English Base

Test 017

Reading Practice: Second-Hand Clothing

Reading Text

The row of hangers in a charity shop looks ordinary enough: a line of coats and dresses arranged by colour, waiting for someone to lift one against the light. Yet every garment on that rail has already survived a journey that most shoppers never consider. It has been worn, washed, folded, and finally handed over in a plastic sack. What happens between the sack and the hanger is a small industry of sorting, and the decisions made along the way determine whether a jacket is resold, repaired, or reduced to rags.

Sorting begins at a long table, where staff empty each sack and lay the contents out flat. Nothing is judged from a distance; a garment is turned inside out, checked at the seams, and held up for stains that only appear under proper light. Graders then assign it to one of several streams. The best pieces go to the shop floor, slightly damaged ones to a repair bench, and the rest to recycling. Experienced sorters insist that speed matters less than consistency: a reliable eye for quality is worth more than a quick hand.

The quality of the fabric, rather than the brand on the label, tends to decide a garment's fate. Natural fibres such as wool and linen often age gracefully: they soften, lose shape slowly, and can be mended with a needle. Cheap blends behave differently. A synthetic-heavy blend may look crisp in the shop but pill within a few washes, and once the surface has broken down no amount of pressing will restore it. Sorters therefore read composition labels with the attention others reserve for price tags.

Online selling has altered this trade more than any other change in a decade. A photograph taken on a plain background, a list of measurements, and an honest description of wear now reach buyers who would never visit the shop. Because the garment cannot be touched, sellers have learned to describe it almost forensically: the length of a sleeve, the depth of a stain, the exact shade of grey. The approach rewards precision. Listings that admit a flaw usually sell faster than those that promise perfection.

Perhaps the most surprising evidence comes from the clothes themselves. A coat bought for one winter may be worn for six, passing through three owners and two repairs before it finally wears thin. Buyers who assume second-hand means near-the-end are usually wrong: the average garment in a charity shop has barely begun its working life.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. What is the author's main purpose in the first paragraph?

✗ IncorrectNo complaint is made; the paragraph states calmly that some items go to repair or recycling, which is part of the normal process.

✓ CorrectThe rail "looks ordinary enough", yet the text insists that a "small industry of sorting" and the "decisions made along the way" stand behind each item.

✗ IncorrectColour is mentioned only as part of the description of the rail; the paragraph never discusses how items are displayed.

✗ IncorrectTraining is not discussed at all; the focus is on what happens to a garment before it reaches the rail.

Question 2. According to the text, what decides whether a jacket is resold, repaired or turned into rags?

✗ IncorrectDonated clothing has no purchase price for the shop, and the text never mentions cost as a criterion.

✗ IncorrectPrevious owners appear only in the final paragraph as part of an example, not as a criterion for sorting.

✓ CorrectThe first paragraph says the "decisions made along the way determine whether a jacket is resold, repaired, or reduced to rags".

✗ IncorrectSeasons are mentioned only through the coat "bought for one winter" in the last paragraph, and they play no role in grading.

Question 3. Why is a garment turned inside out at the sorting table?

✓ CorrectIt is "checked at the seams, and held up for stains that only appear under proper light" — the point is a close, careful examination.

✗ IncorrectComposition labels are read, but not by turning the garment inside out; the text links labels to fibre quality, not to this step.

✗ IncorrectThe paragraph argues the opposite: "speed matters less than consistency", so the aim is accuracy rather than pace.

✗ IncorrectCreasing is never mentioned; the stated reason is that damage is only visible under proper light at close range.

Question 4. What do experienced sorters consider most valuable?

✗ IncorrectSpeed is explicitly played down: "speed matters less than consistency".

✗ IncorrectBrands are mentioned only to be dismissed: fabric quality, "rather than the brand on the label", decides a garment's fate.

✗ IncorrectWorking hours are not discussed anywhere in the text, so this cannot be drawn from it.

✓ CorrectThe paragraph ends by claiming that "a reliable eye for quality is worth more than a quick hand".

Question 5. In the third paragraph, "age gracefully" most nearly means

✗ IncorrectValue is not the point; the sentence explains that such fabrics "soften, lose shape slowly, and can be mended".

✓ CorrectThe phrase is defined by the clauses that follow it: wool and linen soften and lose shape slowly rather than falling apart.

✗ IncorrectColour change is discussed in relation to a stain in the fourth paragraph, not as part of this expression.

✗ IncorrectRepair is possible but separate: garments "can be mended with a needle", which is not what "age gracefully" describes.

Question 6. Why do sorters examine composition labels so attentively?

✗ IncorrectCountry of origin is never mentioned; the interest is in what the fibres will do, not where they came from.

✗ IncorrectWashing is mentioned as something that makes cheap blends pill, but a label cannot record a washing history.

