| A．He's a popular accountant. |
| B．He's a new media player. |
| C．He's a computer gamer. |
2 . When A33, a theater in Beijing, hosted a new stand-up comedy show（脱口秀), to the surprise of the organizers, nearly 250 people turned up and laughed together. Six years ago, that would have been unbelievable. Indeed, there were even cases of shows having more performers than viewers.
Wan Da, one of the performers, said, “Many people are worried about the future of stand-up comedy, a genre (类型) that is very popular in the U.S. after its introduction in China. Can it adapt itself here? But as the results show, there is no need to worry. We have survived and carried on some of the best American traditions.”
Programs such as Rock& Roast, a comedy talk show competition, which are thought to help people reduce their pressure, drive audiences to offline performances for a real laugh. “Generally, our audiences are in the 20-35 age group, but recently some older people are reported to go to the theatre,” said Song Qiyu, a performer and founder of Beijing Comedy Center.
Compared to traditional Chinese comedy performances, the stand-up comedy has a lower bar as it doesn't require years of professional training. This allows everyone to take part. Work experience and personal observations of life are the sources of their inspiration. Different lives and jobs make the performances varied, giving them unique individual colors.
Joe Wong, a humorist from Jilin province, whose performance in Washington, D.C. in 2010 attracted much attention across China's social media, is happy to see the development of the industry in China. However, he has a warning, too: There is huge space for the genre in China, but we should be careful of growing too fast as the market still needs good works.
In China, many fresh college graduates join. Through their efforts, the industry will improve its standards and popularity as well as influence.
1. What can we learn about the stand-up comedy from Paragraph 2?| A．It develops well in China. | B．It is created by Americans. |
| C．It faces an uncertain future. | D．It is very popular in Beijing. |
| A．They have a gift for talking. | B．It needs plenty of performers. |
| C．It needs no special backgrounds. | D．Most people have a sense of humor. |
| A．Learning from America. | B．Offering quality content. |
| C．Keeping creating works. | D．Employing fresh graduates. |
| A．The stand-up comedy: a rising industry | B．A33: a quickly growing comedy theatre |
| C．Why does the stand-up comedy get popular? | D．How does the stand-up comedy survive in China? |
3 . China has entered the cinematic(电影制作的) space race. Wandering Earth, the country’s first blockbuster science fiction film, is on track to be one of the highest grossing (票房收入) films in China’s history.
The film has brought in more than 2bn yuan (£232m) in the six days since its release on February 5. So far, it is the highest-grossing film released over the holiday season, a peak time for the Chinese box office（票房收入）.
Wandering Earth is based on the work of Liu Cixin, the author of the Three-Body Problem series and the first Chinese author to win a Hugo award.
“Wandering Earth fills the gap in Chinese science fiction movies. It means that China’s science fiction movies have officially set sail,” one fan of the film wrote on the review site Douban.
The film is seen by some as the dawn of Chinese sci-fi — a genre(类型；体裁) that has long been led by Hollywood. Several other Chinese-made sci-fi films are due to debut (首映) this year, including Shanghai Fortress, about an alien invasion, and Pathfinder, which follows a spaceship that has crashed on a deserted planet.
Frant Gwo, the director of Wandering Earth, said, “2019 could be remembered as year zero of Chinese science-fiction blockbusters. It is not just about one successful movie but about multiple films.”
Critics of the film have pointed out the plot holes（剧情漏洞） and cloying of sentimentality（刻意煽情） — something Wandering Earth shares with its Hollywood peers.
In response to plot criticisms about the necessity of ejecting (喷射) Earth from the solar system, Liu said: “Of course we don’t need to escape soon. That’s why it’s a movie instead of a real-life crisis.”
1. What’s the Chinese meaning of the underlined word?| A．非常成功的事物 | B．非常成功的人 |
| C．外星人 | D．英雄人物 |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. |
| C．Positive | D．Uncaring. |
| A．Shanghai Fortress | B．Wandering Earth |
| C．Pathfinder | D．Avatar |
| A．The theory. | B．The ending. |
| C．The special effects. | D．The plot holes. |
1. Which film of the following DIDN’T the woman see?
| A．Raising Arizona. | B．Wild at heart. | C．Neither. |
| A．Very much. | B．Not a bit. | C．So-So. |
| A．A tragic actor. | B．A classical actor. | C．A comic actor. |
| A．Action movies. | B．Comic movies. | C．Tragic movies. |
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
6 . 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 |
7 . Although it is difficult to make direct year-to-year comparisons because of increase in viewing on digital devices, the trend over the past decade is clear in numerous studies, including the Nielsen ratings. The average age of those who watch nationally televised Major League Baseball games has been
Michael Haupert, a professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin ----la Crosse who studies baseball as a business, explains why many young people might be
It is not surprising that
No one knows if any of these changes will significantly shorten games. According to MLB, the average length of a nine-inning outing this season has been three hours---about five minutes shorter than the 2017 average, itself the longest mean on record.
All of those proposed changes seem to
The historic May 14 Supreme Court decision allowing all states to legalize sports betting could have an impact on all this. More people will soon be able to gamble on sports while watching a game on their couch. But whether
I don’t know what will hook young people on baseball. But abandoning the game’s unique selling proposition---the timelessness that provides both suspense and great conversationhe educated fan -----is not the
| A．arising | B．declining | C．varying | D．rising |
| A．followed | B．abandoned | C．secured | D．played |
| A．Held up | B．taken up | C．picked up | D．fed up |
| A．honorable | B．common | C．acceptable | D．worthwhile |
| A．stars | B．losers | C．hitters | D．winners |
| A．decreasing | B．extending | C．increasing | D．balancing |
| A．disapproving | B．capable | C．supportive | D．independent |
| A．miss | B．reach | C．deny | D．clarify |
| A．frequently | B．sometimes | C．rarely | D．typically |
| A．excessive | B．specific | C．either | D．total |
| A．risky | B．organized | C．addictive | D．easy |
| A．distraction | B．appeal | C．pastime | D．channel |
| A．inspiration | B．answer | C．achievement | D．recreation |
| A．overwhelming | B．simplifying | C．sweeping | D．underlying |
| A．information | B．time | C．memory | D．attention |
