Question

They can be seen more frequently than ever before on college campuses, wearing thick-rimmed glasses while listening to indie(独立的) music. One might find them playing unusual musical instruments, shopping at second-hand stores or expressing themselves in other unique ways. They call themselves hipsters. Being “hip” used to mean following the latest fashion. But gradually the word has evolved into a synonym for “cool”.

Hipsters value independent thinking, progressive politics, an appreciation of creativity and intelligence. Hipsters take pains and pride in not being mainstream. However, their culture has become quite trendy. This irony is central to their culture and offers an interesting paradox.

“I do take things in the mainstream with a grain of salt,” says Ben Polson, a college student at Brown University in the US. Polson describes himself as a hipster and says he often questions what determines popularity, especially regarding music.When lesser-known bands become popular they often lose their former fan base in exchange for a new one. There is a famous hipster saying that goes: I used to like that band before it got popular.

According to Polson, bands’ music changes when they go mainstream. They become “less experimental, doing things just to save popularity and fans. The original elements that we were drawn to slowly dwindle for the sake of popularity.”

Many young adults have started to view hipsters’ outlook as cool and are adopting their counterculture mindset (心态)themselves. This has led to specialized brands, stores and music for the hipster position. Ironically, some such stores, including clothing labels Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, have gained mainstream popularity. This has seemingly diluted(冲淡) the anti-mainstream culture.

“A lot of people that are self-defined hipsters aren’t really hipsters, they’re just trying to conform to the non-conformist(不墨守成规者) to seem cooler,” says Amanda Leopold, a college student from Oberlin College, US. Although Leopold has many unconventional tastes and seems quite individualist, she refuses to classify herself as a hipster.

There is a conflict among hipsters about the very definition of the label. To some, to be a hipster is to be free from cultural constraints. To others, it means wearing a certain style and listening to a specific style of music. The former constantly strives for uniqueness, while the latter strives not to be mainstream.

And yet, the movement is gaining mainstream popularity. “It’s kind of the trend these days; everyone wants to be hip so no one’s hip,” says Leopold. “There have been hipsters since the seventies. It’s only become popular recently.”

Hipsters reject materialism and laugh at mainstream culture. But are they really beyond material comforts? Do they have any ideas of their own if they despise mainstream so much?

Christy Wampole, an associate professor of literature at Princeton University, US, is not so sure. She says the hipster is a contradiction in himself and an easy target of mockery(嘲弄). Writing in The New York Times, Wampole paints a less appreciative picture of a typical hipster.

“The hipster is a scholar of social forms, a student of cool. He studies continuously, searching for what has yet to be found by the mainstream. He is a walking citation(例证); his clothes refer to much more than themselves. He tries to negotiate the age-old problem of individuality, not with concepts, but with material things.”

1.From the passage we can know that hipsters are ____________________________.

A．a group of people who are self-denied

B．a group of students who are good at musical instruments

C．people who follow the latest trends and fashions

D．people who pay no attention to material things

2.The underlined word dwindle in the fourth paragraph may probably mean______________.

A．enlarge           B．delete            C．disappear         D．decrease

3.Leopold refuses to classify herself as a hipster because_______________________.

A．she doesn’t like her own unconventional tastes

B．there are too many specialized brands, stores and music for the hipster position

C．she thinks that a lot of people that are self-defined hipsters aren’t really hipsters

D．the hipsters’ culture has become quite trendy

4.When Leopold said “It’s kind of the trend these days; everyone wants to be hip so no one’s hip”, we can see that she felt a bit ______________.

A．happy            B．disappointed       C．excited           D．content

5.The passage mainly tells us ________________________.

A．the difficult situation of hipsters            B．the trend of fashion

C．the changes of the society                 D．the culture of hipsters

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.C

2.D

3.C

4.B

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要讲述了hipsters在现在遇见的新的情况，很多最初的特色已经消失了。

1.C 细节题。根据第一段4,5行They call themselves hipsters. Being “hip” used to mean following the latest fashion.说明C项正确。

2.D 推理题。根据本句The original elements that we were drawn to slowly dwindle for the sake of popularity.”说明未来受人欢迎这些最初的元素慢慢地褪色，慢慢减少了。故该词是指D项。

3.C 细节题。根据第五段1,2行“A lot of people that are self-defined hipsters aren’t really hipsters, they’re just trying to conform to the non-conformist(不墨守成规者) to seem cooler,” says Amanda Leopold说明很多人都不是真正的hipster都只是自我标榜为hipster的。故C正确。

4.B 推理题。根据everyone wants to be hip so no one’s hip,”说明每个人都想成为hip，这样一来没有人会是真的hip;他这样说，说明他对人们的这种行为有点失望。故B正确。

5.A 主旨大意题。根据文章最后2段说明hipsters现在出现了很多新的变化，已经不再是以前的hipsters了，故A正确。

考点：考查文化类短文阅读

点评：本文主要讲述了hipsters在现在遇见的新的情况，测试考生在阅读基础上的逻辑推理能力，要求考生根据文章所述事件的逻辑关系，对未说明的趋势或结局作出合理的推断；或根据作者所阐述的观点理论，对文章未涉及的现象、事例给以解释。考生首先要仔细阅读短文，完整了解信息，准确把握作者观点。