Can you be too beautiful? It is hardly a problem that most of us have to bother — as much as we might like to dream that it were the case.
Yet the blessings and curses of beauty have been a long-standing interest in psychology. Do those blessed with shiny faces and an attractive body live in a cloud of appreciation — or does it sometimes pay to be ordinary?
Combing through decades of findings, social psychologists Lisa Slattery Walker and Tonya Frevert at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte havereviewed all the evidence to dateand their conclusions are not what you might expect.
At the most basic level, beauty might be thought to carry a kind of halo(光环) around it; we see that someone has one good quality, and by association, our deep mind may assume that they have other good ones too.
Even in the courts, a pleasing appearance can work its magic. Attractive criminals are likely to get less strict sentences, or to escape punishment entirely; attractive plaintiffs(原告), meanwhile, are more likely to win their case and get bigger financial settlements. “It’s an effect seen everywhere,” says Walker.
But if beauty pays in most circumstances, there are still situations where it can have opposite results. While attractive men may be considered better leaders, for instance, hidden sexist prejudices(偏见) can work against attractive women, making them less likely to be hired for high-level jobs that require power. And as you might expect, good-looking people of both sexes run into envy — one study found that if you are interviewed by someone of the same sex, they may be less likely to employ you if they judge that you are more attractive than they are.
More worryingly, being beautiful or handsome could harm your medical care. We tend to link good looks to health, meaning that illnesses are often taken less seriously when they affect the good-looking. When treating people for pain, for instance, doctors tend to take less care over the more attractive people.
And the bubble of beauty can be a somewhat lonely place. One study in 1975, for instance, found that people tend to move further away from a beautiful woman on the pathway — perhaps as a mark of respect, but still making interaction more distant. “Attractiveness can convey more power over visible space — but that in turn can make others feel they can’t approach that person,” says Frevert. Interestingly, the online dating website OKCupid recently reported that people with the most beautiful pictures are less likely to find dates than those with less perfect pictures.
Ultimately, Frevert points out that focusing too much on your appearance can itself be harmful if it creates stress and anxiety — even for those already blessed with good looks. “If you are crazy about attractiveness, it may affect your experience and interactions,” she says. It’s an outdated saying, but no amount of beauty can make up for a bad personality. As the writer Dorothy Parker put it so elegantly: “Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.”From paragraph 1, we can learn that _______.
| A．some may be bothered by their unattractive appearance |
| B．most people are not afraid of being too beautiful |
| C．we might always dream about being bothered by others |
| D．being too beautiful can be a problem bothering everyone |
Which is the benefit for beautiful people?
| A．An attractive plaintiff has more chances to get away with punishment. |
| B．Women with pleasing appearance will always be considered as better leaders. |
| C．Good-looking people are often regarded as having many good qualities. |
| D．Beautiful criminals are more likely to persuade the judge and win the case. |
What can be inferred from OKCupid’s finding?
| A．People with perfect pictures will find dates sooner or later. |
| B．Less attractive women are lonely because of their appearances. |
| C．We may feel more excited to approach those with attractive appearances. |
| D．Don’t use perfect pictures when trying to find dates online. |
The writer mentioned the underlined sentence in the last paragraph to _______.
| A．persuade us to pay more attention to our looks from now on |
| B．suggest that beauty can help make a better personality |
| C．encourage us to focus more on improving our personality |
| D．ask ugly people to have more confidence in their personality |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Negative Sides of Beauty | B．Sexist Prejudice |
| C．Blessed with Beauty | D．Beauty vs Ugliness |
In only two decades Asian Americans have become the fastestgrowing U. S. minority. As their children began moving up through the nation schools, it became clear that a new class of academic achievers was emerging. Their achievements are reflected in the nation’s best universities, where mathematics, science and engineering departments have taken on a decidedly Asian character. This special liking for mathematics and science is partly explained by the fact that Asian-American students who began their education abroad arrived in the U. S. with a solid grounding in mathematics but little or no knowledge of English. They are also influenced by the promise of a good job after college. Asians feel there will be less unfair treatment in areas like mathematics and science because they will be judged more objectively. And the return on the investment in education is more immediate in something like engineering than with an arts degree.
Most AsianAmerican students owe their success to the influence of parents who are determined that their children take full advantage of what the American educational system has to offer. An effective measure of parental attention is homework. Asian parents spend more time with their children than American parents do, and it helps. Many researchers also believe there is something in Asian culture that breeds success, such as ideals that stress family values and emphasize education.
Both explanations for academic success worry Asian Americans because of fears that they feed a typical racial image. Many can remember when Chinese,Japanese and Filipino immigrants were the victims of social isolation. Indeed, it was not until 1952 that laws were laid down giving all Asian immigrants the right to citizenship.
