1 . To stream or not to stream? That is a question facing both music listeners and musicians.
Taylor Swift made news recently by pulling her music off Spotify, the world’s biggest streaming music service and turned to iTunes downloading and stores for sales. Back in July, Swift swept the pop music industry by selling almost 1.3 million copies of her album, 1989 in its first week. In an article Swift wrote, “The music industry is not dying... it’s just coming alive.”
Her cheerful attitude surely comes from her own unique position. So far this year, Swift has made $64 million, according to Forbes. She’ll make plenty more by bringing in about 70 cents for each dollar paid to download her music. It is much more than the royalty (版税) rate paid out by Spotify of between $0.006 and $0.0084 per song stream.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), money from streaming on YouTube, Pandora and Spotify has helped bring in more money. But the small amount Spotify pays to musicians still caused many of them to withhold some or all of their music from the service, like artists from Beyoncé to The Beatles.
Yet for bands struggling to get by, struggling even to be heard, keeping their music off streaming services is not so easy. Such bands need to get their music out any way they can, and if they’re going to make money, they need to make their music easily accessible to listeners.
To stream or not to stream is a difficult choice for fans, too. The streaming model puts ownership (所有权) of the music in the hands of the music industry. Rather than letting you own your collection, the music business is moving toward a model similar to on-demand cable TV. Every song written is available online whenever and wherever you’d like to hear, but the problem is that you, the user, need to pay over and over again each time you stream it.
1. Why did Taylor Swift say “music industry is coming alive”?A.Because she got a unique position in music industry. |
B.Because her new album made a great offline success. |
C.Because the birth of streaming brings great chances to music. |
D.Because Spotify becomes the world’s biggest streaming music service. |
A.Keep back. | B.Pick out. | C.Hold onto. | D.Put away. |
A.Taylor Swift promotes free music streaming. |
B.Streaming puts ownership of music in the hands of fans. |
C.Some bands still depend on streaming for chances to be heard. |
D.Fans can own music with a once-for-all pay on streaming platforms. |
A.The Music Industry Is Coming Alive |
B.Streaming Leaves Musicians and Fans in a Dilemma |
C.To Pay or Not to Pay: a Tough Choice for Music Fans |
D.The Rise of Streaming: a Threat or Opportunity for the Music Industry |
2 . Liu Yexi has taken Douyin by storm. As of Nov 17, the virtual idol, who performed on the social media platform on Oct 31, had only released two short videos but attracted over 5 million followers.
Different from other virtual idols, Liu is defined as a “virtual beauty vlogger”. In her first video, Liu is doing makeup with an eye brush while dressed in a traditional Chinese costume.
When she turns around, the onlookers are terrified, except one boy. Then Liu slightly brushes the boy’s eyes, allowing him to see the fantasy world in her own eyes. The internet users marveled(使...惊叹) at its storyline, science-fiction elements and special visual effects with cyberpunk style. Liang Zikang, the CEO of the production team, told China Newsweek that the team spent two months making the video.
Liu’s instant popularity online further reflects that the virtual idol industry in China has been booming. There are over 32,400 virtual idols that have opened accounts on video-sharing platform Bilibili in the past year, seeing a year-on-year rise of 40 percent, Chen Rui, the CEO of Bilibili, said in a speech.
“Compared with real idols and stars, the virtual ones seem to be more approachable for fans,” Shine News noted. Additionally, these virtual web celebrities(名人) won’t have scandals(丑闻).
As more young people are fascinated by these virtual figures, their commercial(商业的) value has been on the rise. Generally, they earn money by online concerts, livestreaming and related products. For example, Luo Tianyi, a well-known virtual singer, cooperated with livestreamer Li Jiaqi to promote goods in 2020.
Therefore, some people are wondering whether they will replace real humans. “These socalled virtual idols have real human teams to back them up and control them. They are not really virtual.” Ding Daoshi, an independent analyst in the internet sector, told the Global Times. The real virtual idol will come when artificial intelligence achieves a new level of selflearning and self-training and then interacts with others, he added.
