女孩要美貌还是要学识？（双语）

 　　My 15-year-old is disinclined to work for her GCSEs, saying her time is better spent preening¹ herself in preparation for assignations with her delightful², diligent³, privately⁴ educated, moneyed boyfriend. She insists the money spent on nail-painting, hair-colouring and the like is an investment and will be more than repaid when he marries her. Is she deluding⁵ herself?

　　A curious mother我15岁的女儿不愿为拿到英国普通中等教育证书(GCSE)而努力学习，称自己把时间花在穿着打扮上更有意义，为的是与她那个讨人喜欢、勤奋、上私立学校的有钱男友约会。她坚称，花在美甲和染发等方面的钱是一种投资，在男友迎娶自己时就会获得更多的回报。她是在欺骗自己吗？

　　一位好奇的母亲Dear Curious Mother,Surprising as this may seem in the 21st century, your daughter's strategy is not unusual. Evidence on speed-dating gathered by the economists⁷ Michèle Belot and Marco Francesconi shows that women are attracted by rich men, while men focus more on a woman's physical appearance. Lena Edlund, another economist⁶, has found that in the areas of her native Sweden where the wealthiest men live, women of prime marriageable age are over-represented.

　　亲爱的好奇母亲：

　　尽管在二十一世纪这种情况可能会非常令人吃惊，但你女儿的策略并不罕见。经济学家米谢勒?贝洛(Michèle Belot)和马尔科?弗兰切斯科尼(Marco Francesconi)收集的有关闪电约会的证据表明，女性受到有钱男性的吸引，而男性更关注女性的容貌。另一位经济学家莱娜?埃德隆德(Lena Edlund)发现，在其祖国瑞典最富有男士生活的地区，处于最佳适婚年龄的女性比例过高。

　　However, your daughter is only 15; for Edlund, “prime marriageable age” is 25-44. Your daughter is either going to have to get her hooks into this chap unusually early, or she is going to have to keep him on the boil for another decade – a lot of nail-painting.

　　不过，你的女儿只有15岁；在埃德隆德看来，“最佳适婚年龄”是25岁至44岁。你的女儿要么必须及早把这家伙弄到手，要么就必须设法让他保持激情再等上10年——那需要大量的美甲。

　　Not only is she concentrating her investments into a single asset by abandoning her education, but she may even be making her main goal harder to achieve. Belot and Francesconi discovered that a strong social trend towards “assort ative mating” means that although educated, high-achieving men are not interested in marrying a rich woman, they do like educated high-achieving women, rather than shallow girls with shiny nails.

　　她放弃自身教育的结果是，不仅她的投资仅集中于单一的资产，而且甚至可能会让她的主要目标更加难以实现。贝洛和弗兰切斯科尼发现，存在一种强烈的“选型交配”社交趋势，即尽管受过教育的成功男士对与有钱女士结婚不感兴趣，但他们确实喜欢受过教育的成功女士，而不是指甲闪亮的浅薄女子。

　　Your daughter should learn to work hard and look good at the same time. Not only will it advance her immediate⁸ goals, it will also – sadly – stand her in good stead for the rest of her life.

　　你的女儿应该学会在努力学习的同时也把自己打扮得漂漂亮亮。这不仅能帮她提前实现当前的目标，而且——遗憾的是——在以后的日子里都会让她受益无穷。

1 preening   

v.（鸟）用嘴整理（羽毛）( preen的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Will you stop preening yourself in front of the mirror? 你别对着镜子打扮个没完行不行？
• She was fading, while he was still preening himself in his elegance and youth. 她已显老，而他却仍然打扮成翩翩佳公子。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

3 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。

4 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

5 deluding   

v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They used Teresa's desolation as another proof that believers are deluding themselves. 他们用德肋撒嬷嬷的孤寂再一次论证信徒们是在蒙蔽自己。 来自互联网
• There is, for instance, a self-deluding interpretation of the contemporary world situation. 比如说有一些对当代世界时局自我欺骗式的阐释。 来自互联网

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。