Teenagers may not know the name Kevin Mayer, but he's about to play an outsize role in their lives.
The longtime leader of the Walt Disney Company just became the CEO of TikTok (抖音).In doing so, Mayer will lake charge of an app whose influence over a lot of people has made it one of the most influential ,although controversial(有争议的) ,platforms of the era.
Mayer has been with Disney since the early 1990s—minus a period as the CEO of Playboy.com—and he’s helped to acquire some important brands in film industry. More recently he's become known for his key role in the launch of the ll-important Disney Plus streaming service.
Mayer was thought to be among the most obvious potential successors to outgoing CEO Bob Iger, but he was passed over for Bob Chapek,who ran Disney' theme parks unit.
Mayer's departure from Disney may not be a surprise,but his move to TikTok is unexpected. The app, owned by China-based ByteDance, is at a crucial moment in its short history—seeing enormous growth during the pandemic lockdowns but facing increasing criticism over its data-collection practices. As it rises in influence ,the company will surely face a growing drumbeat of intense media and strict monitoring.
In contrast, Disney has never been more delicate, with the coronavinus pandemic having broken nearly all of its core business units, from the close down of theme parks and movie theaters to ongoing interruptions to its production schedules. Mayer,whatever else is motivating the move, is hopping( 跳) to another position at a proper time.
1. What's the text mainly about?A.The job-hopping of a CEO. |
B.The rising influence of TikTok. |
C.The decline of the Walt Disney Company . |
D.The intense competition between companies. |
A.He had been offered a higher salary |
B.He wasn't qualified for his previous job. |
C.He preferred a new career concerning teenagers. |
D.He failed to succeed Bob Iger as a CEO of Disney. |
A.Potential but delicate. | B.Profitable but immoral. |
C.Popular but controversial. | D.Professional but addictive. |
A.To advertise for Disney. | B.To report of news. |
C.To recommend a new app. | D.To compare two companies. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】During the pandemic, millions of people replaced their large open-plan offices with their living rooms. Now, some companies say their employees need never come back in.
Brynn Harrington, Vice President of Facebook, said, “Facebook believes that remote work is the future. We want to be able to give our employees choice to live and build lives in places that they love, and we want to increase our ability to hire from places around the world, not just places where we currently have offices.”
Not everyone approves of working from home. Some people are eager to get back into the office. Facebook estimates that more than half of its staff could work remotely in the coming years, but it insists the move is not about saving costs. And it says it’s committed to keeping its offices open.
Other tech giants such as Microsoft and Twitter have also indicated staff could stay remote — even after lockdowns ease. On Wall Street, they seem less enthusiastic about the idea. The boss of Goldman Sachs rejected working from home as a new normal — labelling it an “aberration” instead. There are also fears that it could create more inequality.
For many companies, the answer probably lies somewhere in the middle — with workers dividing their time between office and home.
Tushar Agarwal from Hubble said, “The office does have a future. We believe the future is hybrid (混合). We believe the future is flexible. The demand for flexible workspace has just gone through the roof. Just in the month of March, we’re back to about sixty to seventy percent of pre-Covid levels, and actually huge amounts of companies that are demanding flexible space used to be in traditional rent space, so now people want more and more flexibility than ever before.”
One thing’s clear — the world of work will look very different to how it did before this crisis.
1. Why do some companies prefer home-working?A.It can save cost. |
B.It creates more equality. |
C.It decreases interpersonal conflicts. |
D.It offers more possibilities for companies. |
A.Objective. | B.Varied. |
C.Intolerant. | D.Favorable. |
A.A normal thing. | B.A flexible thing. |
C.An interesting thing. | D.An untypical thing. |
A.It will remain unchanged. |
B.It will mainly be remote work. |
C.It will mix different types of working places. |
D.It will have an open space in a large building. |
【推荐2】As the coronavirus spreads, remote work arrangements preserve continuity and allow people to stay busy doing something familiar during a time of crisis. At first glance, telecommuting (远程办公) might not seem so bad.
While it works well for some, it doesn’t for everyone. Working remotely has widespread negative consequences, including people spending time working that they might otherwise have spent with family or friends – because they can easily cross their work-life boundaries, they end up working longer hours.
People who telecommute may also have trouble freeing themselves from work and from the technology that enables it, which contributes to the harmful consequences of reducing face-to-face time and personal interactions. When humans rely on technology, we may forget how essential these interactions are to human happiness.
As a university professor, my days consist of social interactions with students and colleagues. I generally find those conversations and the resulting relationships inspiring and rewarding. The coronavirus situation means that countless teachers like me face the possibility of standing in front of a camera instead of a classroom. I’d prefer doing that to canceling class, but I can’t help wondering whether my job, along with so many others, is about to experience a great and potentially permanent change.
