Anger at the practice of demanding dowries, which can lead to violence against brides, has caused a takeoff of "Angry Birds" called "Angry Brides" that aims to highlight the illegal practice still common in many South Asian countries.
Dowries -- such as jewelry, clothes, cars and money -- are traditionally given by the bride's family to the groom and his parents to ensure she is taken care of in her new home.
The custom was outlawed more than five decades ago. But it is still widely practiced, with the groom's family demanding even more money after marriage, leading to mental and physical abuse that can drive the woman to suicide.
"The Angry Brides game is our way of throwing a spotlight on the nuisance (陋习) of dowry," said Ram Bhamidi, senior vice president and head of online marketing for Shaadi.com, a matrimonial (婚姻的) website with two million members.
"According to a 2007 study, there is a dowry-related death every four hours in India. We condemn this and have consistently run campaigns on social media to help create awareness of the issue."
The name of the app, available on the group's home page, is a spinoff from the globally popular "Angry Birds" game. Its home page shows a red-clad, eight-armed woman resembling a powerful female Hindu goddess. Underneath, there is a caption: "A woman will give you strength, care and all the love you need ... NOT dowry!"
To play the game, users have to try and hit three dodging grooms -- a pilot, builder and doctor. There is a wide array of weapons to choose from, including a stiletto shoe, a frying pan, broomstick, tomato and loafer.
Each groom has a price tag, starting at 1.5 million rupees ($29,165). Every time the player hits a groom, his value decreases and money is added to the player's Anti-Dowry Fund, which is saved posted on their Facebook page.
"Since we launched the game last week, more than 270,000 people have liked the app. Both men and women seem to be playing it," said Bhamidi.What caused "Angry Brides" to appear online?
| A．Women's rights' being seriously abused． |
| B．Anger at the practice of demanding dowries． |
| C．The bride's giving a great many dowries． |
| D．The popularity of Angry Birds online． |
Which of the following is True about "Dowries"?
| A．The custom of giving dowries has been in practice for five decades． |
| B．Lack of abundant dowries may lead to the bride's being in violence． |
| C．The illegal practice of dowries is still popular in many African countries． |
| D．More dowries the bride gives mean a high social status of her family． |
The underlined word "spinoff” probably means_____________．
| A．relation | B．connection | C．copy | D．fake |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE about the game "Angry Brides"?
| A．There are a variety of weapons to choose from． |
| B．Ram Bhamidi thinks highly of the game． |
| C．Men players don't find the game enjoyable． |
| D．The game character looks like a Hindu goddess． |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Women's unfair treatment in the marriage． |
| B．The popularity of the game "Angry Brides"． |
| C．The groom's demanding too many dowries． |
| D．How to build an equal relation in the marriage． |
Have you ever noticed someone "talking" to them-selves? What did you think? The word "crazy" probably came to your mind. Wait a minute, though. Maybe they’re doing something meaningful.
Speaking practice can be effective in many different forms when people learn English or another foreign language. Imitating the speech of others is proven to be highly effective in developing a native speaker’s level of fluency in a language. Actually you’ve already proven that to your-self.
How? That’s how you learned your first language! Whether it was English, Spanish, French or some other language, you "imitated" your mother, father, other family members, friends, teachers and whoever else was around making "talking" noises at you as you formed your first communicative language skills.
So don’t think those who are talking to themselves are "crazy". At least don’t do so until you’ve tried it for your-self, in English or in your new foreign language.
As you go through your day, in English or your new foreign language, tell yourself what you’re doing at the moment and what you’re going to do during the day.
"Which of these shirts, ties, etc. should I wear today? Not this one, I wore it just last week. Maybe this one, but I don’t like this color with the pants. Let’s try another one," you might say as you are getting dressed.
If you live alone, you can talk aloud whenever you want without disturbing others. If you don’t live alone, however, then first explain to your family or roommates what you’ll be doing, to avoid a quiet phone call to the local psychiatrist (精神病学家).The author wrote the passage mainly to _______.
| A．tell us how to talk to ourselves |
| B．introduce a method of learning a foreign language |
| C．tell us why some people talk to themselves |
| D．explain to us how we learned our native language |
What does the underlined word "it" in the fifth paragraph refer to?
| A．The word "crazy". | B．A foreign language. |
| C．The skill of communicating. | D．The method of talking to oneself. |
From the passage we can know that ______.
| A．people who talk to themselves are crazy |
| B．if you live alone, you should talk to yourself |
| C．you should tell yourself what you’re doing |
| D．we learned our native language by imitating |
An inventor seeks to create a new product that serves a specific need and fulfills a role that other products do not. Sometimes an inventor comes up with a wholly new idea, but more often inventions are simply improvements on an older design. With a little imagination and creativity (创造力), an old idea can suddenly become something new.
However, creating a new invention means much more than having a brilliant idea. A good designer follows the design process: identifying the challenge, researching and brainstorming ideas(集思广益), designing a solution, testing and evaluating the ideas, and finally building the product. Designers also use science, math, technology, and engineering to design a tool that satisfies the need they identified.
