Clothes that change colour

A new thread developed for the military will make it possible to change the colours of your clothes to suit yourself, whenever you please.

At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, professor Yoel Fink and his colleagues have developed an innovative process to combine extremely thin layers of two materials, a plastic and a glass. The result: a new fibre that can reflect all the light that hits it, from any direction. Within the next two years, the U.S. Army plans to weave Fink's new thread into uniforms, to make an optical bar code that will help our soldiers distinguish friend from foe on night patrol, or during the smoke and confusion of a fire fight.

But Fink's thread could also enjoy a major commercial future in fashion. You might leave home for work in a business-like gray or navy, and switch to a livelier purple or pink in time for your evening out. M.I.T. graduate student Shandon Hart, who collaborated with Fink on the new thread, envisions clothing made from the fibre and equipped with a tiny, lightweight battery pack. When you want to change your suit or dress from, say, black to red, you flick a switch on the pack to zap the fabric with an electric change. Like a radio antenna that lengthens or shortens to tune to a frequency, the thread changes thickness—and your outfit changes colour.

Timothy M. Gunn, chair of Parsons' design department, believes that "what professor Fink has done is incredibly revolutionary. Think what the club scene, celebrity dressing, MTV and the Oscars will look like." Gunn predicts that the fashion industry "might start by using the thread in accessories, to change the colour of a bag or a hat or a scarf. For men, I can see it used to make jackets and even possibly shoes. And imagine how easily you could transform a room—just by changing something simple like a table cloth."

Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text. a. The new fibre has been designed by the military.
b. The thread is already being used by the U.S. Army.
c. You’ll need batteries in order to change the colour of your clothes.
d. Colours change depending on how thick the thread becomes.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.
a. What benefits will the new fibre have for solddiers?
b. How might the fashion industry apply the new thread to its products?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.
a. to identify (par.2)
b. to imagine (par.3)
c. material (par. 3)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning. a. Yoel Fink and his colleagues have developed an innovative process.
An innovative ..............................................
b. "What professor Fink has done is incredibly revolutionary.“
T. M. Gunn said ..........................................
c. I flicked a switch on the pack because I wanted to change the colour of my clothes. If I hadn´t ...................................................

Question 5 (3 points)Write a short essay (about 120-150 words) on the following topic:
Will fashion change much in the future? What will people be wearing in 2050?

Clothes that change colour

A new thread developed for the military will make it possible to change the colours of your clothes to suit yourself, whenever you please.

At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, professor Yoel Fink and his colleagues have developed an innovative process to combine extremely thin layers of two materials, a plastic and a glass. The result: a new fibre that can reflect all the light that hits it, from any direction. Within the next two years, the U.S. Army plans to weave Fink's new thread into uniforms, to make an optical bar code that will help our soldiers distinguish friend from foe on night patrol, or during the smoke and confusion of a fire fight.

But Fink's thread could also enjoy a major commercial future in fashion. You might leave home for work in a business-like gray or navy, and switch to a livelier purple or pink in time for your evening out. M.I.T. graduate student Shandon Hart, who collaborated with Fink on the new thread, envisions clothing made from the fibre and equipped with a tiny, lightweight battery pack. When you want to change your suit or dress from, say, black to red, you flick a switch on the pack to zap the fabric with an electric change. Like a radio antenna that lengthens or shortens to tune to a frequency, the thread changes thickness—and your outfit changes colour.

Timothy M. Gunn, chair of Parsons' design department, believes that "what professor Fink has done is incredibly revolutionary. Think what the club scene, celebrity dressing, MTV and the Oscars will look like." Gunn predicts that the fashion industry "might start by using the thread in accessories, to change the colour of a bag or a hat or a scarf. For men, I can see it used to make jackets and even possibly shoes. And imagine how easily you could transform a room—just by changing something simple like a table cloth."

Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text. a. The new fibre has been designed by the military.
b. The thread is already being used by the U.S. Army.
c. You’ll need batteries in order to change the colour of your clothes.
d. Colours change depending on how thick the thread becomes.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.
a. What benefits will the new fibre have for solddiers?
b. How might the fashion industry apply the new thread to its products?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.
a. to identify (par.2)
b. to imagine (par.3)
c. material (par. 3)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning. a. Yoel Fink and his colleagues have developed an innovative process.
An innovative ..............................................
b. "What professor Fink has done is incredibly revolutionary.“
T. M. Gunn said ..........................................
c. I flicked a switch on the pack because I wanted to change the colour of my clothes. If I hadn´t ...................................................

Question 5 (3 points)Write a short essay (about 120-150 words) on the following topic:
Will fashion change much in the future? What will people be wearing in 2050?

Clothes that change colour

KEY
Question 1

a. False. “A new thread developed for the military..”
b. False. “Within the next two years, the U.S. Army plans to weave Fink's new thread into uniforms.”
c. True. “ …equipped with a tiny, lightweight battery pack. When you want to change your suit or dress from, say, black to red, you flick a switch on the pack to zap the fabric with an electric change.”
d. True. “ … the thread changes thickness—and your outfit changes colour.“

Question 2

a. The new fibre will be very convenient for soldiers since it will make it possible to tell a friend froma an enemy during the night or when it is not easy to see clearly.
b. The fashion industry will use the new thread in clothes so that people will be able to change the boring clours of work clothes into brighter ones for going out. It will also be used for accesories, shoes and even home linen.

Question 3

a.to distinguish
b. envisions / to envision
c. fabric

Question 4

a. An innovative process has been developed by Yoel Fink and his colleagues.
b. T. M. Gunn said that what professor Fink had done was incredibly revolutionary.
c. If I hadn’t wanted to change the colour of my clothes, I wouldn’t have switched a switch on the pack.

Clothes that change colour

KEY
Question 1

a. False. “A new thread developed for the military..”
b. False. “Within the next two years, the U.S. Army plans to weave Fink's new thread into uniforms.”
c. True. “ …equipped with a tiny, lightweight battery pack. When you want to change your suit or dress from, say, black to red, you flick a switch on the pack to zap the fabric with an electric change.”
d. True. “ … the thread changes thickness—and your outfit changes colour.“

Question 2

a. The new fibre will be very convenient for soldiers since it will make it possible to tell a friend froma an enemy during the night or when it is not easy to see clearly.
b. The fashion industry will use the new thread in clothes so that people will be able to change the boring clours of work clothes into brighter ones for going out. It will also be used for accesories, shoes and even home linen.

Question 3

a.to distinguish
b. envisions / to envision
c. fabric

Question 4

a. An innovative process has been developed by Yoel Fink and his colleagues.
b. T. M. Gunn said that what professor Fink had done was incredibly revolutionary.
c. If I hadn’t wanted to change the colour of my clothes, I wouldn’t have switched a switch on the pack.

High Heels Shorten Women's Leg Muscles

Scientists have found out that women who wear high-heel shoes make the calf muscles shorter. The heels also give many women pain in their legs when they take them off and walk. The researchers tested different women aged between 20 and 50 who wore heels that were 5cm or higher. The research, which covered a two-year period, also looked at women who never wore high heels. The research team used ultrasound to measure the length of the fibres in the calf muscles. Their results showed that the muscle fibres of high-heel wearers were 13 per cent shorter than those in the non-high-heel-wearing women. Lead researcher Professor Marco Narci said: "This confirmed the hypothesis that when you place the muscle in a shorter position, the fibres become shorter.”

The researchers also found that women who regularly wore high heels suffered more muscle aches and pains when they took their shoes off. This is because their muscles are being overstretched for long periods and do not have time to relax. Professor Narci said it was harder for women to stretch their feet out when they took their shoes off. He did advise women to do simple stretching exercises to relieve the pain. "If you stand on your tip toes and lower your heels up and down again it will stretch out the tendons making it easier to walk without heels,” he said. He did not suggest that women stop wearing high heels but recommended wearing flat shoes a little more often."Fashion is intended to be uncomfortable and none of the women in the study planned to give up their high heels," he said.

Question 1. (2 points)

Say whether the following statements are true or false. Give evidence from the text.

a. Wearing high heels makes women’s legs shorter.

b. Women suffer more pain when their high heels are on.

c. A professor advised women to sit down and stretch their toes.

d. The women in the study intend to keep on wearing high heels.

Question 2. (2 points)

Answer the following questions in your own words.

a. Which women were examined and how did they carry out the study?

b. What were the results of the study?

Question 3. (1.5 points)

Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a. to discover (par.1)

b. head (par. 1)

c. difficult (par.2)

Question 4. (1.5 points)

Complete the sentences without changing the meaning.

a. Professor Narci said it was harder for women to stretch their feet out when they took their shoes off. He said:“.....................................................................................................................“

b. Their muscles are being overstretched for long periods. They ................................................................

c. She suffered muscle aches and pains because she wore high heel shoes. If she had .......................................................

Question 5. (3 points)

Write a short essay (120 to 150 words) on the following topic:

How important is fashion for you?

High Heels Shorten Women's Leg Muscles

Scientists have found out that women who wear high-heel shoes make the calf muscles shorter. The heels also give many women pain in their legs when they take them off and walk. The researchers tested different women aged between 20 and 50 who wore heels that were 5cm or higher. The research, which covered a two-year period, also looked at women who never wore high heels. The research team used ultrasound to measure the length of the fibres in the calf muscles. Their results showed that the muscle fibres of high-heel wearers were 13 per cent shorter than those in the non-high-heel-wearing women. Lead researcher Professor Marco Narci said: "This confirmed the hypothesis that when you place the muscle in a shorter position, the fibres become shorter.”

The researchers also found that women who regularly wore high heels suffered more muscle aches and pains when they took their shoes off. This is because their muscles are being overstretched for long periods and do not have time to relax. Professor Narci said it was harder for women to stretch their feet out when they took their shoes off. He did advise women to do simple stretching exercises to relieve the pain. "If you stand on your tip toes and lower your heels up and down again it will stretch out the tendons making it easier to walk without heels,” he said. He did not suggest that women stop wearing high heels but recommended wearing flat shoes a little more often."Fashion is intended to be uncomfortable and none of the women in the study planned to give up their high heels," he said.

Question 1. (2 points)

Say whether the following statements are true or false. Give evidence from the text.

a. Wearing high heels makes women’s legs shorter.

b. Women suffer more pain when their high heels are on.

c. A professor advised women to sit down and stretch their toes.

d. The women in the study intend to keep on wearing high heels.

Question 2. (2 points)

Answer the following questions in your own words.

a. Which women were examined and how did they carry out the study?

b. What were the results of the study?

Question 3. (1.5 points)

Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a. to discover (par.1)

b. head (par. 1)

c. difficult (par.2)

Question 4. (1.5 points)

Complete the sentences without changing the meaning.

a. Professor Narci said it was harder for women to stretch their feet out when they took their shoes off. He said:“.....................................................................................................................“

b. Their muscles are being overstretched for long periods. They ................................................................

c. She suffered muscle aches and pains because she wore high heel shoes. If she had .......................................................

Question 5. (3 points)

Write a short essay (120 to 150 words) on the following topic:

How important is fashion for you?