Medieval noblewomen swallowed arsenic and dabbed on bats blood to improve theircomplexions; 18 th century Americans prized the warm urine of young boys to erase theirfreckles; Victorian ladies removed their ribs to give themselves a wasp waist. The desire to bebeautiful 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 globalindustry,encompassing make -up, skin and hair care, fragrances, cosmetic surgery, healthclubs 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 enormousgenetic and social advantages. Attractive people ( both men and women) are judged to bemore 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 homemadecosmetics 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 massexposure 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 becameL'Oreal2— today's industry leader. Two years later, a Hamburg pharmacist, developed the firstcream to bind oil and water. Today, it sells in 150 countries as Nivea, the biggest personal-carebrand in the world.

　　But it was the great rivalry between two women in America that made the industry what it istoday. Elizabeth Arden opened the first modern beauty salon in 1910 , followed a few yearslater by Helena Rubinstein, a Polish immigrant. The two took cosmetics out of household potsand pans and into the modern era . Both thought beauty and health were interlinked. Theycombined facials with diets and exercise classes in a holistic approach that the industry is nowreturning to.

　　The emerging beauty industry played on3 the fear of looking ugly as much as on the pleasureof looking beautiful, drawing on the new science of psychology to convince women that aninferiority complex4 could be cured by a dab of lipstick.

　　練習題：

　　Ⅰ. 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?

　?、? 1. A / B 2. E 3. C 4. D

　　Ⅱ. 1. Being pretty has genetic and social advantages.

　　2. ( Open discussion)

　　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。人們創造了每年1600億的全球產業, 其中包括: 化妝、美膚、護發、香熏、美容整形、健身俱樂部和節食藥片。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, 實現規模化生產了, 大眾通過照片、雜志和電影接觸到了近乎理想的美貌, 美容業也才開始了它的第一次騰飛。

　　1909年, 尤金· 斯庫爾拉創立了法國安全染發公司( 后來發展為該行業領先品牌———歐萊雅) 。兩年以后德國漢堡的藥劑師發明了水和油融合的乳液?，F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。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, 進入了現代發展時期。她們都認為美麗和健康是密切相關的。她們把節食和健身課程與臉部美容相結合, 這也正是現在美容業回歸的方向。

　　美容業的發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一掃而光。

　　1. confer v. ①商談, 協議, 交換意見, 如: confer with sb. over sth. ( 就某事和某人商議)②授予, 賜給( 稱號、學位、權利等) , 如: The university conferred an honorary degree on him. ( 這所大學授予他名譽學位。) We should confer more social prestige on housewives.( 我們應該賦予家庭婦女更高的社會地位。)

　　2. 即歐萊雅, 世界知名的化妝品品牌。下文中提到的Nivea ( 妮維雅) 也是一種知名護膚品的品牌。

　　3. play on ①繼續比賽, 恢復比賽, 如: Some of the players claimed a penalty but the referee toldthem to play on. ( 有些隊員認為應當判罰, 但裁判讓他們繼續比賽。) ② play on sth. ( 為達到個人的目的) 激起( 某人感情等) , 利用, 如: They played on his fears of losing his job to get him to do whatthey wanted. ( 他們利用他怕失去工作的心理, 讓他做他們想做的事。)

　　4. 這是一個心理學術語, 意思是“自卑感, 自卑情結”, 口語中“ 自卑”可以表示為“ inferiority feeling”。