The character “duang” is so new that it does not even exist in the Chinese dictionary. But it has already spread like wildfire online in China, appearing more than 8 million times on China’s micro-blogging site Weibo, where it spawned a top-trending hashtag(标签) that drew 312,000 discussions among 15,000 users. On China’s biggest online search engine Baidu, it has been looked up almost 600,000 times. It’s been noticed in the West too, with Foreign Policy seeing it as a “break the internet” viral meme － like a certain Kirn Kardashian image, or a certain multicoloured dress.
But what does it mean? “Everyone’s duang-ing and I still don’t know what it means! As if it’s back to school for me,” said Weibo user Weileiweito. Another user asked: “Have you duang-ed today? My mind is full of duang duang duang.” “To duang or not to duang, that is the question,” wrote user BaiKut automan.
“Duang” seems to be an example of onomatopoeia(拟声词), a word that phonetically imitates a sound. It all seems to have started with Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, who in 2004 was featured in a shampoo commercial where he said famously defended his sleek, black hair using the rhythmical-sounding “duang”. The word resurfaced again recently after Chan posted it on his Weibo page. Thousands of users then began to flood Chan’s Weibo page with comments, coining the word in reference to his infamous shampoo appearance.
The word appears to have many different meanings, and there’s no perfect translation, but you could use it as an adjective to give emphasis to the word that follows it. A kitten might be “duang cute”, for example. Or you might be “very duang confused” by this blog.
For readers of Chinese characters, the Jackie Chan theme is also apparent from the quirky(古怪的) way in which the word is written: a combination of Chan’s Mandarin names.How does the writer try to prove that Duang has already spread like wildfire online in China?
| A．giving examples | B．listing numbers |
| C．making comparisons | D．offering quotations |
Why does the author mention “a certain Kirn Kardashian image”?
| A．to tell us “Duang” also draws attention in the West. |
| B．to tell us “Duang” is just like a certain image on a certain multicolored dress. |
| C．to tell us Foreign Policy doesn’t like “Duang”. |
| D．to tell us a certain Kim Kardashian image breaks the internet. |
Which of the following statements about “duang is NOT true?
| A．It came from Jackie chan’s commertial. |
| B．Weibo users created the word about his infamous shampoo appearance. |
| C．It was first used as an adjective to stress the word that follows it. |
| D．Many people are confused by the word. |
What kind of people may not know the word “duang”?
| A．the old who are over sixties |
| B．the young who are in fashion |
| C．a boy who has dropped out of school |
| D．a woman who never surfs the internet |
At Yale University, enrollment in basic Chinese in 2005 grew rapidly, and for the first time professors can remember, large numbers of freshmen were arriving with enough knowledge of the Chinese language to start in second- or third-year Chinese language class, rather than basic Chinese.
The American interest in China is not just at the university level. In the 2006 school year, high-school students will be offered an Advanced Placement test, which is one of the national exams American students take for university admission, in Chinese. This is the first time Chinese is offered in the Advanced Placement test, which is usually limited to the most important subjects that high school students take.
What is surprising is that earlier last year, an organization that tracks university students surveyed high schools throughout America, asking if they planned to offer the language courses that prepare students for the language Advanced Placement test. They expected that only a hundred high schools, mostly in California, New York, and a few other places with large immigrant populations, would show interest in each of the new language programs. Although that was true for the courses in Italian, Russian and Japanese, it was not true for the Chinese language course. There were thousands of American high schools that indicated that they planned to build their Chinese programs to levels where students could take the Advanced Placement exam for Chinese language. The demand for courses in Chinese is rising so rapidly that it is rapidly overtaking all other foreign languages except Spanish. According to the passage many freshmen at Yale University today .
| A．know enough basic Chinese |
| B．needn’t learn Chinese any more |
| C．take courses in the Chinese language |
| D．go to university to study Chinese |
For university entrance, the American high-school students .
| A．have to learn Chinese | B．learn more than one foreign language. |
| C．take the Advanced Placement Test | D．used to have a test in Chinese |
We can learn from the passage that .
| A．Chinese will overtake all foreign languages in American high schools |
| B．Americans will know more about China and its people |
| C．the U.S. government pays much attention to language studies |
| D．Chinese may take the place of English in American universities |
Imagine one day, the water taps in your house stop running. You have to buy water from shops. And still there isn’t enough for everyone. Your mother has to save the family’s shower water to do other things. Would you be able to stand that kind of life?
Probably not. But that’s what kids in Yemen are experiencing. Experts said Yemen is going to be the first country in the world to run out of water. According to a report, the capital, Sanaa, will run out of drinking water as early as 2025. Because of the shortage, the government often cuts the water supply. Hannan, an 18-year-old from Lahej, told the Times: “In a good week we’ll have a water supply all week. But then the following week there will be water only for a day or two.”
