在我們一般人看來，女人的膽量大多要比男人小的多。電影院里如果放映恐怖片，那么尖叫聲大多來自縮在男友懷里的女生們；而恐怖小說也基本成為了男人們的專利；通常言情類的小說和影視作品才是女生們的專利。然而，這種傳統認識在英國受到了挑戰，很多英國女生不再關注言情類的影視小說，她們把目光集中在了恐怖題材的作品上。

    Forget the romantic novel. Most women are bored with, and cynical about, the well-trodden path of romantic fiction. They do not like happy endings and would rather read a thriller or crime novel.

    忘了言情小說吧。大多數的女性讀者早已厭倦了寫法老套的言情小說，她們不再喜歡言情小說的圓滿結局，而更情愿看一本恐怖或者犯罪小說。

    But their literary idol is still Mr Darcy, the haughty hero of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

    不過，她們心中的白馬王子仍然是簡•奧斯汀《傲慢與偏見》中那位傲慢的男主角達西先生。

    A survey of 1,500 predominantly married, working women aged 35 to 59 found that the majority would rather read a good book than have sex, shop, or sleep.

    一項針對1500名年齡在35歲至59歲、以已婚職業女性為主的調查結果顯示，與做愛、購物和睡覺相比，大多數女性更喜歡閱讀一本好書。

    Nearly half finished a book in less than a week, 48 per cent read more than one book at a time and, in the last year, one in five had spent £100 or more on novels.

    其中，近一半的人在不到一周的時間里就讀完了一本書；48％的人同時閱讀了多本書；五分之一的人去年在購買小說上的開銷超過了100英鎊。

    The women surveyed said their favourite types of fiction were thrillers (47 per cent), contemporary fiction (46 per cent) and crime (45 per cent) with science fiction and romance their least favourite.

    被調查者還指出，她們最喜歡的小說類型分別為恐怖小說（47％）、當代小說（46％）、科幻犯罪小說（45％），而最不喜歡的是言情小說。

    The findings correspond with public library statistics, published recently, which showed that in only 10 years the nation had ended its love affair with family sagas and books about romance and was devouring thrillers--the more ghoulish the better.

    該調查結果與最新公布的公共圖書館統計數據結果一致。該數據顯示，僅僅10年的時間，女人們已厭棄傳統的家庭愛情故事和浪漫的言情小說，她們開始迷戀恐怖小說，且內容越讓人毛骨悚然越好。

    Comparative figures for 10 years ago showed that the late Catherine Cookson and Barbara Taylor Bradford, queens of raw family romances, were the authors most borrowed by adults from libraries.

    10年前的統計結果表明，已故的言情小說家凱瑟琳•庫克森和有著“家庭言情小說女王”之稱的芭芭拉•泰勒•布拉德福是圖書館最受歡迎小說的作者。

    The top 10 borrowed titles have a startlingly different feel now. Romance still made a showing, but the list was dominated by crime novels.

    如今，圖書館中最受歡迎的10種書籍已經較以前發生了巨大變化。言情小說仍有讀者群，但犯罪小說已處于領先地位。

    However, today's survey by Woman & Home magazine found that if women could pick one book it would be the romantic classic Pride and Prejudice.

    但這個由《婦女與家庭》雜志舉辦的調查結果同時顯示，如果一個女人挑了一本書來閱讀，這本書一定還是浪漫小說的經典之作《傲慢與偏見》。

    Mr Darcy was also regarded as the sexiest fictional man, beating Heathcliffe (Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights), Rhett Butler (Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell) and Mr Rochester (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte).

    書中男主角達西先生同樣被認為是最性感的小說男主角，他擊敗了對手海希克里夫（艾米麗•勃朗特《呼嘯山莊》中的男主角）、白瑞德（瑪格麗特•米切爾《飄》中的男主角）和羅切斯特先生（夏洛特•勃朗特《簡•愛》中的男主角）。

    The only modern hero to get a vote was Ian Fleming's James Bond. If they were to be a character in a book, most women would be Elizabeth Bennett. Gone with the Wind's Scarlett O'Hara was voted the most glamorous female character.

    而唯一入選的當代小說男主角是伊恩•弗萊明筆下的詹姆士•邦德。被調查者表示，如果她們可以化身為小說中的女主角，她們大都愿意成為伊麗莎白•班納特（《傲慢與偏見》的女主角），而《飄》的女主角斯嘉麗•奧哈拉是她們眼中最富有魅力的女主人公。