专转本英语2阅读理解.docVIP

Passage One ?A few common misconceptions. Beauty is only skin-deep. Ones physical assets and liabilities dont 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（虔诚）while action just the contrary. Their typical experiment works something like this. They give each member of a group-college students, perhaps, or teachers or corporate personal mangers-a piece of paper relating an individuals 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 is only modest. But its potential impact on females can be tr