Question

【题目】Are you wearing old clothes?

Don’t worry if you are. Clothes bought at thrift shops are more popular than ever in the West nowadays.

A lot of young people have an interest in secondhand clothing.

Goodwill Industries, one of the most famous secondhand shopping companies in the US, said there had been an increase of 84 percent in money made from the sale of donated goods from 2007 to 2012, from $1.9 billion(about 13 billion yuan) to $3.5 billion.

Fanny Moizant, an online group that sells used clothes from luxury brands(奢侈品牌), agrees that “secondhand” is part of fashion now.

“Fashion has changed,” she told the Financial Times last month.” People need our service ----they need a place to let go and get rid of this excess(过剩).”

It wasn’t always this way. Secondhand clothes used to be much less popular.

Keren Charles, 37, from the US, remembers how embarrassed she was the first time she entered a thrift store more than 20 years ago.

“I didn’t want anyone to see me,” Charles told CNN. “In high school, people thought you were either poor or homeless.”

Now, the fashion fan says about 97 percent of her clothes are secondhand. Her favorite find is a $5 blue evening dress that could be worth hundreds of dollars.

So what is a thrift shop, exactly?

According to the US Association of Resale Professionals, a thrift shop is run by a not-for –profit（非盈利的）organization to get money to charitable causes.

The shops have become popular in recent times due to economic reasons.

More customers began coming to thrift shops in the US at the start of the recession(萧条), according to CNN.

And now secondhand clothing and vintage items are showing up in Western high fashion and street wear.

Fashionable hip-hop artist Macklemore and Ryan Lewis even wore a 2013 Billboard Music Award for their hit song Thrift Shop. The song is about “looking for a come up”(search for cheap things in a thrift store.

However, thrift store culture may be great for new shoppers and for business but it’s not so great for shoppers like Charles who are still “looking for a come up.”

“The competition is tough now,” she told CNN. “You’re in the thrift stores, and you’re seeing so many other people, but it’s still better than shopping at a department store.”

【1】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?

A. Vintage items sell better than other used clothes.

B. Thrift shops are a new form of shops that have appeared in the last 10 years.

C. Thrift shops sell used clothes in order to help people in need.

D. Young people show less interest in secondhand clothing than older people.

【2】According to the article, secondhand clothes have become popular in the West because _______.

A. there are more thrift stores to shop in

B. people have to live on less money

C. artists and stars are often seen in secondhand clothes

D. people now care less about others’ opinions

【3】The underlined word “Vintage” in paragraph 15 probably means“_________”.

A. old but expensive??? B. large and very beautiful??? C. old but high quality??? D. popular and new

【4】What is the article mainly about?

A. The popularity of thrift store culture.

B. The importance of recycling secondhand clothes.

C. Different attitudes toward thrift shops.

D. The influence of the economy on fashion.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】D

【3】C

【4】A

【解析】解析：本文主要给我们介绍了西方二手市场的一些具体情况。因为经济下滑，一些出售二手产品的商店变得更受欢迎。

【1】解析：题意：根据文章，下列哪一个陈述是正确的？A. 风靡一时的物品比其他旧衣服卖得好。B. 二手店是过去10年中出现的一种新型商店。C. 二手店出售旧衣服以帮助有需要的人。D.年轻人对二手衣服的兴趣不如老年人。通过对整篇文章的理解可知C选项符合题意，故答案选C。

【2】解析：题意：根据整篇文章，二手衣服在西方已经很流行是因为什么？A. 有更多的二手店可以去购物。B. 人们不得不靠更少的钱生活。C. 艺术家和明星经常穿着二手衣服。D.人们心中不太关心别人的意见。通过对整篇文章的理解可知D选项符合题意，故答案选D。

【3】解析：题意：在第15段中带下划线的单词“vintage”可能是什么意思？A. old but expensive古老但是昂贵的；B. large and very beautiful大，而且很漂亮；C. old but high quality古老但是高质量的；D. popular and new受欢迎而且是新的。根据句意：现在二手服装和______服饰正出现在西方高级时装和街头服饰中，可知应该是“古老但高质量的”，故答案选C。

【4】解析：题意：这篇文章主要内容是什么？A. The popularity of thrift store culture.二手商店文化的流行。B. The importance of recycling secondhand clothes.回收旧衣服的重要性。C. Different attitudes toward thrift shops.对二手店的不同态度。D. The influence of the economy on fashion.经济对时尚的影响。通过阅读整篇文章可知全篇都是在围绕二手商店的流行文化来写，所以A选项符合题意，故答案选A。