【英语时差8,16】选择约会电影

 In this Moment of Science Don and Yael discuss a scientific way to choose the perfect date movie.   

Don: Okay, Yael, if you were me, would you take your date to a violent action flick¹ or a romantic movie?

Yael: A romance, of course.

D: Well, there might be some scientific basis for why romantic movies make for good dates. In one study, participants were asked to watch a romantic movie and a violent movie, and watching the romance stimulated² the viewers' "implicit³ affiliation⁴ motives⁵."

Y: What are those?

D: Their unconscious desire for close friendships. Plus, in men, watching the romance decreased their power motives, or their unconscious desire for dominance.

Y: I'll bet the opposite was true for the violent movie.

D: That's the neat part. Changes in implicit affiliation and power motives are associated with changes in hormone⁶ levels. For example, the viewers who watched the romantic movie experienced a temporary increase in progesterone levels. But with the violent movie, things were more complicated.

Y: How so?

D: The reaction to the violent movie seemed to depend on the amount of testosterone the subjects--both men and women--had in their blood before watching the movie. Men who started out with high testosterone levels and power motives experienced the biggest increase in both. In contrast, women with higher pre-movie testosterone levels and power motives experienced a drop in both, while women with lower testosterone levels became downright uncomfortable.

Y: Weird⁷.

D: While this might have to do with the minor⁸ role of female characters in the particular violent movie the researchers selected, this study still helps explain why certain people are drawn⁹ to certain types of movies. So as far as the ideal date movie goes, until you check out your partner's video collection, it's probably safest just to go with a romance.  

1 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

2 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

3 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

4 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

5 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

6 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

7 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• 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。