单选题
Text 2

A few common misconceptions. Beauty is only skin-deep. One's physical assets and liabilities don't count all that much in a managerial career. A woman should always try to look her best.
Over the last 30 years, social scientists have conducted more than 1,000 studies of how we react to beautiful and not-so-beautiful people. The virtually unanimous conclusion: Looks do matter, more than most of us realize. The data suggest, for example, that physically attractive individuals are more likely to be treated well by their parents, sought out as friends, and pursued romantically. With the possible exception of women seeking managerial jobs, they are also more likely to be hired, paid well, and promoted.
Un-American, you say, unfair and extremely unbelievable? Once again, the scientists have caught us mouthing pieties while acting just the contrary. Their typical experiment works something like this. They give each member of a group—college students, perhaps, or teachers or corporate personnel mangers—a piece of paper relating an individual's accomplishments. Attached to the paper is a photograph. While the papers all say exactly the same thing the pictures are different. Some show a strikingly attractive person, some an average-looking character, and some an unusually unattractive human being. Group members are asked to rate the individual on certain attributes, anything from personal warmth to the likelihood that he or she will be promoted.
Almost invariably, the better looking the person in the picture, the higher the person is rated. In the phrase, borrowed from Sappho, that the social scientists use to sum up the common perception, what is beautiful is good.
In business, however, good looks cut both ways for women, and deeper than for men. A Utah State University professor, who is an authority on the subject, explains: In terms of their careers, the impact of physical attractiveness on males in only modest. But its potential impact on females can be tremendous, making it easier, for example, for the more attractive to get jobs where they are in the public eye. On another note, though, there is enough literature now for us to conclude that attractive women who aspire to managerial positions do not get on as well as women who may be less attractive.

单选题 According to the passage, people often wrongly believe that in pursuing a career as a manager ______.
A. a person's property or debts do not matter much
B. a person's outward appearance is not a critical qualification
C. women should always dress fashionably
D. women should not only be attractive but also high-minded
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。本题问在寻求管理方面的职业时,人们经常错误地认为什么。关键词是people often wrongly believe,对应第一段common misconception。第一段中作者认为人们存在的有关美貌的错误观念是:美是肤浅的、无关紧要的;在管理职业,一个人外在条件的优劣并不那么重要,因此选项[B]“一个人的外表在管理职业并不是一个重要的条件”为正确答案。选项[A]中property or debts是对assets and liabilities的字面的解释,而原文是用了比喻义,表示“美或不美”;选项[C]和[D]文章中没有提到。
单选题 The result of research carried out by social scientists show that______.
A. people do not realize the importance of looking one's best
B. women in pursuit of managerial jobs are not likely to be paid well
C. good-looking women aspire to managerial positions
D. attractive people generally have an advantage over those who are not
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节推理题。本题问社会科学家的研究结果表明什么。关键词是result of research,根据第二段和第四段都提到了科学家的实验。第二段第二句(The vritually unanimousconclusion…)到最后一句的大意为:相貌比大部分人意识到的更重要。另外,第三、四段中的实验结果是越漂亮的人排名越靠前,证实了人们的普遍观点:凡美丽的就是好的。综上所述,长得漂亮的人无论在实际生活中还是在人们的观念中,一般来说(generally)要比长得不漂亮的人具有优势,除了寻求管理职业的妇女可能是个例外;所以选项[D]为正确答案。其它选项与研究结果无关。
单选题 Experiments by scientists have shown that when people evaluate individuals on certain attributes______.
A. they observe the principle that beauty is only skin-deep
B. they do not usually act according to the views they support
C. they give ordinary-looking persons the lowest ratings
D. they tend to base their judgment on the individual's accomplishments
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节推理题。本题问科学家的实验显示,当人们在评价人的某些特点的时候有什么表现。关键词是experiment—attributes,根据原文第三、四段,第三段第二句说:科学家再次说明我们嘴上一套,实际上做的却是另一套。接着,用实验证明了人们言行不一,认为美不重要,实际上却给长得漂亮的人打高分。所以选项[B]“行为与观点不一”为正确答案。选项[A]不是实验所证实的对象;选项[C]表象错误,加上“lowest ratings”用词不准;选项[D]属概念错误。
单选题 "Good looks cut both ways for women" (Line 1, Para. 5)means that______.
A. attractive women have tremendous potential impact on public jobs
B. good-looking women always get the best of everything
C. being attractive is not always an advantage for women
D. attractive women do not do as well as unattractive women in managerial positions
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】词汇题。根据上下文,尤其是however的提示,说明作者想表达美丽不一定都是好的。接着作者在最后一段用专家的解释证明了自己的观点,因此选项[C]为正确答案。其中notalways正好与however形成契合。选项[A]、[B]没有把握文章和段落的中心思想;选项[D]和原文最后一句话不符合,而且只说了cut both ways的一方面。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that in the business world______.
A. handsome men are not affected as much by their looks as attractive women are
B. physically attractive women who are in the public eye usually do quite well
C. physically attractive men and women who are in the public eye usually get along quite well
D. good looks are important for women as they are for men
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节推理题。本题要求对文章作出推断,根据关键词“in the business world”可知问题指向原文最后一段。本段第一句讲到外表对男性的影响不像对女性那样大,故[A]项为正确答案。选项[B]看似正确,但作者认为在商界并非这样;选项[C]文章没提;选项[D]与本段主题句相反。