早晨起来，洗漱完对着镜中的自己，不知你是否想过对多少关于自己的英语单词是熟悉的？

从“头”看起，最基本的一些词当然知道：face, eye, nose, mouth, ear, hair。 比如说你可以这么形容别人：This little girl has an exquisite face that softens everyone's heart.（标致的脸）
She is a woman with wavy black hair and dancing eyes.（神采飞扬的眼睛）
The hook-nosed man has been wandering around for some time since noon.（长着鹰钩鼻的男子）
Her wide mouth is her most arresting feature. （宽/大的嘴）
Pierced ears and colorfully dyed hair are considered cool by some teenage boys. (扎了耳孔的耳朵)
She has shoulder-length brown hair with a side parting. (齐肩的褐发)
 
往下细说也许有些词你也知道：eyebrow（眉毛）、eyelash（眼睫毛）、lip（嘴唇）、forehead（额头）、cheek（脸颊）、chin（下巴）。这些词在日常生活中的使用频率还是比较高的。 举一些很普通的例子，描写男性的粗浓眉毛：thick eyebrows或bushy eyebrows；描写女性弯弯的柳叶眉：finely arched eyebrows或pencil-thin eyebrows; 女性漂亮的长睫毛long eyelashes很多时候是化妆时用了false eyelashes（假睫毛）。而说起lips，除了可以形容某人有thick/thin lips以外，“鲜红的嘴唇”是cherry lips（不完全是中文中“樱桃小嘴”的意思）。某人的额头高(high forehead)但已有皱纹(lined forehead), 显然已不再年轻。胖人常常有明显的双下巴（double chin）,而瘦人不止下巴尖有时双颊也凹陷（pointed chin and hollow cheeks）。

 除了普通的五官以外，人的脸上有时也会有一些特征，在此也顺便提一下。
 年轻人脸上会有 freckles (雀斑)、pimples (青春痘、脓疱)；
 年长的脸上会有lines/wrinkles (皱纹)、bags under the eyes (眼袋)、crow's feet at the corners of the eyes (眼角的鱼尾纹)；
 此外，scar (伤疤)、beauty spots (美人痣)、dimples (酒窝)在不同年龄的人脸上可能都会有；而男性脸上更还有一大特征：胡子，包括唇上的八字须（moustache）、颏上的胡须（beard）、络腮胡子（whiskers）以及山羊胡（goatee）。

说完这些基本词汇，我们还是来欣赏一段人物描写，看看借助于这些词汇来刻画的人物形象是否可以跃然纸上。
 
They make an odd pair - everything about them are so different. Tall and slender, with perfect skin and icy blue eyes, thick black hair swept back neatly, she has an air of natural composure. But coming closer, one can see the inevitable signs of age - crow's feet at the corners of her eyes and faint creases in her forehead. In contrast, he is restless in an armchair. Wearing a baseball cap, T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, his blond hair is overdue for a trim and his lean cheeks are covered with at least two days worth of beard. But with his toothy smiles, he is radiating youth and confidence.

《英语学习》2002年第1期（J-O4）