阅读理解。
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy (值得表扬的). Almost everyone thinks
attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages (婚姻) and have more respectable jobs.
Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants.
But in the executive (主管的) circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to
a woman.
Handsome (帅的) male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and
ability were thought to lead to their success.
Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success
was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than
the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was
connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman considered to be more feminine
has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears
to lack the "manly" qualities required.
This is true even in politics. "When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women
differently," says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political
candidates(候选人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men
and one of women, in order of attractiveness.
The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank
them again, in the order they would vote for them. The results showed that attractive males completely
defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest
votes.
1. The word "liability" most probably means ____.
A. disadvantage
B. advantage
C. misfortune
D. trouble
2. Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness ____.
A. turns out to be a disadvantage to men
B. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women
C. has as little effect on men as on women
D. affects men and women alike
3. It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often ____.
A. practical
B. supportive
C. old-fashioned
D. one-sided
4. The author writes this passage to ____.
A. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
B. discuss the disadvantages of being attractive
C. demand equal rights for women
D. state the importance of appearance
