UNIT6 II. Listening Skills

Dialog 1

Girl 1: What do you think of this miniskirt, Amy? Pretty hot stuff, eh?

Girl 2: Wow…it’s pretty short. My mom would never let me wear something like that.

Girl 1: My mom’s cool. She lets me make my own decisions about clothes.

Girl 2: Not my mom. She’d be mad if I came home in a skirt like that.

Girl 1: Let’s both got one; then maybe your mom wouldn’t be so upset if we both wore the same skirt. Girl 2: Well…maybe.

1.D   

2. The first girl (The girl who suggests wearing the short skirt.)

 

Dialog 2

Mother: Lily, where did you get that skirt? You can’t wear that. It’s much too short!     What will others think?

Lily: You don’t understand fashion. It’s what everyone is wearing. I think it looks  very attractive.

Mother: Nonsense, it’s only suitable for a supermodel on the catwalk. It’s not meant for ordinary people like us. Your dad is sure to say the skirt is far too revealing!

Lily: But it’s really in high fashion; everyone is wearing clothes like this.

Mother: Not everyone. Your friend Amy would never wear a skirt like that!

    [Amy comes in, wearing the same style of short skirt!]

Lily: Look, Amy has come. She’s wearing the same skirt!

Mother: My God, I give up.

 1. B

 2. No, she hasn’t.

 

III. Listening In

Task 1: A Woman’s Funny Dress

Lily: Mom, look at that woman. Her dress looks funny.

Mother: I wouldn’t say that, Lily. It looks fine to me.

Lily: Are you kidding? She’s out of fashion. That’s last year’s style.

Mother: Oh, come one, as long as it looks good on her.

Lily: Wow, you’re really as out-dated as she is.

Mother: You’re right. I’m out of date. So what? What’s the point of following the fashion?

Lily: No wonder you never buy me new dresses.

 

Task 2: How is fashion decided?

Fashion designers design and make fashionable clothes for men and women. They design trends and create new styles. Paris has been the traditional center of world fashion, though recently British designers have had great influence in setting new styles, and so have certain designers in the United States and Italy. French designers guard the secrets of their new designs until their collections are shown to the public. Then pictures of the styles are published in newspapers and magazines all over the world. People from many countries travel to Paris to buy the clothes and copy the newest ideas. In January they go to see the spring clothes; and in July, to see the autumn designs. Many dress manufacturers from other countries buy the original clothes of the famous French designers. They then take them back to their own sewing rooms, where the clothes are copied and made up in great numbers. That’s why you may be able to buy in your town the clothing that is in the latest style without paying a very high price for it. Other manufacturers use the Paris styles simply as a starting point for their own ideas. Still others may adapt only a part of the French design into their own styles.

 

 

 

Task 3: Fashions Models

There are different kinds of models. Fashion models may walk on catwalk or runways to display and promote various types of clothing, such as underwear, dresses and swimming suits—especially bikinis. Some supermodels are highly-paid fashion models and often appear on the cover of top fashion magazines. Bikini models are usually required to have a very thin body shape that is considered attractive. A glamour model, on the other hand, often poses on a red carpet for photographs, which emphasize the model’s appealing body shape more than the fashion of the clothes. Glamour models are also used for advertising in men’s magazines.

There are differences as to what should be the best body shape for a model, but the British Association of Model Agents says that the ideal chest-waist-hip measurements for a feral model, also called her vital statistics, are around 34-24-34 ( or 86-61-86 centimeters). Models should also be at least 5 feet 8 inches （or 1.73 centimeters）tall. It is believed that a good body shape is a sign of good health and reproductive ability.

Today, many people think that the emphasis of the media and fashion industry on thinness and an ideal female body shape is harming the health of young women, as this emphasis gives rise to excessive dieting and results in eating disorders. This alarming trend focuses on thinness above fitness and has caused some organizers of fashion shows to even turn away models judged to be too thin.

1.      What kinds of models are mentioned in the passage?

2.      Which of the following is true of glamour models?

3.      According to the passage, what is a sign of good health and reproductive ability?

4.      According to the British Association of Model Agents, what are the ideal chest-waist-hip measurements of a female model?

5.      Which of the following is a result of the emphasis of the media and the fashion industry on thinness?

 

V   Let’s Talk

The Miniskirt

Mary Quant was a famous dress designer in the 1960s. Her main contribution to fashion history was the miniskirt. During the 1960s many young people were starting to think women could do more in life than be wives and mothers. Clothes became a weapon in the battle between generations. Anything different and daring was soon popular. During this period miniskirts attracted the world’s attention. It was teenagers and very young girls who bought short shirts that displayed their legs. Ms. Quant said that at her fashion shop, young women began demanding shorter and shorter skirts. “If I didn’t make them short enough, the girls that had wonderful legs would take scissors and shorten the skirts themselves.” She said. Eventually, Ms. Quant’s skirts, which arrived in the United States in the mid-60’s, were reduced to about five inches. In parts of Europe and North America the miniskirt represented loose morals. Members of the older generation believed good girls would never appear in miniskirts. But in Ms. Quant’s opinion, short skirts worn with heavy pantyhose would make the girl look childlike. Lately, feminists have come to see mini as a symbol of women’s liberation, as a powerful weapon against the traditional stereotype of the woman simply as wife and mother.

 

 

VI. Furthering Listening and Speaking

Task 1:

A Model’s Description of Her Work

Before the fashion show started, we had a rehearsal. In a small room we were each given a space. A dresser got us into the fashion clothes, then an assistant checked that the style was right—the correct number of buttons undone, the trousers pulled to the right height. Once dressed, we queued up in order by the door. The fashion designer checked that the clothing was as the he wanted. The music started, and we went out. We posed for the photographers, turned and walked back. It was a breeze. I walked back into the room, too excited to realize I was meant to hurry. In the few steps from the door you can throw off quite a few layers of clothing. By failing to do so, I almost missed my next turn.

At 8:30p.m., with the audience in place, we were back in the clothes. We went out again, to a full house. The music was loud, but clear. You could hear the talking—fashion shows are not theatre, and people don’t keep quiet. Journalists discuss what to write about; buyers discuss whether they can make a profit from the clothes. And although you have been chosen for your looks that are suitable for certain dresses, as a model, you are just an advertisement for the designer. So you walk through conversations, unable to stop or react. You are not a creative human being, just a smiling doll.

1.T 2.F 3.T 4.F 5.F

 

 

Task 2:

Task 3: Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-dot Bikini

She was afraid to come out of the locker

She was as nervous as she could be

She was afraid to come out of the locker

She was afraid that somebody would see

One, two, three, four, tell people what she wore

 

It was an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini

That she wore for the first time today.

An itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini

So in the locker she wanted to stay.

Two, three, four, stick around we’ll tell you more

She was afraid to come out in the open

And so a blanket around her she wore

She was afraid to come out in the open

And so she sat bundled up on the shore

Two, three, four, tell the people what she wore…

 

Task3：Paying for the New Clothes

Daughter: Mom, I need some new clothes. Everything I have is out of date. The new        semester will be starting soon—can we go shopping?

Mother: You have a closet full of clothes that are still in very good condition. Your   father and I already have to pay you university tuition…and there’re the books too.

Daughter: But everyone else will be wearing the latest Levis. And I will look stupid   wearing the same old skirts I wore in high school. They are so long. People will think I came from the middle ages.

Mother: But…

Daughter: Maybe I could get a part-time job to help pay for the new clothes.

Mother: No, you need to study. But university is a new experience…maybe we can look for something not too expensive.

Daughter: Wonderful, at least we can have a look.