Passage5

Questions 21 to 25 are based on thefollowing passage.

Mary has a hugesmile on her face. The 18-year-old from Arlington has a lot of reasons to behappy. Her high school graduation is just days away. She goes to Guatemala inthe summer to work there with her church. Then, in the fall, she will head toElizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

But that is notwhy she is smiling right now. Tonight, in a beautiful long dress, with her hairperfectly curled, she is excited to be going to prom. A prom is a formal dancefor high school students that’s usually at the end of the year.

Born in theUnited States more than 100 years ago, prom has spread to other parts of theworld. In America, it has become an industry similar to the wedding business. Astudy found that, on average, an American family spends more than 900 dollarson prom.

Much of it isspent on what the young adults wear to the formal dance. And then there arecosts linked to hair and makeup, flowers for prom dates,dinner andtranspotation .It adds up. But some students find ways to make the event moreeconomical .“I borrowed my dress,”says Maggie. Like Mary, Maggie is a senior atYorktown High School in Arlington. She got her makeup done without cost by afriend.

Mary also cutscosts. She bought her dress online for far less than she would have paid in thestores. She also did her own hair. Many girls choose to get ready for the promwith friends.They might get their hair done at a beauty shop together or hire aProfessional makeup artist to Share the costs.

Probably theleast costly thing about prom is the ticket to the dance. Yorktown held itsevent at a hotel in Arlington. The tickets were $45. Maggie and Mary were amongabout 15 friends who spent the evening together. This is a common tradition.The kids will gather at a student’s house, and then go to dinner together at arestaurant.

Asking someoneto prom, however, is no small task in the United States. “Promposals,” as theyare called, are supposed to take time to plan. Sometimes a kid will make a bigposter to invite someone to prom. Some kids might buy a gift to present whenthey ask someone to prom. Some promposals can be far more elaborate but mostpromposals are simple and sweet. And sometimes getting the “yes” response isthe best part of prom.

 
Why is Mary smiling now?