Title: Fast fashion

Reading comprehension and vocabulary activities for the text of unit 6 (A class of Senior High School)

Orange team

Orange team's reading part

It’s tough to love our clothes and keep wearing them for longer when we are faced with a tempting array of newness on offer in the shops. But before you head out into the January sales for those irresistible deals, spare a thought for the impact of fast fashion on the environment.

Fast fashion focuses on speed and low costs in order to deliver frequent new collections inspired by catwalk looks or celebrity styles. But it is particularly bad for the environment, as pressure to reduce cost and the time it takes to get a product from design to shop floor means that environmental corners are more likely to be cut. Criticisms of fast fashion include its negative environmental impact, water pollution, the use of toxic chemicals and increasing levels of textile waste.

Vibrant colours, prints and fabric finishes are appealing features of fashion garments, but many of these are achieved with toxic chemicals. Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture.

 Greenpeace’s recent Detox campaign has been instrumental in pressuring fashion brands to take action to remove toxic chemicals from their supply chains, after it tested a number of brands’ products and confirmed the presence of hazardous chemicals. Many of these are banned or strictly regulated in various countries because they are toxic, bio-accumulative (meaning the substance builds up in an organism faster than the organism can excrete or metabolise it), disruptive to hormones and carcinogenic.

Orange team's reading comprehension questionnaire

What is the main goal of fast fashion?

How does fast fashion negatively impact the environment?

Why is textile dyeing harmful?

What is bio-accumulation (bio-accumulative), and why is it dangerous?

How has Greenpeace helped fight toxic chemicals in clothing?

Why is it difficult to resist buying fast fashion items?

Complete the sentences with the correct words from the list

Q: The company needs to [...]its commitment to sustainable practices.
Bright and [...]colors are often used in festival decorations.
Certain chemicals are [...]because they pose risks to human health.
The factory produces [...] products like cotton and silk fabrics.
A well-known [...] can influence customer loyalty and trust.
The fashion industry must rethink its use of [...]materials to minimize pollution.
This athlete was [...]in motivating young players to pursue sports.
The new technology was so [...]that everyone wanted to try it.
A: confirm; vibrant; hazardous; textile; brand; toxic; instrumental; irresistible

Blue team

Blue team' reading text

Polyester is the most popular fabric used for fashion. But when polyester garments are washed in domestic washing machines, they shed microfibres that add to the increasing levels of plastic in our oceans.

These microfibres are minute and can easily pass through sewage and wastewater treatment plants into our waterways, but because they do not biodegrade, they represent a serious threat to aquatic life. Small creatures such as plankton eat the microfibres, which then make their way up the food chain to fish and shellfish eaten by humans.

Cotton growing requires high levels of water and pesticides to prevent crop failure, which can be problematic in developing countries that may lack sufficient investment and be at risk of drought.

Most cotton grown worldwide is genetically modified to be resistant to the bollworm pest, thereby improving yield and reducing pesticide use. But this can also lead to problems further down the line, such as the emergence of “superweeds” which are resistant to standard pesticides. They often need to be treated with more toxic pesticides that are harmful to livestock and humans.

The devastating impact of toxic chemical use in agriculture, for growing cotton, was shown in a documentary called The True Cost, including the death of a US cotton farmer from a brain tumour, and serious birth defects in Indian cotton farmers’ children.

There is growing interest in organic cotton, with famous brands featuring among the world’s top users of organic cotton by volume in 2016. But overall use of organic cotton represents less than 1 per cent of the world’s total annual cot ton crop.

Blue team's reading comprehension questionnaire

What happens when polyester is washed?

Why do microfibres harm marine life?

How does cotton farming impact the environment?

What are superweeds, and why are they problematic?

How do genetically modified cotton plants affect pesticide use?

Why is organic cotton considered a better option?

Χωρίς τίτλο Fill in the Blanks

Find a synonym of the words in the text

Q: [...] -clothing

[...]- water-related

[...]- stop

[...] -appearance

[...]- destructive

[...]- imperfections
A: garments; aquatic; prevent; emergence; devastating; defects

Complete the sentences with the correct words from the list

Q: Factories should treat [...] properly before releasing it into the environment.
Some fabrics are made from natural fibers that [...] over time, reducing pollution.
Farmers use [...] to protect their crops from insects and weeds.
Many people make [...] in real estate to grow their wealth.
The prolonged [...] has severely impacted crop production in the region.
A [...] can develop in the body due to abnormal cell growth.
The company holds a(n) [...] meeting every December.
The fashion industry produces billions of [...] each year, affecting global markets.
A: sewage; biodegrade; pesticides; investments; drought; tumour; annual; garments

Red team

Read team's reading part

Textile waste is an unintended consequence of fast fashion, as more people buy more clothes and don’t keep them as long as they used to. The international expansion of fast fashion retailers exacerbates the problem on a global scale. Wardrobes in developed nations are saturated, so in order to sell more products, retailers must tempt shoppers with constant newness and convince them the items they already have are no longer fashionable.

