Science Gets Serious With Love 爱的化学式
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2006年3月10日
- 最后更新于 2023年12月18日
- 发布于 2011年10月08日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：576
課文朗讀
課文中英文講解
Love is a curious thing. We all crave it, and many of us think we can’t live without it. The more romantic among us even like to think that once we find it, love can last forever. Italian scientists, however, say that it just isn’t the case.
爱情是个奇妙的东西。我们都渴望拥有它，许多人更认为没了爱情就活不下去。我们当中那些比较浪漫的人甚至希望一旦找到爱情，便能天长地久。然而，意大利科学家们却表示，事实并非如此。
Researchers have long known that chemical changes happen in the brain when we fall in love. The breakthrough in the Italian research was to pinpoint some of the chemicals and to measure them over time. The results show that when we fall in love, our brain generates exceptional levels of nerve growth factor (NGF). NGF is believed to produce the intoxication we feel when we fall truly, madly, deeply in love.
研究人员很久以前就已知当人们陷入爱河时，大脑会发生化学变化。意大利的这项研究的突破是在准确指出特定的化学分子并长期测量其变化。结果显示，当我们坠入情网时，大脑会释放异常数量的神经生长因子。一般认为神经生长因子会引发当我们真正地、疯狂地、深深地恋爱时的陶醉感受。
About a year after falling in love, however, NGF levels do an about-face and return to normal. For romantics, this news is the kiss of death, but from an evolutionary perspective, it makes a lot of sense. NGF-produced euphoria helps us to bond with a mate. However, once we’ve bonded (and possibly tied the knot and had a child), NGF levels go back to normal to let us get on with everyday life, such as making a living.
然而，当爱情持续了一年之后，神经生长因子的数量会有180度大转变，并且回归正常值。对浪漫派的人来说，这项消息无疑是个死亡之吻。但从进化的角度来看，这是有其道理的。神经生长因子所产生的幸福感促使我们跟另一半深入交往。然而两人一旦深交(可能一踏入礼堂、有了小孩)，神经生长因子会回复到正常值，好让我们回归日常的生活面，例如养家活口。
The only good news for romantics is that even when the fireworks stop, something deep and meaningful remains. And this truly is the basis of any love that will last the ages.
对浪漫派的人来说，唯一正面的消息是纵使激情火花不再，还是有些深刻的、有意义的东西会留下来，而这正是爱情能天长地久的原因。
−By Murray Walker & Robert Kelly
Vocabulary
breakthrough [ˋbrek͵θru] n. 突破
pinpoint [ˋpɪn͵pɔɪnt] v. 准确地确定
exceptional [ɪkˋsɛpʃən!] adj. 异常的；特殊的
evolutionary [͵ɛvəˋluʃən͵ɛrɪ] adj. 发展的；进化的
perspective [pɚˋspɛktɪv] n. 看法，观点
More Information
crave [krev] v. 渴望获得；迫切需要
case [kes] n. 实情
intoxication [ɪn͵tɑksəˋkeʃən] n. 陶醉
about-face: [əˋbaʊt͵fes] n.（立场、观点等的）彻底改变；变卦 a total change of attitude or viewpoint
kiss of death: 死亡之吻（表面上看来无害而实际上具毁灭性的事物或行为）something that is ultimately ruinous, destructive, or fatal
euphoria [juˋforɪə] n. 心情愉快；兴奋
get on: 过日子; 进展; 进步 to survive and carry on