I wonder how many faculty members might be laid off if the university decides teaching remotely is good enough, or how many people will be let go when their bosses realize they don’t need to show up every day, or even at all. Finally, here’s the most important question: whether people believe their firsthand, lived experiences can be replaced – and not just during a pandemic (大流行病).
The coronavirus will accelerate our rush into the arms of technology. Ironically, our faith in technology may end up speeding up our own obsolescence (过时).
1. According to the text, what may telecommuting result in?A.Shortened working hours. |
B.Loss of personal freedom. |
C.Increased family happiness. |
D.Fewer personal interactions. |
A.She loves teaching in front of a camera. |
B.She enjoys popularity among her students. |
C.She considers social interactions to be beneficial. |
D.She’s concerned about the spread of coronavirus. |
A.Anxiety over the future. |
B.Expectation of education. |
C.Views on unemployment. |
D.Love for lived experience. |
A.Fashion. | B.Opinion. |
C.Health. | D.Events. |
【推荐3】Fashion designers produce all types of clothes from casual to formal, and they are sometimes involved in creating wearable products like smartwatches or accessories like hats, handbags and shoes. They also sometimes make costumes for plays and movies and can help create patterns for high-tech uniforms such as those worn by firefighters.
The greatest thrill of being a fashion designer, many of them say, has nothing to do with dressing up supermodels for grand events and watching them walk down runways wearing the clothing you designed--though that is a plus and a sign of success. What makes the job truly exciting, several designers say, is watching an everyday person smile when they put on an outfit you created that makes them feel confident.
“You can see when somebody tries something on and they fed good, it’s almost like they’re empowered,” a fashion brand founder Franne Golde says. “You know, they look in the mirror, and they love what they see.”
But what is vital for being a fashion designer? “Design is all about getting to know who you are, because you have to express who you are, and you have to be able to convey that to your ultimate customer and client,” says Bern Conrad, an alumnus (校友)of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, a prestigious school that has educated world-famous fashion designers such as Calvin Klein.
The fashion designer, who has produced a significant amount of silk apparel, sportswear and knitwear over the course of his career and plans to launch a modern casual fashion line under his own name this fall, also notes that a unique perspective and a distinctive identity are essential for being a fashion designer.
Other fashion designers emphasize that an appreciation for beauty and strong visual observation abilities are a must for future fashion designers, but they note that having a good eye is inadequate, since what counts most is the ability to manufacture clothing items that are somehow better than what is already out there.
1. What really makes being a fashion designer exciting?A.Attending grand events, |
B.Appreciating the joy of success. |
C.Seeing the outfits accepted by ordinary people. |
D.Watching supermodels display the well-designed clothing. |
A.artistic and cooperative | B.creative and expressive |
C.educated and productive | D.observant and experienced |
A.Career. | B.Society. |
C.Entertainment. | D.Advertisement. |
【推荐1】Beijing-born Chloe Zhao made a historic win, becoming the first Asian woman director to take home the Golden Globe Award for Best Director on Sunday night in Los Angeles, causing a stir among domestic netizens.
Nomadland, Zhao's third film, grabbed two top awards, including Best Picture, at the 2021 Annual Golden Globe Awards, making her the second filmmaker of Chinese descent after Ang Lee to get the top directorial prize of the 78 year old event, widely considered as an indicator of the Oscars.
Adapted from American journalist Jessica Bruder's 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, the film stars the actress Frances McDormand as a 62-year old woman who travels in the vast lands of America in order to explore life as a modern-day nomad (流浪者).
With a short yet glittering resume (简历), Zhao, who was born in 1982 and sent to study overseas in 1998, has gained attention from the first film directed by her Songs My Brothers Taught Me in 2015 before accumulating more popularity for the award-winning The Rider in 2017. The latter helped her to seize the attention of McDormand, who then chose the rights of the Nomadland book.
After being released in international film events since autumn last year. Nomadland has been a favorite of many major festivals, including its victorious win of the Golden Lion Award as the best film at the 2020 Venice International Film Festival.
So far, the film has received more than 90 awards, making it a sought-after competitor in the upcoming Oscars.
Song Dandan, a famous actress and the stepmother of Zhao, sent her greetings on SinaWeibo saying every award won by Zhao has surpassed (超过) the family’s expectations, bringing them huge joy. She added that she hopes Zhao’s success will encourage more Chinese youth to pursue their dreams.
