Question

Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive (主管的) circle, beauty can become a liability.

While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman.

Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success.

Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck.

All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes.

Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine (女性的，娇柔的) and has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the “manly” qualifies required.

This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently,” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates (候选人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.

The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.

1.The underlined word in the first paragraph “liability” most probably means_________.

A. trust      B. trouble      C. disadvantage      D. benefit

2.Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness________.

A. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women

B. turns out to be a disadvantage to men

C. has more effects on men than on women

D. has nothing to do with one’s work

3.It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often__________.

A. objective     B. supportive     C. old-fashioned     D. subjective

4.The author writes this passage to_________.

A. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive

B. discuss the disadvantages of being attractive

C. emphasize the impact of appearance on both sexes

D. make women pay more attention to their appearance

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：作者在本文中叙述了外貌在人的事业成功方面做起的作用，既叙述了男性的情况也说明了女性的情况。人们在对不同外貌的成功做出判断的时候，经常不是按照事实来判断，而是按照自己的主观来判断：美丽的女性的成功往往不是靠自己的能力。

1.1】C 推理题。根据Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive (主管的) circle, beauty can become a liability.可知在很多情况下漂亮的人都会有更好的结果。但是现在情况已经发生了变化，美丽现在不是优势，反而成为了劣势。故C正确。本题的关键在于but，说明前后表示的是相反的意思。

2.The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes可知在政治领域，美丽往往不是优势，反而是劣势。因为人们会认为美丽的女性不是靠自己的能力，而是靠运气或者其他的原因而成功。故A正确。

3.

4.

考点：考察议论文