The Power of Beauty
美的力量
1. One of the most successful, influential and 1)beloved women in American history, Eleanor Roosevelt once said that she had one regret: she wished she had been prettier. Who hasn’t felt the same way? We are all too 2)aware of our 3)physical 4)imperfections. To overcome them, we spend 5)billions upon billions of dollars every year-on 6)cosmetics, 7)diet products, fashion, and 8)plastic surgery.
身为美国史上最成功、最有影响力且最受人喜爱的女性之一的罗斯福夫人曾说她有一个遗憾：她希望自己长得更漂亮。谁没有过同样的想法呢？我们都强烈感觉到自己身体的缺陷。为了克服缺陷，我们每年都要花费几十亿美元--在化妆品、减肥食品、流行时尚与整容手术上。
1.1) beloved (a.) 受人喜爱的 2) aware (a.) 明白的 3) physical (a.) 身体的 4) imperfection (n.) 不完美，瑕疵 5) billion (n.) 十亿 6) cosmetics (n.) 化妆品 7) diet (n.) (特种)饮食 8) plastic surgery (n.) 整形外科) 兴奋的
2. Why do we care so much about how we look? Because it matters. Because beauty is powerful. Because even when we learn to value people mostly for being kind and wise and funny, we are still moved by beauty. No matter how much we argue against it or pretend to be 1)immune, beauty 2)exerts its power over us. There is simply no escape.
我们如此这么在意自己的外貌？因为它很重要。因为美的力量很大。因为即使我们学着基本上去看重仁慈、智能、风趣的人，但我们仍会受到美的感动。无论我们多么用力辩驳，或假装对它免疫，美仍然对我们产生影响。根本无法逃避。
2.1) immune (a.) 免疫的 2) exert (v.) 发挥出
3. Aristotle said, "Beauty is a greater 1)recommendation than any letter of introduction." It’s not fair, but it’s true. We simply treat beautiful people better than we do others. 2)Attach a photograph of a beautiful author to an essay, and people will think that it is more creative and more 3)intelligently written than exactly the same 4)essay 5)accompanied by the photo of a 6)homely author.
亚里斯多德说：「美是比任何介绍信都要有用的推荐函。」这并不公平，但却是事实。我们就是会对美丽的人比较好。把一位美丽作家的照片贴在作品上，读者就会认为这篇文章较有创意，写得更有智能。完全相同的文章配上相貌平凡的作家照片，评价就会较低。
3.1) recommendation (n.) 推荐 2) attach (v.) 贴上，附上 3) intelligently (adv.) 聪明地 4) essay (n.) 论文，小品文 5) accompany (v.) 伴随 6) homely (a.) 平凡的
4. As children, beautiful people are more likely to become favorites with parents and teachers. Later, they’re more likely to get good jobs and 1)promotions. Beautiful lawyers get paid more than their less attractive 2)colleagues. Good-looking 3)criminals are more likely to win the 4)sympathy of judges and 5)juries. Attractive people 6)in need are more likely to receive help from strangers.
漂亮的小孩比较容易获得父母与老师的宠爱。长大后，他们比较容易找到好工作与获得升迁。漂亮的律师赚的钱比卖相较差的同事多。长得好的罪犯比较容易获得法官与陪审团的同情。有吸引力的人在穷困时，获得陌生人帮助的机率也比较大。
4.1)promotion (n.) 升迁 2) colleague (n.) 同事 3) criminal (n.) 罪犯 4) sympathy (n.) 同情 5) jury (n.) 陪审团 6) in need (a.) 穷困的，有需要的
5. In 1)bodily form, 2)symmetry is beauty. One thing that makes men and women attractive to each other is having a 3)symmetrical body. Men with an 4)alluring, symmetrical 5)figure begin having sex at an earlier age, have sex earlier in relationships and have two to three times as many sex partners as their 6)asymmetrical 7)pals. It doesn’t seem fair-it isn’t-but symmetrical men also make better lovers. In her book, 8)Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty, Harvard 9)psychologist Nancy Etcoff describes research which shows that the best way to predict whether or not a woman will have an orgasm during sex is to look at the symmetry of her partner. This turns out to be a better 10)predictor "than the couple’s feeling of love, the 11)investment of either party in the relationship, the male’s 12)potential 13)earnings, or the level of sexual experience or frequency of lovemaking of the couple."
在体型方面，对称就是美。男女互相吸引的因素之一，就是拥有匀称的身材。身材迷人匀称的男人发生第一次性经验的年龄比较早，每谈一次恋爱也比较早发生性行为，而且性伴侣的人数是身材不匀称者的两到三倍。似乎不太公平--的确是不公平--但身材匀称的男人也是比较好的情人。哈佛心理学家南茜艾特考夫在她的著作《美者生存：美的科学》中介绍一些研究，显示如果要预测女性是否会有性高潮，最可靠的指针是看她伴侣的身材是否匀称。结果发现这项指针的可靠性甚至超过「这对情侣恋爱的感觉、双方的感情投入、男方潜在的赚钱能力、双方性经验的水平或做爱的频率」。
5. 1) bodily (a.) 身体的 2) symmetry (n.) 对称 3) symmetrical (a.) 对称的 4) alluring (a.) 诱人的 5) figure (n.) 身材 6) asymmetrical (a.) 不对称的 7) pal (n.) 伙伴 8) survival (n.) 生存 9) psychologist (n.) 心理学家 10) predictor (n.) 预测工具 11) investment (n.) 投资 12) potential (a.) 潜在的
