Question

It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers(生产商) follow certain uniform standards for various features(特征) of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s from the left. Considering most of the world’s population----men and women----are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women’s clothes button from the left?

History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men’s shirts button from the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.

Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard for them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts.

1.What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?

A. It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years.

B. It is different for men’s clothing and women’s.

C. It woks better with men than with women.

D. It fails to consider right-handed people.

2.What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?

A. They tended to wear clothes without buttons.

B. They were interested in the historical matters.

C. They were mostly dressed by servants.

D. They drew their swords from the left.

3.Women’s clothes still button from the left today because         .

A. adopting men’s style is improper for women

B. manufacturers should follow standards

C. modern women dress themselves

D. customs are hard to change

4.The passage is mainly developed by          .

A. analyzing causes                     B. making comparisons

C. examining differences                 D. following the time order

Answer

1.答案B

【解析】细节理解题。由 “What seems strange , however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men.”可知男女衣服的标准不一样令人惊奇。所以答案选B项。

2.答案D

【解析】细节理解题。根据文中“Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hang would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.”可判断选D项。

3.答案D

【解析】细节理解题。根据“Actually, a standard , once set, resists change.”可知，习惯一旦养成，就很难改变是女式衣服的纽扣仍然在左边的原因。由此判断选D项。

4.答案A

【解析】组织结构题。通观整篇文章可以看出，作在开始提到一个现象――男女衣服的标准相反，然后分析这种现象产生的历史原因，最后告诉我们现在这是这样的原因。由此判断选A项。

【语篇解读】本文由男女衣服的不同，分析产生这种不同的原因，并且告诉我们这种不同为什么延续到现在。