Section II Reading Comprehension

　　Part A

　　Directions:

　　Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

　　Text 1

　　France, which prides itself as the global innovator of fashion, has decided its fashion industry has lost an absolute right to define physical beauty for woman. Its lawmakers gave preliminary approval last week to a law that would make it a crime to employ ultra-thin models on runways.

　　The parliament also agreed to ban websites that" incite excessive thinness" by promoting extreme dieting.

　　Such measures have a couple of uplifting motives. They suggest beauty should not be defined by looks that end up with impinging on health. That's a start. And the ban on ultra-thin models seems to go beyond protecting models from starring themselves to health -as some have done. It tells the fashion industry that it move take responsibility for the signal it sends women, especially teenage girls, about the social tape -measure they must use to determine their individual worth.

　　The bans, if fully enforced ,would suggest to woman (and many men )that they should not let others be orbiters of their beauty .And perhaps faintly, they hint that people should look to intangible qualities like character and intellect rather than dieting their way to sine zero or wasp-waist physiques .

　　The French measures, however, rely too much on severe punishment to change a culture that still regards beauty as skin-deep-and bone-showing. Under the law, using a fashion model that does not meet a government-defined index of body mess could result in a $85,000 fine and six months in prison.

　　The fashion industry knows it has an inherent problem in focusing on material adornment and idealized body types. In Denmark, the United States, and a few other countries, it is trying to set voluntary standard for models and fashion images there rely more on pear pressure for enforcement.

　　In contrast to France's actions, Denmark's fashion industry agreed last month on rules and sanctions regarding age, health, and other characteristics of models .The newly revised Danish Fashion Ethical charter clearly states, we are aware of and take responsibility for the impact the fashion industry has on body ideals, especially on young people. The charter's main toll of enforcement is to deny access for designers and modeling agencies to Copenhagen. Fashion week, which is men by the Danish Fashion Institute .But in general it relies on a name-and -shame method of compliance.

　　Relying on ethical persuasion rather than law to address the misuse of body ideals may be the best step. Even better would be to help elevate notions of beauty beyond the material standards of a particular industry.

　　21. According to the first paragraph, what would happen in France?

　　[A] Physical beauty would be redefined

　　[B] New runways would be constructed

　　[C] Websites about dieting would thrive

　　[D] The fashion industry would decline

　　【答案】A

　　【解析】推断题。根据题干first paragraph定位第一段，其中第一句France ,which prides itself as the global innovator of fashion, has decided its fashion industry has lost an absolute right to define physical beauty for woman.以作为全球时尚创新者为荣的法国承认已经失去定义女性形体美的绝对权利，说明法国以前制定的形体美的标准已不再适用，现在需要做出改变，故A选项为正确答案。

　　22. The phrase "impinging on"(Line2 Para2) is closest in meaning to

　　[A] heightening the value of

　　[B] indicating the state of

　　[C] losing faith in

　　[D] doing harm to

　　【答案】D

　　【解析】词义题。根据题干关键词定位到第二段的第二句"They suggest beauty should not be defined by looks that end up with impinging on health."(他们认为美女不应该以…健康的外表来界定)。该句承接本段第一句"Such measures have a couple of uplifting motives."其中，Such measures指代的正是第一段中阐述的"雇佣过瘦(excessive thinness)的模特会犯罪的法律规定"，且excessive一词表明了情感色彩是贬义的。因此选[D] doing harm to。

　　23. Which of the following is true of the fashion industry

　　[A] The French measures have already failed

　　[B] New standards are being set in Denmark

　　[C] Models are no longer under peer pressure

　　[D] Its inherent problems are getting worse

　　【答案】B

　　【解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位在原文第五段。由该段第二句可知，丹麦等国正在制定模特的标准。与选项[B]丹麦正在制定新的标准相符合，故正确。

　　24. A designer is most likely to be rejected by CFW for

　　[A] setting perfect physical conditions

　　[B] caring too much about models' character

　　[C] showing little concern for health factors

　　[D] pursuing a high age threshold for models

　　【答案】C

　　【解析】推理题。题干问的是"设计师似乎被CFW拒绝的原因"。根据题干关键词，回文定位到倒数第二段，其中指出"…enforcement is to deny access for designers…"，意思是"法案拒绝设计师进入CFW，它是由丹麦时装学院创办的。"，再根据该段前两句可知，麦时装学院不再只关注身材，也关注健康。而设计师一般都是以瘦为美，而忽视健康。综上所述，设计师被拒绝的原因是不考虑健康因素，故选[C] showing little concern for health factors。

　　25. Which of the following maybe the best title of the text?

　　[A] A challenge to the Fashion Industry's Body Ideals

　　[B] A Dilemma for the starving models in France

　　[C] Just Another Round of struggle for beauty

　　[D] The Great Threats to the Fashion Industry

　　【答案】A

　　【解析】主旨题。首段指出法律要求时尚界不能用过瘦的模特，接下来的段落重点说明时尚界的模特同时还需考虑年纪，健康以及其他方面的因素等。因此这篇文章的中心是围绕对时尚界理想体型观点的挑战，故[A] A challenge to the Fashion Industry's Body Ideals正确。