阅读理解
I received pictures of my daughter floating(漂浮)on a lake in California．Right there under the sun during the hottest time of the day, she has only her swimsuit to cover her．
When I showed it to my students, it was as if I had shown them scenes from a horror(恐怖)movie．
“But she will get dark,”they said．
“That's what she wants,”I told them．“We think darker skin(肤色)is beautiful．”
They looked at me in disbelief．It was as if I came from the moon．
For years, American girls spend their summer trying to get as tanned(晒黑)as possible．In China, on the other hand, girls use umbrellas all year round．
What in the world is going on?
The pale skin we think looks unattractive(不漂亮)is what Asian women want．Both groups want to meet their culture's standard(标准)of beauty．
In the US, if you can afford to go on vacation in the summer, you head for a river, a lake or a beach, where you try to get as much sun as possible．If you are rich you take a winter vacation in some sunny spot．Your winter tan shows your wealth．
In China, once upon a time, the few wealthy were the ones who didn't have to work out in the hot sun．So the whiter the skin, the richer the woman．The folk opera performers who play these ladies wore lots of white makeup(妆容)．The tradition survives to this day．
So it comes naturally that none of my students wishes to follow the Western ways in this regard．
But now I am noticing that a new business-the tanning booth(美黑店)-started up in China．I admire those brave enough to define(给…下定义)their own idea of beauty, but I do wonder what their grandmothers would have to say to them about it!
