1 . The new TV series Joy of Life is a hit, scoring 8/10 among the most critical reviewers of Douban, a Chinese social networking service website. The series premiered(首映)on Tencent Video and iQiyi(online video platforms)on November 26,2019.
But how would you feel if Tencent Video and iQiyi allowed anyone to pay an extra fee to see a show’s upcoming episodes(集)ahead of schedule? The two of China’s biggest video streaming platforms decided to allow users to pay an extra fee on top of their subscription(订阅)to get advanced access to episodes of Qing Yu Nian(Joy of Life). Monthly subscriptions for Tencent Video cost 15 yuan(US$ 2.14)and iQiyi charges 19 yuan(US$ 2.71). Under the new policy, users could pay 50 yuan(US$ 7.14)to always stay six episodes ahead in Qing Yu Nian. Alternatively, watching a single episode in advance costs 3 yuan(US$ 0.43).
Users are mad about Tencent Video’s and iQiyi’s extra fees on top of subscriptions. On Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website, tags related to the two platforms’ pricing policies repeatedly recurred on trending searches, where many people were found complaining about the platforms being greedy and called for the audience to boycott the policy.
The policy also drew criticism from People’s Daily. The state-owned newspaper said the platforms “have bad table manners” and “drain the pond to fish and burn the woods to hunt,” which are Chinese idioms used to describe someone focusing on quick profits as opposed to long-term interests. People’s Daily also said the sites look down upon on users’ rights. ” Two lawyers apparently agreed. The lawyers, who claim to be users of Tencent Video and iQiyi, started two separate cases, saying that they violated users’ rights.
But some experts don’t think the new pricing rules are unreasonable. Zhu Wei, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, argued in an article that charging outside subscriptions are value-added services and don’t violate the law. But Zhu added that the platforms are at fault for not properly informing users about the policy in advance.
In the face of extreme competition and perhaps an ambitious business model, China’s streaming giants are hoping that additional charges could turn their luck around. But judging by the pushback on social media, it may not be so easy. It’s hoped that the next stage of this streaming war is a little more friendly.
1. According to the new policy,how much will the subscribers pay in total if they want to watch six episodes on Tencent Video in advance?A.50 yuan. | B.18 yuan. | C.65 yuan. | D.69 yuan. |
A.Indifferent. | B.Neutral. | C.Favorable. | D.Critical. |
A.Appear. | B.Perform. | C.Attract. | D.Serve. |
A.A well-received TV play. | B.An actor loved by the audience. |
C.A debatable charging policy. | D.A TV play worthy of money. |
2 . Tips on Presentation Skills
Even with a snappy (漂亮的)opening, after 10 minutes, most audiences will lose 75 percent of their listening capacity.
Effective speakers understand that wandering presentations are impossible to understand and are guaranteed to lose an audience. Behind every powerful speech is a solid outline matching with the goal of the presentation. One basic structure is an “open,body and close” approach.
Nonverbal communication, such as dress and gestures,can dramatically influence the acceptance of a presentation. A speaker's dress should match his audience and the significance of the event. For example, a speaker presenting to a corporate audience should wear a suit. Dress specifics will vary from speaker to speaker, but the key is choosing clothes that enhance(增加),not distract,from the message.
A.If used correctly,technology can help keep audience's interest. |
B.This can't happen if a speaker is too worried about his/her own reaction. |
C.If the goal is to inform,information may be structured by cause and effect |
D.Voice tone and speed are well-known topics when it comes to presentation skills. |
E.It means a speaker must work throughout the speech to draw listeners into the presentation. |
F.Message acceptance is a two-way communication process and requires audience agreement. |
G.And keep movement close to the body to ensure gestures are emphasizing key points but not distracting from the message. |
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. |
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(^),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2. 只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
A famous circus comes to our town last week. On Saturday morning, all the performers marched brief down the street. The clowns(小丑)happily passed out balloons to the children whom waved and laughed out loud. My five-year-old sister closely watched the performers but waited eagerly for the clowns. Follow the performers, everyone had then walked into the big top. Though there weren't any animals in the circus, the performances turned out to being amazing. I was very impressed the sound effects, beautiful lights and performers' skills. Therefore, I'm exciting to know that the circus will stay in town for one more weeks.
