科学美国人60秒：已婚人士更易发福
燕山大学 刘立军 宋葳 编写
TRANSCRIPT
Bridget Jones, in print and on screen, called them the “Smug Marrieds” - the happy couples that seemed to have it all.
But maybe the fictional Jones should have called them the “Plump Marrieds.”
Because along with offering couples unbridled bliss, marriage can cause them to pack on some extra pounds.
That's according to a study in The Journal of Family Issues.
Sociologist Jay Teachman, at Western Washington University, examined data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth.
The data included info about more than 3,000 African Americans over a 20-year period.
Teachman tracked body-mass-index, BMI, a measure of obesity, from adolescence to middle age.
And he analyzed the relationship between BMI, marital status and changes in marital status.
It turned out that living without a partner usually equated to being thinner and having a lower BMI compared with married people and couples living together.
The single folks included the never-marrieds and divorced.
Both men and women gained weight but when it came to race, black women had the most rapid weight gain, followed by white women and then black and white men.
The weight gain was just a few pounds - but even a slightly higher BMI is associated with weight-related health issues.
Several reasons exist for the weight discrepancy between the single and married people. For example, married men and women may be less concerned about their body weight because they're no longer actively seeking a mate. Plus, married people have a regular dining partner, possibly leading to more meals. On the single side, those who are widowed or have gone through a divorce may lose weight due to stress.
So while this news may not be good for the smug marrieds, it may be welcomed by Bridget Jones.
The single, and very weight-conscious, Jones may actually have had the easier path to staying thin than her married friends.
VOCABULARY
1. bliss n. extreme happiness 极乐。例如：
- married / wedded / domestic bliss婚后的 / 家庭的幸福
- My idea of bliss is a month in the Bahamas. 我理想中的极乐是在巴哈马群岛度假一个月。
- Swimming on a hot day is sheer bliss. 热天游泳是天大的乐事。
2. be associated with: 和…联系在一起; 与…有关。例如：I don't want to be associated with your scheme; I'm contracting out. 我不想参与你们的计划, 我要退出。
3. discrepancy n. discrepancy (in sth.) | discrepancy (between A and B) a difference between two or more things that should be the same 差异；不符合；不一致。例如：
- wide discrepancies in prices quoted for the work这项工作的报价出入很大
- What are the reasons for the discrepancy between girls' and boys' performance in school? 女生和男生在学校表现不同的原因何在？
QUESTIONS
Read the statements. Then listen to the news and check (✔) the true or (✘) false statements.
- 1. The data included info about more than 3,000 African Americans over a 20-year period.
- 2. It turned out that living without a partner usually equated to being thinner and having a lower BMI compared with married people and couples living together.
- 3. The single folks included the never-marrieds and divorced.
- 4. Both men and women gained weight but when it came to race, white women had the most rapid weight gain, followed by black women and then black and white men.
- 5. The weight gain was just a few pounds - but even a slightly higher BMI is associated with weight-related health issues.
- 6. Married men and women may be less concerned about their body weight because they're no longer actively seeking a mate.
- 7. Married people have a regular dining partner, possibly leading to more meals.
- 8. Those people who are widowed or have gone through a divorce may gain weight due to stress.
KEY
✔1. The data included info about more than 3,000 African Americans over a 20-year period.
✔2. It turned out that living without a partner usually equated to being thinner and having a lower BMI compared with married people and couples living together.
✔3. The single folks included the never-marrieds and divorced.
✘4. Both men and women gained weight but when it came to race, white women had the most rapid weight gain, followed by black women and then black and white men. 正确表达：Both men and women gained weight but when it came to race, black women had the most rapid weight gain, followed by white women and then black and white men.
✔5. The weight gain was just a few pounds - but even a slightly higher BMI is associated with weight-related health issues.
✔6. Married men and women may be less concerned about their body weight because they're no longer actively seeking a mate.
✔ 7. Married people have a regular dining partner, possibly leading to more meals.
✘8. Those people who are widowed or have gone through a divorce may gain weight due to stress. 正确表达：Those people who are widowed or have gone through a divorce may lose weight due to stress.