Italy is one country where beauty is prized more than any other virtue. That is, except in the small town of Piobbico, the self-declared World Capital of Ugly People. The road sign at the edge of the town even warns visitors that they are entering the ugly zone. People who consider themselves ugly have been gathering in Piobbico since the 1960s. That’s when Ugly Club president Telesforo Lacobelli established a dating agency for women who believed they were too ugly to attract husbands. Lacobelli believes that he is ugly himself because he has a short nose in a country where long or large noses have always been considered beautiful.
People from around the world travel to Piobbico to tell their sad stories of ugliness. During the annual Festival of the Ugly, which occurs on the first Sunday of every September, hundreds of people gather in Piobbico’s town square to elect the president of the Ugly Club. Lacobelli wins the election every year. The Ugly Club has over 20, 000 members. They carry ID cards that grade their ugliness from bearable to extreme. A prize is awarded to Ugly Club members who qualify as extremely ugly.
The Ugly Club president insists that ugliness is a virtue. Since beautiful people get a lot of attention for their beauty alone, they have to work hard to prove their other virtues. Ugly people, on the other hand, are genuine and do not have to prove anything to anybody, according to Lacobelli.
Lacobelli is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. He believes that the uglier one is, the better life can be. Though the club enjoys making fun of beauty, especially beauty contests, Lacobelli has a serious side as well. He believes that too many people suffer from financial and emotional pressures because they don’t meet society’s standards of beauty. The fact that beautiful people are more successful in the workforce is a problem that Lacobelli has attempted to bring forward to the Italian public and government.
小题1:Piobbico is rather special in that .
A．it is a very small town
B．it is home to ugly people
C．it receives no visitors
D．it is the capital of Italy小题2:Why is Lacobelli elected the president of the Ugly Club every year?
A．Because he is the ugliest person in the whole world.
B．Because his ugliness is always graded as bearable.
C．Because he is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere.
D．Because he has won the members’ trust and admiration.小题3:Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A．Ugly people are most respected in Italy.
B．The Festival of the Ugly is held every two years.
C．Ugly people are unfairly treated in society.
D．The uglier one is, the better life he or she lives.小题4:Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A．The Ugly Capital of the World
B．The Ugliest Person of the World
C．Festival of the Ugly
D．Beauty Contests Should be Banned