A、Propriety. B、Fashion. C、Practicality. D、Comfort. A

From open sandals to spiked heels or wrapped in expensive leather, embroidery and jewels, more than a hundred pairs of shoes are on display here, at the New York’s Historical Society’s newest exhibit. Chief historian Valerie Paley has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of shoes.
    “In the 19th century, it was thought that to see the outline of a foot was a little bit too erotic, and I just wanted to show the left or the right foot, and, so therefore propriety would dictate that we would have shoes that didn’t distinguish left from right.”
    But shoes have evolved since then, worn as a fashion statement and sometimes for practicality and comfort. The suffragists movement, for example, required a more sensible approach to footwear for women marching for their right to vote.
    “And so here you have these practical shoes but not shoes that would then broadcast to the world, yes, they mean business, these women.”
    Women eventually won the right to vote, which ushered then a new era for them, the right to dance, the right to have a good time.
    “The new woman, so women who all of a sudden could be more independent, who could be out and about on the street, and not be thought to be a lady of the night.”
    But changes in fashion also brought a new era of impracticality. Straps and laces, golden sparkles became fashionable as shoemakers turned women’s fantasies into reality.
    “People would not only look at the jewels and the clothing on the red carpet during the Oscars, but the shoes, and with millions of dollars of diamonds encrusted in the sandals, naturally everyone was asking what’s about the shoes.”
    In 2002 actress Laura Herring dazzled the red carpet wearing shoes encrusted with 464 diamonds.
    The diamonds were later sold and replaced by Swarovski crystals. By then, shoes had become an object of luxury, but shoes tell other stories as well.
    “These men’s shoes there by Salvatore Ferragamo were worn by a lawyer who put them on one September morning and walked them to work at the World Trade Center and that was September 11th, 2001.
    These shoes spirited him down over 50 flights of stairs to safety, and then he walked home over 50 blocks.
    When he arrived home, he threw these shoes away.”
    Just like Ferragamo, shoes tell the story of human history and symbol of our struggles, our dreams and the many paths we’ve taken.
    Question 19. For what reason did shoes not distinguish left from right in the 19th century?
    Question 20. What was special about the pair of shoes worn by Laura Herring on the red carpet in 2002?
    Question 21. What do we learn about the story of the men’s shoes?