火车提速，网络提速，建设提速.....。如今，男男女女的约会和恋爱也跟着大提速。追逐快节奏的步伐，说说“闪电约会”和“闪电恋爱”。
假如你还觉得网络交友online dating是时下最时髦的男女联谊方式的话，那就太落伍了。美国现在最流行的就是speed dating。由于这种方式还没有普及到中国，所以中文也没有约定俗成的说法，所以speed dating 翻译为“闪电约会”或“快速约会”也只是权宜之计。
Speed dating是由犹太人的一项习俗或仪式衍生而来的，它的目的只有一个，那就是在最短的时间里，认识最多的异性。
Speed dating is a method of meeting potential partners in which each participant has only about 5 minutes to talk to each of his or her dates before being moved on to the next one. At the end of the event, paticipants decide which dates they would like to see again。
参加闪电约会的人透过一连串约5分钟的简短交谈可以和较多的异性进行一对一的接触。活动结束后，参与者再向自己感兴趣的异性提出再次见面的邀请。
英国最近的一项研究发现，参加约会的人数越多，可以选择的对象越多时，参加者往往更倾向于以貌取人而不太注重内在美。研究人员对118个闪电约会进行了研究，这些约会的人数从7个到36个不等。结果发现，约会的人数越多，被挑选的对象逐渐剩下某几个特定的人，而与此同时，最不受欢迎者则很少有人挑选甚至无人挑选。
HBO影集《欲望城市》第三季"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"这一集，就是在演Miranda参加闪电约会。以下是speed dating的例句：
In an episode of Sex and the City, Miranda goes spped-dating, only to discover that her law career is a turn-off to the guys。
Speed dating 相关新闻：
Germany runs "Love Train" 德开设情人节“相亲特快”
Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national railway operator, has announced a speed-dating ride on the eve of Valentines Day aboard its so-called "Flirt-Express" train to help hopeless romantics find a partner. Lonely hearts are encouraged to ride the train's special speed-dating carriages serving 15 stations in 10 major cities and flirt with a passenger every 5 minutes until he or she finds a potential sweetheart。
德国联邦铁路公司近日宣布，情人节前夕将开设“相亲特快”，帮助单身男女在旅途中找寻“另一半”。乘客将从德国10个主要城市的15个车站登上该列车，可每隔5分钟更换谈话对象，直到找到意中人。
Time is money. “闪电约会”后，不妨继续“闪电恋爱”——whirlwind romance。
Whirlwind是旋风的意思，旋风迅疾且难以预测，所以a whirlwind romance is a romance that happens very quickly and quite unexpectedly。A whirlwind romance 就是那种突然而快速的恋爱，换句话说，就是闪电式的罗曼蒂克。
如果一对夫妇在认识不多久就结婚了，那么你就可以使用这个短语a whirlwind romance 闪电式结婚。
Whirlwind romance 例句：
A: Is Claire still going out with Peter?
B: Oh no, they split up about a month ago. They were together about two months, were madly in love, and then it all went wrong。
A: Oh, a bit of a whirlwind romance then eh?
Whirlwind romance 相关新闻：
Sarkozy married Bruni, 40, in February after a whirlwind romance that began shortly after his divorce from his second wife Cecilia in last October。
萨科齐与他的第二任妻子塞西莉亚于去年10月离婚后，很快在今年2月与40岁的布鲁尼闪电结婚。
Their relationship has coincided with a sharp fall in Sarkozy's approval ratings which have tumbled as voters judged that the president's glitzy lifestyle jarred with his responsibilities and status as head of state。
萨科齐与布鲁尼交往期间，他的民众支持率急剧下跌，因为选民认为，萨科齐浮华的生活方式与其总统的身份及其应承担的责任不相符。
Sarkozy and his new wife arrived in London on March 26 and began his state visit to Britain. They were hosted by Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle after their arrival。
萨科齐与新夫人于3月26日抵达伦敦，开始对英国的国事访问。他们在温莎城堡受到了伊丽莎白女王的接待。
