<p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;"><strong>Text messages 'changing relationships'</strong></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">Mobile phone <strong>text messages</strong> are changing the way people approach romantic relationships, according to a survey published in the British newspaper The Times. </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">More than half of mobile phone users aged 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. </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">Just fifty-three per cent agreed that sending a flirtatious message to someone while in a relationship was a form of cheating. </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">"It acts as a kind of <strong>subliminal</strong> zone, an exclusive forum where the normal social rules are suspended," said Kate Fox, director of the Social Issues Research Centre. </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">" eople often say things in texts which they would never say in 'real life'." </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">"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. </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">The survey also found that 54 percent of women under 25 used their mobile phone in public to deter people from approaching them. </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">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.</p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">(Agencies)</p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;"><strong><font color="#ff00ff">Vocabulary:</font></strong></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;"><strong>text message</strong>: 短信</p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;"><strong>subliminal</strong>: 潜意识的</p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">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。 </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">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。 </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">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。 </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">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。” </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">“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。” </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">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。” </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">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。 </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em;">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。</p> |
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