8.While making tremendous achievements at college, AsianAmerican students .
A.feel they are mistreated because of limited knowledge of English
B.are afraid that their academic successes bear a strong Asian character
C.still worry about unfair treatment in society
D.generally feel it a shame to have to depend on their parents
9.What are the major factors that determine the success of Asian Americans?
A.A solid foundation in basic mathematics and Asian culture.
B.Hard work and intelligence.
C.Parents’ help and a limited knowledge of English.
D.Asian culture and the American educational systerm.
10.Few Asian American students major in human sciences mainly because .
A.their English is not good enough
B.they are afraid they might meet with unfair judgment in these areas
C.there is a wide difference between Asian and Western cultures
D.they know little about American culture and society
11.Why do “both explanations” (Para. 3) worry Asian Americans?
A.They are afraid that they will again be isloated from American society in general.
B.People will think that Asian students rely on their parents for success.
C.Asian Americans will be a threat to other minorities.
D.American academic achievements have taken on too strong an Asian character.
How to eat healthfully can be espeically complex for working women who often have neither the desire nor the time to cook for themselves (or for anyone else). Registered dietitian(营养专家)Barhara Morrissey suggests that a few simple rules can help.
“Go for nutrientdense foods,”she suggests, “foods that contain a multiple of nutrients. For example, select whole wheat bread as a breakfast food, rather than coffee cake. Or drink orange juice rather than orange drink, which contains only a small percentage of real juice-the rest is largely colored sugar water. You just can’t compare the value of these foods, the nutrientdense ones are so superior, ”she emphasizes.
Morrissey believes that variety is not only the spice of life—it’s the foundation of a healthful diet. Diets which are based on one or two foods are not only virtually impossible to keep up the strength, they can be very harmful, she says, because nutrients aren’t supplied in sufficient amounts or balance.
According to Morrissey, trying to find a diet that can cure your illnesses, or make you superwoman is a fruitless search. As women, many of us are too concerned with staying thin, she says, and we believe that vitamins are some kind of magic cure to replace food.
“We need carbohydrates, protein and fat—they are like the wood in the fireplace. The vitamins and minerals are like the match, the spark, for the fuel,”she explains. “We need them all, but in a very different proportions. And if the fuel isn’t there, the spark is useless.”
12.From the paragraph we know that working women .
think cooking is especially complicated
do not share the same views with registered dietitians
are busy and not interested in cooking
D. are likely to eat healthfully
13.Orange juice is different from orange drink in that .
A.it contains only a small percentage of real juice
B.it is natural, nutritious and prepared from real oranges
C.it is largely orangecolored sugar water
D.it produces nothing but calories
14.In Paragraph 4, “a fruitless search”means .
A.an effort with no results
B.a search for a diet without fruits
C.a research on fruitless diet
D.a diet serving as medicine
15.Many women take it for granted, according to passage that .
A.a balanced diet can result in being fat
B.staying thin and healthy are both possible
C.lack of variety in diets leads to staying thin
D.vitamins are some kind of subsitutions for food
16.By “if the fuel isn’t there, the spark is useless”,the author means .
A.carbohydrates, protein and fat are enough to support a human life
B.vitamins and minerals are virtually of no valuew.
C.carbohydrates, protein and fat are as important as vitamins and minerals
D.without carbohydrates, protein and fat, vitamins and minerals are of no use
On September 22, 1986, Jay Brunkella, a police-officer in the Rogers Park district in Chicago, was shot during a drug arrest and died. Shortly af terwards, fellow officer Ken Knapcik, a 20-year veteran (老警官) of the force, returned home after work to find a note from his 15-year-old daughter on the dining table.
Dad-This poem came directly from my heart. I love you so much! It scares and amazes me that you go out every day and risk everything to provide us with all that we have. I wrote this to express how much I love you and how much lost I’d be without you-Laura. P.S.: Hey, let’s be careful out there.
Titled “The Ultimate Cop”, Laura’s poem was dedicated “To all the cops in the world who have daughters who love them with all their hearts. And especially to my dad.” It was about a police-officer’s daughter who sees on the night time news that her father has been shot. Part of poem: “Daddy, my Daddy, can you hear me cry? Oh, God, I need my Daddy, please don’t let him die.”
Ken Knapcik stood alone as he read the poem. “It took me several minutes,”he said.“I’d get through part of it and have to stop before I could go on. I was weeping. She had never told me she was scared.” He took the poem to work the next day and showed it to his fellow officers. “I’ve never seen so many grown men cry. Some couldn’t finish it.”
Knapcik keeps Laura’s poem in the pocket of his police jacket. He takes it with him every time he leaves the house for a new shift. “I don’t want to be out there without it.” he said, “I’ll probably carry it with me forever.”
1.Laura wrote the poem ______.