Hannan said only rich people have enough water to use. They can buy water from the shops or from the water truck. Private companies own the trucks. They travel around the city every day to sell water – at very high prices.
“A lot of people can’t afford it,” she said.
The average person in Yemen uses 100 to 200 cubic meters of water per year. That is far below the international water poverty line of 1,000 cubic meters.
The government is thinking of making use of seawater. But it will cost a lot and it may not happen soon enough to help the people of Yemen.
The purpose of the text is to _______.
| A．tell us what life is like in Yemen |
| B．draw our attention to water shortage |
| C．remind us how important water is |
| D．show us ways of solving problems |
The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.
| A．buying water from shops |
| B．drinking dirty water |
| C．suffering from water shortage |
| D．washing clothes with used water |
Hannan described _____.
| A．what her life is like |
| B．how beautiful Lahej is |
| C．how people use water fully |
| D．how heavy the traffic in Lahej is |
The Yemen Government _____.
| A．has found a practical solution |
| B．only cares about rich people |
| C．may try to make use of seawater |
| D．can do nothing about the water supply |
We can infer from the text that _____.
| A．Sanaa will run out of water in 10 years |
| B．Hannan is a teenager from a rich family |
| C．the capital of Yemen is developing fast |
| D．private companies make a lot of money |
The US gov
ernment has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them. It claims to provide visitors with an “aducation” through games and other entertainment.
A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo. "Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it. Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising.
Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities. Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers.
The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things: To identify the advertiser. To know what the advertiser is really saying. And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do.
Children learn these things through a video game. They create their own game character. They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes. Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards. The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level.
The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found. It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing.
One such area is food marketing. The Federal Trade Commission(FTC) says it is a big business. The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2009.
The FTC says children are important for three reasons. They buy products. They influence parents and caregivers to buy. And they are the future adult buyers of the products.
A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value. First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children.
What is the best title of the text?
| A．The guide of Admongo |
| B．An aducation website for children |
| C．A popular online video game |
| D．A website aimed at children |
Why did the government start the website?
| A．To attract the biggest market of buyers. |
| B．To sell the products of its company. |
| C．To help children know about advertising. |
| D．To advertise the video game for children. |
What can players do in the website game?
| A．Choose hair styles for their character. |
| B．Travel to a supermarket. |
| C．Eat in a fast-food restaurant. |
| D．Play video games during the trip. |
Children are important for advertising because they are.
| A．important for the society |
| B．the most potential buyers |
| C．easily influenced by ads |
| D．easily affected by poor products |
According to Michelle Obama, lots of food advertised for children are ________.
| A．healthy | B．of high nutrition |
| C．yummy | D．of low quality |
Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year). If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today, that is about 650 million people, will eventually be killed by tobacco.
Tobacco is the fourth most common risk factor for disease worldwide. The economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating (破坏性的). In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity, depriving (剥夺) families of breadwinners(养家糊口的人) and nations of a healthy workforce. Tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness. A 1994 report estimated that the use of tobacco resulted in an annual global net loss of 200 thousand million US dollars, a third of this loss being in developing countries.
Tobacco and poverty are closely linked. Many studies have shown that in the poorest households in some low-income countries as much as 10% of total household expenditure is on tobacco. This means that these families have less money to spend on basic items such as food, education and health care. It contributes to a higher illiteracy rate, since money that could have been used for education is spent on tobacco instead.
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the first paragraph?
| A．Smoking causes 10 percent of the deaths worldwide. |
| B．About 10 million people will die from smoking each year by 2020. |
| C．Half the people in the world will be killed by smoking. |
| D．Roughly there are 1,300 million smokers nowadays. |
According to the passage, tobacco affects a family in the following aspects EXCEPT _______.
| A．relationship | B．education |
| C．health | D．economy |
The text uses a lot of figures to _____.
| A．show we shouldn’t smoke too much |
| B．tell people exactly the number |
| C．warn people of the harm of smoking |
| D．indicate the writer had a careful investigation |
The underlined word “illiteracy” in the last paragraph means ____.
| A．great intelligence | B．good education |
| C．bad behaviors | D．inability to read or write |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Tobacco Should Be Banned. |
| B．Why Is Tobacco a Major Threat to Public Health. |
| C．Tobacco and Poverty Go Hand in Hand. |
| D．Tobacco May Cause Death. |
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human condition is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression(沮丧) to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our soc
ial needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support money 
aid, material resources, and needed services - that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems. Interpersonal relationships are important because they can ________
| A．make people live more easily |
| B．smooth away daily problems |
| C．deal with life changes |
| D．cure types of illnesses |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word "cushions"?
| A．takes place of | B．makes up of |
| C．lessens the effect of | D．gets rid of |
What is the subject discussed in the text?
| A．Interpersonal relationships. |
| B．Kinds of social support. |
| C．Ways to deal with stress. |
| D．Effects of stressful condition. |