The first Barbie wore a black and white swimsuit and had her hair in a ponytail（马尾辫）． She looked very grown-up． But any concerns that parents would not want to buy it for little girls were soon proved wrong．

　　Mattel sold 300,000 Barbie dolls in the first year at a price of three dollars． Today, a fifty-year-old Barbie in good condition might cost more than 27,000 dollars．

　　Barbie dolls have represented 50 different nationalities and are sold in 150 countries． Mattel says 90% of girls in the United States between the ages of three and ten own at least one Barbie doll． It says girls between the ages of three and six own an average of about 12．

　　Barbie also faced her share of critics． A well-known example was when women’s education groups objected to a talking Barbie doll that declared, among other things, “Math class is tough!” Mattel agreed to change it． Saudi Arabia has banned Barbie dolls． And a lawmaker in the American state of West Virginia would like to do the same． Last month, he proposed banning sales of Barbie and other dolls that influence girls to put too much importance on physical beauty．

　　Some people say Barbie is an unhealthy role model for young girls． Robin Gerber disagrees． She wrote a book about Barbie． She points out dolls like scientist Barbie and race car driver Barbie． She says people who criticize Barbie should tell girls the story of the businesswoman who created her． She says Ruth Handler wanted the dolls to help girls think about what they wanted to do with their lives．

【山西省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练：阅读理解（12）】相关文章：

★ 英语2016高考二轮复习听力练习的三个阶段

★ 四川省广安市2014高考英语一轮基础训练题（6）及答案

★ 【优化方案】2017届高考英语二轮复习全国卷Ⅱ题型重组训练：第12组（含解析）

★ 2014届高考英语一轮复习必修3参考答案（外研版）

★ 四川省2016届高考英语一轮复习课时作业（34） Module 4 Music 外研版选修6

★ 安徽省淮南市2014高考英语一轮单项选择及文章训练（14）及答案

★ 2014高考英语（新人教版）一轮基础训练（4）A、B卷（附答案或解析）

★ 【优化方案】2017届高考英语二轮复习全国卷Ⅱ规范练：2（含解析）

★ 重庆市2014高考英语阅读理解一轮（精品）训练题（1）附答案

★ 辽宁省辽阳市2014高考英语单项选择一轮（暑假）训练（6）附答案