The newest U.S. texting champion has a message for parents across the land—although they might not want to hear it. "Let your kid text during dinner! Let your kid text during school! It pays off," 15-year-old Kate Moore said after winning the LG U.S. National Texting Championship. For the Des Moines, Iowa, teenager, her 14,000 texts-per-month habit reaped its own rewards, landing her the competition prize of US$50,000 just eight months after she got her first cell phone. Moore, with a speedy and accurate performance, beat out 20 other finalists from around the U.S. over two days of challenges such as texting blindfolded and texting while maneuvering through a moving obstacle course. The teen dismisses the idea that she focuses too much on virtual communications, saying that while she has sometimes had her phone taken away from her in school, she keeps good grades, performs in school plays and socializes with friends—in person—on the weekends. In between, she finds time to send about 400 to 470 texts a day. Moore also enjoys using text messages while studying with friends for exams, which she says is done better by text because she can look back at the messages to review. It's the third year for the texting competition, sponsored by LG Electronics Inc.'s mobile-phones division. to pay off (心血、努力)有了收穫或沒(méi)有白費(fèi) to reap (v.) 獲得;收穫 cell phone 手機(jī) accurate (adj.) 準(zhǔn)確的;正確的 to maneuver (v.) 行動(dòng);移動(dòng) obstacle (n.) 障礙;阻礙 to dismiss (v.) 駁斥;摒棄 to be taken away from 沒(méi)收;拿走 to look back 回顧;回頭看 to be sponsored by 由…資助或贊助