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They can be seen more frequently than ever before on college campuses, wearing thick-rimmed glasses while listening to indie(独立的) music. One might find them playing unusual musical instruments, shopping at second-hand stores or expressing themselves in other unique ways. They call themselves hipsters. Being “hip” used to mean following the latest fashion. But gradually the word has evolved into a synonym for “cool”.
Hipsters value independent thinking, progressive politics, an appreciation of creativity and intelligence. Hipsters take pains and pride in not being mainstream. However, their culture has become quite trendy. This irony is central to their culture and offers an interesting paradox.
“I do take things in the mainstream with a grain of salt,” says Ben Polson, a college student at Brown University in the US. Polson describes himself as a hipster and says he often questions what determines popularity, especially regarding music.When lesser-known bands become popular they often lose their former fan base in exchange for a new one. There is a famous hipster saying that goes: I used to like that band before it got popular.
According to Polson, bands’ music changes when they go mainstream. They become “less experimental, doing things just to save popularity and fans. The original elements that we were drawn to slowly dwindle for the sake of popularity.”
Many young adults have started to view hipsters’ outlook as cool and are adopting their counterculture mindset (心态)themselves. This has led to specialized brands, stores and music for the hipster position. Ironically, some such stores, including clothing labels Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, have gained mainstream popularity. This has seemingly diluted(冲淡) the anti-mainstream culture.
“A lot of people that are self-defined hipsters aren’t really hipsters, they’re just trying to conform to the non-conformist(不墨守成规者) to seem cooler,” says Amanda Leopold, a college student from Oberlin College, US. Although Leopold has many unconventional tastes and seems quite individualist, she refuses to classify herself as a hipster.
There is a conflict among hipsters about the very definition of the label. To some, to be a hipster is to be free from cultural constraints. To others, it means wearing a certain style and listening to a specific style of music. The former constantly strives for uniqueness, while the latter strives not to be mainstream.
And yet, the movement is gaining mainstream popularity. “It’s kind of the trend these days; everyone wants to be hip so no one’s hip,” says Leopold. “There have been hipsters since the seventies. It’s only become popular recently.”
Hipsters reject materialism and laugh at mainstream culture. But are they really beyond material comforts? Do they have any ideas of their own if they despise mainstream so much?
Christy Wampole, an associate professor of literature at Princeton University, US, is not so sure. She says the hipster is a contradiction in himself and an easy target of mockery(嘲弄). Writing in The New York Times, Wampole paints a less appreciative picture of a typical hipster.
“The hipster is a scholar of social forms, a student of cool. He studies continuously, searching for what has yet to be found by the mainstream. He is a walking citation(例证); his clothes refer to much more than themselves. He tries to negotiate the age-old problem of individuality, not with concepts, but with material things.”
1.From the passage we can know that hipsters are ____________________________.
A．a group of people who are self-denied
B．a group of students who are good at musical instruments
C．people who follow the latest trends and fashions
D．people who pay no attention to material things
2.The underlined word dwindle in the fourth paragraph may probably mean______________.
A．enlarge B．delete C．disappear D．decrease
3.Leopold refuses to classify herself as a hipster because_______________________.
A．she doesn’t like her own unconventional tastes
B．there are too many specialized brands, stores and music for the hipster position
C．she thinks that a lot of people that are self-defined hipsters aren’t really hipsters
D．the hipsters’ culture has become quite trendy
4.When Leopold said “It’s kind of the trend these days; everyone wants to be hip so no one’s hip”, we can see that she felt a bit ______________.
A．happy B．disappointed C．excited D．content
5.The passage mainly tells us ________________________.
A．the difficult situation of hipsters B．the trend of fashion
C．the changes of the society D．the culture of hipsters
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Nowadays, a cellphone service is available to everyone, everywhere. Probably thousands of people have already been using it, but I just discovered it, so I'm going to claim it and also name it: Fake Foning.
The technology has been working well for me at the office, but there are infinite(无限的） applications. Virtually in any public space.
