TEST 2

Part 1 of 5 - READ THE TEXT AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

Fashion: The Art of the Body

A. The enormous and fascinating variety of clothing may express a person's status or
social position. Several hundred years ago in Europe, Japan, and China, there were
many highly detailed sumptuary laws- that is, strict regulations concerning how each
social class could dress. In Europe, for example, only royal families could wear fur,
purple silk, or gold cloth. In Japan, a farmer could breed silkworms, but he couldn't wear
silk. In many societies, a lack of clothing indicated an absence of status. In ancient
Egypt, for instance, children- who had no social status-wore no clothes until they were
about twelve. These days, in most societies (especially in the West), rank or status is
exhibited through regulation of dress only in the military, where the appearance or
absence of certain metal buttons or stars signifies the dividing line between ranks. With
the exception of the military, the divisions between different classes of society are
becoming less clear.
The clientele of a Paris cafe, for example, might include both working-class people and
members of the highest society, but how can one tell the difference when everyone is
wearing denim jeans?

1. What is the topic of Paragraph A?

A. the military
B. sumptuary laws
C. uniforms
D. status

2. What details about the topic does the paragraph provide? (Choose more than one
answer)
A. Strict laws in some countries used to regulate what people of each social class could wear
B. Rich people wear more beautiful clothing than poor people do
C. In many societies, the absence of clothing indicated and absence of status
D. Today, the divisions between social classes are becoming less clear from the clothing that
people wear

3. What do the answers to numbers 1 and 2 have in common? That is, what is the main
idea of Paragraph A?
A. Today, the differences between various social classes can be seen only in military uniforms
B. Laws used to regulate how people could dress
C. Clothing (or its absence) has usually indieated status or rank, but this is less true in today's world
D. Clothing has been worn for different reasons since the beginning of history
Part 2 of 5 – B
B. Three common types of body decoration are mehndi, tattooing, and scarification.
Mehndi is the art of applying dye (usually dark orange or dark brown) to the skin of
women in India, Islamic cultures, and Africa. The dye comes from the the plant and is
applied in a beautiful design that varies from culture to culture- fine, thin lines in India
and large flower patterns in the Arab world, for example. A tattoo is also a design or
mark made with a kind of dye (usually dark blue); however, unlike henna, it is put into a
cut in the skin. In scarification- found mainly in Africa-dirt or ashes are put into the cuts
instead of dye; the result is a design that is unique to the person's tribe.Three lines on
each side of a man's face identify him as a member of the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria, for
example. A complex geometric design on a woman's back identifies her as Nuba (from
Sudan) and also makes her more beautiful in the eyes of her people. In the 1990s,
tattooing became popular among youth in urban Western societies. Unlike people in
tribal cultures, these young people had no tradition of tattooing, except among sailors
and criminals. To these young people, the tattoos were beautiful and were sometimes
also a sign of rebellion against older, more conservative people in the culture. These
days, tattooing has become common and is usually not symbolic of rebellion
1. What is the topic of Paragraph B?
A. the Yoruba people
B. geometric designs
C. dirt and ashes
D. body decoration

2. What details about the topic does the paragraph provide? (Choose more than one
answer.)
A. Mehndi, tattooing, and scarification are types of body decoration
B. Tattoos and scarification indicate a person's tribe or social group, although youth in Western
societ ies sometimes use tattoos as a form of rebellion
C. Scarification is very painful and is symbolic of strength.
D. Designs on a person's face or body are considered beautiful

3. Which idea below includes all the details that you chose in number 2? In other words,
what is the main idea of the paragraph?
A. Everyone who wants to be beautiful should get a tattoo
B. People decorate their bodies for the purposes of identification, beauty, and sometimes rebellion
C. Mehndi and tattoos are designs made by putting dye on or in the skin
D. Men more often decorate their faces; women often decorate their backs
Part 3 of 5 – C
C. In some societies, women overeat to become plump because large women are
considered beautiful, while skinny women are regarded as unattractive. A woman's
plumpness is also an indication of her family's wealth. In other societies, by contrast, a
fat person is considered unattractive, so men and women eat little and try to remain slim.
In many parts of the world, people lie in the sun for hours to darken their skin, while in
other places light, soft skin is seen as attractive. People with gray hair often dye it black,
whereas those with naturally dark hair often change its color to blond or green or purple.

