Does Fame Drive You Crazy?
Although being famous might sound like a dream come true, today's star, feeling like zoo animals, face pressures that few of us can imagine. They are at the center of much of the world's attention. Paparazzi (狗仔队) camp outside their homes, cameras ready. Tabloids (小报) publish thrilling stories about their personal lives. Just imagine not being able to do anything without being photographed or interrupted for a signature.
According to psychologist Christina Villareal, celebrities - famous people - worry constantly about their public appearance. Eventually, they start to lose track of who they really are, seeing themselves the way their fans imagine them, not as the people they were before everyone knew their names. "Over time," Villareal says, "they feel separated and alone."
The phenomenon of tracking celebrities has been around for ages. In the 4th century B.C., painters followed
Alexander the Great into battle, hoping to picture his victories for his admirers. When Charles Dickens visited America in the 19th century, his sold-out readings attracted thousands of fans, leading him to complain (抱怨) about his lack of privacy. Tabloids of the 1920s and 1930s ran articles about film-stars in much the same way that modern tabloids and websites do.
Being a public figure today, however, is a lot more difficult than it used to be. Superstars cannot move about without worrying about photographers with modern cameras. When they say something silly or do something ridiculous, there is always the Internet to spread the news in minutes and keep their "story" alive forever.
If fame is so troublesome, why aren't all celebrities running away from it? The answer is there are still ways to deal with it. Some stars stay calm by surrounding themselves with trusted friends and family or by escaping to remote places away from big cities. They focus not on how famous they are but on what they love to do or whatever made them famous in the first place.
Sometimes a few celebrities can get a little justice. Still, even stars who enjoy full justice often complain about how hard their lives are. They are tired of being famous already.
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It can be learned from the passage that stars today.
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What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?
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What makes it much harder to be a celebrity today?
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What is the author's attitude toward modern celebrity?
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Every country has its heroes. The heroes are the people the nation and especially the young people admire. If you get a list of the heroes of a nation, it will tell you the potential of that nation.
If today in America, you ask the high school students to list their heroes, their choice would probably fall into three groups. The first group of heroes would be the rock stars —the people connected with rock music. There is no doubt that such people do have talent but one wonders if one should regard rock stars as a model. The rock stars too often are involved with drugs and their personal life is not all that good. The rock stars are rich and wear the latest fashion styles. However, one should seek more in a hero than such things as money and good clothes.
A second type of hero for the American youth is the sports star. Again you have a person who has a great ability in one area — SPORTS. However, too often the personal life of the sports star is a bit of a mess. Too frequently drugs and drinking are a part of life of the sports star.
A third type of hero is the TV or movie star. This person may have lots of acting talent and is quite handsome. However, the personal life of too many actors is quite sad and they should not be held up as a model for young people.
Today, the rock star, the athlete and the actor all have become the models of the youth in America. Really, do you hear a young person say that his hero is a doctor, a teacher, or a scientist? These people are not rich and do not wear fashionable clothes. However, they are talented people who work hard to make the world a better place for everyone.
What is really sad is that the young try to imitate their heroes. They like to wear the same clothes and follow their styles. If the heroes of today for the American youngsters are limited only to rock stars, athletes and actors, the future does not look too bright.The hero discussed in this article means a person ______.
| A．who has done something brave |
| B．who plays an important role in a play |
| C．whom people greatly admire |
| D．who rides the waves and moves with the tides |
What is true of the groups mentioned in this article?
| A．They are not fright but are good-looking. |
| B．They are rich but are strict with themselves. |
| C．They are talented in some area but lead an indecent life. |
| D．They are perfect in every way. |
American young people will not admire ______.
| A．a university professor | B．a popular singer |
| C．a football player | D．a film actress |
According to the writer, people should hold up as their model those______.
| A．who are rich and wear the latest fashion clothes |
| B．whose personal life is good |
| C．who can express people’s feelings |
| D．who work in the interests of the people |
If you go to Brisbane, Australia, you can easily get a small book called Discover Brisbane free. The book tells you almost everything in Brisbane: the restaurants, the shops, the cinemas, the streets, the buses, the trains, the banks, etc. Here is something about banks on page 49:
ANZ Banking Group
Cnr. Greek && Queen Sts ……………… 228 3228
Bank of New Zealand
410 Queen Street ……………………… 221 0411
Bank of Queensland
229 Elizabeth Street …………………… 229 3122
Commonwealth Banking Group
240 Queen Street ……………………… 237 3111
National Australia Bank Ltd
225 Adelaide Street …………………… 221 6422
Westpac Banking Corp
260 Queen Street ……………………… 227 2666
Banking hours are Mon.-Thu. 9:30 am to 4 pm. Fri. 9:30 am to 5 pm. All banks close Sat. Sun. && Public Holidays.
