时间:2018-12-03 作者:英语课 分类:初学者听力文摘精选


英语课

The mathematical marriage predictor.



You might not think that mathematicians 2 have anything particularly relevant to say about your love life. But you'd be wrong--if we're talking about James Murray, a mathematician 1 at the University of Washington in Seattle who teamed up with Psychologist John Gottman to explore the rocky road of romance. Here's what the two did. They videotaped hundreds of volunteer couples discussing such things as sex and money. You know--the sorts of things on which everybody always agrees, right?



Then they broke down behavioral responses to these high-pressure discussions into recognizable groups, such as whether partner A can be persuaded by partner B, or whether partner A takes offense 3 when partner B makes a cutting remark. A set of equations was drawn 4 up that represented the interactions of these different factors in mathematical form, leading to...Ding!...a prediction as to whether this marriage would last.



Sound like a stretch? Think you can't possibly tell that much about a couple from a single interview and some calculations? Four years later Murray and Gottman did a follow-up to see whether the equation had made the right prediction. It sure had--their Mathematical Marriage Predictor was right an astonishing ninety-four percent of the time.



Some conspicuous 5 findings included the fact that, in marriages that lasted, laughing occurred five times more frequently than in couples destined 6 for break-up. The team also found that the one behavior that most consistently predicted divorce was the appearance of a contemptuous or mocking facial expression on one partner's face when the other one spoke 7. According to the Mathematical Marriage Predictor, it's "roll your eyes and say goodbyes."



1 mathematician
n.数学家
  • The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
  • The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。
2 mathematicians
数学家( mathematician的名词复数 )
  • Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? 你以为我们的数学家做不到这一点吗? 来自英汉文学
  • Mathematicians can solve problems with two variables. 数学家们可以用两个变数来解决问题。 来自哲学部分
3 offense
n.犯规,违法行为;冒犯,得罪
  • I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
  • His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。
4 drawn
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
5 conspicuous
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的
  • It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显,抽烟对健康有害。
  • Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。
6 destined
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的
  • It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
  • The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。
7 spoke
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
学英语单词
a smoking bimbo
A-team
acid fumarole
adhesive hair
Artur Schnabel
as safra
asterolecanium corallinum
autoradiolysis
autosynchronous motor
barmaid
battery-operated
be kidding
Becke test
bellisle
bitchwork
blue glazed porcelain
British Leyland Motor
bumbles
butylparaben
calcium-manganesesilicon alloy
cancerous wart
capitalist farming
clapping
competitive strategy
concussion grenades
condensed structural formula
consistence of reading
course to steer
crossly
current-carryings
cut sth out
Daphniphyllum yunnanense
deterrent options
digesting
dolny kubin
effectiveness of regenerator
filamentosas
friendshippers
general diffuse illumination
Germlayer
give sb. a dirty look
grand-slam home run
gun club cheek
half forward
hand control valve
Helendale
Hilton's muscle
hold state
horizontal development
Internet content provider
isohistoincompatibility
key switch
kitchen ranges
less-attractive
live up to something
loby
Margilon
mastostasis
microdosimetric
nephropyelitis
non-designated
off resistance
olistherozone
ornithogalum umbellatums
osteoarthrotomy
perform as
peshe
Pibor River (Pībor Wenz)
pivot-ball bearing
play to hard luck
postischemic papillary muscle rupture
pre-stretch
precision measuring tool
productive memory
receptual ly
reciprocating table
reigning winds direction
repose angle
scientific effort
seasoning matter
second flank
Sedum wilsonii
shrewd-headed
slitlets
spatchcock
spy novel
stalth
standard costs
sublevel set
surface treating agent
template frame
thirdness
thread chasing
triangulation base
tripotential
true critical property
ultimate yield
uneven subsidence
vapor lock index
venable
Zacapa, R.
zoophysiology