本文轉載自自由電子報
This article reproduced from the newsletter of The Liberty Times.




中英對照讀新聞-----Divorce is contagious 離婚會傳染
If your best friends’ marriage is falling apart then beware, yours could also be heading for the rocks.

如果你的摯友婚姻正在破碎，要小心了，你的婚姻也可能會觸礁。

Researchers have discovered that divorce is catching and spreads like a disease through families, work places and groups of friends.

研究人員已發現，離婚具有傳染力，而且像疾病一樣，在家庭、職場以及朋友群之間傳播。

The domino effect means that if an immediate friend or colleague splits up, your own chance of divorce increases by 75 per cent. Even the break-up of a friend-of-a-friend’s marriage boosts your chances of divorce by a third, scientists say.

這種骨牌效應意味，如果一個最親密友人或同事離婚，你離婚的機率會增加75%。即使是朋友的朋友婚姻告吹，你的離婚機率也會增加3分之1，科學家說。

The researchers describe the effect as ’divorce clustering’ - and believe that break-ups within friendship groups force couples to start questioning their own relationships.

研究人員稱此為「離婚群聚」效應，並相信，朋友群中有人離婚，會迫使夫妻間開始質疑自己的關係。

Divorce among family members and work mates also increased the chances of someone’s own marriage ending, the study found. And while many couples cling to the belief that children reduce their risk of divorce, the scientists found it made no difference.

該研究發現，家庭成員與工作夥伴有人離婚，也會增加某人婚姻結束的機率。而且，雖然許多夫妻堅信，育有子女能降低離婚風險，但這些科學家發現，有無小孩其實沒差。

新聞辭典

fall apart：片語，破碎；破裂；崩潰。例句：When she learned of her mother’s death, she fell apart.（當她聽到她母親的死訊時，整個人都崩潰了。）

catching：形容詞，傳染性的。例句：Hepatitis B is catching. （B型肝炎具有傳染性。）

cling to︰片語，緊抓、堅持。例句：She clings to the hope that her husband will come back to her.（她緊抓著老公會回到她身邊的希望。）