想要恋爱成功？名字很关键

Forget your chat-up lines and ditch the expensive aftershave, because scientists say the secret to dating is far simpler.
忘掉你的搭讪台词，放下那些昂贵的须后润肤露吧，科学家表示，约会的秘密比这简单多了。

The key to finding love is all in a name, it seems.
找到爱情的关键似乎只在于你的名字。

A team of researchers has discovered that people with names earlier in the alphabet are more likely to be romantically successful.
研究人员发现，那些名字在字母表里靠前的人恋爱更容易成功。

After carrying out an extensive search of studies in the fields of psychology and sociology, as well as computer, behavioural, and neurocognitive sciences, the scientists from Queen Mary University of London found that names are vital for first impressions.
在经过心理学，社会学，计算机，行为学以及神经认知等领域的大量调查后，伦敦大学玛丽皇后学院的科学家们发现，名字在第一印象中十分重要。

Their study, published in the Evidence Based Medicine journal, suggests that having a name starting with the letters A to M is just as important as the picture you choose for an online dating profile.
这份刊登在《循证医学》期刊上的调查研究显示，有一个从A到M之间的字母开头的名字和你为在线约会网站挑选个人资料照片一样重要。

Professor Khalid Khan, who led the research, said: 'Alphabetically ordering things has been around for centuries.
该研究小组的负责人 Khalid Khan教授说到：“按字母排序的做法已有几个世纪之久。”

'Research has shown that this accident of initial letters has important influence on outcomes.
“调查显示，首字母对于事情结果又很重要的影响。”

'A always comes first. Peoples are drawn to those at the top of any listing.
“A总是排在最前面。人们通常会被排在前面的东西所吸引。”

'Applied to online dating this means that those at the top of the listing get first bite of the attention from potential love-interests and so have a higher chance of being matched.'
“放在网上约会的话，这也就是说最能吸引人们注意力的的还是那些名字靠前的人。也正是这些人要比其他人更有可能配对成功。”

'There is something in human nature that draws us to those at the top of any listing and this phenomenon, though not fully explained, has an impact on online dating. Perhaps we subconsciously give higher value to things that appear to be at the top of the pile.'
“人性中有一些东西使我们会被排在任何列表前端的东西所吸引。这一现象没有充分的解释，对于网上交友却有影响。或许我们在潜意识中也会对排在前面的事物给予更高的评价。”

He added: 'Research shows that people with names in top half alphabet paper to do better in education compared to those in lower half, on average. Amazon and Apple, successful companies begin with A.
“调查显示，名字首字母排在字母表前半部分的人比排在后半部分的人在教育方面有更高的成就。亚马逊，苹果等成功的公司的名字也都是A打头。”

'This does not mean that things lower down in the alphabet don't have a chance - Zara is a successful company too - it is just that on average their chances are lower.'
“这也并不代表排在字母表后半部分的人没有机会。Zara就是一个很成功的公司。只不过是在平均几率上要相对低一些。”

Vocabulary

chat-up lines：搭讪用语
alphabet：字母表
neurocognitive sciences:神经认知科学
phenomenon：现象

（译者：gaoxiaomi 编辑：马文英）