Say you work at a big university with lots of talky faculty members buzzing about. Now, say you need to use the restroom. The trip down the hall will take approximately one hour, because a person can't walk into those talky people without getting pulled aside for a question, a bit of gossip, a new read on a certain line of Paradise Lost.
So, a cellphone. Any cellphone. Just pick it up. Don't dial. Just hold that phone to your face and start talking. Walk confidently down the hall engaged in fake conversation, making sure to tailor both the topic and content to the person standing before you whom you are trying to avoid.
For standard colleague avoidance, I suggest fake chatting about fake business:
"Yes, I'm glad you called, because we really need to hammer out the details. What's that? Yes, I read Page 12, but if you look at the bottom of 4, I think you can see the problem begins right there."
Be engaged in your fake fone conversation. Make eye contact with the people passing, nod to them, gesture keen interest in talking to them at a later time, point to your phone, shrug and move on.
Shoppers should consider fake foning anytime they spot a talky neighbor in the produce department pinching (用手捏) unripe peaches. Without your phone at your face, you'd be in for a 20-minute speech on how terrible the world is.
One important caution about fake foning. The other day I was fake foning my way past a colleague, and he was actually following me to get my attention. I knew he wanted to ask about a project I had not yet finished. I was trying to buy myself some time, so I continued fake foning with my doctor. "So I don't need the operation? Oh, doctor, that is the best news."
And then: Brrrrrrng! Brrrrrmg! Brrrrrmg! My phone started ringing, right there while it was planted on my face. My colleague looked at me, and I at him, and naturally I gasped. "What is the matter with this thing?" I said, pulling the phone away to look at it, and then putting it back to my ear.
"Hello? Are you still there?" Oops.
1.According to the passage Fake Foning is _______________________.
A．a strategy to avoid people B．a device newly produced
C．a service provided everywhere D．a skill of communication
2.In the author's opinion, in order to make fake foning look real one has to__________________.
A．talk about interesting matters B．behave politely to people passing by
C．hold the phone while walking D．appear absorbed in conversation
3.What does the last example show?
A．One effective way is to fake fone one's doctor.
B．One has to be careful while fake foning.
C．Fake foning may not cheat people.
D．Fake foning is always quite successful.
4.After his phone suddenly began ringing, the author___________________.
A．immediately started talking to the caller
B．immediately started talking to his colleague
C．put the phone away and stopped talking
D．continued with his fake conversation
5.What is the tone of the passage?
A．Critical. B．Humorous. C．Serious. D．Unclear.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Boots(men's)
By the Union Team. Leather with plastic sole(鞋底)
Sizes:3,4,5
Order number:
PQ 2544 red
PQ 2545 dark brown
Price:￡29.99 The magic jeans collection(women's)
Stretch jeans in blue, black, red.
Made to sit slightly lower than natural waistline at front. Zip fastening. Washable.
Made of:96% cotton,4% elastane(弹性纤维).
Sizes:10,12,14,16
Order number:
GQ 8487 blue
GQ 8488 black
Price: ￡24.99
Three-quarter length
jacket(women's)
Fashionable leather. Length 34 inches.
Do not hand clean.
Sizes:10,12,14,16,18
Order number:
CQ 8200 black
CQ 8201 black
Price: ￡99.99
Insure your leather jacket against being stolen and accidental damage. For details see Page 1143. Epaulette shirt(men's)
Short-sleeved shirt with sleeve and shoulder epaulettes(肩章),button-down collar and two button-down chest pockets. Washable. Cotton.
Sizes:S(35/37),M(38/40),L(41/43),XL(44/46)
Order number:
KQ 8149 blue
KQ 8151 green
Price: ￡14.99
Classic rugby shirts(men's)
In the same style as your rugby team-Scotland, England or Wales. All our stylish rugby shirts are genuine leisure shirts too. They're all machine washable and in 100% cotton.
Sizes: S,M,L,XL
Order number:
Scotland shirts:DQ9967
England shirts: KQ 9963
Wales shirts: KQ 9978
Price: ￡19.99
1.The soles of the boots for men are made of ____________________.
