Expensive:The cost of finding love is,on average,two inner circle friends,scientists have found.

Ever found yourself dumped (度弃的) by a friend embarking (着手,开始做) on a romance? Don't worry,you're probably not the only one. For according to Oxford University scientists,every time we start a relationship we jettison (抛弃,丢弃) two of our closest friends.

Most of us simply don't have enough time for intimate (密切的) friendships with more than four or five people,their research shows.

And a new love interest leads to two friends being pushed out of the inner circle.

Professor Robin Dunbar,one of Britain's leading experts in evolutionary biology,ex?plained:"If you go into a romantic relationship it actually costs you two friends in that inner core of relationships."

"Instead of having the typical five friends,they only have four in that inner circle. And bearing in mind that one of those is the new person that has come into your life,it means you have to give up two others."

Men tend to have four or five intimate friends,women five or six,he said.

However,men were just as likely to jettison friends at the start of a new romantic attach?ment (情感) as women,found the study of those aged 18 to 60.

"Your attention is so wholly focused on the romantic partners,you just don't get to see the other folks you had a lot to do with before”,the professor told the British Science Festival in Birmingham. " Those relationships start to deteriorate."

But it's not just romance that can push out close friends,he explained. Children or buying a dog can have the same effect.

"You can only have five slots (位置) for deeply intense and meaningful relations. Those in?dividuals don't have to be human. They can be your dog or your favourite chrysanthemum (菊花) plant. They can be people in an entirely fictional world,they can be soap opera characters. They can be God or they can be saints."

(   ) 5. Which of these behaviors can't we jettison our cldse friends?

   A. Giving a birth to a baby. B. Planting some flowers.

   C. Raising a puppy. D. Living the normal life.

(   ) 6. What does the underlined sentence really mean?

   A. Men,as well as women,are likely to push out close friends when starting a new romance.

   B. Men but not women are likely to push out close friends at very beginning of a new romance.

   C. Women don't do like man to push out close friends when starting a new romance.

   D. Both men and women are not likely to behave the same.

(   ) 7. According to the context,guess the meaning of the underlined word "deteriorate".

   A. Grow worse. B. Become better. C. Go upward. D. Turn down.

(   ) 8. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

   A. Only with humans can one maintain deeply intense and meaningful relations.

   B. Dogs and planting some chrysanthemum can't make one push out close friends.

   C. Limited slots for deep relations and easy to be occupied.

   D. The more slots you have,the more intense and meaningful relations you get.

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