Australia has a decimal currency(十进币制) with 100 cents to the dollar.
Notes available are: $100, $50, $20, $10, $5
Gold coins are: $2 && $1
Silver coins are: 50, 20, 10&&5 cent
Copper coins are: 2 && 1 cent You can find ANZ Banking Group on ______.
| A．Queen Street | B．Elizabeth Street |
| C．the corner of Greek Street and Queen Street | |
| D．the corner of Queen Street and Elizabeth Street |
______ seems to be the most important street inBrisbane.
| A．Greek Street | B．Elizabeth Street |
| C．Queen Street | D．Adelaide Street |
On Saturdays, you can go to ______ to put your money in or take your money out.
| A．ANZ Banking Group | B．Bank of Queensland |
| C．National Australia Bank Ltd | D．no bank |
In Australia, the banks have their longest servicehours on ______.
| A．public holidays | B．Sundays | C．Saturdays | D．Fridays |
Switzerland is famous for its watches. However, this country didn’t invent the watch. It was the British who did it. Here is a story of how the watch was brought to Switzerland.
Many years ago, an Englishman was traveling to Italy, on his way he stopped in a small town in south Switzerland. This Englishman traveled in a carriage inside which there was a carriage watch. This was the earliest kind of watch. A native shop assistant happened to see the watch. He wondered what it was and asked the Englishman about it, “it is a carriage watch,” said the man. “This machine tells the time but now it isn’t working.”
At once the shop assistant offered to try to repair it. So the traveler handed him the watch. The assistant was a very wise man. So it was not very surprising that he managed to repair it. He even remembered how it was made. As soon as the traveler had gone on his journey, he made a watch exactly the same type.
Thus the watch-making was started in Switzerland. Today Swiss watches are sold in stores all over the world.Switzerland is famous for______.
| A．making watches. | B．selling watches. |
| C．inventing watches. | D．the carriage watch |
The earliest watches were made in_______.
| A．Switzerland | B．England | C．Italy | D．a small town |
The first Swiss watch was made by_______.
| A．an Italian shop assistant. |
| B．an English shop assistant. |
| C．a shop assistant in Switzerland. |
| D．a man who was traveling to Italy. |
The carriage watch was a machine which________.
| A．was put in the carriage | B．wasn’t working |
| C．told people time | D．had to be repaired |
Great British is an island that lies off the northwest coast of Europe. The nearest country is France which is 20 miles away. Great British is separated from France by the English Channel. The island is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west, and the North Sea, to the east. It includes the main lands of England, Wales and Scotland. Scotland is in the north while Wales is in the west. Ireland, which is also an island, lies off the west coast of Great Britain. It is made up of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Great Britain together with Northern Ireland forms the United Kingdom (U.K.). So the U.K. is made up of four countries. The largest of these is England which is divided into 43 countries. The capital city is London which is on the river Thames. Great Britain is separated from France by_______.
| A．the North Sea | B．Suez Canal | C．English Channel | D．Thames |
Great Britain lies on the ______of the Atlantic ocean.
| A．west | B．north | C．east | D．south |
The United Kingdom is made up of _______.
| A．England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland |
| B．England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland |
| C．Great Britain and Ireland |
| D．Great Britain and the Irish Republic |
It is true that England is________.
| A．the smallest of the four countries in U.K. |
| B．only larger than Wales |
| C．as large as Ireland |
| D．the largest country in U.K. |
School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything from school. A teacher, no matter how much he knows, can not teach his students everything they want to know. The teacher’s job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.
It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to learn some facts or a formula by heart. It is actually quiet easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula(公式) in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientist, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo, didn’t get everything from school. But they were all so successful and invented so many things for men. They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments.According to the passage, a good teacher should be one who is to_________.
| A．help his students to gain a good memory. |
| B．train his students’ ability to learn |
| C．teach his students everything he knows |
| D．have his students studying long hours |
If a student want to learn better, the most important thing for him to do is_______.
| A．to learn all the useful facts and formula by heart |
| B．to do everything as his teacher have said in class |
| C．to absorb (吸收) as much knowledge from his teacher as possible |
| D．to think more while he is studying |
The main reason for the success of the great scientists is that________.
| A．the teachers who had taught them were all experienced. |
| B．they used to work and study without a moment’s rest. |
| C．they had received more schooling than other people |
| D．they know how to study and worked hard |
What’s the good advice the writer gives us?
| A．We can learn better without teachers |
| B．We should do more asking and thinking while studying |
| C．We should pay enough attention to classroom |
| D．Book knowledge is little use |