1. What can we learn about Nomadland, the film directed by Chloe Zhao?A.The film has won no more than two awards |
B.The film will surely win the Oscar award for Best Picture |
C.The film is about an old woman exploring life in America as a nomad |
D.The film was inspired by American journalist Jessica Bruder's fiction book |
A.her road to success is smooth |
B.Chloe Zhao is a successful woman |
C.all her three films are well-received |
D.the two films contribute to her historic success |
A.Chloe Zhao makes history at Golden Globes |
B.Nomadland directed by Chloe Zhao wins awards |
C.Chloe Zhao wins glory for her family and netizens |
D.Chloe Zhao’s success will inspire Chinese teenagers |
【推荐2】The government of India has announced that it will replace the single-use plastic cups used for tea in 7,000 train stations around the country with traditional clay cups called kulhads. This will reduce the amount of waste thrown away every day, thus helping further the government's goal of making India free from single-use plastics, and it will provide much-needed employment for two million potters.
Jaya Jaitly, a politician and handicrafts expert, has advocated since the early 1990s for clay cups to be reintroduced in train stations. She explained that employing potters to provide these cups was a way to support them at a time when they lost jobs due to "new Internet technology."
It is reported that a potter's average monthly income will increase from $34 to $135 a month. The government is distributing electric wheels to those who do not have them and funding a switch from wood-fueled to gas-fueled kilns(窑炉)in villages that already have gas devices for cooking. Jaitly said this would reduce smoke pollution.
She also said that one reason why earlier efforts to reintroduce kulhads failed was that the government was unwilling to accept non-standardized sizes and shapes of cups. This time they will have to accept it because the handmade pieces cannot possibly be the same, particularly with production being so scattered(分散). Variation in appearance is a small price to pay for the environmental benefits.
This is happy, hopeful news from India, a country that has long struggled to deal with plastic waste, partly because of its huge population and inadequate waste processing infrastructure across vast rural regions. This policy is an excellent example of getting at the root cause of a problem and fixing it, rather than just trying to clean up the mess afterward. To use the bathtub metaphor(比喻) that's commonly cited when talking about plastic pollution, this is like turning off the plastic-producing tap, instead of wasting time trying to mop up the overflow, wishing it would go away.
1. What is special about the policy announced by Indian government?A.It promotes awareness of traffic issues. |
B.It collects enough revenue to fight poverty. |
C.It promises to be eco-friendly and favorable. |
D.It rids India of the long-term unemployment. |
A.Jaya Jaitly is a short-sighted politician and economist. |
B.Advances in Internet technology cost potters their jobs. |
C.Clay cups were first introduced in Indian railway stations. |
D.Potters were employed at stations to get financial support. |
A.It raises their monthly income. |
B.It offers new cooking devices to them. |
C.It standardizes the size of clay cups for them. |
D.It provides funds for them to upgrade their devices. |
A.Put the cart before the horse. |
B.Treat the foot when the foot hurts. |
C.Stop the boiling by taking off the fire. |
D.Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. |
【推荐3】After about two weeks of intense negotiations in Paris, delegates from around the world reached an international agreement on Dec. 12 to address climate change. For the first time in history, 195 countries have promised to reduce greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions and to increase these reductions over time.
The agreement goes beyond requiring developed countries like the US to take actions to cut down emissions. It's a universal agreement requiring some form of action from every country, rich or poor.
The agreement sets the date for an emissions peak "as soon as possible". It would also limit warming worldwide to less than 2℃ above the levels in the 1800s. According to scientific studies 2℃ is the point at which climate change will bring destructive consequences to the planet, including rising sea levels, severe droughts, increased flooding, destructive storms, and widespread food and water shortages.
The deal also urges wealthy countries to set a non- binding goal of providing more than $100 billion(650 billion yuan)per year in public and private financing by 2020 for poorer countries to help them invest in clean energy and combat the impact of climate change.
The Paris deal asks countries to make voluntary promises based on an analysis of each country's economy, politics and technology. However, the deal also includes a series of legally binding(有约束力的)requirements. It requires countries to reconvene every five years, starting in 2020, with updated plans that would cut their further emissions. Countries will also be legally required to reconvene every five years starting in 2023 to publicly report on their progress.
The Paris deal alone won't solve global warming. Its effectiveness will depend on whether each country enacts(立法)their promise. But the deal "could be viewed as a signal to global financial and energy markets, triggering a fundamental shift away from investment in coal, oil and gas as primary energy sources like wind, solar and nuclear power", according to The New York Times.
1. Which of the following is true according to the passage?A.The agreement requires only developed countries to take actions to cut down emissions. |
B.The agreement would limit warming worldwide to 2℃ less than the levels in the 1800s. |
C.The agreement requires some form of action from all the countries in the world |
D.The constant global warming will do great harm to the planet. |
A.do something to fight against the influence of climate change |
B.invest more in coal, oil and gas as primary energy sources |
C.provide more than $100 billion per year in public and private financing |
D.report on their progress of reducing their emissions every 5 years in Paris |
A.Meet | B.Report. | C.Promise | D.Return. |
A.a science magazine | B.a newspaper |
C.a school text | D.an economic lecture |