Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Fashion is a term used commonly to describe a popular style of clothes worn at a particular time. A fashion remains popular for a few months or years before being replaced by yet another fashion.
During the mid-1800s, mass production of clothing made fashionable clothes available to more people at lower prices. People of all social classes began to wear similar styles of clothing. Today, it is easier to identify an expensive garment by the quality of its fabric and manufacturer than by its style. Through the years, fashions in games and sports have influenced the way people dress. During the 1700s, people in England adopted simpler clothing styles after they became interested in fox hunting and other outdoor sports. Today, many people wear special clothing for activities such as golf, horse riding, hunting and tennis. Wars have also affected the style of dress in some countries. European soldiers returning from crusades during 1100s and 1200s brought back various eastern ideas of dress styles. The crusaders also returned with rich silks and other textiles not available in Europe.
The development of new dyes, machinery and textiles has greatly affected most areas of fashion, especially on clothing. The style of dress has changed frequently in countries that have highly mechanised production systems. During the 1700s, new dyes made new colour combination possible. In the late 1700s, the invention of the toothed cotton gin, the power loom and the foot and water powered machinery for spinning and weaving made factory production of cloth possible.
After the Industrial Revolution began in Europe in the 18th century, it became increasingly possible to produce cloth and clothing quickly and inexpensively. The invention of foot and water powered machinery stimulated the development of sewing machine. Barthelemy Thimonnier of Paris patented the first practical machine in 1830. Improved versions soon followed, including on Isaac M. Singer of Pittstown, New York, in 1851. Fashionable clothing styles began to spread rapidly from the upper classes to the middle and working classes in the West. As communication improved, styles also spread to members of the elite classes in other parts of the world. Mass production of clothing meant that the traditional clothing styles of Africa, Asia, and the Americas were largely replaced by everyday European styles. As national economies grow increasingly international, clothing styles have become correspondingly global. Young people in Johannesburg and Jakarta, Boston and Buenos Aires, New York and Nairobi all tend to wear the same kind of clothing. However, different cultures have modified these originally European styles in accordance with local values and lifestyles. In particular, religious beliefs have influenced the clothing that women wear in public. Thus, a woman in Iran may wear blue jeans and a T-shirt at home, but cover the up with an enveloping robe called a chador when she goes outside. In addition, many people enjoy wearing their traditional clothing on holidays and other special occasions for reasons of national or ethnic pride. Fashion change includes both short-term fluctuations in style and longer-term trends. Two trends seen in the 20th century seem likely to continue in the future. The first of these is the blurring of gender boundaries.
Fashionable clothing of the 19th century made very sharp distinctions between men’s and women’s clothing in colour, shape, fabric, and decoration. Gradually these distinctions have broken down, especially when women claimed masculine items of clothing for themselves. Trousers and tailored suits are two notable examples of men’s styles now worn regularly by both men and women. Today’s standard wardrobe includes a large number of garments that are essentially engendered(neither male nor female), including T-shirts, jeans, casual jackets, and many kinds of special sports clothing, such as running shorts and sweat suits.
