This year the selfie earned its place as the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2013 Word Of The Year. It has taken over our culture --- and our smartphones. The rise of the selfie has become universal–between presidents, celebrities(名人) and citizens alike–and the trend is only continuing to grow.
A recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 54 percent of Internet users have posted original photos online. And of those hundreds of millions of photos, many are of selfie photos.
For example, currently there are nearly 62 million posted selfie photos on Instagram, the social media tool that has significantly contributed to the personal photo’s popularity. That figure, which continues to rise every day, doesn’t even begin to include the selfies shared on Facebook and Twitter.
What makes the selfie so attractive -- and why do we feel it a must to take one? According to Dr. Pamela Rutledge, psychologist and director of the Media Psychology Research Center, the desire to take, post and get “likes” on selfies goes back to a biological behavior of all humans.
“I think it influences our sense of social connection in the same way as it does when you go to a party and people say ‘Oh I love your dress,’” Rutledge told The Huffington Post. “Biological, social recognition is a real need and there is even an area of the brain that contributes to social activity.”
There is a way to adapt to the growing selfie culture. Whether you’re a selfie novice or an advanced poster, there are always things to be mindful of when you’re posting, Rutledge advises.
She offered two main principles to follow when it comes to posting on social media:
1. The Grandmother Rule
“Don’t post anything online, whether text or visual, that you don’t want grandmother or future employer to see,” Rutledge said. “Selfies especially.”
2. The Elevator Rule
“You wouldn’t say something in an elevator that you or no one else wants to hear -- the whole world of social media is an elevator,” Rutledge said. “Be aware of the breadth (宽度) of platform. It’s easy to think you’re sharing a photo with a few people, but Instagram is public and people can come across things.”
1.What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?
A. The selfie is taking the lead.
B. Many people are fond of smartphones.
C. The selfie will take over everything.
D. The selfie is an important new word.
2. According to the passage, people like “selfie” so much, because they ___________.
A. want to show off their new dresses
B. need to be acknowledged in social life
C. desire to share good things
D. mean to amuse the public
3. The underlined word “novice” in Paragraph 6 probably means “________”.
A. greenhandB. publisher C. novelistD. celebrity
4.When it comes to posting on social media, Rutledge advises people to ______.
A. share photos only on Instagram
B. talk about your photos in an elevator
C. be cautious in posting things online
D. follow rules set by your grandmothers
The kindly “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” wearing Han Chinese clothing and holding a fortune bag debuted(亮相) at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas. The final image of the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competition that cost millions of yuan. Its debut seems to be a sign of competition against “Santa Claus”, according to a report by Guangming Daily.
Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights, Christmas songs, Christmas trees, and the images of “Santa Claus” in recent days. As a matter of fact, foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people, particularly the youth. “Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual meanings,” said noted writer Feng Jicai. More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine’s Day and Christmas. However, many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines(小糖人), and have never heard suona music. Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared. Under such circumstances, even the “Chinese Fortune Grandpa” is unlikely to defeat “Santa Claus”.
However, it is not a bad thing to some extent. It constantly reminds people to restore the “true face” of traditional festivals. China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays, which brings more paid leaves to the public, and helps to awaken the public awareness of traditional festivals.
In modern society, festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning largely depends on their understandings and usages by people. Compared with foreign festivals, traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior(次于) in cultural meanings, but lack of fashion sought by modern people. If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals, and only take pleasure-seeking as the most important, the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance(继承) of fine traditional culture will be cut off.
1.The second paragraph implies that______________.
A. traditional festivals should co-exist with foreign festivals
B. all the Chinese festivals are disappearing in the near future
C. western festivals are constantly impacting on our festivals
D. Chinese people have the public awareness of traditional festivals
2.We can learn from the passage that _________.
A. an image design by Chinese people will be displayed
B. many foreigners know nothing about Chinese Festivals
C. the Chinese gift-giver was intended to symbolize traditional culture
D. the Chinese are beginning to exchange gifts on the Mid-Autumn Festival
3.Many Chinese youth dislike traditional festivals because they think _________.
A. traditional festivals are out of fashion now
B. the historical culture is more difficult to understand
C. western festivals contain more cultural meanings
D. the inheritance will cut off their contact with western festivals
4.What would be the best title of the passage?
A. Gone are Chinese Traditional Festivals
B. True Face of Chinese Traditional Culture
C. Foreign Festivals Popular with Chinese
D. Chinese Fortune Grandpa VS. Santa Claus
In a small open courtyard, outside a school building, there were flowers here and there. In the sunshine,a was lying on the grass,reading a book with concentration. Near her,another child was carefully watering the flowers, while a third was with his back against a tree and had a on his knees. He appeared to be drawing or writing something on it. He was in his task, like the first child.
the building, there were pleasant carpeted areas. Many children were busy with their tasks in a variety of while teachers wandered among them, talking to them, them, and encouraging their efforts.
I watched this scene on a morning in May years ago, it to me that a visitor here would have thought he had entered a formal school. He would have been even more if he had been told that the children he was came from different kinds of academic levels.
That has been staying with me ever since. I have been about some problems. Why in many schools are our children asked to acquire skills in a way from a real-life context(情境)? Why does a school child so often become a defeated school failure?
Developmental psychologist Margaret Donald once said, “ of the intellectual framework (知识框架) on which we our teaching is misleading.” In my opinion, a child learns everything in human situation. And if every child could learn in the same way as the children in the school I visited, they would develop better.
1.A. gardenerB. childC. teacherD. visitor
2.A. poor B. littleC. completeD. slight
3.A. sittingB. standingC. sleepingD. listening
4.A. toyB. pencilC. flowerD. notebook
5.A. laidB. setC. defeatedD. lost
6.A. Over B. AboveC. InsideD. Outside
7.A. waysB. ideasC. opinionsD. views
8.A. referring toB. smiling atC. pointing to D. staring at
9.A. Unless B. AsC. UntilD. Before
10.A. happenedB. wentC. occurredD. got
11.A. alreadyB. neverC. ratherD. ever
12.A. satisfied B. disappointedC. delightedD. surprised
13.A. helpingB. teachingC. encouragingD. observing
14.A. sceneB. signC. lookD. screen
15.A. dreamingB. regrettingC. wonderingD. joking
16.A. seldomB. hardly C. oftenD. badly
17.A. takenB. preventedC. learnedD. separated
18.A. slowB. livelyC. luckyD. friendly
19.A. MuchB. AnyC. LittleD. None
20.A. turnB. feedC. drawD. base
We should consider the students’ request _____ the school library provide more books on popular science.
A. that B. when C. which D. what
Working hard is not only a _____ of great success, but it is among the essential requirement.
A. sign B. singal C. guarantee D. expectation
We were strongly recommended that we _____ in Malaysia.
A. didn’t travel B. wouldn’t travel C. hadn’t travelled D. not travel