Read the article about the history of sunglasses. You will receive up to 6 marks for the content of your summary, and up to 6 marks for the style and accuracy of your language. It's the beginning of summer, you're feeling good and you're wearing your favourite pair of sunglasses. But have you ever thought about when - or even where - sunglasses were developed? The history of sunglasses reveals some surprising facts. The earliest examples of 'sunglasses' were made by the Inuit people of North America around 2000 years ago. These were nothing more than flat pieces of wood or bone with holes cut out to enable the Inuit to see in the snow, but recent research has proved that they were actually very effective. The first mention in historical documents of 'sunglasses' is from twelfth-century China, where court judges were described as using flat pieces of coloured quartz over their eyes to hide their expression when interviewing witnesses. However, it wasn't until the mid-eighteenth century that an English optician called James Ayscough started putting coloured glass in glasses frames, in the belief that looking through blue or green glass would cure people's sight problems. By the 1920s, actors working in Hollywood had started to wear the types of sunglasses we know today, as they needed to shade their eyes from the bright lights on the movie sets of the time. Off-screen, Hollywood celebrities realised that sunglasses were also an effective way to disguise themselves when they were out in public. And of course, once movie stars started to wear sunglasses and advertise them, everyone wanted to follow fashion and the mass production of inexpensive sunglasses really took off. During the mid-twentieth century, manufacturers started to produce more specific designs for sunglasses. 'Polaroid' glasses were invented in the USA in the 1930s using special glass that changed in different light conditions and helped to make driving safer. And in 1939, the manufacturer Bausch \& Lomb developed the famous Ray-Ban sunglasses for pilots. They had a special shape to give better all-round vision whether pilots were looking down at the controls, or out at the sky. These Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses are still popular today. Although trends may change every year, sunglasses are now worn by people everywhere. Most of us can't imagine a summer without our favourite pair! ...................................................................................................................................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Answer:

Award up to a total of 12 marks.
Up to 6 marks to be awarded for Content (Reading)
Relevant Content points to include are:
1 see in the snow
2 hide their expression
3 cure (people's) sight problems
4 shade their eyes (from the bright lights)
5 disguise themselves
6 follow fashion / movie stars advertised them
7 make driving safer
8 give better (all-round) vision
Up to 6 marks to be awarded for Language (Writing).
See generic marking criteria for Exercise 4.

Knowledge points:

Solution: