Short attention span meaning in English

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Definition

a span (of several weeks): a period, a duration, a spell, a term (of several weeks) noun

to have a short attention span: to not be able to concentrate or pay attention for very long idiom

Examples

"Americans are immersed in a culture of instant gratification and short attention spans."

Exercise 1

Enriqué expresses many opinions during his debate with Brent. What are they? Select all of the statements that apply.

There are many advertising breaks on American television.

Americans can't concentrate for long periods of time.

Americans drink too much beer.

Americans are accustomed to sports with a fast tempo and big scores.

Enriqué expresses many opinions during his debate with Brent. What are they? Select all of the statements that apply.

There are many advertising breaks on American television.

This is correct. Enriqué says "Your television programs are interrupted by hundreds of commercials telling you what to buy and what to think". A "commercial" is an advertisement (or "ad") for television or radio (often to promote products and services). The periods when "commercials" are shown are often called "breaks", as they are "interruptions".

Americans can't concentrate for long periods of time.

This is correct. Enriqué says "Americans are immersed in a culture of instant gratification and short attention spans". To have a "short attention span" is to have a very small capacity to concentrate, or the ability to concentrate only for short periods of time. To say that America is "immersed in a culture of instant gratification" is to say that Americans are used to immediate satisfaction of their desires.

Americans drink too much beer.

This is incorrect. Enriqué says "it's no surprise that you can't concentrate on anything longer than a beer commercial". This does not mean that Enriqué thinks that Americans drink too much beer.

Americans are accustomed to sports with a fast tempo and big scores.

This is correct. Enriqué says "Americans are used to high-scoring, fast-paced sports like basketball and American football." If you are accustomed to (football), you are used to (football) or habituated to (football). "Pace" is synonymous with "tempo", so a "fast-paced (sport)" is a sport that is played rapidly.

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