1. What is the topic of Paragraph C?

A. hair
B. skin
C. body shape
D. body changes

2. What details about the topic does the paragraph provide? (Choose more than one
answer.)
A. It is unhealthy to lose or gain too much weight.
B. Some societies consider large people attractive; others, slim ones
C. Some people prefer dark hair or skin; others, light.
D. Most wealthy people try to stay thin

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph C?

A. Individuals and groups or people have different ideas about physical attractiveness.
B. Lying in the sun darkens the skill.
C. In some societies, thinness is an indication that a family is poor.
D. Dark-skinned people usually have dark hair.
Part 4 of 5 – D

D. In the West, most people visit a dentist regularly for both hygiene and beauty. They
use toothpaste and dental floss daily to keep their teeth clean. They have their teeth
straightened, whitened, and crowned to make them more attractive to others in their
culture. However, "attractive" has quite a different meaning in other cultures. In the past,
in Japan, it was the custom for women to blacken, not whiten, the teeth. People in some
areas of Africa and central Australia have the custom of filing the teeth to sharp points.
And among the Makololo people of Malawi, the women wear a very large ring-a pelele-
in their upper lip. As their chief once explained about peleles: "They are the only
beautiful things women have. Men have beards. Women have none. What kind of
person would she be without the pelele? She would not be a woman at all." While some
people in modem urban societies think of tribal lip rings as unattractive and even
"disgusting," other people- in Tokyo or New York or Rome- might choose to wear a
small lip ring or to pierce their tongue and wear a ring through the hole.
1. What is the topic of Paragraph D?
A. dentistry
B. blackening or whitening the teeth
C. changes to the human mouth
D. peleles and beards

2.What details about the topic does the paragraph provide? (Choose more than one
answer.)
A. White teeth are attractive to all cultures
B. In the West, people visit dentists and have their teeth straightened, whitened, and crowned.
C. In some cultures, people blacken their teeth or file them to sharp points, and in other cultures
young people' wear lip rings or tongue rings
D. Makololo women wear a large ring in their upper lip

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph D?

A. People can easily change the color or shape of their teeth.
B. What is attractive has different interpretations.
C. The human mouth suffers change and abuse in many societies.
D. Some methods or changing the appearance of the mouth are dangerous, but others are safe.
Part 5 of 5 – E

E. Body paint or face paint is used mostly by men in preliterate societies in order to
attract good health or to ward off disease. Anthropologists explain that it is a form of
magic protection against the dangers of the world outside the village, where men have to
go for the hunt or for war. When it is used as warpaint, it also serves to frighten the
enemy, distinguish members of one's own group from the enemy, and give the men a
sense of identity, of belonging to the group. Women in these societies have less need of
body or face paint because they usually stay in the safety of the village. Women in
Victorian society in England and the United States were expected to wear little or no
makeup. They were excluded from public life and therefore didn't need protection from
the outside world. In modern societies, however, cosmetics are used mostly by women,
who often feel naked, unclothed, without makeup when out in public- like a tribal hunter
without his warpaint.
1. What is the topic or Paragraph E?
A. body and face paint
B. men's warpaint
C. modern women's cosmetics
D. magic protection

2. What details about the topic does the Paragraph provide? (Choose more than one
answer.)
A. Body or face paint is usually worn by men in tribal societies
B. People wear body or her paint to make them more attractive
C. Makeup ("face paint") is usually worn by women in modern societies
D. When women are excluded from public life, they wear little or no makeup

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph E?

A. Budy paint gives men a sense of identity.
B. Women in modern times wear makeup to be more beautiful.
C. In the past, men wore face paint, but in modern times, women wear it.
D. Body or face paint may be worn as a sort of protection by people who leave the home or village.