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 related 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 (潜力), moving from advertising for others’ products to developing their own.
Celebrity clothing lines aren’t a completely new phenomenon (现象), 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 (规模) 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 attraction. No matter how famous the product’s origin is, if it fails to impress consumers with its own qualities it begins to look like an exercise in self-promotional marketing. And once the attention dies down, consumer interest might decrease, loyalty returning to tried-and-true labels.
Today, celebrities face even more serious 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 (名声) 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 put 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.decrease the popularity of a celebrity and the sales of his products
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
One of the best things you can do for your health is to drop a few pounds. Or maybe more than a few pounds.
Being overweight increases your danger of heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and the list seems almost endless. You'd better find several simple things you can do on a daily basis — such as making rules of eating more vegetables and less fat and getting more physical activities.
After breakfast, make water your primary drink. At breakfast, go ahead and drink orange juice. But throughout the rest of the day, focus on water instead of juice or soda. The average American consumes (消耗) an extra 245 calories a day from soft drinks. That's nearly 90,000 calories a year — or 25 pounds! An research shows that neither the calories nor sugary drinks give you a sense of fullness the way that food does.
People take only 2,000 to 3,000 steps a day. Adding 2,000 steps will help you keep your present weight and stop gaining weight. Adding more than that will help you lose weight.
Eat five or six small meals or snacks a day instead of three large meals. A 1999 South African study found that when men ate parts of their morning meal at intervals over five hours, they consumed almost 20 percent fewer calories at lunch than when they ate a single breakfast.
1.Where is the passage probably taken from?
A.A travelling diary. B.A story book.
C.A science magazine. D.An English dictionary.
2.Which of the following should be avoided if you want to lose weight?
A.Eating more vegetables.
B.Getting more exercise.
C.Having less sugary drinks.
D.Having three large meals.
3.What is the best title of the passage?
A.Healthy Eating Habits B.Tips on Losing Weight
C.Daily Diet and Calories D.Exercise Stops Diseases
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Lots of diseases are related to being overweight.
B.Those who have a single breakfast eat less at lunch time.
C.Taking 4,000 to 5,000 steps a day can help you lose weight.
D.An average American consumes 25 pounds of soft drinks a year.
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.
请阅读下面有关中国题材纪录片(documentary)的对话，并按照要求用英语写一篇150个词左右的文章。
Su Hua: Hi, Li Jiang! Did you see the BBC documentary on CCTV 9 last week?
Li Jiang: You mean Du Fu: China’s Greatest Poet? Yes, I did. Fantastic!
Su Hua: Just think an English actor recites Chinese poems.
Li Jiang: I don’t really understand every line he recites, but I believe he truly loves the poems himself.
Su Hua: Right. It is reported that the film is well received outside China.
Li Jiang: Yeah, It’s my first time to hear Chinese stories told by an English speaker.
Su Hua: In fact, documentaries about our country are plentiful both at home and abroad. These films can help foreign friends better understand this land-Chinese literature, geography history, food...
Li Jiang: I couldn’t agree more.
（写作内容）
1.用约30个词概括上述对话的主要内容；
2.谈谈中国题材纪录片受到外国朋友欢迎的原因(至少两点)。
（写作要求）
1.写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3.不必写标题。
（评分标准）
内容完整语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
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请认真阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意:请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填一个单词。
Humor
If you see humor as an optional form of entertainment, you’re missing some of its biggest benefits: Humor makes average-looking people look cute and uninteresting people seem entertaining. Studies show that a good sense of humor even makes you seem smarter.
Best of all, humor raises your energy, and that can have an effect on everything you do at school, at work, or in your personal life. The increase of energy will even make you more willing to exercise, and that will raise your overall energy even more.
Humor also transports your mind away from your daily troubles. Humor lets you better understand life and sometimes helps you laugh at even the worst of your problems.
In my experience, most people think they have a sense of humor, and to some degree that’s true. But not all senses of humor are created equal. So I thought it would be useful to include some humor tips for everyday life.
You don’t have to be the joke teller in the group in order to show your sense of humor. You can be the one who directs the conversation to fun topics that are ripe for others to add humor. Every party needs a straight person. You’ll appear fun and funny by association.
When it comes to in-person humor, effort counts a lot. When people see you trying to be funny, it frees them to try it themselves. So even if your own efforts at humor fall short, you might be freeing the long kept humor in others. People need permission to be funny in social settings because there’s always a risk that comes with humor. For in-person humor, quality isn’t as important as you might think. Your attitude and effort count a lot.
Some people--and I was one of them--believe that humorous complaints about the little problems of life make humor, and sometimes that is the case. The problem comes when you start doing too much complaint-based humor. One funny observation about problem in your life can be funny, but five is just complaining, no matter how smart you think you are. Funny complaints can wear people out.
