VOA慢速英语2010年-Health Report - What a Couple's Arguin

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Rachel Valltos and Evan Sapperstein are dentists who share an office and a life together. In nine years of marriage, they have built not just a successful dental practice, but also a family.

Rachel and Evan laugh about the last time they argued at their Washington-area home. He wanted her attention. So did one of their three children. Evan yelled at the child.

Rachel told Evan that he was the one acting¹ like a baby. That only brought more yelling, which Rachel ignored.

RACHEL VALLTOS: "In the heat of the argument, I usually will back away because I want to avoid confrontation² in front of the children. But I always have plans to go back and have a discussion about it later."

Rachel and Evan made peace. But researchers might describe the way she dealt with the argument at first as a withdrawal³ strategy.

A team at the University of Michigan recently published a study of how married couples fight. They also looked at how different "styles" of arguing might predict the future of a marriage.

The findings appeared in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

Rachel Valltos and Evan Sapperstein

The study followed three hundred seventy-three couples over sixteen years. Forty-six percent of them had divorced by the final year in two thousand two.

The couples were asked at four different times to report on their most recent conflict. First, they had to agree on which conflict was their most recent.

The husbands and wives each had to choose from a list of behaviors to describe the strategies they used. The list included behaviors like calm discussion, listening and trying hard to find out the other person's feelings.

The list also included behaviors like yelling, using insults, walking away or not communicating -- in other words, the silent treatment.

Assistant professor Kira Birditt led the study.

KIRA BIRDITT: "The husbands were more likely to use the constructive⁴ strategies like discussing the problem, finding solutions, and wives were more likely to use those destructive or withdrawal strategies."

But Professor Birditt says the study found that over time, wives became less destructive in the way they argued. Husbands stayed the same.

KIRA BIRDITT: "It looked like wives got better at dealing⁵ with conflict over time using the fewer destructive and withdrawal strategies."

She says the researchers also found that different combinations of strategies may help predict whether a couple will stay together. The chances decrease if only one partner uses constructive strategies.

KIRA BIRDITT: "Try as you might to use the constructive strategy, you have to have both partners using that strategy."

So now back to Evan and Rachel. We spoke⁶ with Doctor Sapperstein just after he finished a long, difficult root canal on a patient. If he had to choose between another operation like that or a fight with his wife?

EVAN SAPPERSTEIN: "Oh, definitely, the root canal."

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁷. I'm Jim Tedder
 

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 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

参考例句：

• 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。

7 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。