（第六位）及英国选秀节目“The X Factor”冠军莉欧娜•刘易斯（第九位）。

Vocabulary:

model on: 以……为榜样