Increasing disposable income levels over recent generations means there is less need to “make do and mend”, as it’s often cheaper and more con venient to buy new than have an item repaired. Busy lifestyles make many people more time-poor than previous generations, and with the loss of sewing and mending skills over time, there is less impetus to repair our garments. The rise of supermarket fashion that can be pur chased alongside the weekly shop and the regular occurrence of seasonal sales make clo thing seem “disposable” in a way it didn’t used to be. There is interest in moving towards a more circular model of textile production which reuses materials wherever possible, yet current recycl ing rates for textiles are very low. Despite a long-established national network of charity shops and increasing numbers of in-store recycling points in UK high-street stores, three-quarters of Britons throw away unwanted clothing, ra ther than donating or recycling it.

Red team's reading comprehension questionnaire

Why do people buy more clothes than before?

What is the "make do and mend" mentality?

How does fast fashion culture encourage waste?

Why do many people throw away clothes instead of recycling?

How do busy lifestyles contribute to clothing waste?

What is a circular model of textile production?

Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the list.

Q: Many [...] offer discounts during holiday sales.
Smoking can [...] respiratory problems and worsen lung conditions.
Many people prefer [...] products because they don’t require cleaning after use.
Online shopping is popular because it is fast and [...].
The new policy gave employees an [...] to work harder.
Some fruits and vegetables are [...], only available at certain times of the year.
Many people [...] old clothes to charities instead of throwing them away.
The company’s rapid [...] led to new branches opening in different cities.
A: retailers; exacerbate; disposable; convenient; impetus; seasonal; donate; expansion

Green team

Green team's reading part

So, can consumers reduce the environmental cost of fast fashion when out shop ping? Choosing an eco-friendly fabric is complex as there are pros and cons to all fibre types. Garments which are labelled as being made from natural fibres are not necessarily better than synthetic, as fibre choice is only one part of a complex picture. Fibres still have to be spun, knitted or woven, dyed, finished, sewn and transported – all of which have different environmental impacts.

For example, choosing organic fabrics is better than choosing non-organic fabrics in terms of the chemicals used to grow the fibres, but organic cotton still requires high amounts of water and the impact of dyeing is higher than the impact of dyeing polyester.

Recycled content is often best of all, as it reduces the pressure on virgin resources and tackles the growing problem of waste management. For example, Patagonia was the first outdoor clothing brand to make polyester fleece out of plastic bottles. In 2017, it decided to rationalise its T-shirt ranges and from spring 2018, will offer only two fabric options of either 100 per cent organic cotton or a blend of recycled cotton and recycled polyester, recognising that even organic cotton has a negative environmental impact.

The Love Your Clothes initiative from the charity Wrap gives information for consumers on each stage of the purchase process, from buying smarter, to caring for and repairing items, to upcycling or customisation and finally responsible disposal. Ultimately, the best thing we can do is to keep our clothing in use for longer – and buy less new stuff

Green team's reading comprehension questionnaire

Why is choosing eco-friendly fabric difficult?

How does using recycled materials help the environment?

What is the Love Your Clothes initiative?

What small changes can consumers make to reduce fast fashion waste?

Why is it better to buy fewer clothes?

How can upcycling reduce textile waste?

Find a synonym of the words in the text

Q: [...]-byer

[...]- coloured

[...]- effect

[...]-mix

[...]- supplies

[...]- supervision
A: consumer; dyed; impact; blend; resources; management

Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the list.

Q: The artist [...] the fabric in bright colors before designing the dress.
The threads were [...] together to create a strong and durable textile.
Factories must use natural [...] wisely to reduce waste.
The government plans to [...] climate change by reducing carbon emissions.
The company launched a new [...] to promote eco-friendly packaging.
Online stores allow customers to choose [...] options for their clothing.
Effective [...] of time and resources can lead to increased productivity.
Businesses need to [...] production processes to cut costs and increase efficiency.
A: dyed; woven; resources; tackle; initiative; customisation; management; rationalise