Exploited by New Fashions in Clothing. Do you Agree or Disagree with This Statement?

　　你是否同意现在衣服样式变化很大这种观点?

　　Over the years, the great majority of men have successfully resisted all attempts to make them change their style of dress. The same cannot be said of women. Each year a few so called "top designers" in Paris and London lay down the law and women the whole world over rush to obey. This year, they decide in their arbitrary fashion, skirts will be short and waists will be high; zips are in and buttons are out. Next year the law is reversed and far from taking exception, no one is even mildly surprised.

　　If women are mercilessly exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame, because they are afraid of the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion. They are annually blackmailed by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be discarded because of old fashion. When you come to think of it, only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe packed full of clothes and announcing that she has nothing to wear.

　　Changing fashions are nothing more than the deliberate creation of waste. Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to discard clothing in this way, waste hours of their time altering the dresses they have. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital things like warmth, comfort and durability. They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, providing they look charming and attractive.

　　When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusion to be drawn is obvious. Do the constantly changing fashion of women's clothes reflect basic qualities of fickleness and instability? Do men's unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? This is for you to decide.

　　作文结构分析：

　　·A description of the change of women's clothes as against men's

　　·With the change of the fashion law laid down by designers

　　·Women are mercilessly yet willingly exploited by new fashions

　　·Changing fashion nothing more than waste

　　·Fashion designers — exploiters and waste-makers

　　·Women's basic qualities change with the change of fashion?

　　作文内容分析：

　　本文是一篇议论文, 全文围绕“ 多年来男士服饰变化不大,而妇女的服饰却日新月异”这一中心展开, 最终落实到主题“妇女备受时装的剥削”。在结尾段中, 作者作出了结论并在同时提出了一个值得人们去思考的问题。文中, 作者从现象到现实, 从分析到评论都写得条理清楚, 说服力强。本文很适合于托福考试的应试者。

　　单词词组：

　　exploit v. 剥削

　　style of dress 服装式样

　　The same cannot be said of women. 妇女则不能相提并论

　　top designers 顶级设计师

　　lay down 制订

　　the whole world over = all over the world 全世界

　　in their arbitrary fashion 在他们任意设计的时装中

　　waist n. 腰身

　　zips are in and buttons are out 拉链内装和钮扣外翻

　　reverse v. 颠倒过来

　　mercilessly ad. 残忍地

　　they have only themselves to blame 她们只能怪自己

　　blackmail v. 讹诈

　　discard v. 抛弃

　　a wardrobe packed full of clothes 挂满了一衣柜的衣服

　　nothing more than 只不过是

　　deliberate creation of waste 故意制造浪费

　　alter v. 改动

　　warmth, comfort and durability 保暖、舒适和耐穿

　　outward appearance 外观

　　put up with any amount of discomfort 忍受任何一点不舒服

　　draw a conclusion 做出结论

　　fickleness and instability 多变而不稳定

　　stability and reliability 稳定而可靠