And I'm Beth.

我叫貝絲

Head over heels, butterflies in the tummy, the apple of my eye. In English there are many idioms to describe what it feels like to fall in love.

一見鍾情、心花怒放、如獲至寶。在英語中，有許多成語用來描述墜入愛河的感覺。

Aww, I didn't know you were such a romantic, Neil. But do you know what's actually happening in our brains when we fall in love? Because I'm sorry to say this, Neil, but it's more about brain chemistry than romance. Specifically hormones – chemical messengers which the body releases into the blood to control our growth, mood and, yes, falling in love.

啊，我都不知道你這麼浪漫，尼爾但你知道當我們墜入愛河時 大腦裡究竟發生了什麼嗎？很抱歉，尼爾，與其說是浪漫，不如說是大腦的化學反應。特別是荷爾蒙--身體釋放到血液中的化學信使 來控制我們的成長、情緒，還有，戀愛。

Thanks for ruining my romantic ideas, Beth. And since my dreams are now shattered, why don't we spend the rest of this programme finding out exactly what is going on inside our bodies and brains when we fall in love? And of course, learn some useful new vocabulary too.

謝謝你毀了我的浪漫想法 貝絲既然我的美夢破滅了，我們何不用剩下的時間來了解一下，當我們墜入愛河時，我們的身體和大腦裡到底發生了什麼？當然，還能學到一些有用的新詞彙。

There's no doubt that being in love has the health benefit of reducing stress, even lengthening your life. But the hormones which the brain releases have an immediate effect as well.

毫無疑問，戀愛對健康有益，可以減輕壓力，甚至延長壽命。但大腦釋放的荷爾蒙也有立竿見影的效果。

So, chemically speaking, what happens when lovers look into each other's eyes? Is it… a. Their body temperature increases, b. Their heartbeats harmonise, or c. The hairs stand up on the back of their neck?

那麼，從化學角度看，當戀人們對視時會發生什麼呢？是...... a. 體溫升高，b. 心跳協調，還是 c. 脖子後面的汗毛豎起？

Is it all three? No, OK then. I'll guess it's b. Their heartbeats harmonise.

是三個都要嗎？不，那好吧我猜是B 他們的心跳很和諧

OK. We'll find out if that's correct at the end of the programme. According to Helen E.

好的我們會在節目結束時發現這是否正確。根據 Helen E.

Fisher, self-help author and anthropologist at Rutgers University, there are three aspects of romantic love. Here's BBC Ideas to explain more.

自助作家、羅格斯大學人類學家費舍爾認為，浪漫的愛情有三個方面。以下是 BBC Ideas 的詳細介紹。

Often lust comes first, but not always. For some people who are asexual, it may not happen at all. But for those who do experience lust, it's driven by the hormones oestrogen and testosterone. It may feel purely carnal, but in fact it's about the urge to mate and pass on your DNA via offspring. Without lust, it's fair to say, our species would not survive.

情慾往往是第一位的，但並非總是如此。對於一些無性戀者來說，情慾可能根本不會發生。但對於那些有性慾的人來說，性慾是由雌激素和睪丸激素驅動的。它可能讓人感覺純粹是肉慾，但事實上，它是關於交配的衝動和通過後代傳承 DNA 的衝動。可以說，沒有慾望，我們這個物種將無法生存。

Helen Fisher thinks the first aspect of love is purely physical – lust – the strong feeling of sexual desire for someone. Lust is driven by the hormones oestrogen in women and testosterone in men. A few people are asexual, meaning they don't feel sexual attraction for anyone of any gender. Lust is hardwired into us through our DNA and it drives us to have children.

海倫-費舍爾認為，愛情的第一個方面是純粹的肉體--情慾--對某人強烈的性慾望。情慾是由女性體內的雌激素和男性體內的睪丸激素驅動的。少數人是無性戀者，這意味著他們對任何性別的人都沒有性吸引力。性慾是通過 DNA 硬植入我們體內的，它促使我們生兒育女。

Helen thinks it's fair to say that without lust, our species would not survive. Here, she uses the phrase it's fair to say to introduce an idea she believes to be true and reasonable.

海倫認為，可以這樣說，沒有慾望，我們這個物種就無法生存。在這裡，她用 "可以這麼說 "來引出一個她認為真實而合理的觀點。

Of course, love is not just physical. Here's BBC Ideas again to introduce Helen Fisher's second aspect of love – attraction.

