“Selfie” (自拍) joins ranks of dictionary words.
In 2002, an Australian man went to his friend’s 21st birthday party. He got drunk, tripped on some steps and cut his lip. He took a picture of his injuries and shared it with his friends on an online forum. “And sorry about the focus,” he wrote, “it was a selfie.” That was the first recorded use of the word “selfie”, according to linguistic experts at Oxford Dictionaries.
On Nov 19, Oxford Dictionaries declared “selfie” Word of the Year for 2013, in honor of the term having taken over the world thanks to millions of smart phone self-portraits and the resulting shares on social media.
So what does the choice of the word say about our culture? Mary Elizabeth Williams, writing in Salon magazine, says the word reminds us that contemporary culture is defined by our narcissism(自恋).Megan Jackson from a local newspaper points out a selfie may only focus on appearance.
Selfies invite judgment based on appearance alone. What kind of cultural influence does this have on women? Erin Gloria Ryan on Jezebel says selfies teach young woman to obsess over their appearance and judge themselves on the basis of beauty rather than accomplishments. “They’re a reflection of the warped way we teach girls to see themselves as decorative,” said Ryan.
In Slate magazine, Rachel Simmons has the opposite view. She argues that selfies are an example of young women promoting themselves and taking control of their own self-presentation. Think of each one, she says, as “a tiny pulse of girl pride —a shout-out to the self”.Which of the following is true about the first use of “selfie”?
| A．The Australian man created it to celebrate his friend’s 21st birthday. |
| B．The Australian man created by chance when he got drunk and shared his photo online. |
| C．The Oxford Dictionary used it to thank the creation of smart phone. |
| D．The social media were so advanced that they made the word transmitted. |
The underlined word “tripped” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.
| A．traveled | B．stepped lightly |
| C．fell down | D．made mistakes |
Who holds a positive opinion towards selfie in the life of women?
| A．Mary Elizabeth. | B．Megan Jackson. |
| C．Erin Gloria Ryan. | D．Rachel Simmons. |
The text is mainly concerned with ________.
| A．the introduction of the word “selfie” |
| B．the choice of the word “selfie” |
| C．the history of the word “selfie” |
| D．the characteristics of the word “selfie” |
It was a quiet village in which there was a military camp (军营). It was far from the towns and cities and there were some high mountains around. Of course it was a good place for training the new soldiers. But it was difficult for the young men to go outside. Mr. White, an officer of forty, was strict with them and he hardly let them leave the camp.
Once Mr. White was ill in bed. He couldn’t work and a young officer, Mr. Hunt, began to train the new soldiers instead of him. He knew the young men well and let nine soldiers go to the nearest town to have a holiday. But night fell and none came back to the camp. He was worried about it and stood at the gate. It was five to twelve when Mr. Hunt decided to go to the town and see what was happening to the young men. He started the car quickly and set off. At that moment the nine soldiers came back. It seemed they drank wine. Of course they found the officer was angry.
“I’m sorry, sir,” said the first soldier. “I left the town on time. But something was wrong with my bus on my way here. I had to buy a horse and made it run fast. Bad luck! It died and I had to run back.”
And the other seven soldiers said they were late for the same reasons. It was the last soldier’s turn. He said, “I’m sorry, sir. I got on a bus on time, but....”
Having heard this, the officer became even angrier and stopped him at once. He called out, “If you say something was wrong with your bus, I’ll punish you at once!”
“No, no, sir,” said the young man. “My bus was all right, but the dead horses were in its way!”The military camp was built in the village to ________.
| A．stop the soldiers from going to towns |
| B．stop the soldiers from meeting their friends |
| C．train the new soldiers |
| D．make the young men live quietly |
Mr. Hunt let the nine soldiers have a holiday because ________.
| A．he was kind to them | B．they felt lonely |
| C．they had something important to do | D．they were the best of all |
The young officer was worried because ________.
| A．a traffic accident had happened |
| B．he was afraid something happened to the nine soldiers |
| C．the nine soldiers would come back |
| D．the nine soldiers drank too much in the town |
Which of the statements do you think is true?
A. You’ll believe only the last soldier.
B. The officer believed the nine soldiers.
C. You’ll believe none of the nine soldiers.
D. The officer wouldn’t punish his soldiers.
On June 21, 1982, Prince (王子) William, the future King of England, was born. Since then, he has won all the hearts of the public.
When he was very small, he got a number of nicknames (绰号)：King Tot, Willys, Billy, and William the Terrible！He was often found climbing into wastebaskets, trying to flush (冲刷) Dad’s shoes down the toilet (厕所) and pressing buttons, which often made alarm ring！
Prince William has a lot of rules to follow：no drinking in public, no smoking or taking drugs, no kissing girls in public. William was especially close to Diana. However, he has been brave beyond his years since his mother’s sudden death because of the car accident.
Prince William’s fans are growing in number every day. He got more than 12, 000 fan letters a week. When he made a trip to Canada, thousands of girls went frenetic and screamed, “William, will you marry me?” His favorite drink is coke and his favorite foods are burgers, fries, pizza, and chocolate. William also loves to search the World Wide Web. So next time when you’re online, you might be chatting with the future King of England.
Want to write to him? Here it is：
HRH Prince William
Kensington Palace Kensington, London W8 4PN Great BritainWilliam’s mother died when he was_____. .
