No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying, often attributed to the late Duchess（公

No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying, often attributed to the late Duchess(公爵夫人) of Windsor, represents the odd spirit of our times. Being thin is considered as such a virtue.

The problem with such a view is that some people actually try to live by it. I myself have dreams of slipping into narrow fashionable clothes. Consequently, I have been on a diet for the good part of my life. Being rich wouldn't be bad either, but that won't happen unless an unknown relative dies suddenly in some distant land, leaving me millions of dollars.

When did eating butter become a sin, and a little bit of extra flesh ugly, if not disgusting？ All religions have certain days when people refrain from eating, and excessive eating is one of Christianity's seven deadly sins. However, until quite recently, most people had a problem getting enough to eat. In some religious groups, wealth was symbol of probable salvation(拯救) and high morals and fatness was a sign of wealth.

Today, we have shifted to thinness as our new mark of virtue. The result is that being fat—or even only somewhat overweight—is bad because it implies a lack of moral strength.

Our passion with thinness is also the result of health concerns. It is true that in this country we have more overweight people than ever, and that in many cases, being overweight is connected with an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease. These diseases, however, may have as much to do with our way of life and our high-fat diets as with excess weight. And the related risk of cancer may be of a diet problem rather than just a weight problem.

The real concern, then, is not that we weigh too much, but that we neither exercise enough nor eat well. Exercise is necessary for strong bones and both heart and lung health. A balanced diet without a lot of fat can also help the body avoid many diseases. We should surely stop paying so much attention to weight. Simply being thin is not enough. It is actually risky if those who get thin think they are automatically healthy and thus free from paying attention to their overall life-style

In the eyes of the author, a strange phenomenon nowadays is that______.

A．the Duchess of Windsor is regarded as a woman of virtue

B．looking slim is a symbol of having a large fortune

C．being thin is viewed as a much desired quality

D．religious people are not morally pure