单选题 No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying often attributed to the late Duchess of Windsor embodies much of the odd spirit of our times. Being thin is deemed as such virtue.
The problem with such a view is that some people actually attempt to live by it. I myself have fantasies of slipping into narrow designer clothes. Consequently, I have been on a diet for the better--or worse--part of my life. Being rich wouldn't be bad either, but that won't happen unless an unknown relative dies suddenly in some distant land, leaving me millions of dollars.
Where did we go off the track? When did eating butter become a sin, and a little bit of extra flesh unappealing, if not repellent? All religions have certain days when people refrain from eating, and excessive eating is one of Christianity's seven deadly sins. However until quite recently, most people had a problem getting enough to eat. In some religious groups, wealth was a symbol of probable salvation and high moral,,;, and fatness a sign of wealth and well-being.
Today the opposite is true. We have shifted to thinness as our new mar of virtue. The result is that being fat--or even only somewhat overweight--is bad because it implies a lack of moral strength.
Our obsession with thinness is also fueled by health concerns. It is tree that in this country we have more overweight people than ever before, and that, in many cases, being over-weight correlates with an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease. These diseases, however, may have as much to do with our way of life and our high-fat diets as with excess weight. And the associated risk of cancer in the digestive system may be more of a dietary problem--too much fat and a lack of fiber--than a weight problem.
The real concern, then, is not that we weigh too much, but that we neither exercise enough nor eat well. Exercise is necessary for strong bones and both heart and lung health. A balanced diet without a lot of fat can also help the body avoid many diseases. We should surely stop paying so much attention to weight. Simply being thin is not enough. It is actually hazardous if those who get (or already are) thin think they are automatically healthy and thus free from paying attention to their overall life-style. Thinness can be pure vainglory.

单选题 What is a strange phenomenon nowadays in the eyes of the author?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[题眼] 首段设题
[解析] 事实细节题。strange phenomenon与原文首段中的the odd spirit of our times对应。其后一句具体解释了odd所指的对象，即瘦是一种美德。[C]是此句的同义转述。原文提到Duchess of Windsor只是表明她是追求瘦身者的偶像，可排除[A]；[B]中fortune若为virtue就正确了；后文提到宗教方面对待体重的看法，但没有评价信仰宗教的人的道德问题，排除[D]。

单选题 Influenced by the popular trend, the author

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[题眼] 特殊标点处设题
[解析] 事实细节题。题干中the popular trend对应原文的第二段第二句话中的fantasies，其后使用破折号的句子用consequently引出作者所采取的行动：有一段时间在节食减肥，即[A]。[B]go off the track在原文中指人们的观点变化，不是指她本人；原文提到rich distant relatives是指变瘦如同变富一样不容易，故[C]不正确；原文中提到的designer clothes是指瘦身的效果，故[D]也不正确。

单选题 In human history people's views on body weight

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[题眼] 段尾处设题；段首句设题
[解析] 推理判断题。原文第三段段尾处提到历史上某些宗教认为胖是财富的象征。而第四段段首句说到，今天一切都反了过来。如今人们转而以瘦为美德，可见人们对体重的态度是变化的。[A]中的religious beliefs只是一定阶段的特点；原文提到关于moral的观点只是宗教方面的看法，不能概括全部变化，排除[B]；[C]原文未提及。