第十篇

The Ideal Husband

Science now might be able to explain women's fascination¹ with Brad Pitt's face and George Clooney's eyes. Women seem to __ 1    potential mate by how masculine their features are, new research shows. Men with square jaws² and well-defined brow ridges1 are seen as good short-term partners,     2   those with more feminine traits such as a rounder face and fuller lips are perceived as better long-term mates.

In the study by Daniel Kruger at the US's University of Michigan, 854 subjects viewed a series of    3  head shots that had been digitally changed to exaggerate or minimize masculine.traits2 They then __ 4   questions about how they expected the men in the photos to behave.

Most participants said that those with more masculine features were   5  to be risky⁴, competitive, and more apt to fight, challenge bosses, cheat on spouses⁵ and put less effort into parenting. Those with more feminine   6   were seen as good parents and husbands, hard workers and emotionally supportive mates.

But, despite all the negative characteristics, when asked who they would choose for a short-term relationship, women selected the more masculine   7   men. Brad and George, both chiseled⁶ jaws and well-defined brows, then would be good for a   8   romance, not for something longer.

The study was published in the December issue of the US journal Personal Relationships.

Kruger said that from an evolutionary⁷ perspective, this   9   sense. The key is testosterone, the hormone⁸ responsible   10  the development of masculine facial features and other sexual characteristics. It has been found to affect the body's ability to fight disease: men with high levels of the hormone are typically    11 and healthy- traits women want to pass on to their children.

However, increased testosterone has also been linked to   12   and violence in relationships. So, these men   13     produce high quality offspring, but they don't always make great parents or faithful mates, Kruger says.

The scientific community3 have __ 14  skepticism toward physiognomy, which links facial characteristics to certain behavioral traits. But Kruger argues that the research is a valuable tool for understanding mating strategies. And, of course, for explaining why Tony Leung and Takeshi Kanesshiro have millions of female 15 . It might have to do with their genes⁹. Or something to do with ours.

词汇：

Masculine adj.男性的       

feminine adj.女性的

Chiseled v.轮廓清晰的      

testosterone  n.睾丸激素

hormone  n. 荷尔蒙       

physiognomy n. 观相术

注释：

1. well-defined brow ridges³ 轮廓清晰的眉骨

2. digitally changed to exaggerate or minimize masculine traits 通过数字化使得男性特征变得更突出或更不显眼一些。

3. The scientific community 学术界