Do you find yourself waiting for the next MrBeast video to drop so you can see his latest challenge? Or perhaps the newest experiment from Mark Rober? Maybe you’re wild about Harry Styles or Timothee Chalamet. You follow them on social media, connect with other fans online and maybe even message them now and again. Even though these people are celebrities, you feel like you know them.
Most of us form relationships of some sort with celebrities and fictional characters. We imagine having a conversation with that person or asking for advice. Sometimes we develop a more romantic crush. Embarrassing as it may sometimes feel, this is perfectly normal. Scientists call these faux friendships “parasocial relationships”. Social relationships involve two or more people. Parasocial ones, on the other hand, are completely one-sided.
Decades ago, parasocial relationships happened between TV viewers and the people on screen. This was especially true for talk-show hosts and newscasters who spoke directly to the camera. People watching felt as though these TV personalities were talking directly to them. Over time, they felt a close connection with them. It wasn’t just people on TV. Beatles fans went wild for the band, just as Harry Styles fans do today.
More recently, parasocial relationships have shifted to other types of screens. Many people, from children to adults, have some form of screen that they use for entertainment. Even young children form parasocial relationships with on-screen personalities. Big Bird and Elmo from Sesame Street can seem like friends. So can animated characters or superheroes.
“We root for them,” says Kristin Drogos. “We want them to do well.” Drogos is a communication researcher at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It’s that positive feelings toward these on-screen personalities that cause us to form a parasocial bond with them. And that connection can be powerful.
1. What does the author intend to do in Paragraph 1?A.To suggest several ways to kill time. |
B.To reflect the diversity of people’s interests. |
C.To show people’s attachment to famous people. |
D.To confirm the benefits of watching celebrities. |
A.Innocent. | B.Imaginary. | C.Fashionable. | D.Abnormal. |
A.They can exist between human beings and non-humans. |
B.People are more willing to become friends with talk-show hosts. |
C.Superheroes are more popular among adults as on-screen friends. |
D.Celebrities make the best of parasocial relationships to attract more fans. |
A.How parasocial relationships benefit people. |
B.What can influence a parasocial relationship. |
C.How to communicate with on-screen friends. |
D.What people share in parasocial relationships. |
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【推荐1】Once again DC Comics and Warner Bros. have divided fans and critics over their latest superhero film.
There had been worrying news about Justice League in the months before its release, with a lot of reshoots of scenes, a new director being brought in to finish the film after original director Zack Snyder’s tragic loss of his daughter and, of course, a lot of talk about Ben Affleck’s future in the role of Batman.
Some people are saying that Justice League is another big disappointment, that it could have been incredible and instead fails to really entertain. Others say that Warner Bros. have finally got it right and that the future for the League looks bright.
My opinion lies somewhere in the middle. The film was by no means a disappointment: it was exciting, funny and a lot of fun to watch. There’s something special about watching the heroes from your childhood brought to life on the big screen and maybe that is affecting my opinion.
However, I will say that a lot of work needs to be done if the producer wants to make a great success. Although the film was good, it was obvious which scenes had been reshot and how the characters had been changed. I also have to mention the several scenes in which the special effects were very badly done; these are the kinds of problems that you don’t expect to see in a film with such a big budget.
Another point to add is that it is good to see the producer making Superman slightly a brighter character and adding some jokes to the plot to keep things fun. But the producer must be careful not to make the mistake that another film producer—here, not mentioning the name—is coming very close to doing: turning all of the films into bright and colorful shows and losing a lot of seriously good stories.
In the end, Justice League is not a perfect film but it is definitely not a terrible one. A lot of work is still to be done but I hope that DC does not completely lose its darker side.
1. Before the release of Justice League, many people showed their ______.A.pity for the director, Zack Snyder | B.concern about the film’s quality |
C.higher expectation of the new director | D.support for the actor, Ben Affleck |
A.It advocates social justice. | B.It brings lots of fun to the audience. |
C.It has some brave heroes. | D.It brings back childhood memories. |
A.views on the film’s weakness | B.advice to the film’s director |
C.love for the film | D.expectation of the film’s sequels |
A.stress the importance of fun in a film |
B.show Justice League’s lack of a serious plot |
C.serve as a warning to the producer of Justice League |
D.set an example for the producer of Justice League |
【推荐2】
Celebrity clothing lines aren’t a completely new phenomenon, but in the past they were typically aimed at the ordinary consumers, and limited to a few TV actresses.
