If you never read the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, now is your chance to catch up — by watching the latest film adaptation. Because if there’s one sentence to sum up the film, it would be, as Fox News says in its review, “It’s just like the book”

Director Baz Luhrmann’s main challenge was “either to find a visual equivalent(相等物) for Fitzgerald’s elegant essay--the open secret of the book’s staying power-- or to bend the material to his own exotic(异国的) strengths,a Time magazine review says. He tries it both ways, with varying degrees of success.

Considered to be Fitzgerald's representative work, The Great Gatsby explores themes of idealism, resistance to change, social change, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.

Nick, the narrator, moves to New York for the summer to visit his cousin Daisy. His next-door neighbor is Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), who rarely contacts with others and is rumored to be a hero of the Great War. Gatsby claims to have attended Oxford University, but the evidence is suspect. As Nick learns more about Gatsby, every detail about him seems questionable, except his love for the Daisy. Though Daisy is married, Gatsby still adores her as his ―golden girl.They first met when she was a young lady from a wealthy family and he was a working-class military officer. Daisy promised to wait for his return from the war. However, she married Tom, a classmate of Nick’s. Having obtained a great fortune, Gatsby sets out to win her back again.

”All of Fitzgerald’s original creation finds its way into this film, even going as far to include quite a bit of the original dialogue,US film critic Justin Taroli writes in his review. “The cast is beautiful as is the script, and the scenes are a visual feast.Taroli adds.

DiCaprio does a good and professional job as the socialite by re-creating Fitzgerald’s description of Gatsby’s charm. “He can look at someone for an instant and understand how, perfectly, he or she wants to be seen,David Denby, a film critic for The New Yorker, says in his review.

The use of music is almost reason enough to see the film. “Luhrmann is at his best mixing visual and musical styles together to create something wholly original, the Fox News review said.

For example, in one of the most outstanding scenes in the film, the first party scene, Nick walks quickly from one party guest to another party guest trying to explain all the gossip about Gatsby until he is finally introduced to the man himself, while the most stirring version of Rhapsody in Blue (composed by American musician George Gershwin in 1924) is played in the background.

1.What did Baz Luhrmann do to make the film a success?

A. He adapted the story in the novel as he wished.

B. He made the film more powerful than the book.

C. He mixed his style with the elegance of the essay.

D. He showed the elegance of the pictures in the film.

2.What is Taroli’s attitude towards the film?

A. Favorable. B. Sceptical.

C. Amazed. D. Unconcerned.

3. What are the characteristics of Gatsby?

A. Faithful and warm-hearted.

B. Charming and professional.

C. Selfish and stubborn.

D. Mysterious and devoted.

4.Why does the author give the example of the first party scene in the last paragraph?

A. Unfold the fact that Nick wants to know more about Gatsby.

B. Show the version of Rhapsody in Blue matches the film well.

C. Prove that the director is good at combining visual and music.

D. Convince us that the first scene is perfectly shot by the director.

Last year I ruined my summer vacation by bringing along a modern convenience that was too convenient for my own good: the iPad. Instead of looking at nature, I checked my e-mail. Instead of paddling a small boat, I followed my Twitter feed(推特简讯). Instead of reading great novels, I stuck to reading four newspapers each morning. I was behaving as if I were still in the office. My body was on vacation, but my head wasn’t.

So this year I made up my mind to try something different: withdrawal(退出)from the Internet. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, since I’m bad at self-control. But I was determined. I started by giving the iPad to my wife.

The cellphone signal at our house was worse than in the past, making my attempts at cheating an experience in frustration (沮丧). I was trapped, forced to go through with my plan. Largely cut off from e-mail, Twitter and my favorite newspaper websites, I had few ways to connect to the world except for the radio—and how much radio can one listen to, really? I had to do what I had planned to do all along: read books.

This experience has had a happy ending. With determination and the strong support of my wife, I won in my vacation straggle against the Internet, realizing finally that it was I, not the iPad, that was the problem. I knew I had won when we passed a Starbucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi. “I don’t need it,” I said.

However, as we return to post-vacation life, a harder test begins: Can I continue when I’m back at work?

There are times when the need to know what’s being said right now is great. I have no intention of giving up my convenience completely. But I hope to resist the temptation (诱惑)to check my e-mail every five minutes, which leads to checking my Twitter feed and a website ortwo.

I think a vacation is supposed to help you reset your brain to become more productive. Here I hope this one worked.

1.What do we know about the author’s last summer vacation?

