11 Grade Test

The Enigma of Beauty

Written by Cathy Newman
Republished from the pages of National Geographic magazine

(…)At its best, beauty celebrates. From the Txikão warrior in Brazil painted in jaguar-like
spots to Madonna in her metal bra, humanity revels in the chance to shed its everyday
skin and masquerade as a more powerful, romantic, or sexy being.
At its worst, beauty discriminates. Studies suggest attractive people make more money,
get called on more often in class, receive lighter court sentences, and are perceived as
friendlier. We do judge a book by its cover.
In an era of feminist and politically correct values, not to mention the closely held belief
that all men and women are created equal, the fact that all men and women are not—and
that some are more beautiful than others—disturbs, confuses, even angers.
For better or worse, beauty matters. How much it matters can test our values. With luck,
the more we live and embrace the wide sweep of the world, the more generous our
definition becomes.(…)
The search for beauty spans centuries and continents. A relief in the tomb of the Egyptian
nobleman Ptahhotep, who lived around 2400 B.C., shows him getting a pedicure.
Cleopatra wore kohl, an eyeliner made from ground-up minerals.
Love of appearance was preeminent among the aristocracy of the 18th century.
Montesquieu, the French essayist, wrote: "There is nothing more serious than the goings-
on in the morning when Madam is about her toilet." But monsieur, in his wig of cascading
curls, scented gloves, and rouge, was equally narcissistic. "They have their color, toilet,
powder puffs, pomades, perfumes," noted one lady socialite, "and it occupies them just as
much as or even more than us."(…)
The search for beauty could be macabre. To emphasize their noble blood, women in the
court of Louis XVI drew blue veins on their necks and shoulders.
The search for beauty could be deadly. Vermilion rouge used in the 18th century was
made of a sulfur and mercury compound. Men and women used it at the peril of lost teeth
and inflamed gums. They sickened, sometimes died, from lead in the white powder they
dusted on their faces. In the 19th century women wore whalebone and steel corsets that
made it difficult to breathe, a precursor of the stomach-smooshing Playtex Living Girdle.
The search for beauty is costly. In the United States last year people spent six billion
dollars on fragrance and another six billion on makeup. Hair- and skin-care products
drew eight billion dollars each, which fingernail items alone accounted for a billion. In the
mania to lose weight 20 billion was spent on diet products and services—in addition to
the billions that were paid out for health club memberships and cosmetic surgery.
Despite the costs, the quest for beauty prevails, an obsession once exemplified by the taste
of Copper Eskimo women for a style of boot that let in snow but was attractive to men
because of the waddle it inflicted on the wearer—a fashion statement not unlike the
ancient Chinese custom of foot binding or the 20th-century high heel shoe.

A – Interpretation
1. Find similar words in the text:
Opportunity ________________ Enhance _________________
Made ______________________ Dangerous _______________
Age _______________________ Expensive ________________
Egocentric __________________

2. Answer the following questions:

2.1 Does the author think that beauty celebrates or discriminates more? Justify your
answer.
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2.2 What’s the relation between feminism and beauty?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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2.3 It’s the quest for beauty time-consuming? Justify your answer with a quote from the
text.
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______________________________________________________________________________

2.4 In order to appear beautiful people had deadly habits. Which ones?
______________________________________________________________________________
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B – Vocabulary exercises

1. Find the correct meaning for the words: self-catering holiday; working holiday; house
swap; backpacking holiday; city break; coach tour; honeymoon; adventure holiday.

Explore new places and do unsual things (some may have some risk)
_______________________
See the most famous sights in a couple of days __________________________
Go to lots of places by bus __________________________
Go to a person’s home and let them stay in yours _________________________
Take jobs to help people in a different place ______________________
Cook for yourself during the holiday _________________________
Celebrate getting married ________________________
Travel a lot and take everything you need in your back _____________________

2. Match the expressions with each other:

2.1 Take part in ___ a) People

2.2 Get off ___ b) The crowds
2.3 Soak up ___ c) The sun
2.4 Escape ___ d) Guided tours
2.5 See ___ e) Time out
2.6 Take ___ f) The beaten track
2.7 Get to know ___ g) The sights

3. Fill in the text with the following expressions:

Self-catering Tour guide Coach tour Get off the beaten track Got to know
National Park Escape the crowds Beach resort Soak up the sun
Adventure holiday Package holiday
C – Grammar
Complete the story using the past simple, past perfect, or past continuous of the verbs in
brackets.
It __________ (be) Tuesday evening and I __________ (get) ready to go to bed when the
phone __________ (ring). To my surprise it __________ (be) my friend Peter.
He __________ (call) from his mobile and he was very annoyed because
he __________ (lose) his keys and he __________ (cannot) get into his flat.
He __________ (think) he __________ (leave) them at work but now it was midnight and
the office was closed so he __________ (cannot) get in to check. Luckily I had the keys to
his flat because a month before he __________ (give) me a spare set so that I could look
after his cat while he was on holiday. When he finally __________ (arrive) to pick them
up, it was three o'clock in the morning, and I __________ (lie) on the sofa fast asleep.