A.Today, celebrities face even more severe embarrassment |
B.It is the celebrity effect, rather than the quality of the products that appeals to the consumers |
C.Celebrity has become one of the most important representatives of popular culture |
D.The public’s taste of fashion is not always constant and easy to predict |
E.Today they’re started by first-class stars whose products enjoy equal fame with some world top brands |
F.However, for every success story, there’s a related warning tale of a celebrity who overvalued his consumer appeal |
G.As a result, celebrities have realized their unbelievably powerful market potential, moving from advertising for others’ products to developing their own |
【推荐3】Last weekend was terrible for awards ceremonies. The BAFTAS,defined by a painful monologue(独角戏)from Joanna Lumley, was watched by 500,000 fewer people than last year. Meanwhile,the number of 18﹣to 49-year-olds watching the Grammys has reached an all-time low.
Don't expect the Oscars to fare any better;they have lost millions of viewers since 2014. Add to the fact that comparatively few people have watched most of the nominated films and you have got a ratings time bomb.
Viewers are deserting awards shows in groups and something needs to be done. But what?Reorganize them to celebrate really popular work?That's what the Oscars put forward last year when it suggested a best popular film category﹣and it was swiftly booed(喝倒彩)out of town.
Another option would be to shorten the length of the ceremonies, but this won't work either. The Oscars recently announced plans to hide several categories in ad breaks,and the anger in some quarters(the cinematographers, makeup artists and editors who this year won't get their moment on the small screen)has been obvious.
What else can they do? Fewer songs? Shorter speeches? An In Memoriam section that consists of the words: "People die: get over it"?
Fortunately, I have the perfect solution: don't televise awards shows. Just don't do it. Awards shows are the opposite of good television. They're too long and too boring because of regular and repeated patterns and too self﹣important. And by God, we should have learned by now not to give celebrities any more attention than they already have. It just makes them think that we want to hear them giving out half﹣baked opinions about Donald Trump and Brexit.
I'm not suggesting that the awards shows shouldn't happen. I'm just saying that the awards should be announced in the form of a press release at the end of the ceremony, followed by a handful of You Tube clips showing some nice outfits and a couple of speeches. That's how most of us consume them now anyway.
1. Why does the writer mention the BAFTAS and the Grammys?A.To introduce the topic of the article. |
B.To support the topic of the paragraph. |
C.To attract the readers' attention. |
D.To make comparison with the Oscars. |
A.The best popular film category. |
B.The best actress. |
C.The reorganized Oscars. |
D.The deserted awards show. |
A.Awards shows are better if shortened. |
B.Awards shows are excellent television. |
C.Awards shows are important to us. |
D.Awards shows should be shown in another form. |
A.The bright future of awards shows. |
B.What terrible awards shows. |
C.Stopping the television of awards shows. |
D.Boycott attention to celebrities. |
【推荐1】No matter how many steps you take each day, your health benefits add up. But those who take 7,000 steps a day may be adding years to their lives.
New research found that middle-aged adults who took that many steps daily were up to 70 percent less likely to die at a younger-than-expected age than were those whose movement total fewer than 7,000 steps a day. The study, which involved 2,110 middle-aged adults who wore a step-counting device and then were tracked for nearly 11 years, was published in the journa JAMA Network Open. How fast participants walked (referred to as their step intensity) did not affect their mortality risk. Rather, those who walked more lived longer. The researchers found, however, that taking more than 10,000 steps a day — the number often cited as a daily goal of health — produced no further drop in mortality risk.
Physical activity like walking is considered one of the most important things people can do to improve their well-being, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A former CDC director described physical activity as the closest thing we have to a wonder drug. Among its benefits, walking can reduce risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and depression and it can help control weight and improve sleep. It is considered good for your bones, muscles heart and brain. Although walking is considered safe for most people, those who have any concerns should check with their doctor before launching any new physical activity routine. For adults generally, national guidelines focus on time spent on an activity rather than number of steps, recommending 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, such as walking.
1. From which column of a newspaper can we probably see the passage?A.Style | B.Opinion |
C.Sports | D.Health and Science |
A.What health benefits they got. |
B.Whether physical activities worked for them. |
C.How long they could live. |
D.Their chance to suffer from health problems. |
A.The research spanned through the whole life of2,110 middle-aged adults. |
B.Walking speed matters as much as how many steps one has taken. |
C.Walking more than 10.000 steps a day brings similar health benefits as 7,000. |
D.National guidelines offer the adults the recommendation on number of steps. |
A.How to Extend Your Lifespan |
B.7000 Steps Lengthens Your Life |
C.The Benefits of Physical Activities |
D.Walking and its Restrictions |
【推荐2】Recently, environmentalists have encouraged us to buy local food. This reduces “food miles”, that is, the distance food travels to get from the producer to the seller. They reason that the higher the food miles, the more carbon emissions (碳排放). Buying local. food, therefore, has a lower carbon footprint and is more environmentally friendly.