5 . Li Ziqi,a 29﹣year﹣old Chinese,amazes the world with China's countryside life. After releasing a short video on April 27 about planting and cooking peas, this Chinese food blogger
Li's YouTube videos
Unlike many other food bloggers, who cook dishes in the kitchen
Apart from food, she's also known for her videos
Li's overseas followers have
"There are so many
A.admired | B.witnessed | C.suggested | D.estimated |
A.popular | B.challenging | C.expensive | D.comfortable |
A.cold | B.narrow | C.calm | D.wide |
A.make up | B.center on | C.deal with | D.leave out |
A.making | B.designing | C.selling | D.wearing |
A.crazily | B.deliberately | C.directly | D.hurriedly |
A.harvested | B.enjoyed | C.sold | D.introduced |
A.lesson | B.process | C.meeting | D.interview |
A.changing | B.adopting | C.presenting | D.creating |
A.buying | B.building | C.choosing | D.finding |
A.inspired | B.covered | C.replaced | D.decorated |
A.urged | B.blamed | C.evaluated | D.praised |
A.contests | B.lectures | C.debates | D.exhibition |
A.anger | B.vain | C.return | D.response |
A.tough | B.unusual | C.easy | D.interesting |
A.help | B.support | C.benefit | D.escape |
A.celebrations | B.ideas | C.discussions | D.conclusions |
A.nutritious | B.optional | C.traditional | D.ordinary |
A.top | B.center | C.edge | D.bottom |
A.preserve | B.affect | C.update | D.sell |
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
7 . 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 |
Aunt Jane is now well over seventy, but she is still a great cinema-goer. The cinema in our town closed down years ago and sometimes she has to travel twenty miles or more to see a good film. And once a month at least she goes up to London to see
However, one thing which has always puzzled us is that
"All the time, of course, she was looking for a small part in a film. Her big chance came
"Unfortunately, in the end, they did not include the shop scene in the film. But nobody told Jane! When the film first appeared in London, she took all her friends to see it. And of course she wasn't in it! It was a terrible blow! She stopped
9 . Comments on the July Issue of Reader’s Digest
Jennie Gardner, Bath
I couldn’t agree more with Lee Child, that books are really important. Yes, you can get lost in them but you can also find yourself and new worlds and possibilities in them. Books help us to forget and remember. They remind us both of what’s really important and what’s not.
And, as Lee says, they let us hold the whole world in our hands, We can feel the weight of this word, we can mark our favourite spots, add in our own thoughts and see our progress through the pages as the story leads us back home, allowing us to re-find ourselves along the way.
Jayne Wile, North Wales
Brian Blessed’s I Remember was most enjoyable. I love Brian, a popular actor of stage and screen. It was interesting to learn more about his life. I noted how he enjoyed being involved in the Space Program, doing 600 hours training in Moscow and I have to agree with his thought:”We need to get out to Mars because the Earth has got to rest.” Mars has always been a source of inspiration for explorers and scientists.
Melanie Lodge, West Yorkshire
I was thrilled to read author Lee Childs If I Ruled The World. I was most impressed that he wanted to make teachers the most respected and highest paid professionals.
I work as a teaching assistant in a primary school and have done so since my youngest daughter began school 12 years ago. Until then I had no idea just how much planning was involved in each lesson and how much patience was required in a class of 30 children! I also agree with Lee that there’s nothing more rewarding than finishing a good book.
1. What is Jennie Gardner’s comment mainly about?A.Books make us get lost. | B.Books mean a lot in life. |
C.Books help us progress. | D.Books bring us possibilities. |
A.He once got trained in Moscow. |
B.He joined in the Space Program. |
C.He thinks it necessary to explore Mars. |
D.He’s a popular actor of stage and screen. |
A.She better knows how to teach. |
B.She thinks teachers are overpaid. |
C.She finds teaching more rewarding. |
D.She used to work in a primary school. |
A.Brian Blessed and Lee Child. |
B.Jayne Wile and Jennie Gardner. |
C.Melanie Lodge and Jayne Wile. |
D.Jennie Gardner and Melanie Lodge. |
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2.只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Last week, my friends and me went to watch Jay Chou’s performance in Guangzhou. There are crowds of cheerful fans there, many of who came from other cities. Jay began his performance with one of his most famous song. We all cheered and shouted out his name, but some even cried with joy. When Jay began to sing the seventh song it called Sunny Day, it started to rain. Therefore, the concert was not interrupted and we got even more exciting in the rain. At last, Jay finished the concert with a speech, thank his fans for always supporting him. What memorable experience!