My 15-year-old is disinclined to work for her GCSEs, saying her time is better spent preening herself in preparation for assignations with her delightful, diligent, privately educated, moneyed boyfriend. She insists the money spent on nail-painting, hair-colouring and the like is an investment and will be more than repaid when he marries her. Is she deluding herself?

A curious mother

我15歲的女兒不愿為拿到英國普通中等教育證書(GCSE)而努力學習，稱自己把時間花在穿著打扮上更有意義，為的是與她那個討人喜歡、勤奮、上私立學校的有錢男友約會。她堅稱，花在美甲和染發等方面的錢是一種投資，在男友迎娶自己時就會獲得更多的回報。她是在欺騙自己嗎？

一位好奇的母親

Dear Curious Mother,

Surprising as this may seem in the 21st century, your daughter's strategy is not unusual. Evidence on speed-dating gathered by the economists Michèle Belot and Marco Francesconi shows that women are attracted by rich men, while men focus more on a woman's physical appearance. Lena Edlund, another economist, has found that in the areas of her native Sweden where the wealthiest men live, women of prime marriageable age are over-represented.

親愛的好奇母親：

盡管在二十一世紀這種情況可能會非常令人吃驚，但你女兒的策略并不罕見。經濟學家米謝勒·貝洛(Michèle Belot)和馬爾科·弗蘭切斯科尼(Marco Francesconi)收集的有關閃電約會的證據表明，女性受到有錢男性的吸引，而男性更關注女性的容貌。另一位經濟學家萊娜·埃德隆德(Lena Edlund)發現，在其祖國瑞典最富有男士生活的地區，處于最佳適婚年齡的女性比例過高。

來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/read/201006/107608.shtml