英语流利说 Level6 Unit2 Part1 Learning-Is Online Dating Killing Love

A fair maiden is guarded by a dragon. A handsome prince must slay the dragon to save her. Then, magically, they fall in love and live happily ever after. 

一个美丽的少女被一条龙 控制着.(guarded：v保护；守护；控制 slay：vt.残杀）

Traditional stories tend to emphasize the fantastic, magical side of love.Fate plays matchmaker.Strangers see each other from across a room and instantly know that they are destined to be together.

传统的故事倾向于强调爱情美好、迷人的一面。命运就是媒人。相互陌生的人穿过一个房间仅仅一面之缘就迅速知道他们是命中注定的一对。

It isn't difficult to imagine two strangers coming together and falling in love despite their differences.It suggests that love is challenging, uncertain, and incomprehensible.（不可思议的）

But with more people using online dating services very different kind of love has emerged（暴露；出现）:one that is scientific, convenient, and self-directed（自我导向的）.It minimizes risk and provides a choice, like on a menu.

there is anonymity（匿名） and the avoidance of immediate rejection.Meeting terms（期限） are negotiated online.

Online dating also allows the setting of preconditions（n.前提；先决条件）.Computer algorithms （计算程序）exclude（排除） undesirable（不合需要的） traits （特点）such as the wrong hair color, race, or age.But they also exclude randomness（随机性）.They reduce the chances of meeting someone different, or someone who could challenge one's romantic ideals. Instead, they find the partner we think we want and exclued everyone else.As a result, we could be missing the opportunity of a lifetime, to meet someone we would never have expected to fall in love with.

Perhaps this new way represents a more efficient form of romance.Traditional ideas of love may be enchanting（adj.迷人的）-but are the useful? Loneliness and boredom（无趣、无聊） are less exciting than chance encounters(偶然相遇）, but they represent（代表） the more realistic side of love.All too often (绝大多数情况下）people have suffered through bad dates and humiliations（n.耻辱、丢人））.If they could just choose what they wanted, wouldn't it save time and reduce suffering?

However, by choosing partners based on our preconceived（adj.先入为主的） ideas, we may be indulging （纵容）in our illusions（n.错觉、幻想）.Instead of letting ourselves grow with someone, love becomes more about looking for ourselves in the other.What if we don't know ourselves as well as we think? Perhaps love isn't about knowing what we want.Perhaps it's about being open to unimagined possibilities. 爱可能是对于无法想象的可能性更加开放。

听力：

1.Loneliness and boredom represent the realistic side of traditional love.