A new word has suddenly become wildly popular in China —"tuhao" — which loosely translated means "nouveau riche". There have been more than 100 million references to the word "tuhao" on social media since early September.
It's being used to describe everything from the new People's Daily building, to expensive celebrity weddings full of bling, and the new gold-coloured iPhone.
In Chinese "tu" means earth and "hao" means rich. To say someone is tuhao is to imply they come from a poor peasant background, and have made it rich quick — but don't quite have the manners, or sophistication to go along with it. It's like the term "nouveau riche", says Professor Steve Tsang at the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies in Nottingham - but has even more negative meanings, suggesting a certain vulgarity(粗俗).
"Tuhao" is actually an old word, dating back perhaps as far as the Southern Dynasty 1,500 years ago,but it has always meant something rather different. During the communist revolution, from the 1920s to early 1950s, it was widely used to refer to landholders and gentry who would bully those beneath them.
This new usage of the term took off in September after a widely-shared joke about a rich, but unhappy man, who goes to a Buddhist monk for advice, expecting to be told to live a more simple life. The monk replies instead with the phrase: "Tuhao, let's be friends!"
Chinese Internet users are highly creative in their use of language, and are constantly inventing, and re-inventing words as a way of getting past censorship(审查) rules. But in this case, its popularity seems to be down to the fact that it expresses China's changing society so well — many people sneer at those with wealth, but are secretly jealous.What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Tuhao, a new popular word in China |
| B．The long history of Tuhao |
| C．The new usage of Tuhao |
| D．Tuhao, a newly-invented Chinese word |
Which of the following may NOT be considered “tuhao”?
| A．A vulgar nouveau riche |
| B．A bully landholder |
| C．A quick-rich peasant without proper manners |
| D．A Buddhist monk. |
The last but one paragraph mainly tells us ______.
| A．what the new usage of the word is |
| B．how the word becomes popular again |
| C．why the unhappy man went to the Buddhist monk |
| D．what advice the monk gave the unhappy man |
What does the underlined word in the last paragraph mean?
| A．respect | B．envy |
| C．laugh | D．disbelieve |
| LOST AND FOUND |
ROOMMATES |
| FOUND：Cat, 6 months old, black and white marking. Found near Linden and South U.Steve, 800-4661. |
FEMALE ROOMMATE WANGTE Own room near campus. Available December 1. Rent $80 per month until March 1 st. $129 Thereafter. Call Jill for details. 800-7839 |
| LOST: Gold wire rim glasses in brown case. Campus area. Reward. Call Gregg 800-2896 |
Need person to assume lease for own bedroom in apt. Near campus, $92/mo. Starting Jan.1. Call 800-6157 after 5pm |
| FOR SALE |
HELP WANTED |
| MOVING：Must sell. TV b/w 12,$50; AM/FM transistor radio A/C or battery, $15; cassette tape recorder, $10; music records, Call John or Pat, 800-0739 after 5pm or weekends |
BABYSITTER-MY HOME If you are available a few hours during the day, some evenings and occasional weekends to care for 2 school-age children, please call Gayle Moore days 800-1111, evenings and week ends 800-4964 |
| USED FUR COATS and JACKETS. Good condition. $50-$125. Call 800-0436 after 12 noon |
WAITRESS WANTED:10am-2pm or 10:30 am-5pm. Apply in person, 207S. Main, Curtis Restaurant. |
What was lost in campus area according to the LOST AND FOUND ads?
| A．A cat | B．A radio |
| C．A pair of glasses | D．A cassette tape recorder |
You will callif you want to buy a radio.
| A．800-0436 | B．800-0739 |
| C．800-4661 | D．800-4964 |
If you want a job of taking care of children, which ad will you answer?
| A．Lost AND FOUND | B．ROOMMATES |
| C．FOR SALE | D．HELP WANTED |
It was Monday, Mrs. Smith’s dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.