At the same time, true unisex clothing is very rare and is likely to remain so. Men’s and women’s tailored business suits, for example , can be regarded as simply two versions of the same basic garment, but they are generally very different in shape and in details, such as on which side the buttons are placed. Even outwardly ungendered items, such as jeans, are usually made in slightly different versions for men and women. An important function of clothing is to serve as a signifier of social identity, including gender, and that is likely to remain true. A second continuing long-term fashion trend is the increasing importance of casual and sports attire in the overall wardrobe of both men and women. Tailored suits as business attire are now rapidly giving way to more casual dress. Innovations .in textiles and clothing often appear first in specialised sports clothing and then rapidly spread to everyday dress. Just as clothing sends signals about gender, it carries messages about situations and occasions; special formal attire of some sort will continue to be part of fashion for the foreseeable future. However, such clothing is likely to become even more occasion-specific than it is today, and the trend toward ever more casual everyday dress is expected to continue. Today, fashion has become a multi-million dollar global industry, attracting millions of highly-trained designers, hairdressers, jewellers, beauticians and models, and controlling space in prime premises that house fashion chain stores in most cities of the world. In modern –day world, a mere global village, fashion ideas and styles move quickly across continents-what happens in the fashion centres of Paris and New York soon affects fashion in Australia, China and across the globe. Beauty contests and fashion shows are two ways in which the fashion industry market its wares to a word consumed with changing tastes in fashion. QUESTIONS
a) How is fashion determined? (1mk)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… b) Explain why in the 1800s people of all social classes began to wear similar styles of clothing (2mks) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… c) How did the development of new dyes affect fashion? (1mk) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… d) In what ways have games and sports influenced the way people dress? (2mks) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… e) Name three machines that made factory production of clothes possible. (3mks) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… f) Explain how traditional clothing styles came to be replaced by everyday European styles. (2mks) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… g)Identify and explain three fashion trends mentioned in the passage (3mks) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… h)How are different cultures dealing with global clothing styles? (2mks) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… i)Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the passage. (4mks) Mass production …………………………………………… Fluctuations…………………………………………………… Distinctions…………………………………………………… Innovations……………………………………………………… ANSWERS AND MARKING SCHEMEREADING COMPREHENSION a)Fashion is determined by time and events(1mk) b)Cloths were produced in large quantities; making fashionable clothes available to more people. (2mks) c)The development of dyes made new colour combinations possible (1mk) d)Games and sports have influenced the way people dress because of the need to dress differently for different sports. (2mks) e) The three machines that made factory production of clothes possible were toothed cotton gin; the power loom; and the foot and water powdered machinery for spinning and weaving. (3mks) f) This was as a result of mass production and improved communication. (2mks) g) Three fashion trends mentioned in the passage are the blurring of gender boundaries, true unisex clothing and casual and sports attire. (3mks) h) Different cultures have modified these originally European styles in accordance with local values and lifestyles. (2mks) i) Mass production………………………………..made in large quantities. ii) Fluctuations……………………………………….changes iii) Distinctions…………………………………………differences iv) Innovations……………………………………..new ideas (4mks)
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Read the following comprehension and answer the questions that follow in the spaces given below. (20mks)
COMPREHENSION
Hare, Elephant and Hippo One day Hare, popularly known as Ogila Nyakarondo, met Elephant on his way to the forest. As Hare is a cunning and clever animal, he wanted to fool Elephant on some issue. He started talking to Elephant; ‘ Elephant my brother, good morning. What is the matter? Why are you walking alone like that my friend? Why don’t you ask me to walk along with you through the forest? After they had walked together for some time Hare said, ‘Elephant my brother, I want to go on a rope- pulling contest with you. I know that I can defeat you miserably, for I am stronger than you.’ Elephant replied, ‘iii! Ogila Nyakarondo, you are too small to contest with me. You are playing about, my brother. Think twice. They then planned to go on a contest the next day in the forest, but Elephant went laughing, thinking that Ogila could do nothing to him.
The same day, Ogila met with Hippo and started talking to him saying, ‘ Hippo my brother, I want you to contest with me one of these days. We shall pull a rope across the forest and see who will be the winner.’ Hippo said, ‘ Don’t play with me , Hare my brother, you are just too small to contest with me.’ He made the same plan, just as he had planned with Elephant to pull the rope in the contest across the forest.
The next morning, Hippo and Elephant went to each side of the forest thinking that they were going to contest with Hare. They started pulling the rope. Meanwhile Hare was sitting on a high hill looking at what was happening below. He sang a song to taunt Elephant and Hippo. As he sang, Hippo and Elephant pulled even harder. They pulled and pulled and got very tired. At dusk, they almost fainted and stopped pulling. Hare immediately ran to Elephant and asked,’ am I not great?’ elephant told Hare, ‘ Oh Hare my brother, I have agreed that you are really great. I have had it tough the whole day.’ Hare then ran to Hippo and told him the same thing he had told Elephant. Hippo wondered at the strength of the Hare and said, ‘ Hare my brother, I have just realized that you are very strong. In fact you should be made the king of the jungle.’ Hare went away merrily playing his guitar. (Adapted from African Oral Literature for schools by Jane Nandwa and Austin Bukenya, Longman Kenya.)
