题目内容
Before _____ on our camping trip, we made sure that we have plenty of food and water in store.
A. running out B. making out C. setting out D. working out
C.
解析: 考查动词词组辨析。句意为:在我们动身外出宿营旅行时,一定确保我们贮存有大量的水和食物。空白处需填一词组,表示“动身,出发”,只有setting out合乎语意。
A villa (别墅) designed to resist earthquakes with “self-healing” cracks in its walls, thanks to nanotechnology (纳米技术) applications with self-healing polymers (聚合物), is to be built on a Greek mountainside. The villa’s walls will include special particles that turn into a liquid when squeezed (压榨) under pressure, flow into cracks, and then harden to form a solid material.
The NanoManufacturing Institute (NMI), based in Leeds University, will play a key role in an EU project to construct the home by December 2010. The project, called “Intelligent Safe and Secure Buildings” (ISSB) is funded under the EU’s Sixth Framework program. This potentially life-saving scheme is led by German building manufacturer Knauf. The villa will be built in Amphilochia, in western Greece, where Knauf currently runs a manufacturing plant. If the experiment is successful, more tremor-resistant(防震)homes could be built in earthquake zones across the globe. NMI chief executive Professor Terry Wilkins said, “What we’re trying to achieve here is very exciting. We’re looking to use polymers in much tougher situations than ever before on a larger scale.” Monitors contained in the villa’s walls will be able to collect vast amounts of data about the building over time. Wireless sensors(传感器) will record any stresses and vibrations, as well as temperature, humidity and gas levels.
The walls are to be built from new load-bearing steel frames and high-strength gypsum(石膏)board. Prof Wilkins said, “If there are any problems, the intelligent sensor network will be able to alert residents immediately so they have time to escape. If whole groups of houses are so constructed, we could use a larger network of sensors to get even more information. If the house falls down, we have got hand-held devices that can be used over the ruins to pick out where the embedded(嵌入的)sensors are hidden to get some information about how the villa collapsed. Also, we can get information about anyone who may be around, so it potentially becomes a tool for rescue.”
【小题1】The aim of the passage is to ________.
A.report a piece of interesting news |
B.promote tremor-resistant homes |
C.inform us of the nanotechnology development |
D.tell us something about a tremor-resistant home |
A.it will be built on a special place |
B.the cracks in its walls can be healed by the polymers |
C.the special particles can make its walls stronger |
D.the intelligent sensor network can tell people where there is a crack |
A.rescue work can be done more quickly and accurately |
B.the intelligent sensor network will stop working |
C.no one can be hurt in the earthquake |
D.a warning signal will be given to other residents |
A.he is doubtful about the project |
B.he thinks the tremor-resistant home is perfectly designed |
C.he is confident in the tremor-resistant home |
D.the tremor-resistant home still needs to be tested in a real situation |
A.is still being tried out |
B.is already under construction |
C.has been in wide use |
D.will be put into wide use soon |
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.”
【小题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 |
A.enlarge | B.delete | C.disappear | D.decrease |
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 |
A.happy | B.disappointed | C.excited | D.content |
A.the difficult situation of hipsters | B.the trend of fashion |
C.the changes of the society | D.the culture of hipsters |