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THE FIRST WOMAN IN BUSINESS
At the start of the twentieth century the idea of women in business seemed crazy. In those days men held all the positions of power and made all the decisions about money. They believed that a woman` s place was at home, looking after her children, cooking for her family and managing the house. If a woman needed to work she could perhaps find a job in a shop or in a factory, but she had no chance of working as a businesswoman or a banker, or a lawyer.
Women` s fashions in the USA and Europe at that time supported their position in society. Fashionable women wore long dresses that almost touched the ground. This made it difficult for them to drive a car, ride a horse or even walk quickly.
But many women were not happy with their position in society, and they didn’t like the clothes they had to wear. One of those people was a French woman called Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel. When she went into business in 1910, she planned to change clothes that women wore. But over the next sixty years she did much more than that, as she became the richest and the most successful businesswoman.
Coco Chanel had no experience of business when she opened her first hat shop in Paris in 1910. She was only twenty-seven years old and she came from an ordinary family. Many of Coco`s customers in her first shop were her young women friends. They loved the simple but beautiful hats and dresses that Coco made for them, and soon her shop started to do well. (1181)
Answer the questions.
1 What was a woman` s position at the start of the twentieth century?
2 What were a woman`s opportunities in business?
3 What jobs could women do at that time?
4 What did fashionable women use to wear?
5 Why didn’t` all women like the style of clothes which were in fashion at that time?
6 How did Coco Chanel start her business?
7 What country is she from?
8 Why did Coco Chanel become famous all over the world?
9 Was her ambition to become rich and famous when she started her business?
10 Do you think that women’s role in business is very important nowadays?
Text 7ENGLISH LEARNING MAGAZINE
April Fools Day
What is April Fools Day and what is its origin? It is commonly believed that in medieval France New Year was celebrated on April 1st. Then in 1562 Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, changing New Year to January 1st. With no modern communications, news travelled slowly and new ideas were often questioned. Many people didn’t hear of the change, others chose to ignore it, while some merely forgot. These people were called fools. Invitations to non-existent ‘New Year’ parties were sent and other practical jokes were played. The jokes became a tradition then.
The custom eventually spread to England and Scotland, and it was later transported across the Atlantic Ocean to America. April Fools Day has now developed into an international festival of fun, with different nationalities celebrating the date in a special way.
In France and Italy, if someone plays a trick on you, you are ‘the fish of April’. Children stick paper fish to their friends` backs, and chocolate fish are found in the shops.
Today, Americans and the British play small tricks on friends and strangers on April 1st. A common trick is to point to a friend’s shoe and say ‘Your shoelace is untied.’ When they look down, they are laughed at. Schoolchildren might tell a friend that school has been cancelled. Once, a British short film was shown on April Fools Day about spaghetti farmers and how they harvest their crop from spaghetti trees! (1200)