Self-deprecating(自嘲式) humor is usually the safest type, but here again you don’t want to overshoot the target. One self-deprecating comment is a generous and even confident form of humor. You have to be at least a bit self-assured to laugh at yourself in front of others. But if you do it too often, you can transform in the eyes of others from a confident joker to a Chihuahua dog.
Humor | |
Benefits of humor | ●Humor is form of 1.. Humor can improve one’s2. and personality. ●Humor can make one 3. in his work, study, and life. ●Humor has a positive4. effect when we are in difficulties. |
5.to follow | ●6. others for a conversation of fun is as good as telling a joke yourself when showing your sense of humor. ●Quality counts 7. than attitude and effort-even stupid joke can 8. others of risk and embarrassment. |
Traps to 9. | ●One humorous complaint makes funny person. But too many complaints will 10. your audience. ●Self-deprecating comments show one’s assurance. But too much deprecation will make a Chihuahua dog. |
I was in the middle of the Amazon (亚马逊) with my wife, who was there as a medical researcher. We flew on a small plane to a faraway village. We did not speak the local language, did not know the customs, and more often than not, did not entirely recognize the food. We could not have felt more foreign.
We were raised on books and computers, highways and cell phones, but now we were living in a village without running water or electricity It was easy for us to go to sleep at the end of the day feeling a little misunderstood.
Then one perfect Amazonian evening, with monkeys calling from beyond the village green, we played soccer. I am not good at soccer, but that evening it was wonderful. Everyone knew the rules. We all spoke the same language of passes and shots. We understood one another perfectly. As darkness came over the field and the match ended, the goal keeper, Juan, walked over to me and said in a matter-of-fact way, “In your home, do you have a moon too?” I was surprised.
After I explained to Juan that yes, we did have a moon and yes, it was very similar to his, I felt a sort of awe (敬畏) at the possibilities that existed in his world. In Juan’s world, each village could have its own moon. In Juan’s world. the unknown and undiscovered was vast and marvelous. Anything was possible.
In our society, we know that Earth has only one moon. We have looked at our planet from every angle and found all of the wildest things left to find. I can, from my computer at home, pull up satellite images of Juan’s village. There are no more continents and no more moons to search for, little left to discover. At least it seems that way.
Yet, as I thought about Juan’s question, I was not sure how much more we could really rule out. I am, in part, an ant biologist, so my thoughts turned to what we know about insect life and I knew that much in the world of insects remains unknown. How much, though? How ignorant (无知的) are we? The question of what we know and do not know constantly bothered me.
I began collecting newspaper articles about new species, new monkey, new spider…, and on and on they appear. My drawer quickly filled. I began a second drawer for more general discoveries: new cave system discovered with dozens of nameless species, four hundred species of bacteria found in the human stomach. The second drawer began to fill and as it did I wondered whether there were bigger discoveries out there, not just species, but life that depends on things thought to be useless, life even without DNA. I started a third drawer for these big discoveries. It fills more slowly, but all the same, it fills.
In looking into the stories of biological discovery, I also began to find something else, a collection of scientists, usually brilliant occasionally half-mad, who made the discoveries. Those scientists very often see the same things that other scientists see, but they pay more attention to them, and they focus on them to the point of exhaustion (穷尽), and at the risk of the ridicule of their peers. In looking for the stories of discovery, I found the stories of these people and how their lives changed our view of the world.
We are repeatedly willing to imagine we have found most of what is left to discover. We used to think that insects were the smallest organisms (生物), and that nothing lived deeper than six hundred meters. Yet, when something new turns up, more often than not, we do not even know its name.
1.How did the author feel on his arrival in the Amazon?
A.Out of place. B.Full of joy. C.Sleepy. D.Regretful.
2.What made that Amazonian evening wonderful?
A.He learned more about the local language.
B.They had a nice conversation with each other.
C.They understood each other while playing.
D.He won the soccer game with the goal keeper.
3.Why was the author surprised at Juan’s question about the moon?
A.The question was too straightforward.
B.Juan knew so little about the world.
C.The author didn’t know how to answer.
D.The author didn’t think Juan was sincere.
4.What was the author’s initial purpose of collecting newspaper articles?
A.To sort out what we have known.
B.To deepen his research into Amazonians.
C.To improve his reputation as a biologist.
D.To learn more about local cultures.
5.How did those brilliant scientists make great discoveries?
A.They shifted their viewpoints frequently.
B.They followed other scientists closely.
C.They often criticized their fellow scientists.
D.They conducted in-depth and close studies.
6.What could be the most suitable title for the passage?
A.The Possible and the Impossible .
B.The Known and the Unknown .
C.The Civilized and the Uncivilized .
D.The Ignorant and the Intelligent.
