Reading comprenhension.
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive (漂亮的)
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 (被告). But in the executive
(行政的; 管理的) 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 as having more honesty than plain (平常的,不漂亮的)
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
and an attractive man more manly than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage
in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the "manly"
qualities 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. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one
of women, 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 word "liability" most probably means _____.
A. disadvantage
B. advantage
C. misfortune
D. trouble
2. In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness _____.
A. makes women look more honest and capable
B. strengthens the qualifies required
C. is of no importance to women
D. often enables women to succeed quickly
3. Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _____.
A. turns out to be a disadvantage to men
B. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women
C. affects men and women alike
D. has as little effect on men as on women
4. It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often _____.
A. practical
B. supportive
C. old-fashioned
D. one-sided
5. The author writes this passage to _____.
A. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
B. discuss the disadvantages of women being attractive
C. demand equal rights for women
D. state the importance of appearance
