Each year, the famous Oxford Dictionaries chooses its Word of the Year. The word is carefully chosen depending on how popular it is and how well it explains the year. However, this year they didn’t actually choose a word at all. Instead, they chose a “face with tears(眼泪) of joy” emoji (表情符号).

This was the world’s most used emoji in 2015, according to research done by the Oxford University Press. It made up 20 percent of all emojis used in the UK and 17 percent of those used in the US.

Emojis started from Japan in the 1990s. Through the years, the simple, small pictures have changed the way people communicate online. According to New Yorker magazine, a survey in 2013 showed that 74 percent of people in the US and 82 percent in China had used emojis. About 6, 000,000,000 emoji pictures are flying around the world every day through messages. Although some worry that emojis will make people’s language skills weak, fans say they are fun and help them express their feelings more easily.

“Emojis are no longer just for sending messages to teenagers. Instead, they have become a kind of expression, which can cross language barriers (障碍),” Oxford Dictionaries said in a statement, explaining their uncommon choice. “Emoji culture has become so popular that emojis have their own way and stories.”

Some even think emojis can take the place of words. Fred Benenson, an American data (数据) engineer, translated American novel Moby Dick into Emoji Dick. The book has even been kept by the US Library of Congress (美国国会图书馆).

1.The Word of the Year for 2015 is ________.

A. a common word B. a sad face

C. a boy’s name D. a happy face with tears

2. According to the passage, we know ____________.

A. Emojis started from the UK in the last century

B. A large number of Emoji pictures are used around the world

C. Learning Emojis is the best way to improve people’s language skills

D. Emojis has become the main ways to communicate online instead of words

3.The novel Moby Dick is mentioned in the last paragraph to show ________.

A. how popular and useful the Emojis are

B. words will become more important

C. Moby Dick is popular around the world

D. Emoji Dick is considered meaningless

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A. The History of Emojis

B. How to Express Our Feelings

C. An Introduction to Oxford Dictionaries

D. A Popular Kind of Expression—Emojis

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