| Heredity
is not the only thing that 1influences
our color. Where we live and how we live after we are born are important
too. For instance, our genes influence
how fat or thin we are. But our weight depends mainly
on how much we eat and how much exercise we get. In the same way,
our skin color depends 2to a large extent on how much sunshine
we get.
During the cold winter months, people keep themselves covered.
A group of light-colored people
will all seem to be pretty much the same color in these months.
But when summer arrives and they go to the beaches, some will tan
darkly, some will tan lightly
and a few will not tan at all. Each one has 3inherited
a different ability to tan, but the differences do not 4appear
until the conditions are right.
An outdoors man will soon become pale
if he changes to an indoor job, while a desk clerk will 5take
on a tan after a short vacation
in the sun.
Sometimes people decide that
being tan is better than being pale. Sometimes they decide the opposite.
Centuries ago, most of the
people in Europe were peasants
and had to work in the fields all day. Noblemen, 6on
the other hand, did not have to work. They 7stayed indoors
and remained pale. You could
always 8tell a nobleman from a peasant because the peasant
had a tan. 9As a result, noblewomen 10did
their best to keep their skins as light as possible. A skin so pale
that the veins showed was 11considered
a mark of great beauty.
During the Industrial Revolution
things changed. Farmers left their fields and went to work in factories,
mines and mills.
Working for long hours in dimly-lit
factories and mines made their skin pale. Wealthy people, however,
could 12afford to
travel to sunny countries. They
had the leisure to 13lie
around on the beaches and get a tan. Having a tan became a sign
of wealth.
In Western Europe and North America pale skin is 14no
longer desirable. 15Instead
of bleaching themselves white
with lemon juice, many women
spend their time under a sunlamp.
The desire for a quick tan has led to the invention
of pills and lotions
that darken the skin artificially
without exposure to sunlight.
This has 16brought about another change. These pills
and lotions can be bought by anyone at any drugstore.
A rich man can spend hundreds of dollars on a vocation in the sunny
West Indies and get his suntan
there. But his lowest-paid clerk
can have what looks like the same tan out of a bottle for a few
cents.
So there are three answers to the question "Where does your
color come from?" It comes from the genes we inherit. It comes
from the conditions in which we live. And it can come from a bottle
that we buy at the drugstore 17on
the corner.
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heredity [ hi`rediti ] n. 遗传
influence [ `influ[ns ] n.&vt.
影响力；影响
gene [ dVi:n ] n. 基因
mainly [ `meinli ] ad. 主要地
light-colored [ lait ] [ `kQl[d
] a. 淡色的
tan [ tAn ] vi.&vt.&n. 晒成棕褐色；黄褐色
inherit [ in`herit ] vt.&vi. 继承，遗传；接受遗产
appear [ [`pi[ ] vi. 出现
condition [ k[n`diF[n ] n. 条件；环境
pale [ peil ] a. 苍白的
vacation [ vei`keif[n ] n. 休假
decide [ di`said ] vt.&vi .决定；认为
century [ `sentFuri ] n .世纪
peasant [ `peznt ] n .农夫；乡下人
remain [ ri`mein ] vi. 保持
ein [ vein ] n.&vt .血管；像脉络般分布于
mark [ mB:k ] n.&vt. 标志；做标记于；打分数
Industrial Revolution [ in`dQstri[l ]
[ 9rev[`lu:F[n ]工业革命
mine [ main ] n.&vt. 矿；开矿，挖掘
mill [ mil ] n.&vt. 制造厂；碾磨
dimly-lit [ `dimli] [lit ] a. 照明微暗的
afford [ [`fR:d ] vt. 买得起；足以
sunny [ `sQni ] a. 阳光充足的
leisure [ `li:V[ ] n. 闲暇
desirable [ di`zair[bl ] a. 令人想望的
bleach [ bli:tF ] vt.&vi.&n.
漂白；变白；漂白剂
lemon [ `lem[n ] n. 柠檬；柠檬色
juice [ dVu:s ] n.&vt. 汁；加汁
sunlamp [ `sQnlAmp ] n. 太阳伞
invention [ in`venF[n ] n. 发明
pill [ pil ] n. 药丸
lotion [ `l[uF[n ] n. 洗液
artificially [ 9B:ti`fiF[li ] ad. 人工地；不自然地
exposure [ ik`sp[uV[ ] n.暴露；揭发
West Indies 西印度群岛
drugstore [ `drQgstR: ] n .药房；杂货店
lowest-paid [ peid ] a. 薪金最低的
cent [ sent ] n. 美分
on the corner 附近
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