A. He was determined to enjoy the beautiful view.

B. His iPad ruined his plan of finishing a great novel.

C. He felt satisfied that he had stuck to his usual timetable.

D. He hated himself for acting as if he were working on vacation.

2.What did the author do to keep away from the Internet this year?

A. He handed his iPad to his wife.

B. He cut off his cellphone signal.

C. He refused to cheat in his house.

D. He listened to the radio most of the time.

3.When back at work, the author will probably choose to ________.

A. stay away from the Internet for ever

B. continue to road more and more books

C. keep control of when and how to use the Internet

D. stop checking what is being said right now completely

4.What is the author’s opinion of a great vacation in the passage?

A. A vacation is having nothing to do but read all day.

B. A vacation proves that a life of pleasure is overvalued.

C. A vacation is a period of time to do whatever one wishes to.

D. A vacation means a change of pace to make one more creative.

In the Internet age, speed reading is a necessary and important skill. We skim over articles and e-mails to try to get key words and the main idea of the text. With so much information through our electronic devices (电子设备), it would be impossible to get through everything if we read word by word, line by line. However, a new trend calls on people to enjoy reading slowly.

A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a café and turn off their smartphones. They sit back in comfortable chairs and read in silence for an hour.

Unlike typical book clubs, the point of the slow reading club isn’t to exchange ideas about certain books, but to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, relaxed environment. According to the story, the Wellington book club is just one example of a movement started by book lovers who miss the traditional way of reading.

Traditional readers, like Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, reduces stress levels and deepens the ability to understand others. Some of these benefits have been backed up by science. For example, a study of 300 elderly people published by the journal Neurology last year showed that adults who take part in activities that use their brain, such as reading, suffer less memory loss as they get older. Another study published last year in Science showed that reading novels helps people understand others’ mental states and beliefs — a key skill in building relationships.

Yet technology has made us less careful readers. Computer and phone screens have changed our reading patterns from the top-to-bottom, left-to-right reading order we traditionally used, to a wild skimming pattern as we hunt for important words and information. Reading text online that has many links to other web pages also leads to weaker comprehension than reading plain text. The Internet may have made us stupider, says British journalist Patrick Kingsley, only half joking. Because of the Internet, he says we have become very good at collecting a wide range of factual tidbits (花边新闻), but we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, think and connect all these facts with each other.

1.Speed reading is a necessary and important skill in the Internet age because people ______.

A. no longer read word by word, line by line

B. have to get the meaning faster

C. have much more information to read

D. must use their smartphones more frequently

2.Members of the Wellington book club are expected to ______.

A. make coffee for the other members

B. read peacefully for an hour

C. regularly exchange ideas about books

D. turn off their smartphones for sleeping

3.According to the Neurology study, who is most likely to suffer memory loss?

A. A 79-year-old woman who reads regularly.

B. A 17-year-old middle school student who seldom reads.

C. A healthy 24-year-old university graduate who often plays games.

D. A 65-year-old man who rarely reads.

4.The last paragraph is written to ______.

A. explain the secrets of others’ minds

B. describe the problems caused by electronic reading

C. call on people to read more about science

D. encourage people to read as slowly as possible

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Social media and the mobile web have given rise to a strange phenomenon(现象) called the selfie. It refers to a picture of yourself, usually shared on any social networking website.

1. Some selfies are extremely close-ups, and others show part of an arm held straight outward. A few of them even feature the subject standing in front of a bathroom mirror.

Everyone takes selfies, but the younger crowd seems to be especially involved in the trend. Young people are relatively heavier digital users. They are interested in staying connected to their friends. 2.

There are also kinds of psychological(心理学的) factors driving people to take a selfie and upload it to a social networking site. 3. A quick and easy way to attract others’ attention is to get “likes” and comment from friends. Secondly, it is human nature to show off your own great achievements. When you feel good about yourself or look good, it is far too easy to take out your phone and document it all through one or several selfies. 4. That is right. Sometimes people are bored at work, bored at school, bored at home and even bored on the toilet. Last but not the least, social media is about being social! If that means uploading as many selfies as possible, then so be it. It is fun, and it’s a cool way to sort of document of your own life.

Finally, there are things to be mindful of when you are posting. It’s easy to think you’re sharing a photo with a few people. 5. So don’t post anything online, selfie especially.

A. There are a lot of selfie styles.

B. The rise of selfies has become universal.

C. Social media, to some extent, is the driving force of their selfie activity.

D. The desire to take, post and get “likes” on selfies goes back to a biological behavior.

E. But the whole world of social media is public and every individual can get access to it.

F. There are also people who will take selfies because they have nothing else better to do.

G. The leading factor is that people want to get attention from as many people as possible.

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