Alexis+Jane+Torre+張京晉

When I was a pre-teen1）， I read Seventeen and CosmoGirl！ religiously， dressed up2） at any chance I got， and went to the mall every week. I was very focused on looks and clothes， and， as most pre-teen and teenage females are， trying to be "pretty". Now， I look back at my former concerns and laugh at how materialistic3） I was. But it also gets me thinking about how the importance of looks is drilled into4） us from early on. In movies and shows， the actresses are not only just made to look gorgeous， but their characters are usually complimented5） on their looks by others frequently. In magazines， there are articles about "50 Ways to Get Pretty" and "Makeover Your Image". Even in literature， the female characters usually are attractive， with multiple guys vying6） for their affection7）. It seems as though it is a societal belief that life is better or love is easier to find just because you are pretty.

Back to my personal story， I got diagnosed8） with a skin condition9） called vitiligo in the middle of junior high. Vitiligo caused large white splotches10） on my legs， elbows and neck. There is no treatment for it that is 100 percent efficient， and the medication never fully worked on my condition. I started to wear long jeans as often as possible to cover my legs. I tried makeup to cover the white spots. I tried everything I could to hide my vitiligo because I knew that spotted legs and arms weren't "pretty". Two years ago， I finally decided to stop hiding my skin disease with jeans and just wear shorts， skirts and dresses. I stopped using makeup to disguise my vitiligo and just accepted my body the way that it was.

At the time， I thought I made this decision because I had a great summer experience with a college program that made me more confident in myself. While this definitely is not untrue， it is not the sole reason why I decided to be at peace with how I looked. That summer program that I attended in 2010 did not only boost my self-esteem but also made me more ambitious. I became concerned with taking on a rigorous11） course load， getting a job and doing more community service. Looks just stopped mattering so much to me when I realized how many more things I could be doing instead of fretting12）over something that I couldn't fix. And I stopped being so caught up in trying to make my legs， elbows and neck "pretty". "Pretty" became just another word， not some goal that I was expected to meet.

As teenagers， we often stress over13） our looks. We feel that we have to be "pretty". But while it can be fun to get all dressed up， it's important to remember that there truly are more important things in life than looks. Simply remember that "pretty" is just one， single word out of the entire English language.

我還未滿13歲時(shí)就開始虔誠(chéng)地閱讀《17歲》和《都市女孩》（編注：這兩本都是時(shí)尚雜志），只要逮住機(jī)會(huì)就打扮自己，而且每周都會(huì)去逛商場(chǎng)。我非常注重外貌和衣著，而且和大多數(shù)低齡女孩以及花季少女一樣，我盡量讓自己變“漂亮”?，F(xiàn)在回首去看自己以前關(guān)心的那些事，不由嘲笑自己當(dāng)時(shí)多么物質(zhì)。但這也讓我開始思考，我們是如何從很早的時(shí)候起就被灌輸外貌至上這種思想的。在電影和電視節(jié)目里，女演員們不僅被打扮得光鮮亮麗，而且她們所飾角色的長(zhǎng)相也往往會(huì)得到其他人的頻頻稱贊。而雜志里有很多關(guān)于“50種方法讓你變漂亮”和“如何化妝打扮”一類的文章。甚至在文學(xué)作品中，女性人物也往往都長(zhǎng)得很好看，身邊有好幾位男性競(jìng)相追求，想要俘獲她們的芳心。看起來似乎整個(gè)社會(huì)都相信，只要你漂亮，生活就會(huì)更美好，也更容易覓得愛情。

再來說說我自己的故事吧。上初中期間，我被診斷出患有一種叫白癜風(fēng)的皮膚病。因?yàn)榘遵帮L(fēng)，我的雙腿、雙肘和頸部都出現(xiàn)了大面積的白斑。這種病沒有100%有效的治療方法，而藥物對(duì)我的病情也根本沒有徹底的療效。于是我開始盡可能地常穿牛仔長(zhǎng)褲，為的是把雙腿遮住。我試過用化妝品來蓋住白斑。為了把我的白斑藏起來，我試過我所能做的一切，因?yàn)槲抑篱L(zhǎng)了斑的胳膊和腿不“漂亮”。兩年前，我終于決定不再用牛仔褲來隱藏我的皮膚病，而就只是穿上短褲、短裙和連衣裙。我也不再用化妝品來遮蓋我的白斑，而就那樣接受了我身體本來的樣子。

在那時(shí)，我以為自己做出這個(gè)決定是因?yàn)槲矣羞^一次很棒的暑期經(jīng)歷，是因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)參加的一個(gè)大學(xué)活動(dòng)讓我對(duì)自己更有自信了。雖然這一點(diǎn)肯定也起到了作用，但它并不是我決定平靜地接受自己現(xiàn)在這個(gè)樣子的唯一原因。2010年我參加的那個(gè)暑期活動(dòng)不僅提升了我的自尊心，而且讓我有了更遠(yuǎn)大的志向。我開始考慮選一個(gè)嚴(yán)格的課程量（譯注：即一個(gè)學(xué)期選更多的課、修更多的學(xué)分）、找一份工作和參與更多的社區(qū)服務(wù)。當(dāng)我意識(shí)到我有那么多事情可干，而不用為我力所不能及的事情庸人自擾之后，外貌對(duì)我來說就變得不再那么重要了。我不再沉湎于想辦法讓我的雙腿、雙肘和脖子變“漂亮”了?！捌痢辈贿^是一個(gè)詞而已，并不是我應(yīng)該達(dá)到的某種目標(biāo)。

作為青少年，我們往往都為自己的外表感到很緊張。我們覺得自己一定要“漂亮”。但是，盡管精心打扮可以帶來樂趣，但請(qǐng)記住人生中還有比外表更重要的事情——這點(diǎn)很重要。只需要記住，“漂亮”只不過是整個(gè)英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言中的一個(gè)單詞而已。

愛美之心，人皆有之。愛美不是錯(cuò)，可若一門心思打扮自己，或者覺得自己不漂亮就自怨自艾、失了信心，那大可不必。畢竟人生有那么多重要的事情，漂亮從來都不是最重要的那一件，不是嗎？

Tips for Learning

1. drill：該詞原本是“鉆頭，電鉆”的意思，作動(dòng)詞可指“鉆（孔）；打（眼）”，還可以指“鉆探（石油或水源）”。而對(duì)我們來說，該詞更接近我們生活的含義是“（學(xué)生的）反復(fù)練習(xí)”，如grammar drills （反復(fù)的語(yǔ)法練習(xí)）；作動(dòng)詞意為“反復(fù)訓(xùn)練”，如：He drilled the children in what they should say. （他反復(fù)教給孩子們?cè)撜f些什么。）此外，該詞作名詞還有“（士兵的）訓(xùn)練；（軍事）演習(xí)”的含義。上文第一段中出現(xiàn)的drill sth. into sb.是一個(gè)固定短語(yǔ)，意為“將某事反復(fù)灌輸給某人”。

2. at peace with sth.：這個(gè)短語(yǔ)出現(xiàn)在文章倒數(shù)第二段。當(dāng)你對(duì)什么東西可以at peace的時(shí)候，就說明你可以平靜地接受它，心平氣和地面對(duì)它，不再有生氣、不開心等情緒，如at peace with the world （與世無爭(zhēng)）、at peace with oneself （心平氣和）。