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许多男士都将约会地点选在咖啡厅或酒吧中，寄望浪漫优美的环境，再加上动听情话(romantic words)能够迅速掠获佳人芳心。但他们可能忽视了浪漫背景音乐所发挥的作用。目前法国研究人员发现，浪漫音乐或许可以暗中帮助男性赢取佳人芳心。

音乐是打开女性心扉的钥匙。研究显示，在浪漫的背景音乐下，男性更容易要到女性的电话号码。

Music is the key to a woman's heart, after research showed that they are more likely to give men their phone numbers if romantic songs are playing in the background.

在由法国心理学家组织的测试中，一位“相貌普通的男性”接受考验，尽可能多地去要到单身女士的电话并邀请她们去喝一杯。

In tests by French psychologists, an "average-looking man" was challenged to get as many single women as possible to hand over their numbers and go for a drink.

如果在约会前听上一段浪漫的歌词，那么他的成功几率将会翻倍。

If his potential dates had been listening to romantic lyrics beforehand, his chances of success were doubled.

来自南布列塔尼大学和南巴黎大学的专家们挑选出87位18至20岁女性参加该实验。

For the tests, experts from the University of southern Brittany and the University of southern Paris selected 87 female volunteers aged 18 to 20.

她们要各自在等候室中呆上5分钟，背景音乐是精心挑选的两首歌曲中的一首。有人会听到由福兰西斯•加布瑞尔演唱的浪漫民谣《我爱她至死不渝》；有的则听到的是由文森特•德莱姆带来的“中性歌曲”《饮茶时间》。

They each spent five minutes in a waiting room while one of two carefully selected tunes played in the background. They heard either a romantic ballad – Je L'aime a Mourir (I Love Her to Death) by Francis Cabrel, or L'heure du The (Time For Tea) by Vincent Delerm which was classed as neutral.

接下来，以为是在参加顾客调查的这些女士会被带到不同房间，根据指示她们会同一位20岁的男士讨论两种饼干的不同之处。

Next, thinking they were taking part in a consumer survey, they were taken to a different room and asked to discuss the difference between two types of biscuit with the 20-year-old man.

在讨论结束时，他会以相同的聊天式语气向各位女士说：“我叫安托万。我觉得你很好，不知道你可否给我留下你的电话号码。下周我给你打电话，我们找个地方喝一杯。”

At the end of the discussion, he would use the same chat-up line with each one: "My name is Antoine, as you know. I think you are very nice and I was wondering if you would give me your phone number. I'll phone you later and we can have a drink together somewhere next week."

每次说完这句话后，安托万要凝视对方并微笑，等待对方回答。

Each time after making his pitch, Antoine was instructed "to gaze and smile at the participant" while she considered her answer.

在收听“中性歌曲”的女士中，只有27.9%的人欣然接受了安托万的提议。而那些收听浪漫情歌的女士更容易接受安托万的请求——该组中有52.2%的人将个人信息透露给他。

Only 27.9 percent of the women who heard the neutral music agreed to Antoine's proposal. But those who were exposed to the love song were much easier to win over – 52.2 percent of that group offered their details.

该研究似乎可以证实一个理论：男士在求爱时，应谨慎选择背景音乐。

The research appears to back up theory that any man making romantic overtures should be careful to when choosing music "back at his place."

参与研究的科学家们将实验结果发表在《音乐心理学》期刊上，他们相信浪漫情歌可以刺激人类的行为。

The scientists, who published the results in the journal Psychology of Music, believe that romantic lyrics may "prime" people's behaviour.

他们表示：“听过浪漫音乐的女性与听中性音乐女性相比更容易接受请求。这种差别十分明显。如果约会有困难，挑对音乐可以增加成功机会。”

"It was found that women previously exposed to romantic lyrics complied with the request more readily than women exposed to the neutral ones. The difference was significant. If you're having trouble getting a date, picking the right soundtrack could improve the odds," they said.

作为研究者之一，尼古拉•盖冈表示：“对研究背景音乐对个体行为影响的科学家而言，这是个有趣的结论。”

One of the researchers, Nicolas Gueguen, wrote, "The results are interesting for scientists who work on the effect of background music on individuals' behaviour."

其实，在爱情歌曲的魔力面前，不是只有女性为之倾倒。该研究小组早前就曾通过实验发现，在花店中播放浪漫音乐会使男性愿意花更多钱买花。

It is not just women who fall under the spell of love songs. Previous work by the same team found that men spent more money in florists when romantic music was being played.