Considering that there was no better way, Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it: “Give my dog half a pound of meat.” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently: “Take this to the butcher（卖肉者）, and he’s going to give you your lunch today.”
Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher’s shop. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady’s handwriting and presently did as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up immediately.
At midday, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.
The next day, the dog came again exactly at midday. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at the paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had thought of the dog as one of his customers.
However, the dog came again at four o’clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher’s more surprise, it came for the third time at six o’clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”
Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!When Mrs. Smith’s dog was hungry, what did she give to the dog?
| A．some chicken |
| B．half a pound of meat |
| C．a hot dog |
| D．a piece of paper with some words on it |
Mrs. Smith treated her little dog quite __________.
| A．rudely | B．proudly |
| C．friendly | D．angrily |
From its experience, the dog found that __________.
| A．only the paper with Mrs. Smith’s words on it could bring it meat |
| B．a piece of paper could bring him half a pound of meat |
| C．the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it |
| D．Mrs. Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher |
At the end of the story, you’ll find that __________.
| A．the dog was clever enough to write on the paper |
| B．the butcher was told not to give any meat to the dog |
| C．the dog dared not go to the butcher’s any more |
| D．the butcher found himself cheated by the smart animal |
“If you have not played video games, your childhood should be called 'incomplete'.” That's from Zhan Zaozao, 29, the screenwriter（编剧）of Play to Grow Up, a 40-minute short movie.
It tells the story of two men growing up fans of video games and how they find happiness in games. While people think playing games makes one lazy and is a waste of time, Zhan tries to prove that one can make a living out of it. In the movie, the two heroes, Dunzi and Yanjing, who are in middle school, visit a video games room on the street each day after school.
But why make a short movie about video games, since there are lots to write about childhood, such as puppy love, sports and study? “Playing games is so important to everyone's childhood from little kids to teenagers, though it's a bittersweet experience,” said Zhan. According to him, his teachers and parents didn't allow video games, but they played games “under their noses ” anyway.
In the movie, the two playmates follow different paths after school. Dunzi opens a small store selling gaming products. Yanjing works as a manager in his father's company, After years of working and facing various problems in life, they get together again, build a video game machine and play on the street. Free, simple and happy. They rediscover the carefree childhood, which they have lost in the adult world.
Many consider playing games as a bad influence, but it isn't all true, according to Zhan. “It can change your attitude toward life,” said Zhan. “On the other hand, the movie also tells you that, although the world of video games is fun, you must face real life at the end of the day. ” What is the purpose of Zhan writing the short movie?
| A．To memorize his past. |
| B．To offer an exciting movie. |
| C．To prove that people can make life better with playing video games. |
| D．To prove that people can make a living out of playing video games. |
What's the fourth paragraph mainly about?
| A．The plot((情节）of the movie. |
| B．The end of playing video games. |
| C．The happy childhood. |
| D．The gathering of the two men. |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Playing games is forbidden by all parents. |
| B．People can learn something from the movie. |
| C．Playing games is longed by the two heroes. |
| D．People in their childhood couldn't afford the games. |
The writer writes the text to ______ .
| A．criticize some parents' attitude towards playing video games |
| B．attract people to see the movie Play to Grow Up |
| C．show the film focusing on video games |
| D．promote the film Play to Grow Up |
An energy watchdog is alarmed about the threat to the environment from the increasing electricity needs of gadgets（小装置）like MP3 players, mobile phones and flat screen TVs.
In a report today, the Paris-based International Energy Agency says new electronic gadgets will be three times their energy consumption by 2030 to 1,700 terawatt hours（千瓦时）, which is equal to today's home electricity consumption of the United States and Japan combined.
The world would have to build around 200 new nuclear power plants just to power all the TVs, iPods, PCs and other home electronics expected to be plugged in by 2030,when the global electric bill to power them will rise to $200 billion a year, the agency said.
“Consumer electronics is the fastest growing area and the area with the least amount of policies in place to control energy efficiency, ” said Paul Waide, a senior policy analyst at the agency.
