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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Are you looking for love? When you want to impress a potential girlfriend or boyfriend, you take great care with your appearance and try to be on your best behaviour. But… what about your grammar? Do you check if you are using verbs and commas properly?
If not, you'd better think again. The research arm of dating site OKCupid has suggested that bad grammar can ruin your love life. It looked at 500,000 first contacts on the site and concluded that "netspeak, bad grammar and bad spelling are huge turn-offs".
On the other hand, the correct use of apostrophes seems to be quite an aphrodisiac. Using "don't" and "won't" caused better than average response rates, says the research.
American writer Twist Phelan, who went on 100 online dates in 100 days and later married someone she met online, believes that grammar is an important "filter system" for prospective1 partners. She says: "If you're trying to date a woman, I don't expect flowery Jane Austen prose2. But aren't you trying to put your best foot forward?"
Perhaps you think you are ready to start looking for an English-speaking girlfriend or boyfriend. Am I right? You go online; look at the picture and start calling him or her "beautiful", "gorgeous3" and "sexy" before you meet. Will it work? The research says it won't! The wrong adjective can put a full stop on a potential relationship. People enjoy receiving compliments4 but not when they sound like a pick-up line.
General compliments such as "cool", "it's nice that…" and "awesome5" got good responses from the dating site users.
So now you are ready. Keep your wits about you because many things online are not what they seem; and watch your vocabulary and punctuation6.
Some say that a comma might even save lives - as in the example: "Let's eat, my darling!" as opposed to "Let's eat my darling!"
Can you see which one would grant you a meal with your date and which one would land you in jail?
Quiz 测验
1. How did the researchers get their information?
They looked at 500,000 first contacts on the OKCupid online dating website.
2. According to the research, what do people respond well to?
Use of apostrophes and general compliments.
3. Is the following statement true or false? People don't respond well to being called "gorgeous" by someone they haven't met because they're shy.
False. It's because it might sound like a pick-up line.
4. Which expression means 'be careful'?
Keep your wits about you.
5. Which punctuation marks are mentioned in the article?
Commas, apostrophes and full stops.
to be on your best behaviour 拿出你的最佳表现
a verb 动词
a comma (,) 逗号
netspeak 网络语言
spelling 拼写
a turn-off 令人扫兴的事物，让人丧失性欲的事物
an apostrophe (') 撇号，省略号
an aphrodisiac 激发性欲的东西
online date 网约
filter 过滤
prospective 可能成为的，有希望的
flowery 绚丽的
prose 散文
to put your best foot forward 展现你最好的一面
an adjective 形容词
a full stop (.) 句号
a compliment 称赞
a pick-up line 搭讪语
to keep your wits about you 保持你的警觉
punctuation 标点符号
收听单词发音 |
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prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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prose
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| adj.散文的；n.散文 | |
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gorgeous
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| adj.华丽的，灿烂的，美丽的，宜人的，棒的 | |
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compliments
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| n.问候，道贺，致意；赞美（话）( compliment的名词复数 )；向…送礼以表示敬意；问候；致意v.表扬，恭维( compliment的第三人称单数 ) | |
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awesome
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| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
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punctuation
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| n.标点符号，标点法 | |
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glossary
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| n.注释词表；术语汇编 | |
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