托福阅读素材（八）

　　'Shorter, more precise styles give the impression that women can hack it in the man's world of politics. It gives the sign that they have a strong head on their shoulders, they are more intelligent, articulate and should be taken seriously.

　　“女性留干脆利落的短发，能让人认为她们能在男性主导的政坛得心应手。这种发型能着重表现她们睿智的头脑，突出她们足智多谋、表达清晰、更应该受重视。

　　'Longer, flouncy locks, by contrast, give the impression that women are perhaps fresh out of school, less intimidating and, in turn, less in control. They draw the eye down to a woman's bosoms, so a shorter bob above the collar bone keeps attentions at eye level, up towards the brain.

　　“相比之下，长发和波浪卷发则会给人以初出茅庐的毕业女大学生印象，看上去欠缺威慑力和领导力。长发会将人们的目光吸引到胸前，而长度位于锁骨之上的短发波波头则能让人们的关注点保持与视线平齐，目光朝头上看去。”

　　'These women are ruling the world, they don't want people to be distracted by their hair, so shorter, sharper power cuts all help them to be taken seriously.

　　“这些在世界政坛上挥洒自如的女性不愿意人们因她们的发型而分心，因此更短、更利落的政客短发能让她们受到严肃对待。”

　　'Previous high profile female politicians, such as Mo Mowlam and Glenda Jackson, also favoured the bob, and Margaret Thatcher also had similar length hair, even though hers was set in rollers. It has been proven time and again that a shorter look gives women much more gravitas than those who have longer hair.'

　　“以往的政坛女强人也都偏爱波波头，比如莫?摩兰姆和格伦达?杰克逊，玛格丽特?撒切尔也留有类似长度的卷发。事实胜于雄辩，短发比长发让女性显得更为庄重。”

　　Hair stylist Teddy Mitchell also claimed that the 'pob' was useful to female politicians because it could be swept off their face and 'allows the camera' to see them.

　　发型师特迪?米切尔还认为，波波头对女性政客还有一层切实意义：这种短发不会遮住她们的面部，因而摄像头能更清晰地捕捉拍摄到她们。

　　'A pob can also be tucked behind the ear, all the better to say: voters, I'm listening,' he added.

　　“梳在耳后的波波头就像在帮她们发声：选民们，我在倾听你们的诉求，”他补充道。

　　For aspiring politicians, who are perhaps not as powerful, but harbour ambitions of making it to the top, a more feminine, longer bob is favoured. Newly promoted cabinet ministers, Amber Rudd, Elizabeth Truss and Karen Bradley all sport such barnets.

　　对于一些志存高远但或许并不那么强势的女政客，长度稍长、更女性化的波波头会是不错的选择。新上任的英国内阁大臣安博尔?鲁德，伊丽莎白?特鲁斯和卡伦?布拉德利都留着这种发型。

二、托福阅读素材：关于奥运会年龄

　　不知大家在备考托福阅读时，有没有关注托福阅读文章中的内容材料。大家回忆一下，托福阅读文章，包含的内容广阔，许多内容考生都是没有接触过的。如果考生提前对这些内容有所了解，那么做题一定会更顺畅。所以，考生备考托福阅读时，也不要忘了对托福阅读材料的备考。下面，我们为大家提供了关于奥运年龄的托福阅读材料。

　　In the past 3 summer Olympic Games, only 64 of the 1,707 athletes of team USA have been over the age of 40. The Washington Post created a data visualization of average age ranges for Olympic sports, including an interactive tool to see if you’d be too old to compete.过去三届的夏季奥运会的1707名美国运动员中，仅有64名超过了40岁。《华盛顿邮报》对奥运运动员们的年龄进行了一项数据调查，使用了一个交互工具来统计年龄过大是否不适合竞技比赛。

　　As presented, athlete ages range from 15 for female gymnasts to nearly 60 for male sailors.根据调查结果，奥运最年轻的运动员是年仅15岁的体操女孩，而年龄最大的是年近60岁的划艇男运动员。

　　In a recent Washington Post profile on 45-year-old female swimmer Dana Torres, she discusses the effects of age on the body, and how she works to overcome these obstacles. Although muscles deteriorate and recovery becomes slower, Torres believes that age is on her side. Since age comes with experience, the twelve-time Olympic medalist is more mentally prepared for the Games than any other female swimmer.在《华盛顿邮报》最近对于45岁的女游泳运动员Dana Torres的介绍中，文章探讨了年龄对身体的影响以及她如何克服这些障碍的。尽管肌体素质降低，肌肉复原率减慢，年龄对于她而言仍是很大的助力。因为流逝的岁月化为了经历，从而帮助这位12度奥运摘牌的选手比其他女性运动员具有更多的大赛经验。

　　However, with sports such as gymnastics that require more flexibility than sheer force and power, younger bodies have a far greater advantage. Youth is so beneficial in gymnastics that a minimum age requirement of 16 was implemented to protect athletes with developing bodies from serious injuries.然而，像体操一样的运动，比起直接的冲劲和力量，更需要好的灵活性。年轻的躯体在这方面具有更好的优势，而且16岁的年龄更适合体操这样的运动，因为它能保护身体免受严重的伤害。

　　A recent Wired article provides an explanation for these aberrations: people age at different rates and, although younger athletes are generally stronger and more flexible, people age at different rates, allowing some athletes to remain competitive – despite the ticking clock.最近Wired 杂志的一篇文章为这些差异性做出了解释。人们老化的频率是不同的。尽管年轻的运动员更强壮灵活，但正是因为人们的老化频率不同，因此某些运动员尽管上了年纪仍具有很强的竞争力。