ESL Podcast 421 – Internet Dating

Kevin: I know a lot of people are doing it, but I’m not so sure about trying an Internet dating service.

Eun: What do you have to lose? This website says that it screens all of its members. Let’s look at some of the profiles.

Kevin: All right. We have to select the criteria¹ for a search. Let’s see...gender² – “female”; location – “Los Angeles”; age range – “26 to 35.”

Eun: Wow, you got 243 hits. I think you’d better narrow down the search criteria.

Kevin: Okay, I’ll search for people who live within a 50-mile radius³. That gives us 72 hits.

Eun: Click on that one. Let’s see. This woman is 29 and she’s an accountant. She’s very pretty.

Kevin: Do you think people would upload any photos that weren’t flattering?

Eun: Still, I think she’s promising⁴, don’t you? Anyway, who doesn’t tell a few white lies in their dating profile? It’s not like you’re misrepresenting yourself. If you sign up for a trial membership, you’ll have to do the same thing.

Kevin: Will I? What will I need to lie about?

Eun: Nothing, nothing. You’re perfect just the way you are.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

2 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

3 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

4 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。