Electronic gadgets already account for about 15 percent of household electric consumption, a share that is rising rapidly as the number of these gadgets multiplies. Last year, the world spent $80 billion on electricity to power all these household electronics, the energy agency said.
“ Most of the increase in consumer electronics will be in developing countries, where economic growth is the fastest and ownership rates of gadgets are the lowest , ”Waide said.
“This will jeopardize efforts to increase energy security and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.” the agency said. Existing technologies could cut down gadgets’energy consumption by more than 30 percent at no cost or by more than 50 percent at a small cost, the agency estimates, meaning total greenhouse gas emissions（排放） from households’electronic gadgets could be held stable（稳定的） at around 500 million tons of CO2 per year. How many terawatt hours did the energy consumption of new electronic gadgets reach?
| A．Nearly l, 700. | B．Nearly 600. |
| C．About 200. | D．About 60. |
What is the condition in the area of consumer electronics?
| A．There are a lot of rules to control the market. |
| B．There are few policies to control energy efficiency. |
| C．There are few choices for the customers. |
| D．There are lots of regulations to protect consumers' rights. |
The underlined word “jeopardize” in the last paragraph probably means “________ ”.
| A．harm | B．inspire |
| C．strengthen | D．encourage |
We can know from the last paragraph that existing technologies ___________.
| A．are able to control gadgets’energy consumption |
| B．could do nothing about gadgets’ energy consumption |
| C．could only cut down gadgets’ energy consumption by 30 percent |
| D．cut down gadgets’energy consumption at great cost |
Almost 70 percent of Chinese middle school students have serious problems with their parents, the Beijing Morning Post quoted a survey as saying.
The survey showed 6.62 percent of the surveyed students are afraid of their parents while 13.13 percent of them dislike their parents and 56.28 percent were extremely disgusted with or even hate their parents. Only 4.75 percent of the young people surveyed said they like their parents.
The recently conducted survey among 3,000 middle school students in a Beijing district asked questions about their attitude toward their parents and family education, the paper said.
For many families, conflict between parents and children center on the student's school grades, their weight and their friends. The survey showed that parental influence over children is decreasing, the paper said.
Xiao Xiao, a third year junior middle school student is perhaps typical of most kids when she complains; "I was scolded by my mother because I didn't come first in the class in a mid-term exam."
Xiao Xiao in fact is already one of the top students in her class, the paper said, stressing Xiao Xiao's parents hope she can study at the Beijing University or even attend Harvard in the future.
Sun Yunxiao, an expert with the China Youth and Children Research Center, said "parents expect unrealistically high expectations from their children."
The research centre's own survey of parents showed about 55 percent of parents hope their children will study for a doctoral degree and 83.6 percent require their children to rank in the top 15 of their class.
Conflicts between parents and their children not only come from too high education expectations. Other causes of disconnection between parents and children are family violence, parents' old fashioned ideas, interference in a child's privacy including their choice of friends and time spent surfing the web, the paper said.
Mr Hu, a father of a middle school student, wasn't surprised by the survey results. He says too much concern over school marks is putting tremendous pressure on families. How many young people surveyed said they like their parents?
| A．39390. | B．19860. |
| C．14250 | D．168840 |
What is the central conflict between parents and children in many families?
| A．Family violence and divorce. |
| B．Parents’ old fashioned ideas. |
| C．Interference in a child’s privacy. |
| D．Students’ school grades, weight and friends. |
Xiao Xiao is mentioned as an example to show that ______ .
| A．parental influence over children is decreasing. |
| B．one should study hard to attend Beijing University as a student. |
| C．Parents today expect too high from their children. |
| D．today’s children spend too much time surfing the web. |
As is indicated in the passage, _______ .
| A．Most parents require their children to be the top ones in the class. |
| B．More and more parents have old fashioned ideas. |
| C．More and more families got divorced due to the high education expectations. |
| D．Most parents hope their children will attend Harvard in the future. |