第四十五篇 Women Staying in Mini-Skirts for Longer
British women are happy nowadays to wear mini-skirts up until the age of 40, according to research by Debenhams.Just 20 years ago, few women would dare to wear a mini-skirl after the age of 33, the store said. "It shows that women now have an increasing confidence in their bodies and are happy to dress accordingly," it added in a statement.
"If this trend continues, there's no doubt that, within the next decade, women in their mid 40s and early 50s will rightly regard a mini-skirt as an essential part of their everyday wardrobe."
The figures emerged when the store examined the latest age profile of women buying short, 36-cm skirts over the past six months. Their results show that it has jumped from an average age of 36-years-old at the start of millennium1 to 40 today. Figures from 1980 showed that on average women stopped buying minis when they reached 33 years old -- a figure unchanged from the mid-960s.
The store noted that experts believe that the popularity of intensive gym culture2, providing women with well toned bodies3 for longer may be the reason,The increasing, number of British women living on their own may also be a factor.
The Debenhams' study showed that a modern woman's love affair with a miniskirt begins at the age of 14 but that she doesn't buy her first one until the age of 16. Instead, she flouts school rules by rolling up the waistband of the school uniform to give the impression of wearing a mini skirt.
Skirts get shorter between the ages of 16 and 19, reducing in size form 46 to 36 cm before reaching their shortest, a mere 32 cm, at the age of 23. Skirt length increases slightly between the ages of 23 and 27, rising to 37 cm,possibly due to girls being in their first stable relationship, with no desire to attract attention, the store said.
However, it found short skirts suddenly zoom in popularity between the ages of 27 and 34, as those early relationships break down, and new relationships are formed. The move into longer skirts begins irreversibly at 40 years old, when 46-cm skirts, still slightly above the knee are the norm. From then on, skirt length increases dramatically, falling below the knee for the very first time since school days at the age of 42.
词汇：
millennium n. 千禧年
gym n. 健身房
注释：
1. 这里指公元2000 年。
2. gym culture 指英国现在流行的去健身房健身的趋势。
3. well toned bodies 指结实而线条良好的体型。
练习：
1. Debenhams could most possibly be
A) a fashion magazine
B) a lifestyle association
C) an expert on trends
D) a department store
2. According to the passage, British women are happy to wear mini-skirts up until an old age because of the following reasons EXCEPT:
A) Women are more and more confident in their bodies.
B) Women nowadays pay much more attention to body building, and this provides them with well toned bodies to wear mini-skirts.
C) The Climate of Great Britain are getting warmer in recent years, thus women can wear minis for a longer time.
D) More and more women are now living on their own.
3. We can infer from the second and third paragraph that in 1970s
A) A lot of women dared to wear mini-skirts at the age of 40.
B) Most women between 33 and 36 were still happy to wear mini-skirts.
C) Even women in their early 50s rightly regarded a mini-skirt as an essential part of their everyday wardrobe.
D) Most women no longer wore mini-skirts when they reach the age of 33.
4. Which of the following statements about the length of the mini-skirts is true?
A) At the age of 14, girls often wear mini-skirts which are about 46cm in size.
B) Girls at the age of 19 wear the shortest mini-skirts.
C) At the age of 23, most girls wear mini-skirts which are 37cm long.
D) From the age of 23, skirt length increases because girls are in their first stable relationship.
5. The word "zoom" in the first sentence of the last paragraph can be best replaced by:
A) soar
B) decrease
C) hold steady
D) drop
答案与题解：
1．D 从第二段的第一句话可知Debenhams 是一个百货公司的名称。
2．C 英国女性愿意穿超短裙的人群年龄有上升的趋势，主要是因为人们越来越自信，注意健身保持体形，以及女性生活更加独立。气候变暖不是文中所说的原因之一。
3．D 第三段说从20 世纪60 年代开始一直到80 年代，调查都显示女性到33 岁之后普遍不再购买超短裙。
4．D 从倒数第二段可知，从23 岁开始，女性所穿着的超短裙长度从32cm 渐增至37cm，主要是因为这个阶段她们普遍有了稳定的恋爱关系。
5．A “zoom”意为迅速增长，故A 是最佳答案。