當然，愛不僅僅是肉體上的。下面，BBC Ideas 將再次介紹海倫-費舍爾提出的愛情的第二個方面--吸引力。

The second aspect of romantic love is attraction, influenced by a neurotransmitter called dopamine.

浪漫愛情的第二個方面是吸引力，它受到一種名為多巴胺的神經遞質的影響。

This is a feel-good substance released in our brain that is involved in driving us towards reward. Do something. Get a dopamine hit. Feel good. Eventually, dopamine will push us towards repeating that behaviour. This is why intense attraction feels like an addiction to another human being. Some people get stuck in that loop, always chasing the dopamine-soaked excitement of a new relationship. This time, the hormone responsible is dopamine, a neurotransmitter that rewards our attraction to someone with pleasurable feelings. That's why dopamine is called a feel-good substance. The adjective feel-good can be used to describe anything causing happy and optimistic feelings about life – things like feel-good films or feel-good music.

這是一種在大腦中釋放的讓人感覺良好的物質，它參與推動我們獲得獎勵。做一件事獲得多巴胺刺激。感覺良好。最終，多巴胺會促使我們重複這種行為。這就是為什麼強烈的吸引力會讓人感覺對另一個人上癮。有些人會陷入這種怪圈，總是追逐新戀情帶來的多巴胺刺激。這次的荷爾蒙是多巴胺，它是一種神經遞質，能以愉悅的感覺來回報我們對某人的吸引。這就是多巴胺被稱為 "感覺良好物質 "的原因。感覺良好 "這個形容詞可以用來形容任何能讓人對生活產生快樂和樂觀情緒的事物--比如 "感覺良好 "的電影或 "感覺良好 "的音樂。

Here, though, there's a downside. The dopamine hit of sexual attraction feels so good, we crave it more and more. Some people are always chasing the next relationship to get a new hit of pleasure, and soon become stuck in a loop – an idiom meaning they're unable to break the habit of repeating the same patterns of behaviour over and over again.

不過，這也有一個弊端。性吸引帶來的多巴胺衝擊感覺非常好，我們會越來越渴望它。有些人總是在追逐下一段戀情，以獲得新的快感，很快就會陷入一個循環--這個成語的意思是他們無法打破重複相同行為模式的習慣。

It's fascinating to see the power which hormones have over us. But if you're an old-fashioned romantic like Neil, don't despair. And speaking as a romantic, how about the answer to my question?

荷爾蒙對我們的影響力令人著迷。但如果你像尼爾一樣是個老式的浪漫主義者，那就不要絕望。作為一個浪漫主義者，我問題的答案如何？

Right, you asked me about the effect on the body when two lovers look deep into each other's eyes.

對了，你問我兩個戀人深情對視時對身體的影響。

I guessed it was that their heartbeats harmonise.

我猜是他們的心跳協調了。

Which was the correct answer! In experiments, looking into the eyes produced hormones causing couples' hearts to beat in time. OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learnt in this programme, starting with the idiom head over heels – to be completely in love with someone.

哪個是正確答案？在實驗中，對視會產生荷爾蒙，使情侶們的心跳同步。好了，讓我們來回顧一下我們在這個節目中學到的詞彙，首先是成語 "一見鍾情"--完全愛上一個人。

Lust is a very strong feeling of sexual desire.

慾望是一種非常強烈的性慾望。

Someone who is asexual does not feel sexual attraction towards anyone of any gender.

無性戀者對任何性別的人都沒有性吸引力。

The phrase it's fair to say is used to introduce a statement you believe to be true and reasonable.

it's fair to say "這句話用於介紹你認為真實合理的陳述。

The adjective feel good describes something which makes people feel happy and optimistic.

feel good 這個形容詞描述的是讓人感到快樂和樂觀的事物。

And finally, the idiom stuck in a loop describes someone unable to break the habit of repeating the same negative patterns of behaviour over and over again. Once again, our 6 minutes are up, but remember to join us again next time for more topical discussion and useful vocabulary here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now.

最後，"陷入循環 "這個成語描述的是一個人無法擺脫重複相同負面行為模式的習慣。我們的 6 分鐘時間又到了，但記得下次再來 6 Minute English 觀看更多熱門話題討論和實用詞彙。再見

Bye.

再見。

you

你