Perhaps the myth of the midlife crisis is true- men are more likely to cheat on their partners just before they approach a significant birthday, with 49 year-olds signing up to extra-marital affair website Ashley Madison in unexpectedly large numbers.

　　也许中年危机的“传说”是真的——就在男人刚过了人生中重要的生日之前，他们更可能欺骗自己的妻子，Ashley Madison外遇网上出人意料的有大批49岁的人注册为用户。

　　Perhaps this spike in cheating is in response to worrying about becoming old and undesirable - or having the rise in libido typified by the midlife crisis.

　　也许外遇的这种峰值是对于变老和不再被人需要的担忧的回应——或是中年危机典型的性欲增加的表现。

　　Other big spikes were seen at age 33/34 and age 44.

　　另几个峰值是33或是34岁和44岁。

　　The 40s are the hardest time

　　40几岁最不好过

　　This study, which took place in three countries, surveying thousands of people, indicates that it is.

　　在三个国家展开的这项研究中，成千上万参与调查的人都表示这是真的。

　　There is a steady downhill trajectory in wellbeing for most people, starting in their late teens, and staying low until their late 40s, where it starts to increase again.

　　对于大多数人来说，在他们告别少年时都会开始一个幸福安乐指数既定下降的轨道，在他们快50岁的时候保持着很低，然后才会再次上升。

　　The lead researcher of the study, Terence Cheng of the University of Melbourne, said "Human happiness hits the lowest point around the ages of 40 to 42".

　　首席研究者——墨尔本大学的特伦斯·郑说：“在40到42岁的时候，人们的幸福值到达史上最低。”

　　This would indicate that the midlife crisis is real.

　　这表明了中年危机确有其事。

　　Men tend to make up for it with cars, clothes and yes, affairs

　　男人试图用好车、服饰来弥补，当然了，还有外遇

　　The term 'midlife crisis' was thought up by psychologist Elliot Jaques in 1965. He described it as “the adult encounter with the conception of life to be lived in the setting of an approaching personal death”.

　　“中年危机：这个词是由埃利奥特·杰奎斯在1965年提出的。他描述为“成年人遭遇的，接近死亡的既定中的生活概念。”

　　We think of it as generally characterised by middle-aged men feeling mortality's cold grip and trying to escape death by indulging in sports cars, inappropriate clothing and young girlfriends.

　　我们把此看作是通常中年男子感到死亡的冷血魔爪伸向自己时，他们通过迷恋跑车、不相称的衣服和小女友，来试图逃避死亡的一种特征。

　　This is a caricature of the problem- but perhaps men at the end of each decade feel that much closer to death, and decide to reclaim their life by having affairs.

　　这是该问题的一种讽刺绘图——但是也许每十年底，男人都会觉得离死亡越来越近，并决定以外遇的方式重活一次。

　　更多精彩内容 >> 新东方网英语频道 

　　全国新东方英语课程搜索

（编辑：何莹莹）