“Selfie” (自拍) joins ranks of dictionary words.

In 2002, an Australian man went to his friend’s 21st birthday party. He got drunk, tripped on some steps and cut his lip. He took a picture of his injuries and shared it with his friends on an online forum. “And sorry about the focus,” he wrote, “it was a selfie.” That was the first recorded use of the word “selfie”, according to linguistic experts at Oxford Dictionaries.

On Nov 19, Oxford Dictionaries declared “selfie” Word of the Year for 2013, in honor of the term having taken over the world thanks to millions of smart phone self-portraits and the resulting shares on social media.

So what does the choice of the word say about our culture? Mary Elizabeth Williams, writing in Salon magazine, says the word reminds us that contemporary culture is defined by our narcissism(自恋).Megan Jackson from a local newspaper points out a selfie may only focus on appearance.

Selfies invite judgment based on appearance alone. What kind of cultural influence does this have on women? Erin Gloria Ryan on Jezebel says selfies teach young woman to obsess over their appearance and judge themselves on the basis of beauty rather than accomplishments. “They’re a reflection of the warped way we teach girls to see themselves as decorative,” said Ryan.

In Slate magazine, Rachel Simmons has the opposite view. She argues that selfies are an example of young women promoting themselves and taking control of their own self-presentation. Think of each one, she says, as “a tiny pulse of girl pride —a shout-out to the self”.

1.Which of the following is true about the first use of “selfie”?

A. The Australian man created it to celebrate his friend’s 21st birthday.

B. The Australian man created by chance when he got drunk and shared his photo online.

C. The Oxford Dictionary used it to thank the creation of smart phone.

D. The social media were so advanced that they made the word transmitted.

2.The underlined word “tripped” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.

A. traveled B. stepped lightly

C. fell down D. made mistakes

3.Who holds a positive opinion towards selfie in the life of women?

A. Mary Elizabeth. B. Megan Jackson.

C. Erin Gloria Ryan. D. Rachel Simmons.

4.The text is mainly concerned with ________.

A. the introduction of the word “selfie”

B. the choice of the word “selfie”

C. the history of the word “selfie”

D. the characteristics of the word “selfie”

Lillian Hanson, a college student, expects to graduate in about two years. What makes Mrs Hanson different from her classmates is her age – 73 years. She has been studying at college, a few courses at a time, for 27 years.

When Lillian Hanson graduated from high school, she went to the bank to borrow money for further education. The banker gave her no encouragement. He didn’t think that a country girl should borrow money to go to college. He thought she should be at home doing work in the house or around the farm. So Lillian Hanson went home and raised a family of nine children instead of going to college.

Mrs Hanson never forgot her dream of getting a higher education. When her children grew up, she tried again.

She finds it is the hardest part of going back to school at her age to be sitting in class for long periods of time. Because she is not as quick as she used to be. Mrs Hanson often gets up and walks around between classes to keep from getting stiff(不灵活的). At the beginning of a course in using the computer, the other students all stood up to give her a warm welcome when she introduced herself and explained why she was there and what her aims were.

1.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. An Unusual Student B. A Kind – hearted Mother

C. A Cruel Banker D. A Strange Woman

2.What was the difference between Mrs Hanson and her classmates?

A. She worked hard at her lessons

B. She was much older

C. She was a country girl

D. She was eager to graduate from college

3.Why couldn’t Mrs Hanson go to college soon after she graduated from high school?

A. Because she had got married

B. Because she wanted to teach herself

C. Because she was a country girl

D. Because she wasn’t rich enough

4.In which order did Mrs Hanson do the following things?

a. She had her 73rd birthday

b. She finished high school

c. She began her studies at college

d. She went to the bank to borrow money

e. She got married and gave birth to nine children

A. e,c,b,a,d B. b,d,e,c,a C. e,d,b,c,a D. b,d,a,c,e

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