Text messages 'changing relationships'

    Mobile phone text messages are changing the way people approach romantic relationships， according to a survey published in the British newspaper The Times.

    More than half of mobile phone users aged¹ 18 to 24 have sent or received an invitation to a date via text message， while a similar number have exchanged sexually-explicit messages， the study by the London School of Economics showed.

    Just fifty-three per cent agreed that sending a flirtatious² message to someone while in a relationship was a form of cheating.

    "It acts as a kind of subliminal³ zone， an exclusive forum⁴ where the normal social rules are suspended，" said Kate Fox， director of the Social Issues Research Centre.

    "People often say things in texts which they would never say in 'real life'."

    "When it comes to dating， a text gives you that chance to compose your thoughts， rather than having to speak spontaneously in a phone call with that person，" she said.

    The survey also found that 54 percent of women under 25 used their mobile phone in public to deter⁵ people from approaching them.

    British mobile phone users send an average of 3.6 text messages and make 2.8 phone calls a day. Fifty-one percent of the 16，500 respondents sent at least six text messages a day but only 15 percent made six or more mobile phone calls in a day.

    （Agencies）

    Vocabulary：

    text message： 短信

    subliminal： 潜意识的

    英国《泰晤士报》公布的一项调查结果显示，手机短信正在改变人们谈情说爱的方式。

    这项由伦敦经济学院所做的调查表明，在18至24岁的手机用户中，一半以上的人通过手机短信发出或收到约会邀请，同时，另有一半多的人发过色情短信。

    而仅有53％的人认为背着恋人给其他人发挑逗短信是对情侣不忠的一种表现。

    社会事务研究中心主任凯特。福克斯说：“手机短信好比一个潜意识地带，在这个特殊的区域里，正常的社会法则都不起作用了。”

    “人们常会在短信里说那些他们在‘现实生活’中永远不可能说的话。”

    她说：“说到约会，发短信可以让你整理好想要表达的意思，不像在打电话时只能临时发挥。”

    同时，调查发现，在25岁以下的女性中，有54％在公共场所使用手机是为了防止别人靠近她们。

    英国的手机用户平均每天发3.6条短信，打2.8个手机电话。在16500名调查对象中，有51％的人一天至少发六条短信，而只有15％的人在一天内用手机打六个或更多电话

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