Celebrity(名人) has become one of the most important representatives of popular cu

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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(最初的) attention dies down, consumer interest might fade, loyalty(忠诚) 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.
小题1:Fashion magazines today .

A．seldom put models on the cover

B．no longer put models on the cover

C．need not worry about celebrities’ market potential

D．judge the market potential of every celebrity correctly

小题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

小题3:The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 indicates that any wrong step will possibly .

A．decrease the popularity of a celebrity and the sales of his products

B．damage the image of a celebrity in the eyes of the general public

C．cut short the artistic career of a celebrity in show business

D．influence the price of a celebrity’s products

小题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

答案

小题1:A
小题2:D
小题3:A
小题4:B

解析

试题分析:本文是一篇说明文，说明了名人已成为流行文化的重要代表，但是今天，名人面临更加严峻的尴尬。流行文化圈比以往大，其周转速度也加快，名人每一次的失误都会减少他们的知名度，和他们产品的销售
小题1:细节题，由第一段第三行fashion magazines have almost abandoned the practice of putting models on the cover…可以知道答案，故选A。
小题2:推理题，由第二段第三行they’re started by first-class stars whose products enjoy equal fame with some world top brands.可以推出答案，所以选D。
小题3:推理题，由最后一段倒数第四行Having already achieved great wealth and public recognition, many celebrities see fashion as the next frontier to be conquered可以推出答案，所以选A
小题4:推理题，由本文的主要意思“名人已成为流行文化的重要代表，但是今天，名人面临更加严峻的尴尬。流行文化圈比以往大，其周转速度也加快，名人每一次的失误都会减少他们的知名度，和他们产品的销售”可以推出答案，所以选B
点评：这篇文章比较抽象，关键在于正确理解，理解了文章主旨后，再关注细节，所有的问题迎刃而解

举一反三

Cara Lang is 13. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts, in me U. S. Last Thursday, she didn"t go to school. She went to work with her father instead. Every year, on the fourth Thursday in April, millions of young girls go work. This is Take Our Daughters to Work Day. The girls are between me ages of 9 and 15. They spend the day at work with an adult, usually a mother, father, aunt, or uncle. They go to offices, police stations, laboratories, and other places where their parents or other family members work. Next year, the day will include sons, too.
The Ms. Foundation, an organization for women, started the program about ten years ago. In the U.S., many women work outside the home. The Ms. Foundation wanted girls to find out about many different kinds of jobs. Then, when the girls grow up, they can choose a job they like.
Cara"s father is a film director. Cara says, “It was very exciting for me to go to the studio with my dad. I saw a lot of people doing different jobs.” Many businesses have special activities for girls on this day. Last year, Cara went to work with her aunt at the University of Massachusetts. In the engineering department, the girls learned to build a bridge with toothpicks and Candy. In the chemistry department, they learned to use scales. They learned about many other kinds of jobs, too.
Right now, Cara does not know what job she will have when she grows up. But because of Take Our Daughters to Work Day, she knows she h2Ls many choices.
小题1:What is Cara"s father?

A．An engineer.

B．An official.

C．A moviemaker.

D．A professor.

小题2:According to the passage, Take our Daughters to work Day is ______.

A．on every Thursday in April

B．a holiday for girls of all ages

C．a day for girls to know about jobs

D．a day for girls to get a job easily

小题3:On this special day, Cara has done all the following EXCEPT that ____.

A．she learned to use scales

B．she worked as an actress

C．she went to work with her aunt

D．she used toothpicks and Candy to build a bridge

小题4:What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．Cara Lang, a Fortunate Girl

