進化心理學家羅賓·鄧巴教授（Prof Robin Dunbar）說：“如果不投入時間和精力去維護友誼，友誼則會面臨快速惡化 —— 這個過程可能只需要三個月左右。” 他表示，疫情封鎖給人際關系帶來的壓力，雖然有望是短期的，但這種壓力可能會對一些友誼產生長期的影響。

Maintaining a strong social bond takes time and effort. That's according to evolutionary psychologists who studied the social lives of our closest primate relatives. 

維持牢固的社會聯系需要時間和精力。這是進化心理學家們在研究了我們的靈長類近親的社交生活后得出的結論。

Whether you're a monkey or a human, the strength of a bond is directly linked to the amount of time you spend together, and a friendship can deteriorate beyond repair in just three months.

不管你是猴子還是人，感情關系的強弱與你和他人共度時間的長短有著直接的聯系，而一段友誼可能在短短的三個月內惡化到無法修復的地步。 

This, scientists say, is likely to be bad news for what they call our more marginal friendships. Without the reinforcement of a shared workplace or a chat at the school gates, some less valued relationships could be irreparably damaged by lockdown.

科學家們表示，這個結論對我們所謂的 “邊緣友誼” 可能是個壞消息。沒有了在共享工作場所或在校門口聊天的強化鞏固，一些不太受重視的關系可能會因疫情封鎖而遭受無法彌補的傷害。 

Many people have swapped face-to-face contact for video chats, but the researchers say that this and social distancing has left us deprived of human touch.

許多人已經把面對面的交流形式換成了視頻聊天，但研究人員們表示，這一變化和社交距離的疏遠讓我們失去了以往待人處事的方式。 

Just like the grooming that chimpanzees spend hours doing, a welcome squeeze on the arm or a cuddle from a friend causes our brains to release pleasure-boosting chemicals. That helps explain why many of us might feel we're fighting a pretty fundamental need for a hug.

就像黑猩猩花數小時互相梳理毛發一樣，朋友熱情地攥一下你的手臂或給你一個擁抱都會使我們的大腦釋放出增加愉悅感的化學物質。這有助于解釋為什么我們當中的許多人在封鎖期間可能在和渴望擁抱的這個基本需求作斗爭。

詞匯表

social bond 社會聯系
evolutionary 進化的
deteriorate 惡化
beyond repair 無法修復的，無法補救的
marginal 邊緣的
reinforcement 增強，鞏固
irreparably 無法彌補地
human touch 平易近人的待人處事方式
squeeze 捏，擠
cuddle 抱，摟抱
pleasure-boosting 增加愉悅感的
fundamental 基本的

閱讀理解：請在讀完上文后，回答下列問題。

1. True or false? According to evolutionary psychologists, in order to maintain a friendship, we need to invest time and effort in them.

2. Based on the scientists, how long does it take for a friendship to become irreparable, if you don’t spend time together?

3. While face-to-face contact has become difficult, what have many people switched to?

4. According to the text, why are many of us fighting the need for a hug?

答案

1. True or false? According to evolutionary psychologists, in order to maintain a friendship, we need to invest time and effort in them.
True. Maintaining a strong social bond takes time and effort.

2. Based on the scientists, how long does it take for a friendship to become irreparable, if you don’t spend time together?
It takes in just three months for a friendship to deteriorate beyond repair.

3. While face-to-face contact has become difficult, what have many people switched to?
Many people have switched from face-to-face contact to video chats.

4. According to the text, why are many of us fighting the need for a hug?
The reason many of us fight the need for a hug might be that a welcome squeeze on the arm or a cuddle from a friend causes our brains to release pleasure-boosting chemicals.