Task 6. (4 points)
Read the text. For questions 6.1.-6.4., choose the appropriate paragraph and write
the corresponding letter (A-E) in the table. One paragraph does not match any of
the statements.
Which paragraph
6.1. enumerates some domains where the English sense of style goes counter to the
popular belief?
6.2. mentions the counter-productive effect of an experiment?
6.3. lists the weather as one of the major factors influencing dress code?
6.4. shows other nations’ unexpected superiority over the English in one particular aspect
of choosing clothes?
ENGLISH DRESS CODE
A. Before we can even begin to examine the rules of English dress, we need to be clear
about a few cross-cultural universals. Apart from the obvious need for warmth in cold
climates, and for protection from the elements, dress, in all cultures, is essentially about
three things: sex differentiation, status signals and affiliation signals. Sex differentiation
is usually the most obvious. There will always be at least some minor differences
between male and female attire emphasized to make each sex more attractive to the
other. By status I mean social status in the broadest sense, and I am including age-
differentiation in this category. Affiliation to a tribe, clan, sub-culture, social
or ‘lifestyle’ group, covers pretty much everything else.
B.
The English have an uneasy and largely dysfunctional relationship with clothes,
characterized primarily by a desperate need for dress code rules, and a woeful inability to
cope without them. This meta-rule helps to explain why the English have an international
reputation for dressing in general very badly, but with specific areas of excellence, such
as high-class gentlemen’s tailoring, ceremonial costume and innovative street fashion.
In other words, we English are at our best when we have strict rules and traditions
to follow. Left to our own devices, we flounder and fail, having little or no natural sense
of style or elegance.
C. Our need for rules has been highlighted in recent years by the ‘Casual Friday’ custom
imported from America. A number of English companies adopted this custom, but quite
a few have been obliged to abandon it, as many of their more junior staff started turning
up in ludicrously inappropriate clothes, more suited to the beach than to an office. Others
just looked unacceptably scruffy. Clients were put off and most of the senior
management simply ignored it, choosing to maintain their dignity by sticking
to the normal business-suit uniform. This only served to emphasize hierarchical divisions
within the business - quite the opposite of the democratizing effect intended by
the dress-down policy.
D. In other countries people may have their flaws and foibles in matters of dress, but only
among our colonial descendants, the Americans and Australians, is this lamentable
absence of taste as marked or as widespread as it is in England. Ironically, given our
supposed obsession with our weather and our pride in its changeable nature, even those
sartorially less distinguished nations are better than us at dressing appropriately for
different climatic conditions.
dla absolwentów klas dwujęzycznych
9
E.
We may spend inordinate amounts of time discussing weather forecasts, but we
somehow never seem to be wearing the right clothes. I spent several rainy afternoons
on the streets counting umbrellas, and calculated that only about 25 per cent of
the population actually manage to arm themselves with this supposedly quintessentially
English item, even when heavy rain has been forecast for days. These perverse habits
give us a good excuse to moan and grumble about being too hot, cold or wet - and,
incidentally, would seem to bear out my contention that our constant weather-speak is
a social facilitator rather than evidence of a genuine obsession.
from Watching the English by Kate Fox
TRANSFER YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ANSWER SHEET!
Official CKE answer key found in corpus at arkusze/jezyk-angielski-2012-maj-matura-dwujezyczna-odpowiedzi (matura.lol's automatic pairing missed it); transcript at .../jezyk-angielski-2012-maj-matura-dwujezyczna-transkrypcja. 'English Dress Code' paragraph matching: 6.1 (domains where English sense of style goes against popular belief) -> B (English have specific areas of excellence like gentlemen's tailoring, ceremonial costume, innovative street fashion, despite bad reputation overall). 6.2 (counter-productive effect of an experiment) -> C ('Casual Friday' custom backfired, emphasizing hierarchical divisions instead of the intended democratizing effect). 6.3 (weather as a factor influencing dress code) -> A (paragraph lists 'the obvious need for warmth in cold climates, and for protection from the elements' among dress universals). 6.4 (other nations' unexpected superiority over English) -> D (even Americans/Australians, or other 'sartorially less distinguished' nations, dress more appropriately for weather than the English). (Paragraph E is the extra, unmatched paragraph.)
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