B．Take Our Daughters to Work Day

C．Children"s Day and Work Day

D．Ms. Foundation, an Organization for Women

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When I worked as a waitress in Chicago, US, my coworkers and I would sigh whenever we heard someone with a foreign accent coming into our restaurant. We knew what it meant to serve a non-American: no tip. We would work just as hard as we always did, but we might not get paid.
Americans have an unspoken rule about tipping: they give tips to almost everyone who offers them a service of some kind. Americans tip their waiters, barbers and taxi drivers. An appropriate tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the amount charged for the service (But the charge for the tip doesn’t appear on the bill. The customer is expected to add it himself/herself.) Tipping less than this sends a message to your waiters that you think they’ve done a bad job serving you. And to leave no tip at all is simply unacceptable.
It’s not that American waiters are greedy. In many countries, waiters are paid a salary for their work. They’ll earn money even if no one comes into the restaurant. This system offers much more safety for waiters than the American version. In the US, waiters know that a night without customers means a night without pay.
Some countries include a tip for waiters – a “service charge” – on the bill itself. Since the tip is included with the other charges, waiters don’t need to worry about people forgetting to tip. But in the US, waiters do not receive a salary, and service charges only appear on bills when there are six or more customers at the table.
Since almost all American customers are familiar with the system, they know to add a tip without being told. But visitors to the US may expect waiters to be paid a salary, or think that the tip is included on the bill.
So much as we waiters loved hearing stories about other places from our foreign customers, we were always nervous when they got ready to leave the restaurant. We were never sure what to expect.
小题1:If you order $200 worth of food, which of the following is a proper total payment?

A．$200

B．$215

C．$220

D．$230

小题2:Why don’t some foreigners tip a waiter according to the writer?.

A．because they are unfamiliar with the American tip system .

B．because they are too mean to give tips to any waiter.

C．because they have difficulty communicating with waiters.

D．because they are not really easy to become satisfied.

小题3:What can we learn from the passage?
A. The service charge never appear on the bill in the USA.
B. Customers are usually expected to tip waiters in the USA.
C. Dining out in other countries is much more expensive than in the USA.
D. Waiters in other countries earn much more money than those in the USA.
小题4:What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To complain about the difficult life of American waiters.

B．To warn other waiters not to serve any foreign customer.

C．To call on foreign customers to leave tips for American waiters.

D．To tell us something about American waiters’ salary system.

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Hoffman，40，a former senior vice president of a financial company，had what she describes as “one of those extreme jobs.” “I loved working,” she says. But her career path reached a crossroad when her second child was born，and she left her job in February 2007. Hoffman is one of many people who have left the work force to take a break，but she has a position as a consultant．She has described this type of career detour(绕路) ----- which is more common for women than for men—as “off- ramping．” Typically it occurs when the balancing act of parenting and work becomes too tough．
A study by the center found that more than 90 percent of women who off-ramp want to on-ramp back into the work force eventually．But making the transition back to work is rarely easy，and it is even harder in this economic climate of layoffs and hiring freezes.
Considering some of the obstacles faced by on- rampers , a three-day program called “Greater Returns：Restarting Your Career” was held at Columbia University. The goal of the three days was to have them walk away with a big shot of confidence.
　According to one school of thought, women looking to make a comeback might even have an advantage in the current economy，especially if they are looking for part-time or consultant positions that do not offer benefits. And a majority of on-rampers are women with extensive working experiences that could give them a slight advantage over less-experienced competition．
　“You absolutely cannot be defensive about why you off-ramped,” Ms Hoffman says, “ defensive” would have put her into a hard situation if the Greater Returns program had had not taught her how to describe the years she spent at home．“I now feel confident talking to an employer and saying，‘ Yes，I have been out of the work force，but here is where I can make significant contributions.’”
小题1:What is the best title for the passage?

A．Off ramp：it is common　　　　　　　　

B．On ramp：it is easy

C．Off ramp or on ramp：it depends on confidence

D．Off ramp to on ramp：it can be a hard Journey

小题2:According to the passage，Greater Returns___________．

A．is intended to relieve the pressure of the jobless women

B．has all the jobless women restart their career

C．will build up the confidence of those in search of jobs

D．is to last a11 the year around for the jobless women

小题3:The main reason for the women’s off-ramping is that_________．

A．they have to suffer the sexual discrimination

B．they have to parent their children

C．they reach a crossroad of career

D．they have great work pressure

小题4:From what Ms．Hoffman says in the last paragraph，we can conclude________ .

A．she didn’t get advice from the Greater Returns program

B．she was defensive about her off-ramping

C．she didn’t get the job because she lied about her experience

D．she is off ramp partly due to her straightforward manner

小题5:Which job is easier to get for a woman off-ramper?

A．Regular workers.	B．Casual workers.
C．Company managers.	D．Bank clerks.

