Question

On her first day back at school in August, Stephanie Hughes, a teenage student, was sent to the principal’s office at Woodford County High School in Kentucky, US and her mom was called to school.

She had made a “huge” mistake－at least in the eyes of the school－by wearing a top that showed her collarbone . It was against the school’s dress code.

“This is ridiculous!” Stacie Dunn, Hughes’s mom, wrote on the social media site Facebook. “Something needs to change!”

The incident has become an Internet sensation. Across the US, schools like Woodford are being criticized for their dress codes. Some say the rules are especially unfair to young women.

Over half of US public schools have a dress code, and they are often different for girls and boys, according to the National Center for Education Statistics in the US. Some dress codes, for example, ban skirts and ask for pants to be at least knee-length.

Some have pointed out that these rules are mostly for female students. Women’s clothes are usually cut to be more fitted and shorter, while men’s clothes are longer and looser. In practice, more women will be caught breaking dress codes. The New York Post reported that last year, one school in Staten Island, New York gave 200 dress code detentions in two weeks－90 percent of which went to female students.

Some school administrators say they simply want students to dress professionally to prepare students for their future careers. But others have told female students that their clothes present a “distraction” to male students. That idea is being criticized.

The “distraction” argument is unfair to women, critics say. It suggests that exposed skin means that you want criticism or sexual advances.

“These dress codes mean that girls are getting very clear messages that men have a right to your body in public spaces and it’s socially acceptable, but you will be punished,” Laura Bates, a co-founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, a project that aims to promote equality between men and women, told The Atlantic.

Some students have taken action to change the situation. They have started online campaigns and made short films to build public support.

Certain schools have now chosen to think again about their dress codes with parents and students. Even Woodford County High School－home of the “collarbone” ban－is thinking again about its policies. But, at least for now, the dress code debate is far from over.

1.The underlined phrase “dress code” in Paragraph 2 means in the article.

A. rules for dressing

B. bans on wearing certain clothes

C. policies for dressing professionally

D. policies on what to wear for special occasions

2.What does Stacie Dunn think is “ridiculous”?

A. Her daughter making big mistakes in class.

B. Showing collarbones being considered a huge mistake.

C. Sharing the incident on Facebook.

D. Being called in to school.

3.The dress codes are mainly a problem for female students because .

A. women’s clothes are loose and long

B. they are often caught breaking them

C. they often dress in a way that draws attention

D. women’s clothes are often short and fitted

4.The dress code debate has led to , according to the article.

A. many students ignoring their school dress codes

B. students starting online debates and campaigns about the incident

C. some schools reconsidering their policies with parents and students

D. public support of more discussions about equality between men and women

Answer 1