Question

【题目】TED Talks: An Idea Worth Spreading

Have you heard of TED? TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. TED is a set of meetings, held in different cities around the world every year. With different speakers – also from different parts of the world – all the speeches are uploaded (上传) to their website, for everyone to see.

TED meetings invite speakers to give speeches on different kinds of topics. The different speakers are usually successful in their fields and talk about new ideas and recent developments that are important to their work. The speakers are often also well-known, with people such as Bill Gates and Jane Goodall, having given talks. There are many talks on environmentalism.

For example, and on international development, aid work, and how to help poor people. There are a number of talks about education and topics that are important in the news.

While the talks cover many kinds of topics, all speakers have a strict time limit – each speech must last less than 18 minutes.

As with all organisations (组织), however, TED has had its downs as well as ups. The organization has been criticised for turning great scientists into stars. Perhaps a bigger and more important criticism of the organization is that only special people can attend the meetings. Those who attend the meetings must be special enough to get tickets because TED events costing $6000 or more.

However, ted.org, the organisation’s website, is where the many interesting talks become reachable to everybody who has an Internet connection. Every weekday, a new video is uploaded from a TED event, allowing people from around the world to listen to the talks for free. At only 18 minutes, even if the video is not that interesting, you know you are not going to waste too much time.

Most TED talks are in English but there are talks in other languages, too. Besides, most of the English-language talks also have the choice of subtitles (字幕) in different languages and, as a result, the website is great for practising English and learning new vocabulary, especially in a topic that you find interesting and enjoyable. With so many choices of subject, the videos are often much more exciting.

【1】What does TED stand for?

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【2】Can everyone see the speeches on the website?

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【3】How long is every TED speech?

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【4】According to Paragraph 4, what is TED criticised for?

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【5】How often is a new video uploaded?

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Answer 1

【答案】

【1】Technology, Entertainment and Design.

【2】Yes.

【3】Less than 18 minutes.

【4】It is criticized for turning great scientists into stars and only special people can attend the meetings.

【5】Every weekday.

【解析】

文章大意：本文是一篇说明文，介绍了一个致力于传播伟大思想的非营利性组织TED的相关信息。

【1】

细节理解题。题意：TED代表什么?根据TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design.可知，TED代表科技、娱乐和设计。故答案为：Technology, Entertainment and Design.

【2】

细节理解题。题意：每个人都能在网站上看到演讲吗?根据With different speakers – also from different parts of the world – all the speeches are uploaded to their website, for everyone to see.可知，应作肯定回答，故答案为：Yes.

【3】

细节理解题。题意：每次TED演讲多长时间?根据At only 18 minutes, even if the video is not that interesting, you know you are not going to waste too much time.可知，应该少于18分钟，故答案为：Less than 18 minutes.

【4】

细节理解题。题意：根据第4段，TED被批评了什么? The organization has been criticised for turning great scientists into stars. Perhaps a bigger and more important criticism of the organization is that only special people can attend the meetings.可知，有人批评它把伟大的科学家变成了明星，只有特别的人才能参加会议。故答案为：It is criticized for turning great scientists into stars and only special people can attend the meetings.

【5】

细节理解题。题意：一个新视频多久上传一次?根据Every weekday, a new video is uploaded from a TED event,可知，应该是每一个工作日，故答案为：Every weekday.