文字难度：★★★☆
Foreword: It is a game that begins before it starts and finishes before it ends. It defines the concept of “judging a book by its cover”. It stands beside racism, 1)bigotry, and 2)homophobia. It is “lookism”: the formation of one’s opinion of another based entirely on their superficial 3)attributes and 4)aesthetically pleasing 5)idiosyncrasies. Lookism pervades society like an 6)insidious virus and is found everywhere: on TV, in magazines, in school. The following account is a true story and provides a look into the dark 7)catacomb of lookism at its 8)epicenter: 9)Los Angeles.
前言：这是一个“先入为主，先定后判”的游戏。它界定了“以貌取人，以形取物”的观念，并与种族歧视、偏见以及对同性恋的憎恶和恐惧如出一辙。这就是“外表歧视”：完全根据一个人的外在特征和美丑特性来对他人作出判断。外表歧视如暗疾般在社会上肆虐，在电视上，杂志上，学校里随处可见。以下叙述的是一个真实的故事，事情发生在外表歧视最严重的地区——洛杉矶，在这儿我们可以看到外表歧视阴森的一面。
The car door swung open and almost imme-diately the party began. The slender figures of palm trees framed the 10)gilded doors of the hotel at 11)Universal Park. Entering the hotel, we were 12)inundated with 13)a barrage of flashes—it was time for the Winter Formal Dance. This was my first time in California, but I arrived with 14)preconceived ideas of how the girls in L.A. look—and I could not have been more right. The dance floor might as well have been a fashion runway, the hotel lobby could easily have 15)doubled as a movie set, and the ballroom 16)foyer could have been confused for a magazine shoot. The girls were indescribable; they were truly L.A. girls.
几乎就在车门打开的那一刻，舞会立即就开始了。在环球片场主题公园的一座酒店里，镀金大门的四周映着棕榈树细长的轮廓。一进入酒店，我们便淹没在闪光灯的海洋中——“冬季正式舞会”就要开始啦！这是我第一次来到加州，但是来之前我就已经对加州女孩子的外貌有许多先入之见——她们确实如我想的那样。舞池就像时装秀的T型台，酒店大堂同时也可以作为拍电影的场景，舞场休息厅漂亮得可以让人误以为这是时尚杂志拍照的地方。女孩子美得无法形容，她们是典型的洛杉矶女孩。
As though at the end of a movie, the lights slowly filled the room to signal the end of the dance and the beginning of the after-party. The night could not have been better: 17)limousines were ready to 18)whisk us all over L.A. in the warm California night, and, of course, there were those girls.
就像电影放完时那样，房间的灯光慢慢亮起来，预示着舞会结束，余兴节目开始了。这一晚实在太美妙了：豪华轿车在门外等候着，准备在这温暖的加州之夜里载我们穿越整个洛杉矶，当然，还有这些美女相伴。
There were no cameras flashing as we arrived at the after-party, which may have been an 19)ominous sign. Entering the party resembled getting a 20)shotgun blast to the stomach. The dark tans were replaced with 21)cocaine, the blond hair with alcohol, and the 22)picture-perfect smiles with 23)marijuana. Who had done this?
当我们到达进行余兴节目的地方时，没有照相机在我们周围闪烁，这可不是个好兆头。进入派对场所时，就像被人用机关枪往肚子上扫射了一轮，顿时觉得腹部绞痛。皮肤黝黑的女孩在吸食可卡因，金发美女正不停灌酒，而笑容迷人的女孩在吸食大麻。这是怎么回事？
These could not have been the same girls from the dance. As the party continued, every ounce of glamour drained from the scene. The models from the dance floor 24)passed out in the corner, the lobby starlets found themselves vomiting in bathrooms, and the foyer cover girls 25)meandered around in a drug-induced state. How impressive was this?
她们真的是舞会上的那些靓丽女孩吗？她们每一丝的光彩随着派对的继续而渐渐黯淡消失。之前在舞池里翩翩起舞的模特儿们，现在在角落里晕过去了；酒店大堂里的小明星们在洗手间里吐得稀里哗啦；舞厅休息室里的封面女孩因为嗑了药，正在东倒西歪地乱窜。这种场面很让人震惊吧？
To call this an American tragedy would be an understatement. How could these kids who have it all waste everything? I flew home realizing that to these people everything really means nothing. They were L.A. girls, perfect in every picture and possessing what counts to most of us—looks. It had counted for me; I judged the book by the cover. They were gorgeous, and I’d assumed they must be worth knowing. I was wrong.
把它称之为美国悲剧算是很客气的了。为什么这些得天独厚的女孩要这样糟蹋自己所拥有的一切？搭飞机回家的路上，我领悟到对于这些人来说，拥有一切等于一无所有。她们是洛杉矶女孩，从哪个角度拍照都那么完美靓丽，而且拥有对于大多数人来说都很重要的特质——漂亮的外貌。这曾经对我来说很重要，我会以貌取人。她们是那么眩目艳丽，所以我以为她们一定值得交往。但是我错了。
I made my judgment based on superficial attributes. I judged them as quickly as a racist would judge a minority. The difference, and danger, of course, was that I assumed these people were 26)infallible, to be the 27)paragon of beauty and of 28)substance. That danger defines lookism provides credibility to individuals who might not deserve it and steals it from those to whom it is truly owed. Unfair? Definitely. A game? Absolutely. This game began as soon as I saw them, and finished five minutes later. They were good looking. I was happy. Case closed.
我仅凭外在特征就下结论。我迅速对她们作出判断，和种族主义者评判少数民族时一样快。当然，两者的差别和危害就是我以为她们是无懈可击的，是集美貌与优秀的品质于一身的典范。这种危害说明，外表歧视使那些可能不值一信的人获得信誉，同时剥夺了真正的君子所应获得的信任。不公平吧？确实如此。这是个游戏吗？绝对是。这个游戏从我看到她们的第一眼就开始了，五分钟后结束。她们很赏心悦目，而我也很开心，仅此而已。
But the real game began when I had to wash vomit from my shirt after I witnessed friends cry as they checked on an unresponsive classmate. That game lasted much longer than five minutes. It concluded much later, after a personality, a real person, could be pinned to each of those pretty faces.
我目睹了朋友们叫唤一个不省人事的同学时哭起来的情景，之后我不得不跑去清洗我衬衣上的呕吐物，然而，这时真正的游戏才刚开始。这次游戏的持续时间远远不止五分钟。要晚些时候，等到真正的个性和为人与这些漂亮的脸蛋对上号之后，游戏才算结束。
They often say first impressions count. How much of such an impression is based on looks, and how much on substance—that is lookism.
人们常说第一印象很重要。而这种第一印象有多少是根据外貌，又有多少是根据人的品质得出的呢？外表歧视不外如此。
