英语名篇诵读 时尚

Fashion

时尚

If women are mercilessly exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion. When you come to thinkof it, only a woman is capable of standing¹ in front of a wardrobe packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.

Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional² creation of waste. Many women spend a great deal of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way waste hours of their time altering the dresses they have. Skirts are lengthened³ or shortened; necklines are lowered or raised, and so on.

No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are hardly concerned with important things like warmth, comfort and durability⁴ . They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort⁵, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or delicately picking her way through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.

如果女人们年复一年地遭人无情地剥削，那只能怪她们自己了。因为她们一看到自己在大庭广众之中穿着过时的服装，就会心惊胆战。她们总是让设计师和大服装店占便宜。才穿了几次的衣服，因为时尚变了，便不得不搁在一边。想来也是，只有一个女人才可能站在塞满衣服的衣橱前，悲伤地说无衣可穿。

不断变化的时尚只不过是故意制造的垃圾。许许多多的女士每年花大把大把的钱去替换差不多还没怎么穿的衣服。财力不济不能这般扔掉衣服的女人，花上很多小时把已有的衣服改来改去。裙子加长或截短，领口降低或加高，如此等等。

没有人声称时尚行业给社会贡献了真正重要的东西。时装设计师很少关心如暖和、舒适、耐用这样重要的事情。他们只对外观感兴趣，并利用了这样一个事实：只要好看，女人们能忍受任何不舒适。几乎没有哪个男人一生中没对这样的场景发笑过：一个女人为赶时髦而衣衫单薄在冬日里冻得瑟瑟发抖，或足蹬高跟鞋在深深的雪中小心翼翼地寻路。

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

3 lengthened   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
• He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。

4 durability   

n.经久性，耐用性

参考例句：

• Nylons have the virtue of durability.尼龙丝袜有耐穿的优点。

5 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。