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For many people – especially those juggling (兼顾) family and work at the same time --- it can be difficult to stick with a college degree. Kathy Bitzthum thought many times about dropping out of her accounting program at Iowa State University: She had two children and a job at Electronic Technology Corp. She’d only enrolled in the first place because her boss would offer her a promotion if she took a few accounting courses.
Because she only had enough time to take one class at a time, it took her seven years to complete the courses her boss asked her to take on. She received the promotion as her boss promised and wasn’t planning to continue a degree. But a request from her father, who was dying of cancer, made her think twice. He said to her, “Kathy, why don’t you just keep going and get your degree?”
Before he passed away, he made her promise that she would finish it. And he made her a promise in turn. Vitzthum’s parents had agreed to give each of their children a valuable gift when they graduated from college, and Vitzthum was obsessed with an antique she’d come across and knew that she couldn’t afford. After she promised to graduate from college, her parents bought her the antique. Her father told her, “I’m not going to be around when you graduate, so I’ll give this to you now. But it doesn’t _________ until you graduate from college.”
Since then, Vitzthum has looked at that antique every day and remembered the promise she had made to her father. Despite a hectic life as a wife, mother and full-time employee, she’s taken one course every semester for the last 19 years. And finally, at the age of 48, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting --- and she was excited to accept full ownership (所有权) of the antique that she’d borrowed for more than a decade.
小题1:What had contributed to Kathy’s studying the accounting program at Iowa State University?
___________________________________________________________________
小题2:Why did it take Kathy seven years to finish the accounting program?(no more than 10 words)
___________________________________________________________________
小题3:What did Kathy’s father make her promise to do before he died?(no more than 10 words)
___________________________________________________________________
小题4:Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words.(no more than 3 words)
___________________________________________________________________
小题5:What does the passage mainly talk about?(no more than 12 words)
___________________________________________________________________

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BEIJING - The country"s top health officials state that an international charity"s decisions not to give millions of dollars to Chinese organizations that fight AIDS and other diseases will not bring about the end of those organizations.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced on Monday that it will withhold $95 million from the $270 million in grants(补助金) it had planned to give China. That decision came as the result of months of discussion between the charity and Chinese officials.
On the mainland, a large number of programs meant to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS have received money from the Global Fund. Many observers now fear that the announced cut will undermine those organizations" work.
Chen Zhu, the minister of health, said officials have found a way to limit the harm. “In the coming five years, the Chinese government will constantly increase its financial support of social organizations, particularly those that work to control and prevent HIV/AIDS.” Chen said while addressing the 6th Experience Exchange Conference of International Cooperation Program on HIV/AIDS in China on Monday.
In a recent survey of more than 200 organizations taking part in the fight against HIV/AIDS on the mainland, nearly 80 percent of them said they had received grants from the Global Fund. About 83 percent of them said they will find it difficult to continue operating without financial support from abroad, it said. Official statistics showed the Global Fund has given China $548 million in grants since 2003.
Xia Jing, leader of a Beijing-based grassroots organization dedicated to controlling AIDS, said: “We were like children fostered by foreign milk. As foreign money began to be withdrawn from China, we were faced with serious financial hardships.” Han Mengjie, executive director of Global Fund China Programs, said the Chinese government has fully recognized the important role social organizations play in controlling diseases. “The work done and efforts made by such organizations must be sustained for a long time to supplement the government"s intervention work,”he said, “We have to face the truth that international money for AIDS control will gradually leave China and to prepare ourselves to deal with that.”
小题1:Which sentence is the closest to the title of the passage?

A．China will have to fight against AIDS alone, though facing financial hardship.

B．Chinese organizations of fighting against AIDS and other diseases won’t receive money from international charity.

C．The fight against AIDS won’t be stopped by the withdraw of money from charity in China.

D．Chinese organizations of fighting against AIDS and other diseases will be reduced to despair.

小题2:According to Han Mengjie, which of the following is the most possible action to be taken?

A．Chinese government is expected to seek help from social organization to control diseases

B．Chinese government shouldn’t rely too much on social organizations

C．Social organizations’ work and efforts won’t make much difference to the fight against AID

D．We Chinese are well prepared for the international money’s withdraw from China

小题3:How much money will China have received from Global Fund by the end of this year ?

A．$818

B．$548

C．$ 270

D．$723

小题4:What implication can we get from the passage？

A．Many people are not optimistic about the control of AIDS.

B．Chinese government will take an active part in AIDS control.

C．International charity are treating China unfairly.

D．Most organization related with AIDS control had received money from the Global Fund before this announcement on Monday.

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