《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词4500》24 Is Beauty an Advantage?

　　Unit 24
Is Beauty an Advantage?
Is beauty an advantage? Does it make the beautiful individual powerful? Does it result in substantially better pay and opportunities in the workplace?
Ten years ago, feminist¹ author Woolf wrote about the beauty myth. Woolf spoke² critically of society's obsession³ about female beauty and challenged us to place more value on intelligence, complexity⁴ and humor. But media are as beauty-obsessed as ever. How often do you see gray-haired women presenters⁵? How often do they have a big nose?
The media may not be entirely⁶ to blame. According to an evolutionary⁷ psychological analysis, it is human nature for people to think constant bombardment of images of flawless models creates unrealistic expectations of women. And women's desire for beauty may well stem from men's mate preferences. Over evolutionary history, men have imposed their desire for attractiveness on women. This is because physical attractiveness is a clue to health and youth, and therefore fertility.
Do good looks bring other advantages? My model agent friend is uncertain. "Even some of our most well-known girls are constantly worrying about their looks and weight. Being beautiful actually makes them miserable," she said.
I spoke to a beautiful friend in the publishing industry. Without the problems of the fashion industry to deal with, perhaps she would have found her beauty and advantage. "I don't consider myself to be a great beauty, but there are women in this building who took a dislike to me on sight." She complained, "Women don't like beautiful women, particularly not as their subordinates."
Nancy Etcoff would agree. In her book "Survival of the Prettiest," she stated that beauty is no asset to an ambitious woman. There is an assumption that beautiful women are too sexual and unable to lead the troops, and they often fail to reach the top. For women wanting to climb the corporate⁸ ladder, they must conceal⁹ their beauty in order to get ahead.
Meanwhile, scientists maintain that feminism will never achieve any success in eliminating obsession with female beauty. If all men were suddenly persuaded to value physical strength in a mate, and then women would, over time, compete with one another to build muscles.
The fashion industry, by this very existence, perpetuates¹⁰ an idealized image. But it is also the best place to learn the true value of beauty.
As a journalist, you are never part of the beauty competition because there is always someone younger, slimmer, more beautiful than you.
In the real world, beauty is a marketing¹¹ tool that can occasionally open doors and occasionally slam them in your face.

1 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

4 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

5 presenters   

n.节目主持人，演播员( presenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each week presenters would put the case for their favourite candidate. 每个星期主持人推出他们最喜欢的候选人。 来自互联网
• Karaoke was set up to allowed presenters to sing on the stage. 宴会设有歌唱舞台，可让出席者大演唱功。 来自互联网

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

10 perpetuates   

n.使永存，使人记住不忘( perpetuate的名词复数 )；使永久化，使持久化，使持续

参考例句：

• Giving these events a lot of media coverage merely perpetuates the problem. 媒体大量地报道这些事件只会使问题持续下去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Lack of water perpetuates poverty, increases the risk of political instability, and affects global prosperity. 水资源短缺导致贫穷，使政局不稳，且影响全球的繁荣。 来自互联网

11 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。