From waste to wearable fashion

江西 黃舒偉

一件獨特的連衣裙，突出了自然與人類的共存之美，還促使人們反思日常生活中的廢物利用和消費行為。

主題語境：藝術與環保 篇幅：362詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1In a stunning display of creativity and environmental awareness, student designers turned discarded materials into fashion statements.

2It's no ordinary dress.It's a creation fashioned from special materials: the bottom section is repurposed from a recycled banner of a school lecture event; the upper section is made of the leftover fabric of a design student's project; decorative elements are made of food delivery bags, soda cans and plastic bottles.Yes, it's a dress made of what most people would call “trash”.

3This unique creation is just one of the 24 fashion items presented at last year's Trash Fashion Show, held at New York University Shanghai(NYU Shanghai).The creative minds behind this dress are Wang Kaidi, 19, and Yang Huiyi, 21,both first-year students at the university.

4Yang explained that their inspiration came from a beach cleanup event in Shanghai's Chongming District.“Seeing the shores covered in plastic bits made us realize how much the material consumption impacts the environment,” she said.According to Wang, the deep blue banner's folds symbolize waves of the vast ocean, while the glittery fabric of the upper body represents modern society.Together, these elements harmoniously convey the coexistence of nature and human society.“We aimed to design a dress—though made of the trash found by the seaside—that highlights the beauty of the ocean,” she said.

5Initiated in 2017, the Trash Fashion Show has been an annual event and platform where students demonstrate their creative approaches to eco-friendliness.Last year's event brought together student designers from four different universities in Shanghai: NYU Shanghai, East China Normal University, Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts and Shanghai Lida University.

6The influence of the show went beyond the runway, causing lifestyle changes.“The Trash Fashion Show serves as a creative platform to raise environmental awareness among young people,” said Poonyisa Chutichetpong, a 19-year-old student from Thailand and one of the event organizers.Students are encouraged to reflect on their own understanding of waste and consumption.For Yu Sixian, a freshman at NYU Shanghai, the show made her realize her extensive use of plastic bags in daily life, leading her to switch to cloth bags for grocery shopping.

Reading Check

Vocabulary1.Which can replace the underlined word“ repurposed” in paragraph 2?

A.Rejected.B.Changed.C.Released.D.Protected.

Detail2.What inspired Wang and Yang to create their dress?

A.A beach cleanup event in Chongming District.

B.A fashion show they attended.

C.A recycling workshop.

D.An art class at NYU Shanghai.

Inference3.What does Wang and Yang intend to convey through their design?

A.The impacts of material consumption on the environment.

B.The need to recycle more effectively in daily life.

C.The importance of fashion industry in the modern economy.

D.The relationship between nature and human society.

Detail4.How did the Trash Fashion Show change Yu Sixian's lifestyle?

A.She began making her own clothes from recycled materials.

B.She started recycling food delivery bags.

C.She decided to use cloth bags for grocery shopping.

D.She pledged to stop using soda cans and plastic bottles.

Language Study

Ⅰ.日積月累

stunningadj.令人震驚的

creativityn.創造力

discardedadj.被丟棄的

bannern.橫幅

inspirationn.靈感

consumptionn.消耗

glitteryadj.閃閃發光的

initiatev.發起

extensiveadj.廣泛的

fashion statements 時尚宣言

decorative elements 裝飾性元素

Ⅱ.語法填空

Yu Sixian and Xu Yiwen, both freshmen at NYU Shanghai, crafted a dress from a mix of “trash”: price tags from clothes, chains 1.________(make) of soda can rings, and butterfly figures made of foam sticks.Despite these 2.________(seem) different elements, their message was clear.“3.________(butterfly) and flowers blooming on iron soda can rings symbolize the easily damaged relationship between the natural environment 4.________industrial civilization,” Yu said.As 5.________(this) artists conveyed their messages through their works, they also absorbed 6.________(inspire) from their peers.Yang 7.________(point) out a dress made of stitched-together pieces of drafting paper.“Drafting paper is discarded frequently at the end of the semester.The sight of stacked drafting paper left a lasting impression 8.________ me,” she noted.An interesting fact is 9.________ many designers do not major in fashion design.However, they have all found 10.________(happy) and inspiration in the artistry of costume design.