行業(yè)英語(yǔ) 學(xué)英語(yǔ),練聽力,上聽力課堂! 注冊(cè) 登錄
> 行業(yè)英語(yǔ) > 金融英語(yǔ) > 金融時(shí)報(bào)原文閱讀 >  第171篇

人們眼中的女性難道只有“美腿”嗎?

所屬教程:金融時(shí)報(bào)原文閱讀

瀏覽:

2020年04月04日

手機(jī)版
掃描二維碼方便學(xué)習(xí)和分享

人們眼中的女性難道只有“美腿”嗎?

英國(guó)首相特蕾莎·梅最近在與蘇格蘭首席部長(zhǎng)會(huì)面時(shí),雖然她只是身著普通職業(yè)女性的服裝,卻因露出雙腿而被《每日郵報(bào)》頭版調(diào)侃為“美腿”。面對(duì)女性公眾人物,人們的關(guān)注點(diǎn)往往“跑偏”,女性的衣著打扮總是受到過(guò)分的評(píng)論——即使她們穿的并無(wú)任何不妥之處。

測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí):

tabloid小報(bào)['t?bl??d]

garment衣服,服裝['gɑ?m(?)nt]

pageant盛會(huì);游行['p?d?(?)nt]

patriarchal家長(zhǎng)的;族長(zhǎng)的[pe?tr?'ɑ?k(?)l]

ensemble全體;全套服裝[?n's?mb(?)l]

transpire發(fā)生;使蒸發(fā)[tr?n'spa??]

tangential離題的,扯遠(yuǎn)的

‘Legs-it’ and the naked truth about women in the public eye(816 words)

By Jo Ellison

The great tragedy of the “Legs-it” front page published by British tabloid paper The Daily Mail this week was not that the prime minister Theresa May and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon were judged by their clothes. But that their clothes only provided punctuation to a far more abusive judgment in which their garments were discarded so they could be pitted against each other in a battle of the “shapely shanks”. The politicians were undressed, like lumps of meat, and subjected to a scrutiny a judge might offer contestants participating in a local beauty pageant.

Bizarrely both were dressed according to the ancient patriarchal code of what is deemed appropriate for women in public office — smart tailored suits, modest jewellery, professional hair and sheer tights. Exactly the sort of ensembles tabloid papers like to fawn over, because they are womanly and attractive (not like those other female politicians, such as the matronly Angela Merkel, for example, who insists on wearing dowdy trouser suits that won't even allow us a gawk at her ankles). Otherwise they were unremarkable. The outfits were singled out both for their similarity — an observation made by people who have clearly never been in a room of professional women — and for their comparative costs. Nicola Sturgeon wore Hobbs, while Theresa May wore a more expensive £595 jacket by Amanda Wakeley. Quite how anyone can still think this an extravagance, when one considers the eye-bleedingly high price tags of those €12,000 Arnys suits favoured by French presidential candidate Fran?ois Fillon, is stupefying.

Anyway, who cares? They may as well have both worn bathing suits for all the seriousness the meeting was accorded. The clothes mattered not at all. It was the legs that clinched it.

Don't get me wrong — I'm a big fan of Theresa May's legs. Likewise Nicola Sturgeon's. I just despair of a culture in which all discussion of female appearance and clothing transpires to be a way in which to reduce her to her natural state. Our queasy obsession with the female body has not evolved one jot. Amal Clooney “showed off her baby bump” while wearing a black suit on her way to a meeting at the UN. Did she? Or is she just a pregnant woman heading to an office where elasticated pants might be frowned on? An actress “flaunts her enviable” curves while holidaying on a private island where she believes herself to be out of range of the paparazzi lenses.

Woman has body. This shouldn't be interesting. Clothes, on the other hand, are completely fascinating. I could talk about Theresa May's style all day. I applaud the way she “shrobed” her jacket for a portrait taken by the eminent celebrity portraitist Annie Leibovitz for US Vogue this month. Likewise, the way she played the scarlet woman in a jaunty red overcoat while gambolling about the gardens at Chequers. Of course her clothes merit attention, although not necessarily on the front pages, and not in lieu of any other discussion surrounding the circumstances of her being photographed in the first place, such as the future of the UK.

