Being seen in a fancy sports car or enjoying a beach holiday in a five-star hotel were once signs of having “made it”. But a new study suggested that having people think of you as constantly occupied and overworked is now a far better way to demonstrate social position.
According to Harvard University in the US, people are increasingly leaning toward the phenomenon of “humblebragging”. This is when people make a seemingly modest statement that actually draws attention to something they want to show off.
Phrases such as “I have no life” and “I desperately need a holiday” are now used to imply social standing, while ordering food and shopping online is the perfect way to prove to neighbors that you are simply too busy and important to go to the supermarket.
“Movies, magazines, and popular TV shows often highlight the abundance of money and leisure time among the wealthy,” said Neeru Paharia, an assistant professor at Harvard University. “In recent years, featuring wealthy people relaxing by the pool, playing tennis or skiing and hunting are being substituted with advertisements featuring busy individuals who work long hours and have very limited leisure time,” he said. “Displaying a lack of leisure time operates as a visible signal of status in the eyes of others.”
The researchers pointed out that the Wall Street Journal’s 2016 advertising campaign featured celebrities complaining about their busy lives, with the slogan (标语), “People who don’t have time, make time to read the Wall Street Journal.”
The report, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research, also found that brands that marketed themselves as time saving were becoming increasingly high-status, because of their users.
According to the authors, this trend of humblebragging is due to people’s shift of focus – they now value “the preciousness and scarcity of individuals” more than “the preciousness and scarcity of goods”. “Busy individuals possess desirable characteristics, leading them to be viewed as in demand,” the authors concluded.
1.Which of the following statements can count as “humblebragging”?
A.“Just ate 15 pieces of chocolate. Gotta control myself flying first class or they'll cancel my modeling contract!”
B.“Everybody check this baby out---we just bought a castle! I mean literally!”
C.“Guys, I'm screwed. I I've missed the final deadline for my essay again and my tutor is going to fail me !”
D.“Wow, I can't believe a rubbishy article like yours got published in a national newspaper!”
2.To indicate their social position, people today prefer to ______.
A.share their passion for tennis or skiing
B.show how fast-paced their work life is
C.tell people about the wonderful holidays they take
D.show off their abundance of money and leisure time
3.The Wall Street Journal’s 2016 adverting slogan is mentioned in para. 5 to prove ______.
A.showing a lack of time suggests high social status
B.the Wall Street Journal is worth people’s time
C.busy individuals need to better manage their time
D.people of high social position are lacking in time
4.The underlined word in the last paragraph “scarcity” probably means_____
A.quantity B.identity
C.shortage D.qualification
When Jeff Sparkman draws his cartoon superheroes, he often has to ask other people to tell him what color his characters turned out to be because he's color-blind. Now, a new smart phone application can help him figure out what colors he's using and how the picture looks to others.
The DanKam app, available for iPhone and Android for $2.99, is an application that makes the vague colors that one percent of the population with color-blindness sees more like the "true" colors as everyone else sees them. In America, around 32 million color-blind Americans---95% are males---can soon have their life improved.
"DanKam takes the stream of data coming in through the phone's camera and changes the colors slightly so they fall within the range that people who are color-blind see," developer Dan Kaminsky told CNET. He came up with the idea after watching the film Star Trek with a color-blind friend.
It was then that he got to know more about colorblindness like its varying types and degrees. A vast majority, for instance, have trouble seeing red or green due to a genetic defect(缺陷). Blue-yellow colorblindness, however, is rarer and develops later in life because of aging, illness or head injuries, etc.
What the DanKam app attempts to do is to clean up the color space of the image signal so that colors can be seen to those suffering from viewing problems. “You can customize the app to fit your needs. There is a range and not everyone who is color-blind sees things the same.” Says Kaminsky.
Sparkman, a copy editor at CNET, tried out the app and was pleased with the results. "It would be useful for dressing for a job interview," he said. But using it for his art is “the most practical application." It worked well on LED and other lights on electronic devices, which means Sparkman can now identify the power light on his computer display as green.
1.According to passage, DanKam ___________.
A.was developed by Jeff Sparkman. B.appeared in the movie Star Trek.
C.is designed to help the blind. D.can be purchased with a fee
2.It can be known from the passage that colorblindness __________.
A.causes trouble in telling all colors B.occurs more commonly in females
C.is not necessarily an inborn disease D.leaves people unable to see clearly
3.How does the DanKam app work?
