Medieval noblewomen swallowed arsenic and dabbed on bats blood to improve their complexions; 18 th century Americans prized the warm urine of young boys to erase their freckles; Victorian ladies removed their ribs to give themselves a wasp waist. The desire to be beautiful is as old as civilization, as is the pain that it can cause.
The pain has not stopped the passion from creating a 160 billion-a-year global industry,encompassing make -up, skin and hair care, fragrances, cosmetic surgery, health clubs and diet pills. Americans spend more each year on beauty than they do on education.
Such spending is not mere vanity. Being pretty — or just not ugly — confers1 enormous genetic and social advantages. Attractive people ( both men and women) are judged to be more intelligent and sexy; they earn more and they are more likely to marry.
Basic instinct keeps the beauty industry powerful. In medieval times, recipes for homemade cosmetics were kept in the kitchen right beside those used to feed the family.
But it was not until the start of the 20 th century, when mass production coincided with mass exposure to an idealized standard of beauty ( through photography, magazines and movies) that the industry first took off.
In 1909, Eugene Schueller founded the French Harmless Hair Coloring Co., which later became L'Oreal2— today's industry leader. Two years later, a Hamburg pharmacist, developed the first cream to bind oil and water. Today, it sells in 150 countries as Nivea, the biggest personal-care brand in the world.
But it was the great rivalry between two women in America that made the industry what it is today. Elizabeth Arden opened the first modern beauty salon in 1910 , followed a few years later by Helena Rubinstein, a Polish immigrant. The two took cosmetics out of household pots and pans and into the modern era . Both thought beauty and health were interlinked. They combined facials with diets and exercise classes in a holistic approach that the industry is now returning to.
The emerging beauty industry played on3 the fear of looking ugly as much as on the pleasure of looking beautiful, drawing on the new science of psychology to convince women that an inferiority complex4 could be cured by a dab of lipstick.
練習題：
?、? Matching:
1. In medieval time ( ) . 2. In 1910 ( ) .
3. In 1909 ( ) . 4. In 1911 ( ) .
A. Swallow arsenic to improve their complexion.
B. Recipes for homemade cosmetics were kept in the kitchen.
C. Eugene Schueller found the French Harmless Hair Coloring Co.
D. A Hamburg Pharmacist developed the first cream that now sells to 150 countries.
E. Elizabeth Arden opened the first modern beauty salon.
?、? Questions:
1. What are the advantages of being pretty according to the passage ?
2. What’s your opinion about beauty? Is it really so important?
答案：
Ⅰ. 1. A / B 2. E 3. C 4. D
?、? 1. Being pretty has genetic and social advantages.
2. ( Open discussion)
參考譯文：
愛美沒商量
中世紀時, 貴婦們服食砒霜、敷蝙蝠血來改善面色。18世紀的美國婦女用男童的尿液去斑。維多利亞時代的婦女不惜抽去肋骨來獲得纖細的腰肢。對美麗的渴望, 以及由此衍生出的痛苦如同人類文明一樣悠久。
痛苦未能阻止美的渴望。人們創(chuàng)造了每年1600億的全球產(chǎn)業(yè), 其中包括: 化妝、美膚、護發(fā)、香熏、美容整形、健身俱樂部和節(jié)食藥片。美國人在美容上的支出多于教育。這種支出不僅僅是出于虛榮心。姣好或是不難看的面容, 具有遺傳和社會兩方面的極大優(yōu)勢。不管是男人還是女人, 漂亮的都被認為更聰明和性感; 他們掙錢多, 婚配的機會也更多。人們愛美的天性使美容業(yè)長盛不衰。中世紀時, 自制化妝品的配方就和家庭食譜并放在廚房里。直到20世紀初, 實現(xiàn)規(guī)模化生產(chǎn)了, 大眾通過照片、雜志和電影接觸到了近乎理想的美貌, 美容業(yè)也才開始了它的第一次騰飛。
1909年, 尤金· 斯庫爾拉創(chuàng)立了法國安全染發(fā)公司( 后來發(fā)展為該行業(yè)領(lǐng)先品牌———歐萊雅) 。兩年以后德國漢堡的藥劑師發(fā)明了水和油融合的乳液?，F(xiàn)在, 這種名為妮維雅的乳液, 作為全球最大的個人護理品牌, 行銷150多個國家。
然而, 正是兩個美國女人之間的激烈競爭塑造了今天的美容行業(yè)。伊麗莎白· 雅頓在1910年開了第一家美容院, 幾年后, 波蘭移民海倫娜· 盧賓斯坦因緊隨其后。這兩個女人使化妝品走出了家中的瓶瓶罐罐, 進入了現(xiàn)代發(fā)展時期。她們都認為美麗和健康是密切相關(guān)的。她們把節(jié)食和健身課程與臉部美容相結(jié)合, 這也正是現(xiàn)在美容業(yè)回歸的方向。
美容業(yè)的發(fā)展利用的是人們懼怕丑陋和追求美麗的特點, 并且利用新的心理學知識使女人們相信抹一筆唇膏可以使自卑情結(jié)一掃而光。
