新视野读写教程4第三版课文UNIT 2

TEXT A

The confusing pursuit of beauty

令人困惑的对美的追求

1 If you're a man, at some point a woman will ask you how she looks.

< br>如果你是一位男士，肯定在某个时候会有女士问你她看起来怎么样。

2 You must be careful how you answer this question. The best technique is to form an honest yet

sensitive response, then promptly excuse yourself for some kind of emergency. Trust me, this is

the easiest way out. No amount of rehearsal will help you come up with the right answer.

对于如何 应对这个问题，

你一定得小心。

最好的对策就是给一个诚实但又 谨慎的回答，

然后

借口有急事马上脱身。相信我，

这是最简单的方法。对于她的这一问题，无论你事先练习多

少次，都不会找到 正确答案。

3 The problem is that men do not think of their looks in the same way women do. Most men

form an opinion of themselves in seventh grade and stick to it for the rest of their lives. Some

men think they're irresistibly desirable, and they refuse to change this opinion even when they

grow bald and their faces visibly wrinkle as they age.

其原因是 ，

男性和女性对外表的看法截然不同。

大多数男性对自己外表的 评价在七年级时就

形成了，而且终生不变。

有些男性认为自己有 不可抗拒的魅力，即使随着年龄的增长，

他们

头发掉光了，脸上 布满皱纹，他们仍然拒绝改变这种看法。

4 Most men, I believe, are not arrogant about their looks. If the transient thought passes through

their

minds

at

all,

they

like

to

think

of

themselves

as

average-looking.

Being

average

doesn't

bother them; average is fine. They don't affix much value to their looks, or think of them in terms

of aesthetics. Their primary form of beauty care is to shave themselves, which is essentially the

same

care

they

give

to

their

lawns.

If,

at

the

end

of

his

four

minute

allotment

of

time

for

grooming, a man has managed to wipe most of the shaving cream out of the strands of his hair

and isn't bleeding too badly, he feels he's done all he can.

我相信，大多数男性都不会对自己的相貌感到过分自傲。如果他们偶尔想到自己外表的话 ，

他们愿意认为自己样貌中等。长相普通不会使他们有任何烦恼，因为普通就已经是很好 了。

男性不是特别注重自己的外貌，

也不会从美学的角度去审视 自己。

他们的打扮方式主要就是

刮刮胡子，

就像打理自家草坪一样。

对于一位男性来说，

如果能花四分 钟刮刮胡子，结束之

后再把粘到头发上的剃须膏擦净，又没有出血太厉害，他就觉得自己 已经尽心尽力了。

5 Women do not look at themselves this way. If I had to guess what most women think about

their appearance, it would be:

her

perception

of

herself

is

eclipsed

by

the

beauty

industry.

She

has

trouble

thinking

beautiful.

She

magnifies

the

smallest

imperfections

in her

body

and

imagines

them

as

glaring

flaws the whole world will notice and ridicule.

女性可不是这样 看待自己的。

如果非要我猜测大多数女性对自己的相貌是如何评价的话，

那

肯定是：

“还不够好。

”一 位女士，无论她看起来多么吸引人，

她对自己的看法总是由于受美

容业的影响而蒙着一层阴影。要她认为“我很漂亮”

是一件难事。她把身体上的极小的 不完

美之处加以放大，并且幻想这些缺点十分明显，以至于全世界的人都会注意到并且嘲 笑她。

6

Why

do

women

consider

their

looks

so

deficient?

This

chronic

insecurity

isn't

inborn,

but

created

through

the

interaction

of

many

complex

psychological

and

societal

factors,

beginning

with the dolls we give them as children. Girls grow up playing with dolls proportioned so that, if

they

were

human,

they

would

be

seven feet

tall

and weigh

61

pounds,

with

tiny

thighs

and

a

large upper body. This is an absurd standard to live up to, especially when you consider the size of

the

doll's

waist,

a

relative

measurement

physically

impossible

for

a

living

human

to

achieve.

Contrast this absurd standard with that presented to little boys with their

of the toys that young boys have played with were weird-looking, like the one called Buzz-Off that

was

part

human,

part

flying

insect.

This

guy

was

not

a

looker,

but

he

was

still

extremely

self-confident. You could not imagine him saying to the others,

of violet for this outfit?

为什 么女性会把自己的外貌想得这么差呢？这种长期的不安全感并不是与生俱来的，

而是由< /p>

许多复杂的心理和社会因素的相互作用造成的，从小时候大人们给她们买洋娃娃时就开始< /p>

了。

女孩成长过程中摆弄的洋娃娃，

如果 按照身材比例还原为真人大小的话，

就会是

7

< br>英尺

高，

61

英磅重，大腿纤细 ，上身丰满。要达到这样的标准是很荒唐的，尤其是当我们想想

那种洋娃娃的腰围尺寸，

就知道其相对尺寸对任何一个活人来说都是不可企及的。

与女孩 玩

具的这种荒唐标准相比，

小男孩们得到的

“动作玩偶”却是完全不同的模样。大多数男孩的

玩具都样貌古怪，例如那个叫作“ 蜜蜂侠”的玩偶，一半像人，一半像会飞的昆虫。这个玩

偶尽管样子不好看，但仍然非常 自信。你肯定无法想象他会问别人说：

“这个配饰的紫罗兰

色和 这件外套配不配呢？”

7 But women grow up thinking they need to look like Barbie dolls or girls on magazine covers,

which

for

most

women

is

impossible.

Nonetheless,

the

multibillion-dollar

beauty

industry,

complete

with

its

own

aisle

in

the

grocery

store,

is

devoted

to

constant

warfare

on

female

self-esteem, convincing women that they must buy all the newest moisturizing creams, bronzing

powders and appliances that promise to

Show in which supermodel Cindy Crawford dispensed makeup tips to the studio audience. Cindy

had

all

these

middle-aged

women

apply

clay

masks

and

other

products

to

their faces; she stressed how important it was to adhere to the guidelines, like applying products

via the tips of their fingers to protect elasticity. All the women dutifully did this, even though it

was obvious to any rational observer that, no matter how carefully they applied these products,

they would never have Cindy Crawford's face or complexion.

然而，

女性在成长过程中却认为自己应该长得像芭比娃娃或杂志的封 面女郎那样，

这对大多

数女性来说是不可能的。

尽管如此，

产值达几十亿美元的美容业，

在超市化妆品 销售专区的

配合下，

总是在不停地攻击着女性的自尊，