自考高级英语上册Lesson15TheBeautyIndustry大耳朵英语http://www.ebigear.com2011-01-2122:35:03【打印】Lesson15:TheBeautyIndustry美容用品业TheoneAmericanindustryunaffectedbythegeneraldepressionoftradeisthebeamyindustry.美国工业中惟一未受贸易大萧条影响的是美容用品业。Americanwomencontinuetospendontheirfacesandbodiesasmuchastheyspentbeforethecomingoftheslump經濟蕭條前—aboutthreemillionpoundsaweek.美国妇女仍不断在她们的脸上和身体上花费与经济萧条到来之前同样多的钱——每周约300万英镑。Thesefactsandfiguresare"official",andcanheacceptedasbeingsubstantially充分true.这些事实与数字都是官方的，可大致属实。Readingthem.Iwasonlysurprisedbythecomparative相對較小smallnessofthesumsexpended.当读到这时，我只为花费的数目相对较小而感到惊奇。Fromtheprodigious巨大numberofadvertisementsofaidstobeautycontainedintheAmericanmagazines,从美国杂志上铺天盖地的化妆品广告来看，IhadimaginedthatthepersonalappearancebusinessmuststandhighupamongthechampionsofAmericanindustry—theequal,oronlyjustlessthantheequal,ofbootlegging販賣私酒andracketeering,敲詐勒索moviesandautomobiles.从美国杂志上铺天盖地的化妆品广告来看，我原以为美容用品业一定居美国工业群雄之首，与贩卖私酒和敲诈勒索，电影和汽车业并驾齐驱或稍逊一筹。Still,onehundredandfifty-sixmillionpoundsayearisatidy相當大的sum.虽然如此，每年1亿5，600万英镑是一个相当不小的数目，Rathermorethantwicetherevenue收入ofIndia,ifIrememberrightly.如果我没有记错的话，超出印度年收入的两倍。IdonotknowwhattheEuropeanfiguresare.Muchsmallerundoubtedly.我不知道欧洲的数字是多少，毫无疑问要小得多。Europeispoor,andafacecancostasmuchinupkeepasaRolls-Royce.欧洲很穷，保养一张脸需要花费和保养一辆罗尔斯——罗伊斯牌汽车一样多的钱。ThemostthatthemajorityofEuropeanwomencandoisjusttowashandhopeforthebest.大多欧洲妇女最多只能洗洗脸，听天由命。Perhapsthesoapwillproduceitsloudlyadvertisedeffects;也许肥皂会产生广告中大肆宣扬的效果，perhapsitwilltransformthemintothelikenessofthoseravishingcreatureswhosmilesorosilyandcreamily紅潤白嫩,sopeachily艷如桃李andpearlily美若珠肌,fromeveryhoarding廣告牌.也许能把她们变成像那些在每块广告牌上绽开令人陶醉的红润白嫩、艳如桃李、美若珠玑般笑容的女郎。Perhaps,ontheotherhand,itmaynot.另一方面，或许肥皂不具有这种效能。Inanycase,themorecostlyexperimentsinbeautificationarestillasmuchbeyondmostEuropeanmeansasarehigh-poweredmotor-carsandelectricrefrigerators.无论怎样，在装饰自己上更为昂贵的试验和大马力汽车及电冰箱一样都是欧洲人的经济能力所不及的。EveninEurope,however,muchmoreisnowspentonbeautythanwaseverspentinthepast.然而即使在欧洲，如今花在化妆品上的钱比过去任何时候都要多得多，NotquitesomuchmoreasinAmerica,thatisall.只不过比起美国来要逊色些罢了。But,everywhere,theincreasehasbeenundoubtedlyenormous.增長無疑是巨大的但无论在任何地方，增长无疑是巨大的。Thefactissignificant.这一事实意义重大。Towhatisitdue?为什么会出现这种现象呢？Inpart,Isuppose,toageneralincreaseinprosperity繁榮.我认为部分是由于普遍增长的繁荣。Therichhavealwayscultivatedtheirpersonalappearance.有钱的人总是追求个人容貌的修饰，Thediffusion擴散ofwealth—suchasitis—nowpermitsthoseofthepoorwhoarelessbadlyoffthantheirfatherstodothesame.财富的扩散——尽管程度并不大，境况比其父辈稍好一些的穷人也能这样做。Butthisis,clearly,notthewholestory.但显然这并非事情的全部。Themoderncultofbeautyisnotexclusively不隻是afunction(inthemathematicalsense)ofwealth.现代对美貌的狂热崇拜并不只是财富的作用（从数学意义上看），Ifitwere,then...
