Speaker 1

Why on earth do they want to check our uniforms in a final exam? There are enough stresses in taking an exam without having to worry about whether you are wearing a regulation shoe! But this really happened to my friend and five other kids, who were excluded from taking an exam because they were not in approved school uniform. Can you imagine? After five years learning and hours of revision and practice; you finally fail your exam and endanger your future simply because you are wearing the wrong kind of shoe!
 

Speaker 2
 

Here I am at the school dance, wanting to ask Susan Turner for a dance — and I look like a penguin! I had put a lot of thought into this. I really did want to look my best. I managed to borrow my brother’s Paul Smith jacket and jeans. But the most exciting thing was that I got Kurt Geiger shoes and a “super cool” Armani shirt — in a charity shop for twenty five quid! I looked and felt great until the dance invitations arrived stating “black tie dress code only”. I wonder if Susan fancies dancing with a flightless bird...

Speaker 3

People can wear a set of clothes that are not identical but still be “ in uniform” . Bankers and stockbrokers, together with football fans and style conscious teenagers all wear a type of uniform. They can be strict about this. There are no jeans in the board room and you don’ t wear a Chelsea shirt to a Manchester derby! Research has shown that uniformity is one issue but more important is being noticed and approved.

Speaker 4

Technical security workers at this huge corporation belong to a private firm whose delivery vans, uniforms, bags and boxes are all the same horrible mix of orange and blue. The ingenious robbers discovered that this provided both a perfect disguise and a clever means of escape. They just walked into the security camera repair room and pretended to work for almost an hour — nobody even spoke to them. Not even the genuine workers noticed that they had three additional “colleagues” and it was only the next day that the robbery was detected.
 

Speaker 5
 

I am worried that they’ll notice and laugh. I ’m trying to keep as far away from them as possible. I divide my time between the “ chill out” area and the buffet. I ’ ll not chance the dance floor because everyone will notice. A cream taffeta wrap blouse, Italian Jersey dress and «fabulously edgy» strap thong shoes from Camilla Skovaard and — unbelievably — all of us scented with Jo Malone “Orange Blossom” ! How on earth can three girls at one small party wear exactly the same thing?

Speaker 6

Jimmy was a pirate and Becky was a queen. Cleopatra did an incredible tango with a policeman and I noticed a slow dance between Napoleon and a ballerina. I myself wore nice jeans, a new shirt and looked, I thought, pretty cool. But neither Cleopatra, the hospital nurse or the pilot would dance with me. I went home quickly and with a wide sombrero and poncho (holiday souvenirs) quickly transformed myself in to a Mexican bandit. I returned to the party within an hour. I can now tell you that Cleopatra taught me some crazy dance moves.

KEYS

Speaker 1: B; Speaker 2: D; Speaker 3: C; Speaker 4: A; Speaker 5: E; Speaker 6: G.