However, the real story is not as simple as that. If our aim is to reduce carbon emissions, we must look at the whole farming process, not just transportation. According to a 2008 study, only 11% of carbon emissions in the food production process result from transportation, and only 4% came from the final delivery (运输) of the product from the producer to the seller.
In fact, imported food from other countries often has a lower carbon footprint than locally grown food. Take apples, for example. In autumn, when apples are harvested, the best thing for British people to do is to buy British apples. However, the apples we buy in winter or spring have been kept refrigerated for months, and this uses up a lot of energy. In spring, therefore, it is more energy-saving to import them from New Zealand, where they are in season. Heating also uses a lot of energy, which is why growing tomatoes in heated greenhouses in the UK is less environmentally friendly than importing them from Spain, where the tomatoes grow well in the local climate.
We must also take into consideration the type of transport. Transporting food by air creates about 50 times more emissions than shipping it. However, only a small number of goods are flown to foreign countries, and these are usually high value, perishable (易腐烂的) goods which we cannot produce locally, such as seafood and out-of-season berries. Even then, these foods may not have a higher carbon footprint than locally grown food. For example, beans flown in from Kenya are grown in sunny fields using human labour and natural fertilisers (肥料), unlike in Britain, where we use oil-based fertilisers and machinery. Therefore, the total carbon footprint is still lower.
It’s also worth remembering that a product’s journey does not end at the supermarket. The distance customers travel to buy their food, and the kind of transport they use will also add to its carbon footprint. So driving a long way to shop for food will wipe out any environmental benefits of buying locally grown produce.
Recently, some supermarkets have been trying to raise awareness of food miles by labelling (标记) foods with stickers that show it has been imported by air. But the message this gives is too simple. Lots of different factors contribute to a food’s carbon footprint besides the distance it has travelled.
1. What can we learn about “food miles”?A.It influences how people deliver and transport food. |
B.It will increase if people are encouraged to buy local food. |
C.It is the key factor contributing to a food’s carbon emissions. |
D.It shows how far the food goes from farmland to supermarkets. |
A.transporting food by air is the most energy-saving type of shipping |
B.storing local food creates more carbon emissions than importing food |
C.human labour and natural fertilisers can increase the carbon footprint |
D.growing out-of-season food takes less energy than importing food in season |
A.Supportive. | B.Confused. | C.Negative. | D.Doubtful. |
【推荐3】Three years ago, Jasminka Jost was looking for a place for her young son, Vigo, to be active. She had tried playing soccer, but Vigo, who has autism (孤独症), had trouble focusing on the game. Jost needed a safe space for Vigo with coaches who specialized in meeting his needs. That’s when friends referred Jost and her family to the River City Inclusive Cym (RCIG), which offers workout classes for children, teens and adults with disabilities.
The gym has been in operation since 2016, renting space in a traditional gymnastics gym before moving to its current location on Patterson Avenue in April 2022. There’re six hour — long classes per day from Monday through Saturday, each with a maximum of seven attendees and each featuring one coach per participant.
“Our classes consist of an obstacle course,” says Mike McGrath, the founder of RCIG. “There’re four different sections of the gym, and we spend 15 minutes in each section. There’re monkey bars, swings, ropes for climbing and swinging, slides ropes for climbing and swinging, slides, and more. That can sound frightening, but we start from where they’re comfortable. If they just need to touch the rope at first, that’s OK, but our goal is to gradually build their skill level and participation.”
Vigo, now 6 years old, looks forward to classes every week. There’re classes for older kids and young adults, too. Christine Schwab has been bringing her niece. 20-year-old Brennan, for two years and says that the classes have improved her social and motor skills. “The coaches at RCIG were great at getting her to take the extra step — and to believe that she could,” Schwab says. “As a loved one, it’s amazing to see.”
Jost adds the gym is a good place to meet other people facing similar challenges. “Even beyond the classes, there’s a deep sense of community and belonging.” she says. “Vigo has made a lot of little friends, and it’s an opportunity to meet other parents. It’s a place we can all go and just be ourselves.”
1. What do we know about the RCIG from the text?A.It’s popular mostly with young people. |
B.It has been expanding around the country. |
C.It was built on Patterson Avenue in 2016. |
D.It is intended for people with special needs. |
A.The current location of the gym. |
B.The training courses and ways of the gym. |
C.The founder of the gym. |
D.The training coaches of the gym. |
A.Getting along well with the participants. |
B.Developing the participants’ confidence. |
C.Teaching the participants to set right goals. |
D.Bringing the participants closer together. |
A.He has better social life. | B.He gets physically stronger. |
C.He becomes much smarter. | D.He is able to keep focused. |