考研英語時(shí)文賞讀（89）：離婚概率也能通過公式來精確計(jì)算？

　　摘要：考研英語作為一門考研公共課，雖然大家都學(xué)了英語十幾年，卻仍經(jīng)常有總分過線掛在英語上的情況，因此英語復(fù)習(xí)不單單是單詞、做題。閱讀作為考研英語的大頭，僅僅做考研真題或許沒法滿足你的閱讀量，因此幫幫之后會(huì)不定時(shí)推出一篇英文美文，這些文章都與考研英語閱讀同源，多讀必有好處。

　　The Math Behind Successful Relationships

　　成功關(guān)系背后蘊(yùn)含的數(shù)學(xué)原理

　　Nearly 30 years ago, a mathematician and a psychologist teamed up to explore one of life’s enduring mysteries: What makes some marriages happy and some miserable?

　　大約30年前，一位數(shù)學(xué)家和一位心理學(xué)家共同開始探討一個(gè)永恒的人生謎題：為何有的婚姻幸福，而有的婚姻不幸福？

　　The psychologist, John Gottman, wanted to craft a tool to help him better counsel troubled couples. The mathematician, James Murray, specialized in modeling biological processes. It was a match made in heaven.

　　心理學(xué)家約翰·戈特曼想要設(shè)計(jì)一種工具，以便更好地為那些陷入婚姻危機(jī)的夫妻提供咨詢。數(shù)學(xué)家詹姆斯·穆雷則專注于生物學(xué)過程的建模。兩人簡(jiǎn)直就是天造地設(shè)的一對(duì)拍檔。

　　The pair decided to create a mathematical model to quantify how couples interact and influence each other during an argument. The results helped Dr Gottman visualize the dynamics of a marriage and measure the impact of therapy.

　　他們決定開發(fā)一套數(shù)學(xué)模型來量化夫妻間在爭(zhēng)論時(shí)的互動(dòng)以及對(duì)彼此的影響。戈特曼根據(jù)研究結(jié)果將婚姻狀態(tài)以可視化形式呈現(xiàn)出來，并以此衡量婚姻咨詢治療的效果。

　　The approach also proved to be shockingly accurate at predicting which couples would divorce. “We got actual numbers we could compute,” Dr Gottman said. “We could see how the partners influence each other.”

　　結(jié)果還表明，這一算法可以高度準(zhǔn)確地預(yù)測(cè)哪些夫婦將會(huì)離婚。戈特曼說：“我們能得出可供計(jì)算的準(zhǔn)確數(shù)值，我們可以看到夫妻間是如何相互影響的。”

　　Their subjects initially included 130 couples who had applied for marriage licenses in King County, where, at the time, the professors taught at the University of Washington in Seattle. Some of the couples were newlyweds, others were about to be married, and each pair was videotaped for three 15-minute conversations.

　　他們最初的研究對(duì)象是130對(duì)在華盛頓金縣申請(qǐng)結(jié)婚登記的夫妻。當(dāng)時(shí)，兩人都在華盛頓大學(xué)西雅圖分校任教。他們的研究對(duì)象一部分是新婚夫婦，另一些則是即將結(jié)婚的情侶他們會(huì)和每對(duì)伴侶進(jìn)行三次長達(dá)15分鐘的交流并全程錄像。

　　In one exchange, the couples were instructed to talk about their day. In another they were told to talk about something positive. And in the third, they were asked to talk about something contentious. The topic didn’t matter—it could be about money, sex, food, in-laws or anything else—as long as they disagreed.

　　在第一次交流中，研究人員讓夫婦二人談?wù)撍麄円惶斓慕?jīng)歷，第二次要求談?wù)摲e極的話題，第三次則是談?wù)撚袪?zhēng)議性的話題。話題是什么不重要（可以是錢、性、食物、姻親或其他任何話題），只要是雙方意見不一致即可。

　　The contentious exchange proved to be the most predictive. The couple’s interactions were scored by two independent observers who rated every emotion in the exchange.

　　結(jié)果證明，具有爭(zhēng)論性的交流（即第三次交流）是最具預(yù)測(cè)價(jià)值的。有兩位獨(dú)立觀察員對(duì)夫妻的互動(dòng)過程進(jìn)行評(píng)估，對(duì)互動(dòng)過程中的每一種情緒分別打分。

　　Altogether, 16 different emotions were coded. At one end of the spectrum, contempt, the most corrosive emotion, according to Dr Gottman, was scored -4. At the other end, shared humor, one of the best ways to defuse tension, he said, was scored +4.

　　評(píng)分體系一共覆蓋了16種情緒。戈特曼表示，最低分為-4分，代表最具毀滅性的情緒，即輕蔑；最高分為+4分，表現(xiàn)為共有的幽默，是最能緩解矛盾的情緒。

　　“They both have to be laughing together,” Dr Gottman said. “A lot of contempt happens with one person laughing and the other person looking stunned. That’s a minus 4.”

　　戈特曼表示：“只有兩人一起笑出來才能得最高分，而如果只有一個(gè)人在笑，另外一個(gè)人神情驚愕，便會(huì)產(chǎn)生很多輕蔑的情緒，就只能得-4分。”

　　(全文共334個(gè)詞，華爾街日?qǐng)?bào))

　　?重難點(diǎn)詞匯：

　　miserable  adj. 悲慘的；痛苦的；卑鄙的

　　specialize  vi. 專門從事；詳細(xì)說明；特化 vt. 使專門化；使適應(yīng)特殊情況；詳細(xì)說明

　　dynamics  n. 動(dòng)力學(xué)，力學(xué)

　　instruct  vt. 指導(dǎo)；通知；命令；教授

　　contempt  n. 輕視，蔑視；恥辱

　　corrosive  adj. 腐蝕的；侵蝕性的 n. 腐蝕物

　　defuse  vt. 平息；去掉…的雷管；使除去危險(xiǎn)性

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