阅读理解

　　When people become good at doing the things they like they find themselves.

　　Many young people are good at doing things they do not like, many other young people would like to do something at which they are not good. Also, many do not think they are good at anything, and do not know what they would like to do. None of them are happy.

　　It is impossible to decide whether one likes something until one has tried it. Trying something new is important.

　　Give each idea a fair chance. If you have decided to try out something new, also decided how long you will stick to it. Then you can make a fair decision.

　　The best thing to judge is not the final goal, but the work it takes you to reach that goal. Almost everybody would like to be highly skilled in something, but becoming highly skilled at anything calls for a great deal of time and effect.

　　Finding oneself means not only discovering what one is good at and what one likes; it also means discovering what one is not good at and does not like.

　　So trying something and failing can have its good side. It tells you that you are not fit for that particular area and should not use it as your goal.

1．None of the young people are happy because ________.

[　　]

A．they are good at doing things they are not fond of

B．they would like to do something they are not good at

C．they think they are good at nothing and do not know what they would like to do

D．of all the above

2．You can’t decide whether you like something ________.

[　　]

A．even if you have tried it

B．although you have tried it

C．before you have tried it

D．after it has been tried

3．It takes ________ to become good at something.

[　　]

A．time and money

B．a lot of time and work

C．a lot of work and rest

D．men and time

4．From this passage we know that to find oneself is ________.

[　　]

5．To find oneself one has to know ________.

[　　]

A．his strong points

B．his weak points

C．both his strong and weak points

D．what he likes and what he is good at

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

 

I hear many parents say that their teenagers are too independent.I wish it were so.At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents.You should be learning to stand on your own feet.But take a good look at the present rebellion，it seems that teenagers are all taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents.Instead of striking out bravely on their own，most of them are trying to seize at one another’s hands for safety.

They say they want to dress as they please.But they all wear the same clothes.They set off in new directions in music.But the reason for thinking or acting in thus­and­such a way is that the crowd is doing it.They have come out of their cocoon (蚕茧)—into a larger cocoon.

It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way.Industry has firmly opened up a teenager market.These days every teenager can learn from newspapers and TV what a teenager should have and be.And many of today’s parents have come to award (奖励) high marks for the popularity of their children.All this adds up to great difficulty for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.

But the difficulty is worth getting over.The path is worth following.You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party.You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records.You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates.Well，go to it.Find yourself.Be yourself.Popularity will come—with the people who respect you for who you are.That’s the only kind of popularity that really counts.

60．The writer’s purpose in writing this text is to tell________.

A．readers how to be popular in the world

B．teenagers how to learn to decide things for themselves

C．parents how to control and guide their children

D．people how to understand and respect each other

61．Teenagers should________，according to the text.

A．rebel against their parents

B．find their real self

C．become different from others in as many ways as possible

D．obey what their parents say

62．Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A．People will respect you if you share your thoughts with others.

B．Some parents are actually keeping their children from finding their own paths.

C．It is not necessarily bad for a teenager to disagree with his or her classmates.

D．Most teenagers say they want to do what they like to，but in fact they are not doing the same.

63．What does the underlined word “counts” in the last paragraph mean?

A．To recite or list numbers.

B．To have value or importance.

C．To share some thoughts.

D．To be different.

　　I hear many parents say that their teenagers（十几岁的少年）are too independent. I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are all taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out bravely on their own, most of them are trying to seize at one another’s hands for safety.

    They say they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But the reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon（蚕茧）?--into a larger cocoon.

　　It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly opened up a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from newspapers and TV what a teenager should have and be. And many of today’s parents have come to award（奖励）high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to great difficulty for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.

　　But the difficulty is worth getting over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical（古典的）music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates. Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come—with the people who respect you for who you are. That’s the only kind of popularity that really counts.

(1) The writer’s purpose in writing this text is to tell ________.

[　　]

A．readers how to be popular in the world

B．teenagers how to learn to decide things for themselves

C．parents bow to control and guide their children

D．people how to understand and respect each other

(2) Teenagers should ________, according to the text.

[　　]

A．rebel against their parents

B．find their real self

C．become different from others in as many ways as possible

D．obey what their parents say

(3) Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

[　　]

A．People will respect you if you share your thought with others.

B．Some parents are actually keeping their children from finding their own paths.

C．It is not necessarily bad for a teenager to disagree with his or her classmates.

D．Most teenagers say they want to do what they like to, but in fact they are not doing the same.

(4) What does the underlined word“counts”mean?

[　　]

A．To recite or list numbers.

B．To have value or importance.

C．To share some thoughts.

D．To be different.

　　I hear many parents say that their teenagers（十几岁的少年）are too independent. I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are all taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out bravely on their own, most of them are trying to seize at one another’s hands for safety.

    They say they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But the reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon（蚕茧）?--into a larger cocoon.

　　It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly opened up a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from newspapers and TV what a teenager should have and be. And many of today’s parents have come to award（奖励）high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to great difficulty for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.

　　But the difficulty is worth getting over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical（古典的）music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates. Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come—with the people who respect you for who you are. That’s the only kind of popularity that really counts.

(1) The writer’s purpose in writing this text is to tell ________.

[　　]

A．readers how to be popular in the world

B．teenagers how to learn to decide things for themselves

C．parents bow to control and guide their children

D．people how to understand and respect each other

(2) Teenagers should ________, according to the text.

[　　]

A．rebel against their parents

B．find their real self

C．become different from others in as many ways as possible

D．obey what their parents say

(3) Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

[　　]

A．People will respect you if you share your thought with others.

B．Some parents are actually keeping their children from finding their own paths.

C．It is not necessarily bad for a teenager to disagree with his or her classmates.

D．Most teenagers say they want to do what they like to, but in fact they are not doing the same.

(4) What does the underlined word“counts”mean?

[　　]

A．To recite or list numbers.

B．To have value or importance.

C．To share some thoughts.

D．To be different.