慢慢爱：疫情如何影响谈恋爱？
在这个快节奏的社会里，似乎什么都来得快去得也快。而这次的疫情，某种程度上让一切都慢了起来，包括爱情：隔离延长了情侣相互了解的过程，从一时冲动变成细水长流。事实上，对于恋爱两年到12年的人来说，他们之间更能产生依恋感，从而增加感情的持久度。疫情是何如正面影响爱情的呢？
How Coronavirus Is Changing the Dating Game for the Better
当前，疫情是如何让约会变更好的呢
By Helen Fisher
As a biological anthropologist who has spent some 40 years studying romantic love around the world and the brain circuitry of this ancient and universal human passion, I’ve come to recognize that in some ways, coronavirus has given you a gift.
作为一名生物人类学家，我花了大约40年的时间研究世界各地的浪漫爱情，以及与这种古老而普遍的人类情感关联的大脑回路，我已经意识到，从某些方面来说，疫情送了你一份礼物。
There’s a long-term payoff to this current lockdown: It’s extending the “getting to know you” process.
就目前的封锁来说，它带来的一个长期回报是：延长了“了解你”的过程。
From the evolutionary perspective, slow love is adaptive — because the human brain is soft-wired to attach to a partner slowly. Men and women who’ve been madly in love for up to 18 months show activity in brain regions associated with intense romantic passion. But those who’ve been in love for two to 12 years and had recently decided to marry showed activity in an additional brain region associated with pair-bonding and attachment in other mammals.
从发展的角度来看，“慢爱”是相互适应的产物——因为人类大脑与伴侣联结起来的这个过程，是后天慢慢形成的。对于热恋长达18个月的男女，他们大脑中与强烈的浪漫情欲关联的区域，是呈活动状态的。而对于那些已经恋爱两年到12年且最近决定结婚的人来说，在他们的大脑中，与配偶关系和依恋之情相关的区域，也会呈现出活动状态，这和其他哺乳动物一样。
This virus is probably delaying matrimony, too. Data on 80 societies that I’ve collected via the Demographic Yearbooks of the United Nations between 1947 and 2011 indicate that the later you wed, the more likely you are to remain married.
这次疫情还可能会推迟婚姻。我通过联合国1947年至2011年的人口统计年鉴，收集了来自80个社会群体的数据。数据表明，结婚越晚，就越有可能维持婚姻关系。
Bizarre as it sounds, this pandemic may lead to happier and more enduring partnerships in the post-corona age.
虽然听起来很奇怪，但这次疫情可能会为后新冠时代带来更愉快、更持久的关系。
生词好句
1.change sth. for the better 把某事往好的方向推进/改善 Going back to gym has changed my sleep for the better.
恢复锻炼使我的睡眠质量得到了改善。 2.a biological anthropologist 生物人类学家 biological adj. 生物的
anthropologist n. 人类学家
economist n. 经济学家
educationalist n. 教育学家
scientist n. 科学家
3.in some ways 某种意义上来讲
4.brain circuitry 大脑回路
5.a long-term payoff 一个长期的回报 payoff n. 收获，回报
pay off 回报
Life-long learning will pay off eventually.
终身学习最终是会有回报的。
The payoff will be a better self.
回报将是一个更好的自己。
in the long-term/in the long run 长期来看
6.extend UK /ɪkˈstend/ US /ɪkˈstend/ vt. 延长 Our vacation got extended several times.
我们的假期数次延长。
7.be soft-wired to do sth. 后天习得某事（be trained to do sth.） hardwired adj. 本能的（born with）
8.the brain region associated with 跟……有关联的大脑区域 the brain region associated with movements
跟运动有关的大脑区域
9.pair-bonding n. 配对/偶关系 bond v. 建立关系（getting connected, building relationships）
10.delay UK /dɪˈleɪ/ US /dɪˈleɪ/ vt. 推迟 delay my departure 推迟（我的）启程时间
11.wed UK /wed/ US /wed/ vi. 结婚
12.bizarre UK /bɪˈzɑːr/ US /bəˈzɑːr/ adj. 奇怪的，匪夷所思的，反认知的
13.post-corona age 后新冠时代
