I know that a lot of people in cities in China do live in large apartment blocks which have many floors, maybe 15 or 20 or more, but I live in a flat in a much smaller house of just three floors. (d) What are the different factors which give rise to new fashions?
Fashion designers produce innovations and new styles. There are changes in the economic situation so that people may spend more or less on clothes; also new materials and colours become available, and people get different ideas about what to wear when they travel to other places or watch films and TV.
6 Translate the paragraph into Chinese.
Sometimes the hemline indicator, as it’s called, can even precede and predict a change in the mood of the stock market long before it actually happens. In September 2007, at the New York fashion shows, which were displaying their styles for spring 2008, the trend was for much longer dresses and skirts, many to mid-calf or even down to the ankles. Some people felt this showed that the hemline indicator was no longer reliable, and that designers no longer dictated what people would wear. During the London and New York fashion shows in September 2008, hemlines continued to drop. But sure
enough, in the fall of 2008, the stock market indexes fell dramatically when the banking crisis hit the US, Europe and then the rest of the world. Hemlines were no longer following the stock market – they were showing the way and indicating future economic trends. 有时候，所谓的裙摆指标甚至能事先早早就预告股市的变化。2007年9月，纽约时装展展示了2008年春季流行风格，潮流转向了长衣、长裙，许多裙摆降至小腿中线，甚至到了脚踝。有人觉得，这表明裙摆指标靠不住了，或者服装设计师不再左右着装的趋势了。在2008年9月的伦敦和纽约时装展中，裙摆继续下降。果然，2008年秋天金融危机袭击美欧，波及全球，股指急跌。此时，裙摆不再被动追随股市升跌，而是引领潮流，预示未来的经济趋势了。（? 第一句原文复杂，但译成中文较简单。最后一句译文加词，加上“被动”可起强调作用，让本句的意思更明确。） 7 Translate the paragraphs into English. <