Following more than five-thousand people for ten years, the study observed how loneliness can spread through a group. Lonely people, it seems, transmit their sad, lonely feelings to people around them. What happens, according to the study, is that interacting with a lonely person can leave you with a negative feeling toward friendship generally. And so you’re more likely to have negative experiences with other friends, weakening social bonds. If loneliness is allowed to spread unchecked, it can destroy a social network. The best way to ward off this sort of lonely contagion is to pay more attention to people on the edges of a group. Reaching out to those who are shy or don’t fit in, and are therefore lonely, can make them feel less alone. And so they’re less likely to spread lonely feelings throughout the group.

【生词注释】
observe v. 观察

transmit v. 传播

interact v.交流，交往

unchecked adj.未受制止的

ward off 避开; 挡住

contagion n.传染

fit in 融入（群体）

【参考译文】
对5千多人进行10年的研究，研究观察寂寞是如何在群体中传播的。寂寞的人，看上去，会将他们的悲哀，孤独感觉传播给周围的人。根据研究表明，和一个孤独的人交往会使你对友谊产生消极的情绪。然后你和其他的朋友会有不越快的经理，消弱社会纽带。如果孤独不受阻止地传播，它会破坏社会关系网。阻止这种孤独蔓延的最好办法就是多关注处于群体边缘的人。接触那些因害羞或是不合群而感到孤独的人，这样会使他们感到不那么孤独。他们在群体中传播孤独的可能性也就变小了。