A. 13 B. 20 C. 19 D. 15What does the underlined word “frenetic” mean?
A. Angry. B.Excited. C. Stupid. D. Comfortable.Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A. Prince William loves his mother very much.
B. Prince William likes western food.
C. Prince William has two brothers.
D. Prince William loves to use the computer. Where can you probably see the article?
A. In a magazineB. In a textbookC. In a sports reportD. On TV
阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题(请注意问题后的字数要求)。
[1]Everyone makes mistakes. How do you react when a family member, friend, or a classmate makes a mistake? Some of us may shout out , complain, or punish. Unfortunately, these reactions to mistakes sometimes greatly hurt both sides. In fact, there is a better way to deal with a mistake.
[2]Reframe（重组） "MISTAKE": Change "MISTAKE" into "MIS-TAKE." Doesn't that have a different feeling? Therefore, a mistake is not so bad as expected. We can learn from it and it is likely to lead to success in the end.
[3]Use mistakes as an opportunity for learning. Most of us want to hide our mistakes, but we may be more willing to share our "MIS-TAKES" and let others learn from them. Either an individual or a family can benefit by openly recognizing and correcting mistakes, rather than pretending that they didn't happen. In fact, a mistake, if corrected quickly and in a creative way, can become ___________for learning.
[4]Think of mistakes as opportunities to prove yourself. A mistake becomes an opportunity to create a close friend or customer. For example, in business, studies show that one of the things all customers want is recovery when the organization has made a mistake. They want us to apologize sincerely. With creative thinking, we can make them satisfied with the way we deal with a mistake.
[5] We have learned to allow people around us to make mistakes. Now give them “protection” when they make a mistake. If you give people both permission and protection, you will get along well with them. Show them how they can turn a mistake into learning something about themselves so they don’t make the same mistake again.What is the passage mainly about? (no more than 10 words)
________________________________________________________________What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to? (no more than 3 words)
____________________________________________________________Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words.(no more than 4 words)
__________________________________________________________Complete the following statement with proper words.(no more than 3 words)
If we think creatively, we are able to make people feel pleased with the way in which a mistake is_________________.Why should you show people how to turn a mistake into learning something about themselves ? (no more than 12 words)
____________________________________________________________________
What is the connection between violence and sports? Psychologists（心理学家） say that there are many reasons for violence at sports events. One is alcohol（酒精）. Many fans drink a lot at games. When people drink, they are more likely to do abnormal things. Psychologist Dennis Brock says, “Quiet people become loud. Normally nonviolent people become destructive.”
David Sampson, a sports sociologist, agrees, “These are often celebratory riots(暴乱)— a large number of very happy people mixed in with large amounts of alcohol. They don’t often seem dangerous in the beginning, but things get violent quickly.”
Another reason for violence at sports events is the crowd itself. When individuals are in a large group of people, they can lose their sense of personal responsibility. Edward Hirt, a social Psychologist, says that research shows that people do things in crowds that they would never do alone. People in crowds feel that no one knows who they are. Crowds also make people feel powerful. They stop making personal decisions. They just follow the crowd. Social psychologists call this a “mob mentality.”
Dave Zarifis, head of public safety at Northern Iowa University says, “Some people don’t even come to celebrate. They want to drink hard and make trouble. Someone does something stupid, and it grows from there. You get a mob mentality. People think it’s OK to do almost anything. They think, ‘There are so many of us and not enough of them.’ ”
Social psychologist Dr. Sharon Kennedy says that there are a few things officials can do to prevent violence. Making sure that an area is not overcrowded is very important. Officials should also think of games as “big parties.” Then they will prepare differently. Kennedy says that in Great Britain they are controlling the problem with cameras in all the stadiums. “When you know someone is watching, you are much less likely to behave badly.”Which of the following best gives the main idea of the first two paragraphs?
| A．There’s a connection between violence and sports |
| B．There are many reasons for violence at sports events. |
| C．One cause of violence at sports events is alcohol. |
| D．David Sampson and Dennis Brock have the same opinion. |
Which of the following does NOT belong to a “mob mentality”?
| A．“ No one knows I’m doing this.” |
| B．“ It’s safe to do what many people are doing.” |
| C．“There are so many of us and not enough of them.” |
| D．“I must drink some alcohol to stop myself feeling shy.” |
How many experts are quoted by the writer of this passage?
| A．Five. | B．Four. | C．Three. | D．Two. |
The last paragraph is mainly about ______.
| A．how to turn games into big parties |
| B．how to prevent violence at sports events |
| C．why to fix cameras in stadiums |
| D．how to avoid oneself behaving badly |
What lesson can we learn from this passage?
| A．Never drink any alcohol no matter where you are. |
| B．Whenever you are watching a game, you should keep quiet. |
| C．Never follow blindly no matter how many people are doing something. |
| D．Be careful when you are at a stadium because there are cameras there. |
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!The writer of this passage must be ______.
| A．an American | B．a Chinese | C．a professor | D．a student |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
| B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
| A．warmly welcomed at the airport |
| B．offered a ride to his home |
| C．treated hospitably at his home |
| D．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.
| A．strict with time | B．willing to spend time | C．careful with time | D．serious with time |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
| A．Friendships between Chinese |
| B．Friendships between Americans |
| C．Americans’ hospitality |
| D．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendship |