Passage 2

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.

Most people claim that we should judge others on the basis of how they act, not how they look. However, the reality is quite opposite. Appearance is especially important in the early stages of a relationship.

The influence of physical attractiveness begins early in life. Infants as young as six months prefer images of attractive faces to less appealing ones. From age five on, overweight boys are viewed by peers as less attractive; tall, thin ones are judged as uncommunicative and nervous; and muscular and athletic youngsters are seen as outgoing, active, and popular. The same principle continues into adult life. Handsome men and beautiful women are seen as more sensitive, kind, interesting, strong, calm, modest, sociable, outgoing, and exciting than their less attractive counterparts. Adults are more likely to interact with strangers who they view as attractive. Senior citizens also rate good-looking people as more desirable than those who are less attractive.

(67)

(66)

(64)

(65)

Apart from his evolutionary theory, what other contributions did Darwin make in his life?

In what way did Darwin's evolutionary theory challenge the basic beliefs of his day?

Because a friend of mine asked me, I called on good-natured, talkative old Simon Wheeler and asked him about my friend's friend, Leonidas W. Smiley. [(63)This story is the result of that visit. I have a deep suspicion that Leonidas W. Smiley doesn't exist; that my friend from the East never knew such a person; and that he made the request of me as a joke.][ (64)I think he imagined that if I went to Wheeler and asked him about Smiley, then Wheeler would make up a story and bore me to death with some terribly long, exasperating, useless tale. ]If that was my friend's plan, it succeeded.

    I found Simon Wheeler dozing comfortably by the barroom stove of the dilapidated tavern in the decayed mining camp of Angel's, and I noticed that he was fat and baldheaded. [(65)He looked gentle, and his face showed him to be a happy, peaceful man.] He awakened and greeted me enthusiastically. [(66)I told him that a friend of mine had asked me to ask around about an old friend of his from childhood. ]My friend's old friend was named Leonidas W. Smiley. I further explained that my friend thought that Smiley was a young minister of the Gospel and that he lived in Angel's Camp—or at least he used to. [(67)I told Wheeler that I would be very grateful if he could tell me anything about Smiley, since I wanted to honor my friend’s request.]

 (From The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County)

(63)

(58)

(60)

(59)