A.It makes vague colors become vivid ones. B.It operates in a fixed color model.
C.It shows images with an adjusted color space. D.It puts LED lights on electronic devices.
4.Which of the following serves as the best title for the passage?
A.Dankam: A New Treatment For Colorblindness.
B.DanKam: Augmented(增强) Reality For Colorblindness.
C.Dan Kaminsky: A Campaign Against Colorblindness.
D..Jeff Sparkman: Satisfaction Guaranteed By DanKam.
Vegetable gardens may not be as visually pleasing as the variety of flowers, but Floridians looking to save some green by growing their own salad fixings can soon do so without fear. Gov. Ron DeSantis this week signed a law that bans local governments from carrying orders against homeowners from raising veggies in their yards.
The law, which takes effect July 1, puts an end to that particular power of towns and cities across the state to prohibit vegetable gardens for “aesthetic（审美的）purposes”.
The issue became a cause after a couple living in Miami Shores Village opposed the decision of a $ 50 a day fine for growing vegetables in their front yard, as they’d done for years.
Hermine Ricketts and her husband Tom Carroll fought City Hall in a case that wound its way up the state’s court system, with judges consistently ruling against their money-saving and health-conscious project.
After the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of Miami Shores’ right to control design and landscaping standards, the couple replaced their vegetables with pink flamingos (红鹳花) .
Their cause was not lost, however. State lawmakers proposed and passed a law that effectively voids the court rulings, with Rob Bradley, who sponsored the bill, reportedly calling the village’s action a “vast overreach”.
The lawmaker noted the difficulty that many families experience getting fresh and affordable food, calling bans against vegetable and fruit gardens ridiculous.
About a third of all households in the U. S. grow some of their own food, according to the National Gardening Association. The group says a 600-square-foot garden that costs around $ 70 a year to keep can grow 300 pounds of fresh produce worth about $ 600 annually.
1.Why will some Floridians plant salad fixings?
A.To protect the environment. B.To beautify their home.
C.To build their own gardens. D.To cut daily expenses.
2.What can be known about the couple from the passage?
A.They started a public health-conscious campaign.
B.They never gave in to the Miami Shores’ demand .
C.They were fined $50 a day by Miami Shores Village.
D.They were not backed by the Florida Supreme Court.
3.What does the underlined word “voids” in paragraph 6 mean?
A.Hides. B.Cancels.
C.Prevents. D.Values.
4.What does Rob Bradley think of the couple’s action probably?
A.It’s sensible. B.It’s ridiculous.
C.It’s ambitious. D.It’s costly.
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阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇 60 词左右的内容概要。
Perhaps you’ve heard the old saying “curiosity killed the cat.” It’s a phrase that's often used to warn people - especially children - not to ask too many questions. Yet it’s widely agreed that curiosity actually makes learning more effective. In fact, research has shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence in determining how well students do in school.
Curiosity can also lead us to make unexpected discoveries, bring excitement into our lives, and open up new possibilities. In science, basic curiosity-driven research can have unexpected important benefits. For example,one day in 1831, Michael Faraday was playing around with a coil and a magnet when he suddenly saw how he could produce an electrical current. At first, it wasn't clear what use this would have, but it actually made electricity available for use in technology, and so changed the world.
However, curiosity is currently under the biggest threat, coming from technology. On one level, this is because technology has become so advanced that many of us are unable to think too deeply about how exactly things work any more. While it may be possible for a curious teenager to take a toaster apart and get some sense of how it works, how much do you understand about what happens when you type a website address into a browser? Where does your grasp of technology end and the magic begin for you?
In addition to this, there’s the fact that we all now connect so deeply with technology, particularly with our phones. The more we stare at our screens, the less we talk to other people directly. All too often we accept the images of people that social media provides us with. Then we feel we know enough about a person not to need to engage further with them.
That means we end up inside our own little bubbles, no longer coming across new ideas. Perhaps the real key to developing curiosity in the 21st century, then, is to rely less on the tech tools of our age.
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假定你是李华，你的外籍朋友 Mr Brown 对中国文化很感兴趣，请给他写一封邮件，邀请他来参加浙江非物质文化遗产(non-material cultural relics)展览活动。内容包括:
1. 写信目的； 2.时间、地点； 3.活动内容。注意:
1. 词数 80 左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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