READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

Walking and shoes in eighteenth-century London

A look at changing fashions in footwear and leisure.

A It was difficult to get about in eighteenth-century London. During the first half of that century, the physical mobility of the upper classes in the city had been considerably restricted: the poor condition of the streets did not allow ‘walking for pleasure’ outside private parks or pleasure gardens. Streets were dirty, rubbish was everywhere and the British climate did not help. Walking could be a risky business. The terrible state of roads, always flooded and muddy, created a metropolitan world of shoe cleaners and street sweepers.

B References to walking are not abundant in early eighteenth-century texts. This is truer for urban spaces than for places in the countryside, where country life had always been dominated by a lifestyle of outdoor activities. For instance, in eighteenth-century London, a sightseer’s experience was restricted to touristic places and involved journeys by a series of boats and coaches. Walking was considered to be an activity for the poorer members of society – or simply those who could not afford a coach.

C This situation underwent a sudden improvement in the mid-eighteenth century, with measures implementing the provision of public spaces in which to walk. The first legislation concerning paving in London was passed in 1762, and during the following decades similar laws were enacted in many cities. By the end of the century, areas for walking were commonplace, and far more people were enjoying the pastime than before. Sophie von La Roche writes about metropolitan street life in the diary of her visit to London of 1786. She comments on how many more pedestrians there were on the broad, clean pavements, alongside the houses where, she says, ‘many thousands of neatly clad people, eminent men and dressy women, pursue their way safe from the carriages, horses and dirt’. Although the pastime of walking was pursued only in specific spaces designed for the purpose, the number of these spaces increased as the nineteenth century approached. Travelling on foot became smoother and less dangerous.

D Attitudes toward walking through public spaces and their changes over time were visible in the practical designs of fashionable footwear. Protective overshoes and other devices designed to keep feet above the dirty and wet ground soon disappeared, and ease of mobility increased. In the early eighteenth century, the look of men’s and women’s shoes started to diverge in appearance as a distinction between male and female footwear filtered into production. Contemporary descriptions of the boot and shoe trade underlined the differences between ladies’ shoemakers and men’s shoemakers too.

E The production of men’s and women’s footwear required different skills, as the products were essentially different. Men wore more sober footwear, not unlike modern shoes. Their shoes were entirely made of leather, which provided resistance to rain, mud and bad weather. Women’s shoes had uppers made of textiles – silk, satin or cloth – and their resistance to bad weather and dirty streets was limited. Only the lower ranks of women wore leather shoes of a form similar to men’s. The high-quality shoes for women were often embroidered and were normally worn with protective overshoes, as they were prone to being damaged or disfigured by the conditions of the time.

F The shoes of men and women related to their more general clothing in different ways. Wealthy women’s footwear harmonised with their other garments, a harmony that could be effected through matching textiles, general colour, embroidered detail or buckles. In the eighteenth century, men’s shoes matched their clothing in different ways, for example with glossy black, red or pink heels. The shoe of an upper-class man also acted as a type of sign which emphasised the difference between the wearer and young boys and women. The shoe also distinguished him from working men who wore leather or cloth protective leggings, ragged shoes and clogs. The symbolic marking of the entry of a wealthy young man into manhood through his shoes, as well as his other dress, may have been of more importance than has previously been acknowledged in costume history.

NB: 该题型允许同一选项重复使用。

Questions 14-20

Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet. You may use any letter more than once.

	A	B	C	D	E	F
14 details of a legal change affecting conditions in urban areas
15 a reference to how the significance of men’s shoes has been overlooked by experts
16 a reference to how gender began to affect shoe design
17 a description of potential problems faced in urban areas
18 a mention of the tough qualities of men’s shoes
19 a reference to modes of transport used by visitors to London
20 a mention of the limited areas in early eighteenth-century London where local people could enjoy walking

Questions 21 and 22

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

The writer refers to the relationship between shoes and other clothing. Which TWO of the following are mentioned?

AShoes for rich women were designed to match their dress in various ways.BMen’s shoes tended to feature a vast range of colours.CChildren’s shoes were simpler versions of the ones adults wore.DWealthy men’s shoes set the wearer apart from other groups.EShoes for the less privileged were cheap copies of fashionable designs.

Questions 23-26

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Walking in the eighteenth century

Only a few texts dating from the first few decades of the eighteenth century actually make reference to walking. In fact, in London, only people who were less well-off had to walk rather than take a 23 . The situation, though, was different in the 24 .

Things changed mid-century, as more public spaces for walking were made available in London, and a number of English cities were affected by similar governmental decisions during the second half of the century. As a consequence, according to Sophie von La Roche, the number of 25 rose dramatically, because many people were able to walk on wide 26 away from the traffic.