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2. I like to present a good appearance. So I spend a lot of time in the morning on make
up, and dress up. I wear designer dresses and use jewelry for accent purposes. The other day
I chose a set of bracelets to highlight a new outfit. My teacher told me to get rid of the awful
clank, and while I was at it to wash my face. I was never so mortified! They want you to
dress nicely for school, and when you do that’s what you get.
3. I earn pretty good money after school, so I can buy a lot of my own clothes. What I
buy is the latest. I mean up-to-the minute. I watch men’s fashions in the magazines and
newspapers, and I’m always the first in school to wear what’s hot in the largest cities of my
country and abroad. And what do I get for my trouble? Ridicule! Not just other kids make
fun of my clothes, but teachers too! They are worse than the kids are. I suppose it’s because
they grew up in the 50s and 60s when anything went. Do they want me to dress like a slob
in old fatigues and a greasy T-shirt?
Do you want to know the author’s opinion? Here it is.
Selecting the right clothes to wear isn’t easy. It is to be learned just as you learn most
other things. And that’s one of the reasons behind dress codes at school - to help teach you
what is appropriate in your work place. Very often people try to defend themselves in order
to excuse inappropriate way of dressing. They usually say:
It doesn’t matter how you dress... I dress to be comfortable...
You can’t tell a book by its cover... I dare to be different... and so on.
The word appropriate is a key word for choosing an outfit. You wouldn’t crawl
under the car in a good sweater and slacks, and you shouldn’t wear greasy fatigues to
school. Clanking bracelets and dramatic makeup may work well at a party, but they are not
good for the work place - school, that is. And one more. Most fashion fads that work well
and make splash in big cities never make it in the rest of the country.
Clean, neat, appropriate. Those are the buzz words for the successful dressing. If
your outfit is all of these, you’ll rarely have to worry about dress codes, or about what other
people think.
3. Be sure that you know all the underlined words in the text above:
сode - a set of rules; to appease - to calm; school board - school council; upshot - result;
fatigues - military trousers; clank - sharp metallic sound; to mortify - to put to shame, to
embarrass; to ridicule - to make fun of smth. or smb.; to humiliate; slob (sl.) - an awkward,
clumsy man; greasy – oily; appropriate - suitable; outfit - set of clothes; fad - craze; buzz
word - popular word or phrase
4. Answer the questions.
1. What do you think of having a dress code at school? 2. Is it good or bad to have a dress
code at school? 3. Did you have a dress code at your school? 4. Do you agree that selecting
the right clothes is to be learned? 5. What are your favorite university clothes? 6. Who
teaches you to select the right clothes to wear to school, to parties, to go camping and so on?
7. Where do you buy your clothes? 8. Are your clothes expensive or cheap? 9. It is easy to
find decent clothes that fit you, isn’t it? 10. Do you think it is a good idea to have clothes
that do not need ironing? 11. Why do many kids and adults like clothing with pockets?
What about you?
5. Use these verbs to fill the gaps.
A have B be C spend D make E get
1. to … good/best friends with somebody 2. to … friends with somebody
3. to … on well with somebody 4. to … a lot of/all your time with somebody
5. to … a good/close friendship with somebody
6. Put the letters into the correct order to make nouns that refer to personal
characteristics.

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