(C)
If you see a group of people dancing and singing on the street or in the railway station, you don’t need to feel surprised. They are a flash mob. Don’t be confused by their name. Actually, a flash mob, organized with the help of the Internet or other digital communications networks, is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a period of time, such as exchanging books, coming together to look at the sky, waving their hands and shouting something at the top of their lungs for 30 seconds, and then quickly disappear before the police can arrive.
Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine, organized the first flash mob in Manhattan in May 2003 and the first successful flash mob assembled on June 3, 2003 at Macy’s department store involving 100 people gathering on Macy’s Department Store. Following this, about 200 people flooded the lobby of the Hyatt hotel, applauding in one voice for fifteen seconds, and next participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip invaded a shoe boutique in Soho. A later mob saw hundreds of people in Central Park making bird noises.
Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to tease hipsters (追逐时尚的人), and highlight the cultural atmosphere of agreement and of being part of “the next big thing”.
Many Web logs, chat rooms and Web groups are devoted to the craze. Though flash mobs were originally regarded as pointless, the concept has already developed for the benefit of political and social events. Flash mobbing takes advantage of the efficiency of communicating information on Websites and by email, and protesters can similarly use the “on and off” concept to be involved in political events. Such flash mob gatherings can sometimes shock or frighten people who are not aware of what is taking place. They also have enormous economic potential, such as using flash mobs to advertise a product.
The flash mob is now becoming more and more popular. People use it to do many things. For example, in 2009, hundreds of Michael Jackson’s fans took part in a flash mob to remember him, gathering outside the railway station in Liverpool, singing and dancing Michael’s famous song Beat It together. In another example, some people took part in a flash mob to warn people against negative words. Flash mobs give people from all walks of life an opportunity to come together to create a memory.
74. The purpose of flash mobs created by Wasik is to __________.
A. make flash mobs a social experiment with political, social and economic potential
B. give people an opportunity to assemble and perform some distraction
C. make fun of hipsters and emphasize the cultural atmosphere of agreement and participation
D. make communicating information efficient and help people create a memory
75. People took part in the following activities of flash mobs except that __________.
A. they pretended to take a bus trip and invaded a shoe shop in Soho
B. they got together in central Park and played birdsong
C. they gathered upon the railway station in Liverpool, singing Beat It and dancing
D. they assembled in the department store and applauded together for 15 seconds
76. Which of the following could most possibly be a flash mob according to the passage?
A. Sixteen people get together quickly on the square and do jumping and singing and leave there suddenly.
B. A group of people are busy giving out leaflets of a limousine of a brand to those walking in front of them.
C. Some tourists plan for months and go mountaineering on the first day of Horse Year.
D. Protesters from different factories sit for days in front of the city hall for low wage.
77. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. Flash mob: the political potential B. Flashmob: the pop culture
C. Flash mob: the source of information D. Flash mob: the short-term memory
Section C
Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.
Every year in America, high-school students who want to go on to college take a national examination called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT in a shortened way. Their score is an important factor in determining which colleges will admit them or whether any will be admitted at all. The Scholastic Aptitude Test measures one’s mathematical ability and use of the English language. Traditionally, the English portion involved grammatical questions and paragraphs that test reading comprehension.
But the SAT folks have added a single question, to be answered in an essay, hand-written on the spot. That’s an interesting way to test writing ability, but content aside, have you ever seen young people’s handwriting lately? Or anyone’s for that matter, in this age of computer keyboards? Students write numbers and sign their names on bank checks. They scribble class notes in what can generously be described as the written word. And they hand-write, or more often print, a word or two of identification on luggage and lunch bags. Otherwise, penmanship (书法) — once taught so morally and carefully by second-grade teachers, has gone the way of the dodo bird which has died out.
Yet today’s kids are asked to write, in a thoughtful and clear way, for several minutes on this SAT Test. Good luck to the test scorers who must work out difficultly what has been written by young people who’ve been typing on computers since the age of three! Teachers insist that good handwriting can not only help one’s score on the SAT, but also, later on in life, impress potential employers and get more tax money back because the tax inspectors can actually read the computations. And don’t forget, we all have to rely on handwriting from time to time, as computers go down when the power goes out.
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS)
78. In SAT, students will be tested on math, grammar, reading and
__________________________________________________________.
79. What does the underlined word “scribble” in paragraph 2 mean?
__________________________________________________________.
80. Why did the writer think test scorers would have a hard time?
__________________________________________________________.
81. With this passage, the author intended to offer the advice that
__________________________________________________________.
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