Celebrity (名人) has become one of the most important representatives of popular culture. Fans used to be crazy about a specific film, but now the public tends to base its consumption (消费) on the interest of celebrity attached to any given product. Besides, fashion magazines have almost abandoned the practice of putting models on the cover because they don’t sell nearly as well as famous faces. As a result, celebrities have realized their unbelievably powerful market potential, moving from advertising for others’ products to developing their own.
Celebrity clothing lines aren’t a completely new phenomenon, but in the past they were typically aimed at the ordinary consumers, and limited to a few TV actresses. Today they’re started by first-class stars whose products enjoy equal fame with some world top brands. The most successful start-ups have been those by celebrities with specific personal style. As celebrities become more and more experienced at the market, they expand their production scale rapidly, covering almost all the products of daily life.
However, for every success story, there’s a related warning tale of a celebrity who overvalued his consumer appeal. No matter how famous the product’s origin is, if it fails to impress consumers with its own qualities it begins to resemble an exercise in self-promotional marketing. And once the initial attention dies down, consumer interest might fade, loyalty returning to tried-and-true labels.
Today, celebrities face even more severe embarrassment. The pop-cultural circle might be bigger than ever, but its rate of turnover has speeded up as well. Each misstep threatens to reduce a celebrity’s shelf life, and the same newspaper or magazine that once brought him fame has no problem picking him to pieces when the opportunity appears. Still, the ego’s (自我的) potential for expansion is limitless. Having already achieved great wealth and public recognition, many celebrities see fashion as the next frontier to be conquered. As the saying goes, success and failure always go hand in hand. Their success as designers might last only a short time, but fashion—like celebrity—has always been temporary.
1.Fashion magazines today ______.
A.totally refuse to put models on the cover
B.rarely place models on the cover
C.need not worry about celebrities’ market potential
D.judge the market potential of every celebrity correctly
2.A change in the consumer market can be found today that ______.
A.price rather than brand name is more concerned
B.producers prefer models to celebrities for advertisements
C.producers prefer TV actresses to film stars for advertisements
D.quality rather than the outside of products is more concerned
3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 indicates that any wrong step will possibly ______.
A.shorten the artistic career of a celebrity in show business
B.damage the image of a celebrity in the eyes of the general public
C.cut short the time of a celebrity’s popularity
D.influence the price of a celebrity’s products
4.The passage is mainly about ______.
A.celebrity and personal style B.celebrity and market potential
C.celebrity and fashion design D.celebrity and clothing industry
It was 3:21 a.m. when nine-year-old Glenn Kreamer awoke to the smell of burning. Except for the cracking (爆烈声) of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the two-storey house at Baldwin Long Island.
With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brother Todd. He ran downstairs through the smoke-filled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they sat up. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of the garden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, fell down onto the lawn.
The nine-year-old boy raced back into the house and upstairs to his mother’s room. He found it impossible to wake her up. Mrs. Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious, and there was nobody to help Glenn carry her to the garden. But the boy stayed calm and, as a fireman said later, "acted with all the self-control of a trained adult."
On the bedroom telephone, luckily still working, Glenn called his father and, leaving Mr. Kreamer to telephone the fire brigade and ambulance service, got on with the task of saving his mother.
First he filled a bucket with water from the bathroom and threw water over his mother and her bed. Then, with a wet cloth around his head he went back to the garden.
He could hear the fire engine coming up, but how would the firemen find his mother in the smoke-filled house where flames had almost swallowed up the ground floor?
Grasping firmly a ball of string (线) from the garage, Glenn raced back into the house and dashed upstairs to his mother’s room. Tying one end of the string to her hand, he ran back, laying out the string as he went, through the hall and back out into the garden.
Minutes later he was telling fire chief John Coughlan, "The string will lead you to mother." Mrs. Kreamer was carried to safety as the flames were breaking through her bedroom floor.
1.Why did Glenn run downstairs first?
A.He wanted to find out what was happening.
B.He was worried about his mother’s safety.
C.He wanted to save his sister and brother.
D.He went to see if his father had come back from work.
2.Who called the fire brigade and ambulance service?
A.Glenn. B.Glenn’s father.
C.Glenn’s sister. D.Glenn’s neighbor.
3.Which of the following can replace “unconscious” in Paragraph 3?
A.unfortunate B.confuse
C.terrified D.senseless
4.Glenn saved his family because ______.
A.his father had taught him to do so on the phone
B.he had learned something about first aid
C.he had dealt with the emergency calmly and wisely
D.he had followed his mother’s instructions
Movies to Enjoy
“Eating Animals”
The 2018 documentary “Eating Animals”, based on the book by Jonathan Safran Foer published in 2009, tells us that factory farming is bad, and that most Americans don’t realize just how bad. Still, this isn’t a feel-guilty film. There’s plenty of hope as director Christopher Quinn shows farmers who are still using practices that do not, for example, force chickens to live their short lives in a dark building while covered in their own poop（大便）. Will the film cause you to go vegan（素食者）？Eh, burgers are really tasty. But it will make you think about what it is that you’re putting in your mouth and maybe inspire you to head for the farmers’ market to see what a chicken that lived a happy life tastes like.
Landmark E Street Cinema? 555 11th St. NW, Washington, D. C. opens on Oct. 15 (Mon.)? $10—$12. 50
Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema? 7235 Woodmont Ave. Bethesda, Md. opens on Oct. 15 (Mon.) $9.50—$ 12. 50
“The Last Tightrope Dancer in Annenia"
Sometimes it’s enjoyable to see what everyone else has been seeing. It helps with dinner party conversation. Sometimes, though, it’s fun to see something really different. “The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia” is a 2009 documentary about the only two surviving performers of Armenian tightrope dancing, 76 and 77 at the time of the film, and their desperate efforts to pass on the traditional art form to the only student of tightrope dancing left in the land, a 16-year-old orphan (MJL) boy.
Library of Congress, Mary Pickford Theater, 101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington D. C.； Oct. 15 (Mon.), 8 p. m., free.
Family Movie Series
The Old Greenbelt Theatre is here to help quiet the endless “I’m bored” at the weekend. Every Sunday at 1 p. m., you can take the kids to see a family-friendly film for free, including “Despicable Me 3” and "Paddington 2”. Just have fun!
The Old Greenbelt Theatre, 129 Centerway, Greenbelt, Md.；Sundays through Dec. 30, 1p.m., free.
1.Which statement about “Eating Animals” is TRUE?
A.It’s directed by Jonathan Safran Foer.
B.It’s a feel-guilty story about the bad factory farming.
C.It may cause many more Americans to go vegan.
D.It can help raise people’s awareness about food.
2.Someone who wants to enjoy a film for free on October 15 could choose ______.
A.Eating Animals B.The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia
C.Despicable Me 3 D.Paddington 2
3.If a woman wants to spend a happy weekend with her children, she should go to ______.
A.Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema B.Library of Congress, Mary Pickford Theater
C.555 11th St. NW, Washington, D.C. D. 129 Centerway, Greenbelt, Md.
On AIDS Day, the minister of Health Department demanded that the problems ______ paid special attention to.
A.referred to being B.referred to be C.referring to be D.should refer to be
I’m afraid this painting is not by Picasso.It’s only a copy and so it’s ______．
A.priceless B.invaluable C.valuable D.worthless
Difficult as rumors on micro blog or Weibo are ______, the authorities will step up supervision so that people will not be easily misled.
A.to prevent B.to be prevented C.prevented D.preventing
