In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her. Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant’s sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to department stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.

This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn’t be more out of date or at odds with the feverish world described in Overdressed, Elizabeth Cline’s three-year indictment of “fast fashion”. In the last decade or so, advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely. Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory, more frequent releases, and more profit. These labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposable—meant to last only a wash or two, although they don’t advertise that—and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks. By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices, Cline argues, these brands have hijacked fashion cycles, shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.

The victims of this revolution, of course, are not limited to designers. For H&M to offer a $5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus stores around the world, it must rely on low-wage overseas labor, order in volumes that strain natural resources, and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.

Overdressed is the fashion world’s answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. “Mass-produced clothing, like fast food, fills a hunger and need, yet is non-durable and wasteful,” Cline argues. Americans, she finds, buy roughly 20 billion garments a year—about 64 items per person—and no matter how much they give away, this excess leads to waste.

Towards the end of Overdressed, Cline introduced her ideal, a Brooklyn woman named Sarah Kate Beaumont, who since 2008 has made all of her own clothes—and beautifully. But as Cline is the first to note, it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft; her example can’t be knocked off.

Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment—including H&M, with its green Conscious Collection line—Cline believes lasting change can only be effected by the customer. She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability, be it in food or in energy. Vanity is a constant; people will only start shopping more sustainably when they can’t afford not to.

1.What is the subject of the text?

A Satire on an extravagant lifestyle.

B Challenge to a high-fashion myth.

C Criticism of the fast-fashion industry.

D Exposure of a mass-market secret.

解析：选C。C主旨大意题。全文都在围绕快时尚展开，结合作者对快时尚的批判态度可知，C更符合原文，故选C。

2.Priestly criticizes her assistant for her _________

A insensitivity to fashion.

B obsession with high fashion.

C poor bargaining skill.

D lack of imagination.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据题目定位到第一段第一句，可知普瑞斯特利责备她那毫无魅力的助理，因为助理认为高级时尚对她没有影响，A更符合原文，故选A。

3.According to Cline, mass-market labels urge consumers to _________

A combat unnecessary waste.

B shop for their garments more frequently.

C resist the influence of advertisements.

D shut out the feverish fashion world.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据Cline和mass-market定位到第二段，根据第四句可知这些品牌鼓励注重时尚的消费者将衣服视为用完即丢弃的，鼓励他们每几周就更新衣橱。故选B。

4.The word “indictment” (Para.2) is closest in meaning to _________

A tolerance.

B indifference.

C enthusiasm.

D accusation.

解析：选D。D词义猜测题。根据indictment定位到第二段，可知indictment表示的是克莱恩对fast fashion（快时尚）的态度，结合下文可知，克莱恩认为快时尚劫持了时尚周期，动摇了一个长期以来习惯季节性节奏的行业，accusation“谴责”更符合原文，故选D。

5.Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A Vanity has more often been found in idealists.

B The fast-fashion industry ignores sustainability.

C Pricing is vital to environment-friendly purchasing.

D People are more interested in unaffordable garments.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据题目定位到最后一段，根据最后一句可知有的公司已经在努力控制对环境的影响，说明该行业已经在关注可持续性，但人们的虚荣心是持续的，只有在无法承受不可持续性的购物时，人们才会开始可持续性的购物。C符合原文，故选C。