A.in memory of her father who was shot in the drug arrest
B.to show her great sorrow in losing her father
C.to show her respect to all the cops who lost their lives
D.to tell officer Ken Knapcik how much she loved him
2.All the officers cried because ______
A.Jay Brunkella was shot and died
B.they were greatly touched by the poem
C.the poem was so sad that they couldn’t hold back their tears
D.they thought of their dangerous life
3.Knapcik keeps Laura’s poem in his pocket ______.
A.to treasure her daughter’s love and to value his own life B.to keep it from missing
C.because he can’t go out without it D.to mourn over the death of officer Jay Brunkella
4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A.Poem for a cop B.An offier’s death
C.Daughter’s love D.Love my job, love my daughter
In some urban centers, workaholism is so common that people do not consider it unusual:
They accept the lifestyle as normal. Government workers in Washington D.C, for example, frequently work sixty to seventy hours a week. They don’t do this because they have to; they do it because they want to.
Workaholism can be a serious problem. Because true workaholics would rather work than do anything else, they probably don’t know how to relax.
Is workaholism always dangerous? Perhaps not. There are, certainly, people who work well under stress. Some studies show that many workaholies have great energy and interest in life. Their work is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy. For most workaholics, work and entertainment keep them busy and creative.
Why do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several advantages to work. Of course, it provides people with paychecks, and this is important. But it offers more than financial security. It provides people with selfconfidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction when they’re produced a challenging piece of work and are able to say,“I made that.” Psychologists claim that work gives people an identity through participation in work, they get a sense of self and individualism. In addition, most jobs provide people with a socially acceptable way to meet others. Perhaps some people are compulsive about their work, but their addiction seems to be a safe-even an advantageous-one.
9.The passage indicates that workaholics .
A.just know work but nothing else
B.are willing to work hard for long hours without pay
C.find their work provide them more satisfaction and selfconfidence than how much they are paid
D.has the work with more responsibility than others
10.One of the reasons that some people are not willing to quit their jobs even in their eighties and nineties is that
A.they are in the need of financial security
B.they would rather work than be disturbed by domestic affairs
C.they long for a sense of identity and being accomplished
D.they may have health problems from sheer boredom
11.This passage is mainly about .
A.workaholics are usually successful people, but their lives are in a mess
B.workaholism can lead to serious problems but it can also create a joyful life
C.people who are absorbed in their work may enjoy movies, sports and other kinds of entertainment
D.those who work even under difficult conditions may be very happy
12.It can be inferred from the passage that .
A.in the eyes of all the common people workaholics are peculiar
B.to workaholics, work is the sole source of happiness
C.a piece of challenging work may provide the workaholics a sense of satisfaction
D.workaholics are as addicted to their job as other people are to drugs or alcohol
Across the globe, single parent homes are on the rise. In the US, the 2000 census (人口普查) showed 24.8 million, or nearly 24 percent of the nation’s 105.5 million households, were traditional two-parent homes. By comparison, 9.8 million households, or 9 percent of all US households were headed by an adult raising a child alone. The 1990 census showed 26 percent of homes were led by a married mother and father, and 8 percent of homes were led by a single parent.
Similar increases occurred in other countries. In the UK, lone-parent homes increased from 3.3 percent in 1990 to 5.5 percent in 1999. Single parent households in Australia rose from 5.8 percent in 1990 to 7.6 percent in 1999. Belgium saw the increase from 1.8 percent to 2.7 percent during the same period of time. These countries tend to have greater acceptance of the single parent because there are fewer nearby family members to disapprove, Riche, a Census Bureau director, said.
Just as in the US, those changes raised new questions about how involved govenment should be in helping single parent families. Some research suggests children raised in two-parent families are better off than those who depend on one.
“The position of one-parent families in any country is very much a gender (性别) issue-women’s opportunities, especially working-class women on low income,” said Sue Cohen, coordinator (协调员) of the Single Action Parents Network in England.
5.Not considering the exact number of the single-parent families, which country saw the fastest rise rate in 1999, compared with 1990?
A.UK. B.Australia. C.America. D.Belgium.
6.What is the cause of the rise of single parent families across the globe?
A.The nearby family members have a favourable opinion.
B.A lone parent is well off enough to support his /her children.
C.A lot of problems have arisen in two-parent families.
D.We cannot get enough proving information from the text.
7.Which of the following is TRUE about the increase of single parent families according to the passage?
A.It will somewhat limit the growing population of younger generation.
B.Governments should take actions about the social problems brought about by it.
C.Single parent families are not looked down upon in any country mentioned here.
D.Generally speaking, the single parents needn’t worry since they are highly paid.
8.Which of the following diagrams correctly shows the rise of single parent families in the US from
1990 to 2000?