A．leather B．elastane C．cotton D．plastic
2.The stretch jeans come in __________ colours and ______________ sizes.
A．2; 3 B．3;3 C．3;4 D．4;4
3.From the above chart we can see clearly that _______________________________________.
A．the shirts listed in the chart are genuine leisure shirts
B．all the clothes listed in the chart can be washed both by hand and machine
C．you can insure your three-quarter length jacket against being stolen and accidental damage
D．the magic jeans may be in 100% cotton
4.It will cost you ______________ to buy two epaulette shirts.
A．99.99 pounds B．29.98 pounds C．49.98 pounds D．38.98 pounds
5.The order number for the England rugby shirts is________________.
A．KQ9963 B．DQ9967 C．KQ 9978 D．KQ 8149
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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It was late in the afternoon, and I was putting the final touch on a piece of writing that I was feeling pretty good about. I wanted to save it, but my cursor(光标) had frozen. I tried to shut the computer down, and it seized up altogether. Unsure of what else to do, I yanked (用力猛拉) the battery out.
Unfortunately, Windows had been in the midst of a crucial（紧要关头） undertaking. The next morning, when I turned my computer back on, it informed me that a file had been corrupted and Windows would not load. Then, it offered to repair itself by using the Windows Setup CD.
I opened the special drawer where I keep CDs. But no Windows CD in there. I was forced to call the computer company's Global Support Centre. My call was answered by a woman in some unnamed, far-off land. I find it annoying to make small talk with someone when I don't know what continent they're standing on. Suppose I were to comment on the beautiful weather we've been having when there was a monsoon(季风) at the other end of the phone? So I got right to the point.
"My computer is telling me a file is corrupted and it wants to fix itself, but I don't have the Windows Setup CD."
"So you're having a problem with your Windows Setup CD." She has apparently been dozing and, having come to just as the sentence ended, was attempting to cover for her inattention.
It quickly became clear that the woman was not a computer technician. Her job was to serve as a gatekeeper. Her only duty, as far as I could tell, was to raise global stress levels.
To make me disappear, the woman gave me the phone number for Windows' creator, Microsoft. This is like giving someone the phone number for, I don't know, North America. Besides, the CD worked; I just didn't have it. No matter how many times I repeated my story, we came back to the same place. She was calm and polite.
When my voice hit a certain decibel (分贝), I was passed along, like a hot, irritable potato, to a technician.
"You don't have the Windows Setup CD, ma'am, because you don't need it," he explained cheerfully.
"Windows came preinstalled on your computer!"
"But I do need it."
"Yes, but you don't have it." We went on like this for a while. Finally, he offered to walk me through the use of a different CD, one that would erase my entire system. "Of course, you'd lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos." It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. "You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive." He sounded delighted. "And it's not covered by the warranty (产品保证书)!" The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.
I hung up the phone and drove my computer to a small, friendly repair place I'd heard about. A smart, helpful man dug out a Windows CD and told me it wouldn't be a problem. An hour later, he called to let me know it was ready. I thanked him, and we chatted about the weather, which was the same outside my window as it was outside his.
1.Why did the author shut down her computer abruptly?
A．She had saved what she had written.
B．She couldn't move the cursor.
C．The computer refused to work.
D．The computer offered to repair itself.
2.Which of the following is the author's opinion about the woman at the Global Support Centre?
A．She sounded helpful and knowledgeable.
B．She was there to make callers frustrated.
C．She was able to solve her computer problem.
D．She was quick to pass her along to a technician.
3.According to the passage, the solution offered by the technician was_________________.
A．effective B．economical C．unpractical D．unsatisfied
4. "It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache" in the last but one paragraph means that_____________________.
A．the technician's proposal would make things even worse
B．the technician's proposal could eventually solve the problem
C．files stored on her computer were like a safe
D．erasing the entire system was like curing a headache
5.It can be inferred from the passage that the differences between the Global Support Centre and the local repair shop lie in all the followings except ________________.
A．efficiency B．location C．setup CDs D．attitude
难度: 中等查看答案及解析