husbands hoping to bring a little more romance to their marriage should perhaps not bother investing in chocolates, flowers or restaurant meals. the real key to a woman's affection is helping with the housework, a survey suggests.
结婚以后妻子们对玫瑰花、巧克力、烛光晚餐这些东西越来越没感觉，想让她们感到幸福？办法很简单———帮助她们分担家务。
half of women said they would be more impressed if their partner did the ironing than if he arranged a weekend away or a candlelit dinner. taking the rubbish out was revealed to be another winning tactic, as was doing the washing up.
在半数以上的已婚妇女眼中，老公如果能抽空给她们熨衣服，要比共赴烛光晚餐更让她们感动。同样的道理，把垃圾拎到门外、洗一下碗碟等小事也会让妻子的心“怦然而动”。
psychologist cary cooper, a professor at the university of lancaster, said: "this shows that quite a lot of women still think that men don't pull their weight at home. many women are still working the double shift, doing the household chores and also having a career, whereas men still have a working role primarily. what women obviously want to see now is men taking more of a domestic role."
兰卡斯特大学心理学专家库伯教授说，这种现象之所以存在，是因为很多女性认为自己的伴侣没有充分履行家庭义务。越来越多的女性“既主内、又主外”。但是大多数男性仅仅主外。她们希望男人们能多承担些家务，而不是回家以后什么都不管。
"i don't think romance is dead though – it will always be there at the start of a new relationship. however, modern men are clearly missing a trick – if they take a little more time to help out their partners with the ironing they will reap the rewards in the long run and earn a lot of brownie points." cooper said.
库伯说，浪漫不会随着婚姻的开始而走向消亡，21世纪的男性不能死守陈旧的家庭观念，而是应该在家庭中扮演更积极的角色，这才是维持婚姻长久的“秘诀”。