As a way to offer another, slightly tangential perspective on a person's personality, however, clothes are an excellent study. And I love a public figure — female or male — who embraces fashion. Just look at Barack Obama's post-presidential style since leaving the White House. The man who told Vanity Fair that as president he only wore blue or grey suits in order to “pare down decisions … because I have too many other decisions to make” appears to have taken all the time in the world over the details of his wardrobe in recent weeks. Everything from the mirrored, wraparound shades he wore to go kitesurfing with Richard Branson in the British Virgin Islands, to the newly relaxed fit of his open-necked shirts, to the conker-brown leather aviator jacket he wore on a visit to the National Gallery of Art in Washington on March 5, has suggested a highly curated approach to the act of looking casual. From Potus to Relaxed Man, his new look seems to be channelling a stylish secret agent.

The physical transformation has not been without comment. But were Obama a woman, one would presumably have expected to read about him “flaunting” his abs on the beach while engaged in some sort of brawl with his peer as to who looked better in their swimmers. We might have enjoyed a few lines about Obama's “l(fā)ong extremities”, or how his feet were arranged in a “flattering diagonal” line.

Instead, comment has focused largely on his emotional happiness: his new casual wardrobe used to characterise the outward manifestation of his intellectual fufilment. No one would dare undress him. And that's the naked truth. Even when women dress the part, even when they wear all the right things, and conform to every boring stereotype, they still get stripped bare in the end.

1.What has been the front page of The Daily Mail this week?

A.The prime minister and Scottish first minister were judged by their clothes

B.Obama's post-president clothes was judged

C.Angela Merkel's clothes were discarded

D.Different Leaders of the state were judged by the prices of clothes they wear

答案(1)

2.What would in the news if an actress is on holiday on a private island?

A.She is “totally relax and enjoys herself”

B.She “showed off her baby bump”

C.She “flaunts her enviable” curves

D.She is “happy and refreshing”

答案(2)

3.What did Obama wear when he was the president of the United States?

A.Only blue or grey suits

B.Open-necked shirts

C.Leather aviator jacket

D.Sports clothes

答案(3)

4.What would happen to the judgments of women even if they dress all the right things?

A.They will still be judged by their appearances

B.They will be recognize equally as men

C.There is nothing will happen

D.Their ways of dressing will be praised

答案(4)

(1)答案:A.The prime minister and Scottish first minister were judged by their clothes

解釋:這周的《每日郵報(bào)》上,英國(guó)首相在蘇格蘭首席部長(zhǎng)進(jìn)行會(huì)面時(shí)的服裝受到了極大的關(guān)注,《每日郵報(bào)》進(jìn)行該報(bào)道時(shí)所用的大標(biāo)題為《別管英國(guó)脫歐,看看誰(shuí)的腿美》。

(2)答案:C.She “flaunts her enviable” curves

解釋:當(dāng)女明星們?cè)谒郊液┫硎芗偃諘r(shí),狗仔隊(duì)的報(bào)道往往是:她驕傲地向人展示她令人艷羨的身體曲線。

(3)答案:A.Only blue or grey suits

解釋:奧巴馬接受采訪時(shí)表示,在任職美國(guó)總統(tǒng)期間,他只能穿藍(lán)色或者灰色的西裝。

(4)答案:A.They will still be judged by their appearances

解釋:在作者看來(lái),即時(shí)女性按照規(guī)范穿對(duì)了衣服,她們依然會(huì)受到世人的指指點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。

用戶搜索

瘋狂英語(yǔ) 英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)法 新概念英語(yǔ) 走遍美國(guó) 四級(jí)聽力 英語(yǔ)音標(biāo) 英語(yǔ)入門 發(fā)音 美語(yǔ) 四級(jí) 新東方 七年級(jí) 賴世雄 zero是什么意思紹興市星洲商務(wù)樓英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流群

網(wǎng)站推薦

英語(yǔ)翻譯英語(yǔ)應(yīng)急口語(yǔ)8000句聽歌學(xué)英語(yǔ)英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)方法

  • 頻道推薦
  • |
  • 全站推薦
  • 推薦下載
  • 網(wǎng)站推薦