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.
身為美國史上最成功、最有影響力且最受人喜愛的女性之一的羅斯福夫人曾說她有一個遺憾：她希望自己長得更漂亮。誰沒有過同樣的想法呢？我們都強烈感覺到自己身體的缺陷。為了克服缺陷，我們每年都要花費幾十億美元--在化妝品、減肥食品、流行時尚與整容手術上。
1.1) beloved (a.) 受人喜愛的 2) aware (a.) 明白的 3) physical (a.) 身體的 4) imperfection (n.) 不完美，瑕疵 5) billion (n.) 十億 6) cosmetics (n.) 化妝品 7) diet (n.) (特種)飲食 8) plastic surgery (n.) 整形外科) 興奮的
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.
我們如此這么在意自己的外貌？因為它很重要。因為美的力量很大。因為即使我們學著基本上去看重仁慈、智能、風趣的人，但我們仍會受到美的感動。無論我們多么用力辯駁，或假裝對它免疫，美仍然對我們產生影響。根本無法逃避。
2.1) immune (a.) 免疫的 2) exert (v.) 發揮出
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.
亞里斯多德說：「美是比任何介紹信都要有用的推薦函。」這并不公平，但卻是事實。我們就是會對美麗的人比較好。把一位美麗作家的照片貼在作品上，讀者就會認為這篇文章較有創意，寫得更有智能。完全相同的文章配上相貌平凡的作家照片，評價就會較低。
3.1) recommendation (n.) 推薦 2) attach (v.) 貼上，附上 3) intelligently (adv.) 聰明地 4) essay (n.) 論文，小品文 5) accompany (v.) 伴隨 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.
漂亮的小孩比較容易獲得父母與老師的寵愛。長大后，他們比較容易找到好工作與獲得升遷。漂亮的律師賺的錢比賣相較差的同事多。長得好的罪犯比較容易獲得法官與陪審團的同情。有吸引力的人在窮困時，獲得陌生人幫助的機率也比較大。
4.1)promotion (n.) 升遷 2) colleague (n.) 同事 3) criminal (n.) 罪犯 4) sympathy (n.) 同情 5) jury (n.) 陪審團 6) in need (a.) 窮困的，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."
在體型方面，對稱就是美。男女互相吸引的因素之一，就是擁有勻稱的身材。身材迷人勻稱的男人發生第一次性經驗的年齡比較早，每談一次戀愛也比較早發生性行為，而且性伴侶的人數是身材不勻稱者的兩到三倍。似乎不太公平--的確是不公平--但身材勻稱的男人也是比較好的情人。哈佛心理學家南茜艾特考夫在她的著作《美者生存：美的科學》中介紹一些研究，顯示如果要預測女性是否會有性高潮，最可靠的指針是看她伴侶的身材是否勻稱。結果發現這項指針的可靠性甚至超過「這對情侶戀愛的感覺、雙方的感情投入、男方潛在的賺錢能力、雙方性經驗的水平或做愛的頻率」。
5. 1) bodily (a.) 身體的 2) symmetry (n.) 對稱 3) symmetrical (a.) 對稱的 4) alluring (a.) 誘人的 5) figure (n.) 身材 6) asymmetrical (a.) 不對稱的 7) pal (n.) 伙伴 8) survival (n.) 生存 9) psychologist (n.) 心理學家 10) predictor (n.) 預測工具 11) investment (n.) 投資 12) potential (a.) 潛在的
