经济学人179:面相学 面对真相

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Physiognomy

　　面相学

　　Facing the truth

　　面对真相

　　Why a man's face can lie but still produce orgasms

　　一个男性的面相为什么可以说谎，但尽管如此仍能带来高潮

　　Who are you calling a wide-boy?

　　你称之为宽脸男孩的人是谁？

　　THESE days, physiognomy is an unfashionable science.

　　如今面相学是过时的学科。

　　The idea that character is etched into an individual's face is so much at variance¹ with modern notions of free will that research in the area dwindled² long ago.

　　人的性格特征蚀刻在脸上这一想法跟现代自由抉择的观念差异很大，而现代自由抉择观念的研究领域很久以前就缩小了。

　　But it is making a tentative comeback.

　　不过人们一直在试验性质地从事这项研究。

　　Two recent studies of faces suggest that their features do matter, biologically speaking: they can predict dishonesty and they can provoke orgasm.

　　最近两项面相研究表明，从生物学上来讲，面部特征的确至关重要：面相可以预测不诚实，面相也能挑起高潮。

　　The study on dishonesty was done by Michael Haselhuhn and Elaine Wong of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and is published in the Proceedings³ of the Royal Society.

　　对不诚实的研究是由威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校的迈克尔?哈泽尔胡恩和埃莱讷?黄进行的，并发表在《英国皇家学会会刊》上。

　　Dr Haselhuhn and Dr Wong wondered if a feature already known to reflect aggressiveness in men might also predict a tendency to lie and cheat.

　　哈泽尔胡恩博士和黄博士想知道一个已知反映男性有侵略性的特征是否也能预测该人具有说谎和欺骗的倾向。

　　That feature is the ratio of a face's width to its length.

　　这个特征就是面部的宽长比。

　　The wider a man's face, the more likely he will hit you.

　　一个男人的脸越宽，他越有可能打你。

　　Honest signals of aggressiveness make sense.

　　侵略性的诚实信号是有意义的。

　　Potential victims avoid starting fights they cannot win, while the aggressive get their way without risking injury.

　　潜在的受害者可以避免开始他们无法取胜的战斗，而有侵略性的一方不用担心会犯有伤害罪。

　　It does not, however, obviously make sense to give away in advance of a negotiation⁴ that you are likely to lie or cheat in it.

　　然而，在谈判进行之前先行放弃显然没有意义，你可能会在谈判中说谎或欺骗。

　　Yet Dr Haselhuhn and Dr Wong found this was the case.

　　而哈泽尔胡恩博士和黄博士发现的就是这种情形。

　　In both a staged negotiation using MBA students and a separate experiment in which ordinary undergraduates were given an opportunity to earn more money if they misreported the results of a series of die rolls,

　　在启用企业管理硕士进行的谈判中，以及在普通大学生如果错误报告一系列滚筒模的结果就有机会赚更多钱的单独试验中，

　　the two researchers found that the wider a man's face was, compared with its height, the more likely he was to lie about his intentions or cheat.

　　两位研究人员发现，一个男人的脸部同高度比越宽，他越有可能掩饰他的意图或欺骗。

　　That did not, however, apply to women.

　　不过，这并不适用于女性。

　　The probable explanation is that the advantage of being seen, reliably, as aggressive outweighs⁵ the disadvantage of being, predictably, a cheat and a liar⁶.

　　可能的解释就是，被可靠地视为有侵略性的好处比预测出骗子和说谎者的坏处要来得重要。

　　Also, the fear of retaliation⁷ provoked by aggressiveness means victims of cheating and lying might not want to push the point anyway,

　　此外，欺骗和说谎的受害者因为害怕该人的侵略性促成的报复，可能无论如何都不想推知这点，

　　and might thus be willing to concede a certain amount of slippage in their negotiating position, knowing full well what is going on.

　　且可能因为非常了解会发生什么事，于是愿意在谈判立场上退让到一定限度。

　　Since women rarely use violence to get their way, they do not evolve such signals.

　　由于妇女很少使用暴力达到目的，所以她们没有进化出这样的信号。

　　The likelihood of a link between men's faces and women's orgasms is more obvious than that between faces and cheating,

　　男性的面相和女性的高潮之间存在联系的可能性比面相和欺骗之间存在联系的可能性更明显，

　　but is nevertheless significant.

　　但仍然是重要的。

　　In a study to be published in Evolution and Human Behavior,

　　即将发表在《进化与人类行为》上的一项研究中，

　　David Puts and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University found what you might expect—that sex with a good-looking man is more likely to result in orgasm than sex with a minger.

