综合英语第八单元Part1.docVIP

What is your definition of beauty and beautiful? Mary Wendy: a TV hostess Sue Jaycee: a former top model, now a businesswoman Elizabeth Young: a writer and university lecturer Mary: Good morning and welcome to “ Head to Head”. Today’s topic is beauty. What is beauty? What lengths can we or should we go to, to make ourselves more beautiful? In order to help answer your questions, I have two beautiful people with me! Sue Jaycee, a former top model, is now a successful businesswoman. Elizabeth Young is a writer and lecturer. Sue, perhaps we could start with you. Do you think people should try to be beautiful? Sue: Well, first, thanks for the compliment, Mary. Now, the way I see it, you’re only on this earth for a short time, and you’ve only got one body, so you should look after it. You’ve got to watch what to eat, keep yourself fit, and later, if you need a little help from cosmetic surgery, what’s wrong with that? Elizabeth: I think it’s up to everyone to decide what is right for them, but I do feel that there is too much emphasis on appearance these days. And I think there are real dangers here. There are dangers from eating disorders, like anorexia, and from having cosmetic surgery. And there are a lot of people who are unhappy because they just don’t happen to fit society’s current ideas about what is beautiful. Mary: Yes, you’re a historian; perhaps you could give us a brief historical perspective on this. Elizabeth: Well, there are lots of examples of societies in which people have done some horrendous things so as to make themselves more “beautiful” in quotes. For instance, foot-binding used to be common in China. In Europe, some women had their bottom ribs removed so that they would have thin waists. Neck-stretching was the fashion in some parts of Burma. In Africa, there were tribes which went in for stretching the ear lobes, or the lips, or even changing the shape of the skull itself. These are all cases in which people---usually women---have been forced