1 . 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. |
1. What might the speaker be best known as?
A.A comedy actor. |
B.A ceremony host. |
C.A popular lecturer. |
A.Only two. | B.Around 12. | C.At least 24. |
A.Horror. | B.Action. | C.Fantasy. |
A.Perform a comedy on the stage. |
B.Announce the winner of an award. |
C.Introduce another movie candidate. |
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. |
A New Hero is Here to Save the Day
It’s thought that when a hero like Batman is blessed with great power, he or she must endure loneliness and suffering as a result. The Flash(闪电侠), however, makes a fun, lightning-quick and optimistic superhero. After the wild success of TV series Arrow, a TV network launched The Flash,
Like Spiderman, who gained the ability to make webs and climb walls after he
Naturally, Allen slips on a colorful suit and becomes the Flash, a hero
In line with superhero series standards, The Flash features action and eye-popping special effects. There’s nothing terribly innovative here, but
A big surprise for me was that The Flash cast Prison Break star Wentworth Miller as a bad character, who uses a gun that
5 . 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 |
There's a widely-accepted line of thinking, especially in 2019 that says the people and things we love will eventually let us down.
It's never an if, always a when. So our heroes will inevitably to be trash monsters. Our favorite bands will in enter an experimental phase, even though no one asked them to. And our favorite TV shows will
It was with this cynical mentality
But then a strange thing happened: Killing Eve’s second season, at least the two episodes
As Phoebe Waller-Bridged, noted “Killing Eve is a character study on two lives, two women and their circumstances, their homes, their wants, their fears and
1. Why does the man remake Chinese songs into English?
A.To help Americans know China. |
B.To learn Chinese better. |
C.To satisfy his fans' request. |
A.By translation software. | B.Through teamwork. | C.By correcting others' work. |
A.The top 10 song list. | B.His own preference. | C.Fans' suggestions. |
A.Manage his Weibo account. |
B.Write his own Chinese songs. |
C.Attract more Chinese fans. |
8 . When Thomas Moore, 11, stepped up to the plate (棒球比赛中的本垒板) at Oriole Park at Camden Yard in Baltimore, the crowd went wild. It was the biggest applause(掌声) the park had ever heard for a
“ I was very
What happened was that the Baltimore Orioles (金莺队) and their fans were recognizing Moore
This
Moore is one of just 50 heroes recognized by the team-and the one
“We talked about my hair
Jones said that Moore was a role
Besides meeting one of his heroes, Moore got to meet someone who
A.ten | B.teen | C.ten years old | D.teens |
A.frightened | B.surprised | C.amused | D.gifted |
A.for | B.of | C.as | D.in |
A.absorb | B.adopt | C.forgive | D.forget |
A.patient | B.doctor | C.comedian | D.performer |
A.polishing | B.performing | C.strengthening | D.fighting |
A.athletic | B.selfless | C.greedy | D.hopeless |
A.unless | B.because | C.when | D.until |
A.impressed | B.measured | C.inserted | D.invited |
A.who | B.whom | C.which | D.where |
A.consumed | B.arrested | C.betrayed | D.shown |
A.confirmed | B.greeted | C.frightened | D.instructed |
A.risk | B.attitude | C.chance | D.right |
A.pollution | B.affection | C.donation | D.consideration |
A.example | B.model | C.style | D.credit |
A.looks up to | B.looks down upon | C.looks forward to | D.looks into |
A.suffered | B.differed | C.learned | D.benefited |
A.borrow | B.decrease | C.raise | D.earn |
A.treatments | B.agreements | C.amusements | D.commitments |
A.consequence | B.anxiety | C.love | D.mercy |
9 .
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 |