阅读理解

　　Wearing ties was originally the mark of Britain's most powerful classes, which made the tie itself a symbol of power and respect．And that led it to be adopted by a much larger tribe——the business tribe．

　　You cannot wear a tie if you work with machinery．So wearing a tie became a sign that you were a man who used your brain to make a living, rather than your hands．It showed you were serious．It showed you were a professional．It meant that everyone who wanted a job in business had to wear one．It was just impossible to take seriously a man who didn't wear a piece of colored silk around his neck．

　　This is how millions of people came to be wearing ties across the world．They are part of the uniform of business．

　　“Ties offer a point of indifference,”says John Milne, head of the British Guide of Tie Makers．“They give a chance to say something about their own personality．”

　　So if you happen to meet a man with a very brightly colored tie, there is a good chance that he is the office joker．There is also a good chance that he will be wearing brightly colored socks．

　　Is there a future for ties?The signs are not promising．Tie wearing seems to rare amongst the new bread of entrepreneurs(创业者)in the Internet and new technology industries．Many political leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now go without ties．This shows they are men of the people——but not the people wearing ties．

　　Up until around 1960, it was common for men across the Western world to wear hats as part of their business uniform．That changed with the election of John F．Kennedy to the presidency of the United States．Kennedy never wore a hat——in fact his nickname was“hatless Jack”．Seeing that the most powerful man in the world did not have to wear a hat, millions of other men decided that they did not have to, either．Hats simply vanished across the Western world．Perhaps“tieless Tony”(UK Prime Minister Tony Blair)will have the same effect as“hatless Jack”．

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阅读理解

　　Wearing ties was originally the mark of Britain's most powerful classes．That made the tie itself a symbol of power and respect．And that led it to be adopted by a much larger tribe(部族)－the business tribe．

　　You cannot wear a tie if you work with machinery．So wearing a tie became a sign that you were a man who used his brain to make a living, rather than his hands．It showed you were serious．It showed you were a professional．It meant that everyone who wanted a job in business had to wear one．It was just impossible to take seriously a man who didn't wear a piece of colored silk around his neck．

　　This is how millions of people came to be wearing ties across the world．They are part of the uniform of business．

　　“Ties offer a point of difference,” says John Milne, head of the British Guide of Tie Makers．“They give a chance to say something about their own personality．”

　　So if you happen to meet a man with a very brightly colored tie, there's a good chance that he is the office joker．There's also a good chance that he will be wearing brightly colored socks．

　　Is there a future for ties? The signs are not promising．Tie wearing seems to be rare amongst the new bread of entrepreneurs(创业者)in the internet and new technology industries．Many political leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blare, now go without ties．This shows they are men of the people－but not the people wearing ties．

　　Up until around 1960, it was common for men across the western world to wear hats as part of their business uniform．That changed with the election of John F．Kennedy to the presidency of the United States．Kennedy never wore a hat-in fact his nickname was “hatless Jack”．Seeing that the most powerful man in the world did not have to wear a hat, millions of other men decided that they did not have to either．Hats simply vanished across the western world．Perhaps “tieless Tony”(UK Prime Minister Tony Blare)will have the same effect as “hatless Jack”．

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　　If you do not know what to wear to attend a Chinese celebration, something red is always the right choice on such occasions．The red color is always associated with "happiness and good fortune"．The Chinese people enjoy decorating their houses with something red．The bride wears a traditional Chinese wedding dress in red on her wedding day(though probably influenced by the western customs she would wear white wedding dress at the beginning of the celebration)．Unlike the implication of red to anger, danger and the unreasonable outburst of emotions in the West, such as the expressions like：be a red rag to a bull; to see red; to see the red light; to paint the town red; red in tooth and claw etc．the red always carries positive meanings in China．

　　The next color used to be very special is yellow, which is similar to the color of earth and soil since earth and soil were very important to people．Yellow used to be the fashionable color used by the Emperors in China．

　　Another favorite color is green, which represents life and energy, while black and white are associated with death．Don't wear a black dress to attend the wedding or a birthday party．Wearing white headdress(头饰)indicates that someone in your home recently dies．

　　Probably black is also associated with darkness．The Chinese like to refer to things illegally done "black", for example, "black money" and "black market"．And "black heart" refers to someone really bad．

　　The indirect meanings of colors are obvious in the costumes of traditional Chinese operas．Red indicates loyalty and courage; black represents honesty and fairness; yellow clothing signifies royalty and white to purity．

　　Don't wear a green hat on any occasion in your daily life．"Wearing a green hat" is a Chinese idiom referring to one's wife has committed adultery．A husband wearing a green hat seems to claim that his wife is an adulteress．Therefore don't make yourself a standing joke．

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