BBC：如何找到理想伴侣？|外刊精读

原文音频

外刊原文

BBC

Looking for the perfect partner

I'm sure we all remember a time when we fell in love. For some it was a gradual realisation that the person you knew was actually amazing. For others, it was love at first sight – an instant lightning-bolt moment that you knew you'd met your perfect match.

What is it that makes someone instantly love someone? Physical attraction is an obvious answer but there are other reasons that can create affection for someone; compatibility, personality and a good sense of humour to name just a few.

But according to one expert, there is a more scientific explanation. Dr Anna Machin, an Evolutionary Anthropologist at the University of Oxford says men look for signs of fertility and good health in a partner "and the major indicator of that in women is the waist-hip ratio… the absolute ideal." This is believed to be 0.7 which is "really your classic hourglass figure." And what do women look for in men? Well other experts have discovered they look for men who are taller, with broad shoulders and a relatively narrow waist – so a 'V' shaped torso.

If you're worried your figure isn't the perfect shape, there could be other factors that will cause someone to fall head over heels in love with you – people also use their sense of smell to sniff out their ideal mate. Apparently, we can detect whether people are genetically different to us by the way they smell.

Even if a potential partner's smell is a passion-killer, their facial expressions might make you infatuated with them. According to Professor David Perrett, at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at St Andrews University, "we can change our faces by interacting with others and doing so in a pleasant manner, and that will aid our attractiveness and make others interested in us."

So it's good to know there are many reasons why we might be smitten with someone, but there is a problem; will the feeling be mutual and if it is, how long will it last? Nothing is guaranteed and, we know from Shakespeare, the course of true love never ran smoothly!

(The End)

精读笔记

BBC

Looking for the perfect partner

I'm sure we all remember a time when we fell in love . For some it was a gradual realisation that the person you knew was actually amazing. For others, it was love at first sight – an instant lightning-bolt moment that you knew you'd met your perfect match .

• love at first sight 一见钟情 顺便 分享一句很可爱的话 Do you believe in love at first sight? Or should I walk by again? 😄

• an instant lightning-bolt moment a bolt of lightning 指一道闪电， an instant lightning-bolt moment 类似于中文所说的“电光火石的瞬间”， 在文中用于形容一 见钟情、怦然心动感觉。

• a perfect match 天生一对，非常般配的一对 比如 The two of them made/are a perfect match. 他们俩非常般配。

What is it that makes someone instantly love someone? Physical attraction is an obvious answer but there are other reasons that can create affection for someone; compatibility , personality and a good sense of humour to name just a few.

• compatibility [kəmpætəˈbɪlɪti] n.[U] the ability to have a good relationship with someone because you have similar interests, ideas etc 〔因相似的兴趣、观念等而产生的〕协调，和谐

• to name just a few/ to name but a few 略举几例

But according to one expert, there is a more scientific explanation. Dr Anna Machin, an Evolutionary Anthropologist at the University of Oxford says men look for signs of fertility and good health in a partner "and the major indicator of that in women is the waist-hip ratio … the absolute ideal." This is believed to be 0.7 which is "really your classic hourglass figure ." And what do women look for in men? Well other experts have discovered they look for men who are taller, with broad shoulders and a relatively narrow waist – so a 'V' shaped torso.

• the waist-hip ratio 简称为 WHR ， 是指腰围和臀围的比例，数值等于腰围除以臀围。

• 腰臀比与一般健康和生育能力有极大关连，腰臀比例约0.9的男性较少出现前列腺癌和睾丸癌，而腰臀比例约0.7的女性具有最佳的雌激素水平，较少出现糖尿病、心血管疾病和卵巢癌。腰臀比例也是一个衡量女性吸引力的重要因素，有学者认为腰臀比例较胸腰比例（BWR）更能反映雌激素水平。我们熟悉的梨型身材、苹果型身材就是基于腰臀比划分的，如图：
  

• 我们在纽约时报 Our Mothers as We Never Saw Them 这篇文章中也遇到过，作者在描述一张她妈妈的照片：I haven’t seen this photo for years, I have no idea where it is now, but I still think of it — and, specifically, my mom in it. She looks really sexy; wars have been waged over less impressive waist-to-hip ratios.

• an hourglass figure hourglass 是沙漏，像沙漏一样的身材，就是前凸后翘，丰乳肥臀的身材

• a 'V' shaped torso V字 型身材

If you're worried your figure isn't the perfect shape, there could be other factors that will cause someone to fall head over heels in love with you – people also use their sense of smell to sniff out their ideal mate . Apparently, we can detect whether people are genetically different to us by the way they smell.

• be/fall head o ver heels in love with sb to love or suddenly start to love someone very much 深深地爱着 / 爱上〔某人〕 ◇Sam was head over heels in love with his new bride. 萨姆深深地爱着他的新娘。

• sniff out sth 本义是“嗅出”，引申为“觉察出，发现” (to find out or discover something) ，比如 ◇Journalists are good at sniffing out a scandal. 做记者的善于发现丑闻。

• ideal mate 与文章第一段出现的 perfect match 以及标题中的 the perfect partner 互为同义替换

Even if a potential partner's smell is a passion-killer , their facial expressions might make you infatuated with them. According to Professor David Perrett, at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at St Andrews University, "we can change our faces by interacting with others and doing so in a pleasant manner, and that will aid our attractiveness and make others interested in us."

• facial expressions 面部表情

• be infatuated with sb/sth If you are infatuated with a person or thing, you have strong feelings of love or passion for them which make you unable to think clearly or sensibly about them 迷恋某人 / 某物

• in a…manner 以…方式 pleasant在这里相当于friendly, in a pleasant manner指“友好地”

• 同样表示“以…方式”的表达还有：

• in a ... fashion in a particular way 以...方式 ◇Please leave the building in an orderly fashion. 请大家有秩序地离开大楼。

• [ 经济学人 ] Social media mean that news of scandals spreads faster than ever and often in an exaggerated fashion . 社交媒体的盛行让丑闻的传播速度比以往任何时候都更快，且往往被添油加醋。

• in a ... way 以