　　宾夕法尼亚州立大学的大卫?普茨和他的同事们发现了你可能会料到的事。

　　What this means is that good-looking men are even more likely to conceive children than was previously⁸ believed.

　　这意味着，好看的男人比人们以前所认为的更有可能拥有孩子。

　　Obviously, the handsome have more mating opportunities than the ugly.

　　跟一个好看的男子发生性关系比跟一个丑八怪发生性关系更有可能会达到高潮。显然，英俊的人比丑陋的人有更多的做爱机会。

　　But if they more often bring a woman to orgasm, as well, each of those opportunities is more likely to result in conception,

　　除了他们更经常地让女性达到高潮，每次这样的机会也都更有可能导致受孕，

　　because contractions⁹ of the cervix and vagina during orgasm transport semen deeper into the reproductive tract¹⁰.

　　因为高潮期子宫颈和阴道的收缩把精液更深地送入了生殖道。

　　And that is what Dr Puts found.

　　这就是普茨博士所发现的。

　　He and his team recruited 70 couples and asked the women how they rated their men's masculinity and attractiveness,

　　他和他的小组招募了70对夫妇，询问妇女她们如何评价自己男人的阳刚之气和吸引力，

　　and how often and when they orgasmed.

　　以及她们什么时候达到高潮、持续多久。

　　They also asked independent observers to rate the men's faces, and found broad agreement with the ratings from partners.

　　他们还要求独立的观察员评价男性的面相，并发现观察员的评价与来自配偶的评价大体上一致。

　　As they predicted, women whose menfolk had attractive, masculine faces orgasmed more often during intercourse¹¹.

　　正如他们所预测的，对丈夫有吸引力的女性来说，男性化的面孔更经常地让她们在做爱时达到高潮。

　　They did not, by contrast, orgasm more frequently during masturbation or other sexual activity.

　　相反，在手淫或其它性活动时她们不会频繁达到高潮。

　　The extra orgasms also came at the same time as the man's climax—just when they would do the most good for conception.

　　在男性达到高潮的同时女性也会出现额外的高潮，正好遇到他们这样时最有利于受孕。

　　Women are thus choosing which men father their children not only in whom they take to bed, but in how they react to them, sexually.

　　因此，妇女选择哪些男性做孩子的父亲，不仅在于她们会带谁上床，而且也在于她们对男性在性方面反应如何。

　　The consequence, since looks are inherited, is that their sons, too, will be sexy.

　　因为相貌是遗传的，结果他们的儿子也是性感的。

　　Whether they will be cheats and liars¹² is another matter.

　　他们是否会是骗子和说谎者又是另一回事。

　　1.physiognomy n.相面术；外貌；地貌

　　His eyes were good, but otherwise there was nothing remarkable¹³ in his physiognomy.

　　他的眼睛长得好,其它方面倒也别无特别突出的地方。

　　2.tentative a.不确定的；暂时的；试验性质的

　　He still held a tentative relationship with Mary.

　　他还和玛丽保持着若即若离的关系。

　　3.feature n.特征；特色；容貌

　　Their candor¹⁴ is a very pleasing feature.

　　他们的坦白是很愉快的特征。

　　4.aggressive a.侵略的；进攻性的；好斗的

　　He has an aggressive manner.

　　他的态度咄咄逼人。

　　5.victim n.受害者；受骗者

　　Think of yourself as a survivor¹⁵, not a victim.

　　把自己看作幸运儿,不要看作受害者。

1 variance   

n.矛盾，不同

参考例句：

• The question of woman suffrage sets them at variance. 妇女参政的问题使他们发生争执。
• It is unnatural for brothers to be at variance. 兄弟之间不睦是不近人情的。

2 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

5 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句

6 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

7 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 contractions   

n.收缩( contraction的名词复数 )；缩减；缩略词；（分娩时）子宫收缩

参考例句：

• Contractions are much more common in speech than in writing. 缩略词在口语里比在书写中常见得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Muscle contractions are powered by the chemical adenosine triphosphate(ATP ). 肌肉收缩是由化学物质三磷酸腺苷(ATP)提供动力的。 来自辞典例句

10 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

11 intercourse   

n.性交；交流，交往，交际

参考例句：

• The magazine becomes a cultural medium of intercourse between the two peoples.该杂志成为两民族间文化交流的媒介。
• There was close intercourse between them.他们过往很密。

12 liars   

说谎者( liar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest liars talk most of themselves. 最爱自吹自擂的人是最大的说谎者。
• Honest boys despise lies and liars. 诚实的孩子鄙视谎言和说谎者。

13 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

14 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。

15 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。