1. What do we know about Liu Yexi?A.She becomes an online celebrity. | B.She creates a virtual fantasy world. |
C.Her song becomes famous overnight. | D.Her costume wins her great popularity. |
A.Beginning. | B.Arriving. | C.Growing. | D.Falling. |
A.Their various styles. | B.Their friendly character. |
C.Their commercial value. | D.Their wonderful performance. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Objective. | C.Favorable. | D.Indifferent. |
3 . 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. |
4 . Adapted from Liang Xiaosheng’s award-winning novel, the realistic drama A Li felong Journey recently has been a huge hit on TV and online.
Given that A Lifelong Journey is set in the 1960s, it’s not surprising that the family has to deal with lots of social changes and uncertainties, like the restoration of Gaokao, the country’s reform and opening-up, the passion for private business and so on.
The five virtues in Confucianism—benevolence (仁), righteousness (义), courtesy(礼), wisdom and trust can be found in the lead character Zhou Bingkun, the youngest son in the family.
Following the lives of Zhou’s family, the drama gives viewers an insight into the lives of ordinary Chinese.
A.No wonder viewers thought highly of this drama. |
B.It is time to create such a drama to remember the bygone times. |
C.China has witnessed dramatic changes over the past five decades. |
D.And it explores themes of family, friendship and romance in a bittersweet story. |
E.He was played by Lei Jiayin, who says he can almost “see his father” in the drama. |
F.Disney has also announced it has acquired the drama series for an international release. |
G.Most of the narrative took place in a shantytown (棚户区), where Zhou’s family lives. |
5 . The kid’s face is glowing green from the iPad in her hands, which shows a cartoon boy singing a nursery rhyme and dancing with dinosaurs. She’s so attracted that she doesn’t respond when her mother calls her name. “It’s literally like crack for her,” says her mom Meng Zhou at their home.
It is CoComelon, which may be the most streamed children’s entertainment program in the world. The show was watched for 33 billion minutes last year and had 3.6 billion views on YouTube in January, as many as three-quarters of whom were from outside the U. S. . CoComelon was a Top 10 show on Netflix for more than 100 straight days in 2021, and its music is streamed 1.3 million times a day on Spotify.
CoComelon is not only a ratings juggernaut (收视率主宰). It’s also a model for a new approach to children’s TV. A room of adults could work very hard for years on a concept that helped kids learn important ideas, only to find out viewers weren’t interested. CoComelon’s parent company, Moonbug Entertainment, searches digital platforms like YouTube for popular kids’ programming to figure out what the audience want to watch.
It’s clear that much of CoComelon’s popularity is caused by this program. As parents juggled childcare and remote work, demand for kid content increased greatly, thus making CoComelon successful. The success of the show is the influence that CoComelon has on babies and kids. You can see the evidence in the dozens of TikTok videos showing kids who hear the marimba tones of its theme song. And, Zhou’s daughter’s third word, after Mama and Dada, was CoCo.
As the show and others like it become inescapable, parents are going to have to deal with whether this type of children’s programming works for their families. Sure, their kids may love it — but does that mean it’s any good for them?
1. Why does the author mention the kid in the first paragraph?A.To explain a phenomenon. | B.To introduce a topic. |
C.To make a prediction. | D.To present a fact. |
A.It only attracts babies and kids in the U. S. |
B.Its music is streamed 1. 3 million times a day on Netflix. |
C.It serves as a model showing how to make children’s TV. |
D.It is the most popular entertainment program on YouTube. |
A.Balanced. | B.Matched. | C.Compared. | D.Connected. |
A.Objective. | B.Dissatisfied. | C.Uninterested. | D.Supportive. |
6 . 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? |
7 . Have you ever heard of the group Westlife? Maybe you have, but I’m sure many of you don’t know very much about it.
