2015考研英语阅读美貌经济学

　　The economics of good looks

　　美貌经济学

　　Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People are MoreSuccessful. By Daniel Hamermesh. PrincetonUniversity Press; 216 pages; $24.95 and ?16.95. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

　　《美貌买单》：为何有魅力的人更加成功，丹尼尔?汉姆梅斯著，普林斯顿大学出版社，216页，24.59美圆,点击Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk购买.

　　The Beauty Bias: The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law. By Deborah Rhode. OxfordUniversity Press USA; 272 pages; $17.95 and ?15.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

　　《美貌的偏见》：生活与法律中外貌的不公, 黛博拉?罗得著,美国牛津大学出版社;272页;17.95美圆,点击 Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk购买.

　　Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital. By Catherine Hakim. Allen Lane; 304 pages; ?20. Tobe published in America in September as Erotic Capital: The Power of Attraction in theBoardroom and the Bedroom by Basic Books; $26. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

　　《甜蜜的金钱》:魅力资本的力量, 凯瑟琳?哈金著,304页,20欧元,9月将在美国由基础图书公司出版:魅力资本:会议室与卧室中美貌的吸引力;26美圆,点击Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk购买.

　　FRANCE looked back this week at the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the walls of the Louvre.It was one of the most startling art heists in history, but the emotions it still arouses gobeyond that. Stealing Leonardo da Vincis painting was like stealing beauty itself. And beautyhas lost none of its power to bewitch, bother and get its own way, as three new books on theeconomic advantages of good looks confirm.

　　本周，法国回顾了1911年卢浮宫墙上的《蒙娜丽莎》被盗的事件。那是史上最令人吃惊的艺术品盗窃案之一，曾引起群众强烈的情感反应，不过这些情感已超越了盗窃本身。盗窃列奥纳多?达?芬奇的画作，无异于盗窃美本身。不过，正如三本关于美貌所带来的经济优势的书所证明，美并未失却一丝一毫迷惑世人、扰乱世人和为所欲为的力量。

　　Physically attractive women and men earn more thanaverage-looking ones, and very plain people earnless. In the labour market as a whole , looks have a biggerimpact on earnings than education, thoughintelligencemercifully enough is valued morehighly still.

　　外貌出众的男男女女能比相貌平庸之人赚更多的钱，长相相当普通的人则赚得更少。在劳动力市场上，整体而言，相貌对收入的影响要大于受教育程度，虽然智商仍然被认为价值更高这已是万幸了。

　　Beauty is naturally rewarded in jobs where physical attractiveness would seem to matter, suchas prostitution, entertainment, customer service and so on. But it also yields rewards inunexpected fields. Homely NFL quarterbacks earn less than their comelier counterparts, despiteidentical yards passed and years in the league. Not everything comes easier: good-lookingwomen seeking high-flying jobs in particularly male fields may be stymied by the bimbo effectuntil they prove their competence and commitment. But the importance of beauty in thelabour market is far more pervasive than one might think.

　　在一些相貌似乎事关紧要的职业类型里，如妓女、娱乐业、客户服务等，美貌理所当然可以赚取报酬。但是在一些意想不到的领域里，美貌竟也能够带来回报。在美国橄榄球联盟里，同为四分卫，即使传球的码数、在联盟中的资历完全一样，长相平凡者还是比外貌出众者收入更少。但并非长得好看就能事事顺利：外貌出众的女性在由男性主导的职业领域里寻求志向远大的工作时，胸大无脑效应便可能会从中作梗，直至她们证明自己能力出众以及全心投入工作。但出众的外貌在劳动力市场上的重要性要比想象中来得更为普遍。

　　The same is true in other markets. Women have traditionally traded looks for economic supportin marriage. A Chinese study confirms that the husbands of unappealing women earn about10% less than those of their dishier counterparts. Attractive people also have an easier timegetting a loan than plain folks, even as they are less likely to pay it back. They receive milderprison sentences and higher damages in simulated legal proceedings. In America more peoplesay they have felt discriminated against for their appearance than because of their age, race orethnicity. Pretty people, it seems, have all the luck. These books attempt to explain why that is,and what, if anything, should be done about it.

　　在其他方面，情况相同。传统上，在婚姻中，女性就用外貌来换取经济支援。一个中国的研究证明，妻子长相平凡的丈夫比妻子漂亮的丈夫要少赚10%。即便外貌出众者还款的可能性更低，他们在申请贷款时也比长相平凡者更容易。在模拟法律诉讼中，外貌出众者受到的服刑判决会更轻，也能获得更高的赔偿金。在美国，相比起年龄、种族或民族，更多的人说他们因长相而受到的歧视。漂亮的人似乎运气很好。这几本书尝试解释这个现象以及能对此做些什么。

　　Daniel Hamermesh, an economist at the University of Texas, has long written aboutpulchronomics. In Beauty Pays he reckons that, over a lifetime and assuming todays meanwages, a handsome worker in America might on average make $230,000 more than a very plainone. There is evidence that attractive workers bring in more business, so it often makessense for firms to hire them. Whether rewarding them accordinglyand paying their lessattractive peers more stingilyis good for society is another matter.

　　德州大学的一位经济学家丹尼尔? 汉姆梅斯一直在写关于pulchronomics。他在《美貌买单》一书中指出，假若以如今的最低工资计算，在美国一个外貌出众的人一生之中比一个长相平凡的人平均多赚230，000美圆。也有证据表明外貌出众的员工能够招揽更多生意，所以聘用他们对公司而言经常也是很有意义的。但是，给予他们相应的回报并支付其同僚更为刻薄的薪水是否对社会有益，那就是另一回事了。

　　In examining the case for legal protection for theugly, Mr Hamermesh relies to a degree on the workof Deborah Rhode, a law professor at StanfordUniversity and author of The Beauty Bias. MsRhode clearly struggles to see why any woman wouldwillingly embrace fashion .She is outraged that virtually all females considertheir looks as key to their self-image. She cites asurvey in which over half of young women said theywould prefer to be hit by a truck than be fat. Herindignation is mostly moral. Billions of dollars arenow spent on cosmetic surgeryup to 90% of it by womenat a time when almost a fifth ofAmericans lack basic health care. The more women focus on improving their looks, Ms Rhodeargues, the less they think about others.

　　在调查为长相丑陋的人提供法律保护的个案时，丹尼尔?汉姆梅斯在很大程度上参考了哈佛大学法学教授以及《美貌的偏见》的作者黛博拉?罗得所作的研究。黛博拉?罗得显然极力探究为何所有女人都心甘情愿地追逐潮流。几乎所有女人都认为外表对她们的个人形象无比重要，对此她感到愤怒。她作了一个调查，发现超过一半的受访女性说她们宁愿被火车撞也不要变胖。黛博拉?罗得的愤怒大体是合乎道德的。如今，数十亿美圆被花费在整容手术上，其中90%的消费者是女性，但同时，却约有五分之一的美国人缺乏基本医疗保障。黛博拉?罗得认为，女性越是关注如何改善其外表，就会越少为他人着想。