Anyone can be an inventor —even kids! For example, Chester Greenwood was just fifteen years old when he invented a product that changed his life. In fact, his idea was so good that his invention supported him for the rest of his life. You may not know his name, but you probably know his invention —earmuffs (保暖耳罩)!
The inspiration for his earmuff design came to Chester when he was ice-skating. His ears were cold, and he decided to find a way to keep them warm. With the help of his grandmother, he made a new product to protect his ears and at the age of eighteen, Chester patented his earmuff design.
Many other famous inventors started young as well. Margaret Knight —the inventor of the flat-bottomed brown paper bag —is said to have created a safety device for textile looms(织布机) when she was just twelve years old. Another example is Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in history, who applied for his first patent when he was just twenty-one years old. Over the course of his life, Thomas Edison patented a total of 1,093 inventions!In most cases, an invention ________ according to the first paragraph.
| A．comes from a complete new idea | B．is usually based on an old product or idea |
| C．will change its creator’s life completely | D．is created by scientists in different fields |
The second paragraph mainly wants to tell us _______.
| A．the difficulty in making a new invention | B．the common steps of creating new things |
| C．having a good idea is the key to creation | D．designing a tool is the first step in inventing |
The example of Chester Greenwood is used to show that ________.
| A．children can also invent something |
| B．it is easy even for children to make inventions |
| C．kids have more advantages in inventing things |
| D．to be an inventor is the best way to change one’s life |
At first Chester designed his earmuffs in order to ________.
| A．protect his ears while ice-skating |
| B．earn money to support his poor family |
| C．realize his dream of becoming an inventor |
| D．make himself look fashionable while ice-skating |
Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries may speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.
The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.
The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check this in a dictionary.The writer thinks that ___________.
| A．choose a good dictionary, and you’ll be successful in learning English |
| B．dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English |
| C．it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly |
| D．using dictionaries very often can’t help to improve writing |
According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
| A．Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English. |
| B．Whatever new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries. |
| C．Small two-language dictionaries have serious shortcomings. |
| D．Reading something for the first time, you’d better not use dictionaries. |
When in the reading does the writer advise students to use a good dictionary?
| A．At the beginning of the reading | B．At the end of the reading |
| C．During the first reading | D．After the first reading |
This passage mainly tells us .
| A．that students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries |
| B．what were the shortcomings of small two-language dictionaries |
| C．why students should use large college edition dictionaries |
| D．what dictionary students should choose and how to use it |
Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy-five, he gave￡12,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children’s playground.
As a result of his kindness, many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk, Johnson remarked that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be a hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy-five. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky (威士忌酒) and drank some each day. “I have an injection (注射) in my neck each evening,” he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of whisky.
The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy-five and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain, asking him for the secret of his daily injection.The gift of money to the school suggests (暗示) that Johnson ___________.
| A．had no children | B．was a strange man |
| C．was very fond of children | D．wanted people to know how rich he was |
Many people wrote to Johnson to find out ___________.
| A．what kind of whisky he had | B．how to live longer |
| C．how to become wealthy | D．in which part of the neck to have an injection |
The newspaperman ___________.
| A．should have reported what Johnson had told him |
| B．shouldn’t have asked Johnson what injection he had |
| C．was eager to live a long life |
| D．should have found out what Johnson really meant |
When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening, he really meant that ___________.
| A．he liked drinking a glass of whisky in the evening |
| B．he needn’t an injection in the neck |
| C．a daily injection in the evening would make him sleep well |
| D．there was something wrong with his neck |
Most recently, it’s very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews.
Naturally, it’s easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us. We—as parents—are so eager to protect our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them. As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself all the time that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me. So, I’ll let them fail.
I’ll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow. And failure—along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc.—will be part of growth for them. Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone is my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today. From terrorism (恐怖主义) and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish.
My children are faced with hard situations in their own life almost each day, but they try to negotiate (协商) everything now. It’s a small price to help them learn a skill they’ll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don’t come with them on job interviews.Why do parents go along with their kids on job interviews?
| A．Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties. |
| B．Because they think they can protect them from being hurt. |
| C．Because their kids are too shy to attend interviews. |
| D．Because their kids strongly request them to do so. |
According to the author, what is helpful to kids’ development?
| A．Protecting them. | B．Keeping them safe. |
| C．Leaving them alone. | D．Blaming them. |
The author believes experiencing failure in life can make kids ___________.
| A．become healthier than other kids |
| B．grow in this challenging world |
| C．develop all social skills |
| D．escape from natural disasters |
If the writer’s boy goes to a job interview, she probably will ___________.
| A．go with him to protect her kid from difficulty |
| B．stay home but give him directions over telephone |
| C．wait outside and talk with other parents |
| D．let him go to the interview by himself |
Which of the following might be the best title of the text?
| A．Never help your kids | B．Let your kids fail |
| C．Go to the interview with your kids | D．Live without parents |