2016年考研英语一阅读 Text 1 原文翻译及答案解析

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 women. 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.

自诩为全球时尚创新者的法国，已认定其时尚产业不再拥有定义女性形体美的绝对权利。立法者上周初步批准了一项法律，将聘用超瘦模特走T台列为犯罪行为。议会还同意禁止通过宣传极端节食来“煽动过度瘦身”的网站。

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

此类措施包含若干积极动机。它们表明美不应由最终损害健康的外形来定义——这已是良好开端。禁止超瘦模特的规定似乎超越了保护模特免于饿死（确有此类案例）的范畴。它向时尚产业宣告：必须为它向女性（特别是青少年）传递的关于社会衡量标准的信号负责，这些信号影响着她们对自身价值的判断。

The bans, if fully enforced, would suggest to women (and many men) that they should not let others be arbiters 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 size zero or wasp-waist physiques.

若能全面执行，这些禁令将向女性（及许多男性）暗示：不应让他人成为美的仲裁者。它们或许还隐约提示人们应关注品格与才智等无形品质，而非通过节食追求零码身材或蜂腰体型。

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 mass could result in a $85,000 fine and six months in prison.

然而法国的措施过度依赖严厉惩罚来改变仍视美为皮肤表层（甚至骨相毕露）的文化。根据该法律，聘用不符合政府体质指数的时装模特可能导致8.5万美元罚款和六个月监禁。

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 standards for models and fashion images that rely more on peer pressure for enforcement.

时尚产业深知其专注于物质装饰与理想化体型存在内在问题。在丹麦、美国等国家，该行业正尝试建立依赖同行压力来执行的模特及时装影像自愿标准。

In contrast to France’s actions, Denmark’s fashion industry agreed last month on rules and sanctions regarding the 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 tool of enforcement is to deny access for designers and modeling agencies to Copenhagen Fashion Week (CFW), which is run by the Danish Fashion Institute. But in general it relies on a name-and-shame method of compliance.

与法国行动形成对比，丹麦时装业上月就模特年龄、健康等特征制定了规则与制裁措施。新修订的《丹麦时装道德宪章》明确指出：“我们意识到并为时装业对体型观念的影响负责，尤其是对青少年。”宪章的主要执行手段是禁止设计师及经纪公司参加由丹麦时装学院主办的哥本哈根时装周，但总体上采用的是“公开点名”的遵守机制。

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.

依靠道德劝诫而非法律来纠正对体型观念的滥用，或许是最佳步骤。更理想的是帮助提升审美观念，使其超越特定行业的物质标准。