1 . For those of us who attempt to keep up with the fashion world to ensure our cupboards stay fresh, the real skeletons(骷髅) in our cupboards are those pieces we bought and only wore once or twice --- mostly from following each season’s new trends.
With fast fashion brands like Forever 21, H&M and Zara’s constant output of new trendy clothing at low prices, it’s easy to fall into the trap of buying clothes regardless of whether you really need them. But unnecessary purchasing, and the mass production of clothing, aren’t just hard on our wallets --- they are hard on the environment.
One of the first steps in getting unwanted clothes out of your cupboard is to sell or consign（寄送）them. But because popular resale shops like Buffalo Exchange and Crossroads don’t accept fast fashion brands because they don’t profit enough from them, people often turn to throwing their old clothing in the dustbins.
Many consumers don’t realize that clothing and textiles（纺织品）are recyclable or how to recycle them. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States generated 16.22 million tons of waste textiles in 2017 and recycled only 2.62 million tons. Ten and a half million tons of textiles were finally buried under the ground that year.
Vetements, a Parisian fashion brand worn by celebrities like Kanye West and Rihanna, aimed to bring awareness to the problem of fast fashion brands and clothing waste with a recent window display at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. The window contained a giant pile of clothes. The pile, which grew daily, was made up of old clothes donated by Saks employees and out-of-season items from the store.
On Aug.10, the clothing from the display was donated to RewearAble, a Long Island recycling program that collects old clothes and textiles, and prepares them for resale or repurposes the textiles.
1. What keeps customers coming back to fast fashion brands like Forever 21, H&M and Zara?| A．Good shopping environment. |
| B．Discounts and promotional activities. |
| C．Warm and thoughtful service of the salesmen. |
| D．Low prices and a continuous supply of new looks. |
| A．many consumers are aware of how to recycle textiles. |
| B．the United States are capable of producing tons of fashionable textiles. |
| C．fast fashion is hard on the environment. |
| D．it is an effective way to deal with waste textiles by burying them under the ground. |
| A．It can help the environment. |
| B．It does good to people’s health. |
| C．It can help change people’s lives. |
| D．It will take the lead in the latest fashion. |
| A．How to Stop Buying Unnecessary Clothes |
| B．Fast Fashion Brands Spread Around the World |
| C．The Advantages and Disadvantages of Fast Fashion |
| D．Fast Fashion Can Kill Your Wallet and the Environment |
2 . Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas. But some people think we buy too much. They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day.
Buy Nothing Day is November 29. It’s 25 days before Christmas. It’s after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping.
The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students, wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day.
| A．They asked restaurants in the neighborhood to donate the food. |
| B．At this time, we see ads in newspapers and, on TV telling us to “buy, buy, buy!” |
| C．Buy Nothing Day has successfully persuaded people not to buy anything. |
| D．Many people think highly of the idea of Buy Nothing Day. |
| E．They don’t want anyone to go shopping on that day. |
| F．Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day. |
| G．The dinner was a big success, and many students a- greed not to buy anything on November. |
