Question

Doomed beauties such as Cleopatra and Manilyn Monroe were far from alone in their misery. Very attractive people tend to form partnerships that are less stable and satisfying than those enjoyed by plain Janes.

According to research by Dr John Blaine of the University of Southern California, relationships between people whose professions largely depend on their appearances, such as models or actors, tend to end much faster than those between lawyers, doctors or students.

Blaine said the beautiful felt different from childhood. They are treated as special, which may create both arrogance(傲慢) and insecurity. All too often, beauty can be used as an alternative to education. Often they are pushed out of their class or town, told to go off and make their fortune in Hollywood or London and, when the majority fail, they have few talents(才能) to make a living.

Blaine added that beautiful people score poorly on the “big five” — the key factors American experts consider when helping distressed couples. These are neuroticism(神經過敏), including anger and anxiety; extroversion(性格外向); openness to new experiences; agreeableness; and conscientiousness, or sticking by agreements they have made. Attractive people often see no reason to try to change until their looks start to fade.

Krista Sutherland, of the University of California Los Angeles, said partnerships that appeared to be perfect from the outside, such as the former “dream teams” of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise or Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley, where backgrounds and aspirations(抱負) are often shared, did not necessarily lead to happiness.

What does the underlined sentence “Doomed beauties such as Cleopatra and Manilyn Monroe were far from alone in their misery. ” means?

A. Beautiful women always felt lonely.

B. Beautiful women always were alone.

C. Many beautiful women didn’t end up with a happy life.

D. Beautiful women always lived a happy life. 

The underlined phrase “plain Janes” in the passage refer to ________.

A. ordinary-looking women         B. women called Jane

C. common people                      D. attractive women 

We can infer in the passage that ________.

A. Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley were a couple

B. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were very satisfied with their life

C. When they fail in Hollywood, the beautiful have little trouble in making a living

D. The marriage of the beautiful often last long  

Which of the following is the best title?

A. Five key factors affecting the partnership       B. Beauties are doomed to fail in love

C. Beauties or common?                            D. The beautiful are different.

Answer 1

【小題1】C

【小題2】A

【小題3】A

【小題4】B

解析:

本文為議論文，作者論證了這樣一個觀點：美女婚姻并非美滿。

【小題1】句意理解題。這句話的意思是“像克萊奧帕特拉和瑪麗蓮·夢露般美麗的女人卻命運悲慘，而且這種情況并不罕見。”故選C。

【小題2】猜測詞義題。Jane在英語當中是一個非常普通常見的女性名詞，在此用復數形式指代相貌一般的女性。

【小題3】推測判斷題。partnerships一般指的是伙伴或伴侶關系，再結合短文主題可知 partnerships that appeared to be perfect from the outside 中的 partnerships 在此表示肯定是“伴侶關系”。文章后面馬上列舉了 Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley的例子，來說明作者“在外人看來完美無缺的伴侶關系卻未必帶來幸福快樂”的觀點。故 Hugh Grant 和 Elizabeth Hurley 是夫妻關系。

【小題4】主旨大意題。短文第一段的最后一句Very attractive people tend to form partnerships that are less stable and satisfying than those enjoyed by plain Janes. 是全文的主題句。這句話的意思是：美艷絕倫的女人比起容貌一般的女人更易遭受既不稱心又不穩定的情侶關系。故B項(美貌女人注定要情場失意)為最佳標題。