✓ CorrectThe paragraph sets out that natural fibres age well while a synthetic-heavy blend "may look crisp in the shop but pill within a few washes".

✗ IncorrectPrice tags are used only as a comparison: labels are read "with the attention others reserve for price tags".

Question 7. What has changed most in this trade because of online selling?

✓ CorrectBecause "the garment cannot be touched", sellers describe it "almost forensically", down to "the exact shade of grey".

✗ IncorrectOnline sales reach "buyers who would never visit the shop", which implies the shop still exists rather than disappearing.

✗ IncorrectPrices and their consistency are never discussed; consistency appears only as a quality of sorters' judgement.

✗ IncorrectSorting is described as a substantial process in the second paragraph, and the text says nothing about it shrinking.

Question 8. What does the text suggest about listings that mention a flaw?

✗ IncorrectExperience is not part of the claim; the paragraph says the approach "rewards precision", which suggests the opposite.

✗ IncorrectThe text deals with how quickly items sell, not with price levels or the number of buyers.

✗ IncorrectRemoval is not mentioned; the comparison concerns selling faster than listings "that promise perfection".

✓ CorrectThe last sentence states directly that "listings that admit a flaw usually sell faster than those that promise perfection".

Question 9. The word "forensically" in the fourth paragraph suggests that sellers

✗ IncorrectThe context is an "honest description of wear", so exaggeration contradicts the point being made.

✗ IncorrectThe listed details are plain — a sleeve length, a stain, a shade of grey — and the paragraph says the approach "rewards precision".

✓ CorrectThe word is illustrated by precise measurements of wear, such as "the depth of a stain" and "the exact shade of grey".

✗ IncorrectA photograph on a plain background is mentioned, but the word itself describes the written description, not the images.

Question 10. What does the example of the coat demonstrate?

✗ IncorrectProfit is not discussed anywhere; the coat serves as evidence about length of use, not about money.

✓ CorrectA coat "bought for one winter may be worn for six", passing through three owners and two repairs.

✗ IncorrectTwo repairs are mentioned inside the coat's life story, but no comparison between repairing and reselling is made.

✗ IncorrectThe example says the opposite of this: the coat passes through three owners over six years.

Question 11. The phrase "has barely begun its working life" implies that the average garment

✓ CorrectThe final sentence contrasts this with buyers who "assume second-hand means near-the-end", so the meaning is that plenty of wear remains.

✗ IncorrectThe phrase refers to future use rather than to the date of manufacture, and the text stresses that garments have already been worn.

✗ IncorrectThat is the assumption the author calls "usually wrong", so this option repeats the mistaken view rather than the phrase.

✗ IncorrectThe first paragraph makes clear that items have been "worn, washed, folded", so they are not unworn stock.

Question 12. What is the author's overall purpose in the text?

✗ IncorrectNo risk is presented; flaws and repairs are described as normal and manageable parts of the process.

✗ IncorrectOnline selling is one aspect of the trade discussed, not a subject of comparison with shops offering advantages and drawbacks.

✗ IncorrectThere is no historical timeline; every stage described belongs to the present-day trade.

✓ CorrectSorting, fabric assessment, online description and durability are all presented as steps that keep garments in circulation.

Question 13. The tone of the text is best described as

✗ IncorrectThe text avoids emotional language about the past; it reports how sorting and selling actually work.

✓ CorrectStatements are qualified rather than exaggerated, as in the claim that natural fibres "often" age gracefully.

✗ IncorrectThere are no jokes or ironic remarks; the humorous reading is not supported by the phrasing anywhere in the text.

✗ IncorrectThe author neither blames nor urges change; even the mistaken buyers are described neutrally as "usually wrong".

Question 14. What can be inferred about shoppers who avoid second-hand clothing?

✓ CorrectThe text says buyers "who assume second-hand means near-the-end are usually wrong", since such garments have "barely begun" their working life.

✗ IncorrectKnowledge of fibres is attributed to sorters, not to shoppers, and no claim is made about what buyers understand.

✗ IncorrectOnline buyers are described as people who "would never visit the shop", which is a different group from those avoiding used clothes altogether.

✗ IncorrectRags are the result of sorting decisions about the weakest items, and shoppers' choices play no part in that description.

Question 15. Which statement best reflects the author's view of second-hand clothing?

✗ IncorrectSorters need "a reliable eye for quality" and read fibre labels closely, so the text treats the work as skilled.

✗ IncorrectThe two channels coexist in the text: online listings reach people who would not come to the shop, without replacing it.

✓ CorrectThe whole account links sorting decisions, fabric reading and honest descriptions to garments that stay wearable for years.

✗ IncorrectOnly part of each sack goes to recycling; "the best pieces go to the shop floor", and most items are said to have years of use left.
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