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1、上海牛津高二下课文U1 What is beauty?Suffering to be beautiful Read the transcript below from a radio programme called Head to Head. Host: Good morning. Todays topic is beauty. What is beauty? And, to what lengths can or should we go to make ourselves more beautiful? In the studio today are two beautiful wome
2、n to help answer these questions! Sue Leslie, a former model who is now a successful businesswoman, and Elizabeth Cade, a writer and lecturer. Sue, perhaps we could start with you. Is beauty important? SL: Welt, first, thanks for the compliment, Mary. Now, I think that in todays world, it is importa
3、nt to look your best. You should watch what you eat and keep yourself fit. And if thats not enough, then cosmetic surgery can change peoples lives. Host: Elizabeth, whats your viewpoint? EC: I think its up to everyone to decide what is right for them, but I do feel that people should be happy with t
4、hemselves, regardless of how they look.There is too much emphasis on appearance these days. Seldom do people think about the real dangers of this obsession with looks, both from eating disorders and from having cosmetic surgery. Also, many people feel unhappy because just dont happen to fit societys
5、 current ideas of what is beautiful. Host: Since youre a historian, perhaps you could give us a brief historical perspective on this. EC: Well, there are lots of examples of societies in which people have done some horrendous things to try to make themselves look more beautiful. For instance, some E
6、uropean women used to have their bottom ribs removed so that they would have thin waists. Neck stretching was fashionable in some parts of South-East Asia. Ln Africa, there were tribes which stretched their ear lobes or lips. I think it is ridiculous that people-usually women-have been forced by soc
7、iety to endure such considerable pain and suffering. SL: So do l. But times have changed. No one forces people to come to Sues Salon, my health studo. Theyre free to come, and they enjoy coming because after a course there, they look as if they were ten years younger. So I dont see any real point in
8、 discussing all these quaint o/d customs. EC: But there really is no difference between then and now! That is why today, millions of women alter their bodies. They have eye operations, facelifts and many other operations just to make other people think they are more beautiful. SL: Yes, but its their
9、 own choice. EC: I dont agree. Society still judges people on how they look, and so forces them to worry about their appearance. Judging people by their appearance. Is silly. We should judge the whole person. Host: Well, I think that sets out some of the issues very we11, so now, lets take our first
10、 call U2 Laughter healsA practical joke Read this article on a humour website to see an example of a practical joke. We can define a joke as something you say that causes laughter, and a practical joke as something you do that causes laughter. A practical joke is a trick that is played on an unsuspe
11、cting victim to make him or her look silly or embarrassed. In Richard Bostons Book of Practical jokes, the writer tells the story of a practical joke played on a Mr Potts who worked in a newspaper office.The impression that Mr Potts regarded his colleagues as inferiors made him unpopular:H-is 1 co-w
12、orkers decided to play a joke on him that might make him feel more humble.Now it so happened that Mr Potts always wore the same hat to work. It was a rather unpleasant-looking green colour. When he arrived at the office every morning at precisely ten oclock, he would hang his hat on a peg near the d
13、oor and .I proceed to his desk. When he left in the afternoon, he reversed the process. He took his hat from the peg, placed it on his head, said Good afternoon: and departed for home. One day, when he was out of the room, his colleagues examined the hat very carefully. Then they went to a nearby sh
14、op and bought another hat exactly like it, but quite a bit larger. When they returned to the office, Mr Potts was still out, so they exchanged the new hat for the old one. At the end of the afternoon, Mr Potts got up to leave. When he put his hat on his head, however, it dropped down over his eyes.
15、After he left the office, everyone roared with laughter. The next day, to everyones surprise, Mr Potts turned up with his hat in its normal position. His colleagues were puzzled by this, and while Mr Potts was out they studied the hat carefully. They found that Mr Potts had fixed some pieces of news
16、paper round the inside of the hat to reduce its diameter and make it smaller. The next day they decided to take Mr Pottss old hat from the cupboard where they had concealed it. They made it smaller in the same way, and replaced the new hat with the old one. At the end of the day, Mr Potts got up to leave as usual. When he put his hat on this time, however, it stuck right on top of his head. Again, everyone roared with la
