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1、2013 Text 1In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada ,Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesnt affect her, Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistants sweater descended over the years from fashion shows
2、 to departments stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.This top-down conception of the fashion business couldnt be more out of date or at odds with the feverish would described in Overdressed, Eliazabeth Clines three-year indictment of “fast fashion”. In the
3、 last decade or so ,advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara ,H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent release, and more profit. These labels encourage style-consciou
4、s consumers to see clothes as disposable-meant to last only a wash or two, although they dont advertise that and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a
5、 seasonal pace.The victims of this revolution , of course ,are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-pius stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful
6、chemicals.Overdressed is the fashion worlds answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollans The Omnivores Dilemma. “Mass-produced clothing ,like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable and wasteful,” Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a ye
7、ar about 64 items per person and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes and beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it
8、 took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example cant be knocked off.Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line Cline believes lasting change can only be effected by the cus
9、tomer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they cant afford not to.21. Priestly criticizes her assistant for herA poor bargaining skill.B insensitivity to fashion
10、.C obsession with high fashion.D lack of imagination.22. According to Cline, mass-maket labels urge consumers toA combat unnecessary waste.B shut out the feverish fashion world.C resist the influence of advertisements.D shop for their garments more frequently.23. The word “indictment” (Line 3, Para.
11、2) is closest in meaning toA accusation.B enthusiasm.C indifference.D tolerance.24. Which of the following can be inferred from the lase paragraph?A Vanity has more often been found in idealists.B The fast-fashion industry ignores sustainability.C People are more interested in unaffordable garments.
12、D Pricing is vital to environment-friendly purchasing.25. What is the subject of the text?A Satire on an extravagant lifestyle.B Challenge to a high-fashion myth.C Criticism of the fast-fashion industry.D Exposure of a mass-market secret.2013 Text 2An old saying has it that half of all advertising b
13、udgets are wasted the trouble is, no one knows which half. In the internet age, at least in theory, this fraction can be much reduced. By watching what people search for, click on and say online, companies can aim “behavioural” ads at those most likely to buy.In the past couple of weeks a quarrel ha
14、s illustrated the value to advertisers of such fine-grained information: Should advertisers assume that people are happy to be tracked and sent behavioural ads? Or should they have explicit permission?In December 2010 Americas Federal Trade Cornmission (FTC) proposed adding a “do not track ” (DNT) o
15、ption to internet browsers, so that users could tell advertisers that they did not want to be followed. Microsofts Internet Explorer and Apples Safari both offer DNT; Googles Chrome is due to do so this year. In February the FTC and Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) agreed that the industry would g
16、et cracking on responding to DNT requests.On May 31st Microsoft set off the row. It said that Internet Explorer 10, the version due to appear with windows 8, would have DNT as a default.Advertisers are horrified. Human nature being what it is, most people stick with default settings. Few switch DNT on now, but if tracking is off it will stay off. Bob Liodice, the chief executive of the Asso
