1. It is impossible to wear clothes without transmitting social signals. Every costume tells a story about its wearer. Even those people who insist that they don’t pay attention to clothing, and dress as casually as possible, are making quite specific comments on their social roles and their attitudes towards the culture in which they live.
2. For the majority of people, Clothing Signals are the result of a single daily event – the act of dressing, performed each morning. The once-a-day routine is usually only broken for the wearing of specialised clothing. The man who gets dirty wears working clothes, the sportsman wears high-activity clothes. People attending special ceremonies – weddings, funerals, dances, formal dinners – change into the appropriate costumes. But although these pursuits mean the doubling of the once-a-day act of dressing, the change is nearly always from ‘everyday’ clothes into ‘special’ clothing. The old pattern, in which social rules demanded the changing from ‘morning dress’ to ‘afternoon dress’ to ‘evening dress’, has now disappeared.
3. The modern trend in dressing behaviour is usually referred to as one of increased informality, but this is misleading. In reality, there is no loss of formality, but the exchange of old formalities for new. The wearing of a pair of jeans by a young male today is as much of a formality as was the wearing of a top hat by his equivalent in a previous epoch. He may feel that he is free to wear anything he pleases, but what he wears is as much a uniform today as the costumes were in earlier times. The written rules of yesterday have rapidly been replaced by the unwritten rules of today.
4. There are many trends in the complex world of Clothing Signals. Not all are easy to explain. One of the most mysterious is the relationship between female skirt-length and economic conditions. During the 20th century, ever since the First World War, there has been a rather precise correlation between the length of female skirts and the periods of boom and depression. The general atmosphere of financial activity makes women feel more physically active – a condition favoured by shorter, less hampering skirt-lengths.
Определите, является ли утверждение:
The act of dressing is practised only by people who wear specialised clothes.
1) ложным
2) истинным
3) в тексте нет информации
ЗАДАНИЕ 28 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Определите, является ли утверждение:
A young man wearing jeans follow some formal rules.
1) истинным
2) ложным
3) в тексте нет информации
ЗАДАНИЕ 29 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Определите, является ли утверждение:
Men are more conservative in dressing behaviour than women.
1) истинным
2) в тексте нет информации
3) ложным
ЗАДАНИЕ 30 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Определите, является ли утверждение:
The better economic situation is the shorter skirt lengths are.
1) ложным
2) в тексте нет информации
3) истинным
ЗАДАНИЕ 31 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:
The way people dress nowadays is still governed by rules.
1) 1 2) 2
3) 4 4) 3
ЗАДАНИЕ 32 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:
Clothes serve as a source of information about people and their social roles.
1) 3 2) 4
3) 1 4) 2
ЗАДАНИЕ 33 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Ответьте на вопрос:
Why do people use clothes?
They use clothes …
1) … to communicate. 2) … to look fashionable.
3) … to display their wealth. 4) … to be happy.
ЗАДАНИЕ 34 (выберите один вариант ответа)
Определите основную идею текста
1) It is difficult to explain some trends in dressing behaviour.
2) People who dress very casually are signalling something.
3) People’s moods affect the way they dress.
4) Clothing has a social function and is determined by some regulations.