A、Customs are hard to change. B、Modern women dress themselves. C、Manufacturers should follow standards. D、Adopting men’s style i

It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers follow certain uniform standards for various features of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s from the left. Considering most of the word’s population — men and women — are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women’s clothes button from the left?
    History really seems to matter here. Button first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men’s shirts button from the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.
    Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard for them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacture to offer women’s shirts that buttoned the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might also have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?
20. What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?
21. Why do women’s clothes still button from the left today?