COMPREHENSION(20MARKS)
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:COMPREHENSION: How to dress to impress, how to communicate to invoke trust, how to posture to exude confidence, how to stand out as the best above the rest are all challenges that we persistently face when we compete for jobs, positions and even social acceptance. We live in a society that judges us primarily by our physical appearance and ability to advance out propositions. Those who have the gift of garbs, the skill in creating an impression and the art of swag tend to make it further in the path of life as compared to those who sit pretty waiting for manna to fall and for ability to be recognized. Quite philosophically, we can postulate that every time we step out into the world, we face intense scrutiny and vetting from all those around us. Our neighbours scrutinize our behavior to determine whether the home front is pleasant or tumultuous, colleagues examine our demeanor to gauge our propensity to win or lose clients assess our conduct to deliver on promises and strangers create an impression of whether our persona is repulsive or attractive just from the first glance. In fact, everywhere we turn, there’s sure to be someone judging whether or not we are who they think we are. Due to this persistent societal inspection we learn that image is everything and invest heavily in our outward appearance. And for those who understand just how pivotal it all is, they invest even more heavily in the ‘inward’ appearance that provides the zest, zeal and gusto to face with enthusiasm no matter what. While image is everything, it’s nothing void of intricate preparation. As we venture for job interviews, business pitches or even social engagements, we are tasked with anticipating all technical questions that could be posed, preempting all personal issues that could be raised and predicting any historical sensitive occurrences that could be revisited. Even more critically we are expected to conduct background and emotional intelligence on those we shall come face to face with in the judging panel. Most panels tend to consist of three types of people; the neutral, the balanced and the biased. Those who are neutral are often fence-sitters keen on taking the safe middle ground. Where they could make a decisive choice, they make generalized conclusions; they make more decisive ones often rationalizing why. Those who are biased unashamedly take a stance based on their predispositions and values. They are often inclined towards a candidate who is their tribe, gender, schoolmate or friend. They have no qualms going out of their way to defend their preference. Without doubt we have all been victims of the three personalities, seldom to our pleasure and frequently to our dismay. The vetting you and I undergo in our daily endeavours is not at all easy. Yet in the success and failures we learn to improve for the next encounter. As we face the realities of constant scrutiny and vetting, it must have been interesting to watch our Cabinet Secretaries during the recently concluded vetting exercise. The kid-glove approach that was applied with many of the candidates suggested that the exercise was more of a rubber stamp for the nominations made. The lukewarm manner in which technical competence was established, personal character was unearthed and historical scandals or grey areas were clarified made us realize that what the candidates had undergone was a field day in comparison to the grilling sessions we endure in our quests for jobs. Indeed, watching the events unfold made me wonder whether we currently have a constitution whose tenets are ahead of its time. Whatever the case, it’s refreshing that we have embarked on the journey. Moving forward, as our new executive starts its mission to help us all fulfill our dreams, let’s hope they will work with honesty, dignity and utmost professionalism. Let’s pray that they will endeavour to exceed our expectations, proving that despite neutrality and bias witnessed in select cases, they were worth every penny. Finally, start the week more balanced than neutral, won’t you! (Angela Ambitho, Standard on Sunday, May 19, 2013) Questions.
ANSWERSCOMPREHENSION
1. - How to dress to impress. - How to communicate to invoke confidence. - How to posture to exude confidence. - How to stand out as the best above the rest. (@ ½ mks = 2mks) 2. - One should have the gift of the grip. - The skill in creating an impression. - The art of swag. 3. - Scornful. - He refers to them as fence sitters keen on taking the middle ground. - Where they could make a decisive choice, they make generalized. (1mk for identification, 1mk for illustration) 4. - Our neighbours scrutinize our behaviour to determine whether the home front is pleasant or tumultuous. - Colleagues examine our demeanor to gauge our propensity to win or lose. - Clients assess our conduct to deliver on promises. - Strangers create an impression of whether our persona is repulsive or attractive just from the first glance. (Should be in note form, deduct 50% of the total score if in continuous prose = 4mks) 5. Scandals like corruption, nepotism, high handedness etc. (accept any logical answer = 1mk) 6. This refers to temperaments / attitudes / biases / prejudices etc. 7. Rarely 8. Without proper consideration (1mk) 9. haven’t we? (‘h’ must be small) (Must put question mark if not award 0 = 1mk) 10. (a) Lukewarm – Lightly, lacking in seriousness. (b) Grey areas – ‘dirty’ areas - contentious. |
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AuthorMAURICE A NYAMOTI |
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