Westlife is an Irish boy band group, which was made up of 6 boys in the beginning and called IOU. The group quickly became popular with young people thanks to their song Swear It Again, which was at the top of the UK charts (排行榜) in April 1999.
Chinese fans got their first chance to see Westlife on March 6th, 2006 in Beijing. Although the four-member group has been singing pop for seven years, the young boys have all grown up and their songs are still very popular. When they performed in Beijing, Westlife released (发行) their new album Face to Face in China. Face to Face has been at the top of the British charts for a long time. The album’s most popular song You Raise Me Up mixes traditional Irish music with pop music.
Although hip-hop is quite popular among the young, Westlife has no plans to change. They said, “Hip-hop is for the young, but pop can be enjoyed by moms who are busy cooking meals and raising the kids.
1. Westlife is from ________.A.America | B.China |
C.Ireland | D.Germany |
A.went from 6 to 4 | B.went from 4 to 6 |
C.went from 5 to 4 | D.didn’t change |
A.Chinese fans fell in love with Westlife. |
B.Chinese fans were first introduced to Westlife. |
C.Chinese fans first heard Westlife’s songs. |
D.Chinese fans could see Westlife in Beijing. |
A.电影 | B.书 |
C.歌手 | D.专辑 |
A.Hip-hop music. | B.Pop music. |
C.Rock music. | D.Classical music. |
Lost in the PostHow would you feel if the letter you penned carefully and posted to your favorite star ended up in the recycling bin? That's where unopened fan mail sent to singer Taylor Swift was found in Nashville.
A.This incident has caused a wide public concern about how the public figures deal with the letters or mails from the fans. |
B.She and her staff deal with up to 20,000 items of mail a month on behalf of 26 celebrities |
C.Accordingly, the correspondence problem has been difficult for the computer to automate. |
D.Typically, correspondence is acknowledged by a photo with a printed “signature”. |
E.How could he have enough time to skim through these letters one by one? |
F.In fact, there is no alternative to deal with the problem. |
G.Others do attempt to get through it themselves. |
For the longest time, many parents blame teen idols for influencing the way their kids act. Have you noticed how teens idolize the celebrities these days? Even, their personal affairs are being followed by kids these days. Take for example the case of Lindsay Lohan of Mary Kate Ashley. They are definitely famous teen stars. But, since they are trying to project an image to satisfy a lot of people in show business, their health and body suffer. Many kids are aware of this problem. But they are easily influenced by these celebrities to exercise and eat less.
It is a fact that the media, and especially famous teen celebrities, can influence people powerfully. But teenagers are easily influenced because teenage years are the period when our personality and identity developments take place. Teens watching TV shows and reading magazines are easily pulled into the dieting and harmful eating habits because the media have some ways to pull these acts. They use thin models and celebrities to endorse(做广告宣传) products or to star in an up-and-coming shows or movies. With fierce competition, celebrities are forced to eat less and do extreme exercise routines to get the roles or offers that come their way.
Living in today’s time and generation is a bit disturbing to a lot of parents. Media, especially as well as the celebrities, have a very powerful influence to drive teenagers to good or bad. It’s good that we can control ourselves to avoid bad things from happening. If not, parents should really be aware and guide their teens to determine what’s in and what’s out.
1. From the passage we can find Lindsay Lohan .
A.doesn’t get any exercise |
B.lives a rich and happy life |
C.lives an unhealthy lifestyle |
D.sets a good example for teenagers |
A.They are tired of school. |
B.Their celebrity idols appear in many TV shows. |
C.They have nothing to do in their spare time. |
D.They’re in their development period. |
A.to keep a slim size |
B.to survive under pressure |
C.to keep healthy to face competition |
D.to satisfy their teenage fans |
A.Parents’ responsibilities. |
B.Bad influences of celebrities. |
C.Advice on self-control. |
D.Media’s bad influences. |