10到14英语口语（英语阅读提升Facemasksmake）

Face masks make people look more attractive, study finds

研究发现，戴口罩让人看起来更有魅力

There have been precious few positives during the Covid pandemic but British academics may have unearthed one: people look more attractive in protective masks.

新冠疫情期间几乎没有什么积极正面的事情，但英国学者可能已经发现了一个：戴防护口罩的人看起来更具吸引力。

Researchers at Cardiff University were surprised to find that both men and women were judged to look better with a face covering obscuring the lower half of their faces.

卡迪夫大学的研究人员惊讶地发现，被遮住下半张脸的男性和女性都被认为看起来更好看了。

In what may be a blow for producers of fashionable coverings – and the environment – they also discovered that a face covered with a disposable-type surgical mask was likely to be deemed the most appealing.

他们还发现，戴着一次性医用口罩的人很可能被认为是最具有吸引力的，这对时尚口罩生产商和环境来说可能是一个冲击。

Dr Michael Lewis, a reader from Cardiff University’s school of psychology and an expert in faces, said research carried out before the pandemic had found that medical face masks reduced attractiveness because they were associated with disease or illness. “We wanted to test whether this had changed since face coverings became ubiquitous and understand whether the type of mask had any effect,” he said.

卡迪夫大学心理学院的读者、面部专家迈克尔·刘易斯博士表示，疫情之前进行的研究发现，医用口罩会降低吸引力，因为它们与疾病相关。他说：“我们想要检验的是，自从口罩变得无处不在以来，这种情况是否有所改变，并了解口罩的类型是否会对结果有影响。”

重点词汇

1. unearth /ʌnˈɜːθ/ to discover proof or some other information, especially after careful searching 发现

• A private detective has unearthed some fresh evidence.

2. obscure /əbˈskjʊər/ to prevent something from being seen or heard 遮挡

• The sun was obscured by clouds.

3. disposable /dɪˈspəʊ.zə.bəl/ intended to be thrown away after use 一次性的，用完即丢弃的

• The market no longer offers disposable plastic bags at checkout.

4. deem /diːm/ to consider or judge something in a particular way 认为

• The area has now been deemed safe.

5. ubiquitous /juːˈbɪk.wɪ.təs/ seeming to be everywhere 无所不在的

• Leather is very much in fashion this season, as is the ubiquitous denim.

重点句型

1. … that both men and women were judged to look better …

• 该句是that引导的宾语从句，引导词that无实义且在句中不充当成分，可省略。

2. …what may be a blow for producers of fashionable coverings...

• 该句是what引导的宾语从句，引导词what在句中充当主语，不可省略。

延伸阅读

“Our study suggests faces are considered most attractive when covered by medical face masks. This may be because we’re used to healthcare workers wearing blue masks and now we associate these with people in caring or medical professions. At a time when we feel vulnerable, we may find the wearing of medical masks reassuring and so feel more positive towards the wearer.”

“我们的研究表明，人们认为戴着医用口罩的脸最具吸引力。这可能是因为我们习惯了医护人员戴蓝色口罩，所以现在我们把蓝色口罩与医护专业人士联系在一起。在我们感到容易生病的时候，我们可能会觉得戴医用口罩让人放心，因此对佩戴它们的人态度更加积极。”

The first part of the research was carried out in February 2021 by which time the British population had become used to wearing masks in some circumstances. Forty-three women were asked to rate on a scale of one to 10 the attractiveness of images of male faces without a mask, wearing a plain cloth mask, a blue medical face mask, and holding a plain black book covering the area a face mask would hide.

研究的第一部分是在2021年2月进行的，那时英国人已经习惯在某些情况下戴口罩。43名女性被要求给不戴口罩、戴普通布口罩、戴蓝色医用口罩和拿着一本普通黑色书遮住口罩能遮住的区域的男性面部照片的吸引力打分，1分到10分。

The participants said those wearing a cloth mask were significantly more attractive than the ones with no masks or whose faces were partly obscured by the book. But the surgical mask – which was just a normal, disposable kind – made the wearer look even better.

参与者表示，那些戴着布口罩的人比那些没戴口罩或用书遮脸的人更有吸引力。但外科口罩——就是那种普通的一次性口罩——会让佩戴者看起来更好看。