No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying often attributed to the late Duchess（公爵夫人）of Windsor embodies much of the odd spirit of our times. Being thin is deemed as such a virtue.
The problem with such a view is that some people actually attempt to live by it. I myself have fantasies of slipping into narrow designer clothes. Consequently, I have been on a diet for the better—or worse—part of my life. Being rich wouldn't be bad either, but that won't happen unless an unknown relative dies suddenly in some distant land, leaving me millions of dollars.
Where did we go off the track? When did eating butter become a sin, and a little bit of extra flesh unappealing, if not repellent? All religions have certain days when people refrain from eating, and excessive eating is one of Christianity's seven deadly sins. However, until quite recently, most people had a problem getting enough to eat. In some religious groups, wealth was a symbol of probable salvation and high morals, and fatness a sign of wealth and well-being.
Today the opposite is true. We have shifted to thinness as our new mark of virtue. The result is that being fat—or even only somewhat overweight—is bad because it implies a lack of moral strength.
Our obsession（迷恋）with thinness is also fueled by health concerns. It is true that in this country we have more overweight people than ever before, and that, in many cases, being overweight correlates with an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease. These diseases, however, may have as much to do with our way of life and our high-fat diets as with excess weight. And the associated risk of cancer in the digestive system may be more of a dietary problem—too much fat and a lack of fiber—than a weight problem.
The real concern, then, is not that we weigh too much, but that we neither exercise enough nor eat well. Exercise is necessary for strong bones and both heart and lung health. A balanced diet without a lot of fat can also help the body avoid many diseases. We should surely stop paying so much attention to weight. Simply being thin is not enough. It is actually hazardous if those who get (or already are) thin think they are automatically healthy and thus free from paying attention to their overall life-style. Thinness can be pure vainglory（虚荣）.
1.In the eyes of the author, an odd phenomenon nowadays is that______.
A.religious people are not necessarily virtuous
B.looking slim is a symbol of having a large fortune
C.being thin is viewed as a much desired quality
D.the Duchess of Windsor is regarded as a woman of virtue
2.Swept by the prevailing trend, the author______.
A.had to wear highly fashionable clothes
B.had to seek help from rich distant relatives
C.had to go on a diet for the greater part of her life
D.could still prevent herself from going off the track
3.In human history, people's views on body weight_______.
A.changed from time to time B.led to different moral standards
C.varied between the poor and the rich D.were closely related to their religious beliefs
4.The author criticizes women's obsession with thinness_______.
A.from a historical and religious standpoint B.from sociological and medical points of view
C.from an economic and educational perspective D.in the light of moral principles
5.What's the author's advice to women who are absorbed in the idea of thinness?
A.They should gain weight to look healthy.
B.They should be more watchful for fatal diseases.
C.They should be more concerned with their overall life-style.
D.They should rid themselves of fantasies about designer clothes.
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1.【答案】C。
【解析】推断题。根据第一段最后一句（纤瘦被认为是一种美德），再加上前面的our times，可以知道这是现代社会的现象，所以选C。A项意为“宗教信徒不一定品德高尚”。文章中根本就没有提到这一点，更谈不上对此表示奇怪。文章只是说所有的宗教都有几天要求戒斋，基督教更是将暴饮暴食视为罪恶。B项错误，因为文章只是说财富和纤瘦作为女人追求的目标，永远都不会让她们满足，并没有说苗条是财富的象征。D项错，文章是说第一句话经常被认为是Duchchess of Windosor说的。有人可能会根据第三段最后一句话和第四段第一句话认为B是对的。
2.【答案】C。
【解析】细节题。由第二段第三句话可知，作者受这种趋势的影响，也加入控制饮食以减肥的大军中来，所以C正确。第二段第二句话说作者幻想能够穿上窄小衣服，但这只是幻想而已，还没有穿，而且narrow designer clother和highly fashionable clothes也不是一回事，所以A错。第二段最后一句是B项的设计依据。作者参与到减肥中来，说明她并没有脱俗，所以D错。D项和C项意思相反。
3.【答案】A。
【解析】推断题。第三段最后一句和第四段前两句形成对比。前者的过去式表明那是过去的事，后者的时间状语today和谓语时态表明现在的情况。B项因果颠倒，因为从文中可以看出，是道德准则的不同导致了对胖瘦的不同观点，而非相反；C项明显不对；D项有一定迷惑性，因为第三段最后一句有个religious。考生要明白，形成对比的不是religious和非religious，而是过去和today，故A对D错。
4.【答案】B。
【解析】推断题。前半部分主要是从社会的角度来分析以瘦为美这种社会心理的实质，后面两段都是从医学角度来分析它的原因，所以选B。文章中根本就没有谈到过教育，C项显然不对。A和D也较易被排除。
5.【答案】C。
【解析】细节题。最后一段倒数第二句说到那些认为瘦了就自然会健康，从而不注意他们的生活方式的人是非常危险的。这说明作者认为人们更应该关注自己的生活方式，所以选C。
