Question

The Enigma (谜）of Beauty

The search for beauty spans centuries and continents. Paintings of Egyptians dating back over 4,000 years show both men and women painting their nails and wearing makeup. In 18th-century France, wealthy noblemen wore large wigs (假发）of long, white hair to make themselves attractive. Today, people continue to devote a lot of time and money to their appearance.

There is at least one good reason for the desire to be attractive：beauty is power. Studies suggest that good-looking people make more money, get called on more often in class, and are regarded as friendlier.

But what exactly is beauty? It's difficult to describe it clearly, and yet we know it when we see it. And our awareness of it may start at a very early age. In one set of studies, six-month-old babies were shown a series of photographs. The faces on the pictures had been rated for attractiveness by a group of college students. In the studies, the babies spent more time looking at the attractive faces than the unattractive ones.

The idea that even babies can judge appearance makes perfect sense to many researchers. In studies by psychologists, men consistently showed a preference for women with larger eyes, fuller lips, and a smaller nose and chin while women prefer men with large shoulders and a narrow waist. According to scientists, the mind unconsciously tells men and women that these traits —the full lips, clear skin, strong shoulders —equal health and genetic well-being.

Not everyone thinks the same way, however. " Our hardwiredness can be changed by all sorts of expectations —mostly cultural, " says C. Loring Brace, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan. What is considered attractive in one culture might not be in another. Look at most Western fashion magazines：the women on the pages are thin. But is this "perfect" body type for women worldwide? Scientists' answer is no; what is considered beautiful is subjective and varies around the world. They found native peoples in southeast Peru preferred shapes regarded overweight in Western cultures.

For better or worse, beauty plays a role in our lives. But it is extremely difficult to describe exactly what makes one person attractive to another. Although there do seem to be certain physical traits considered universally appealing, it is also true that beauty does not always keep to a single, uniform standard. Beauty really is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder.

1.People's ideas about beauty ________.

A. have existed since ancient times

B. can be easily described

C. have little influence on a person's success

D. are based upon strict criteria

2.In Paragraph 3, the babies in the study ________.

A. were rated for their appearance

B. were entered in a beauty contest

C. were shown photos of a group of college students

D. were able to tell attractive faces from unattractive ones

3.The underlined word “traits” in Paragraph 4 probably means ________.

A. qualities     B. measurements

C. judgments     D. standards

4.We can learn from the passage that ________.

A. the ideas of beauty vary as people grow up

B. the search for beauty is rooted in lack of confidence

C. the standards for beauty are based on scientific researches

D. the understanding of beauty depends on cultural backgrounds

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.A

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：俗话说“情人眼里出西施”，此文主要讲述在不同的时代，人们对美的看法是不一样的。

1.

2.

3.

4.

考点：考查社会现象类短文阅读

【名师点睛】

社会现象类阅读概念：

这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。例如本篇文章主要讲述在不同的时代，人们对美的看法是不一样的。继而引发人们对美的思考。

社会现象类阅读解题技巧：

这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。阅读这类文章要理清思路。

1、浏览试题，明确要求。

在阅读文章前，最好先浏览一下文章后面的题干和选项。知道了问题后再去看文章，可使思路更敏捷，而且也便于阅读时留意文中出现的与选项有关的信息。

2、通读全文，抓住主要内容。

在不影响理解的前提下，尽可能地阅读以便在尽可能短的时间内理解文章或段落的内容。阅读时，如遇到不熟悉的单词、词组或一时看不懂的句子，不要停下来苦思冥想，继续读下去，通过上下文的词语和句子可能就理解了。

3、抓住中心思想和段落大意。

通读全文时，要特别注意主题句。每篇文章或每个段落都有与文章有关的句子，尤其是科技、政论性文章的主题句一般都在文章的开头或结尾，插在中间的很少。所以，文章的第一段或开头的第一、二个句子往往包含着文章的中心思想、作者的意图或全文的概述，因此要特别注意，彻底理解。

4、有针对性地仔细阅读，找寻所需信息。

在前面的基础上，可进行有针对性地阅读了。把与问题无关的内容一扫而过，而对于和问题有关的内容认真阅读，还可以用笔在下面做出记号。再把这些信息与问题的要求结合起来，逐条分析，综合判断，找出正确答案。

5、进行合理的推理判断。

对文章有了全面的了解之后，可以按照文章要求以及上下文之间的关系，做出推理判断。在进行推理判断的时候，需要综合考虑句型、语法、句子之间的逻辑关系、文化背景等方面的因素。比如第34小题猜词意，就应该根据这一整句话的大体意思来推断，“According to scientists, the mind unconsciously tells men and women that these traits —the full lips, clear skin, strong shoulders —equal health and genetic well-being.”不难知道整句话大意是“根据科学家的理论，我们的思想会潜意识地告诉大家这些特性——包括饱满的嘴唇，清爽的皮肤，坚强的臂膀——和我们的健康和基因的良好是等同的。”因此可以推测出trait的意思应该为特征特点，可知A项正确。同样第35题也是这样的，文章明显提出美是难以定义的，根据最后一段 Beauty really is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder古语说，美取决于看它的人。。可知本文想要表达的是对美的理解取决于文化背景。故选D。

6、认真复读，验证答案。

要用全文的中心思想统帅各个题目，研究其内在联系和逻辑关系，并依次审核那些还未打上的题目，确保理解无误。