Question

The character “duang” is so new that it does not even exist in the Chinese dictionary. But it has already spread like wildfire online in China, appearing more than 8 million times on China’s micro-blogging site Weibo, where it spawned a top-trending hashtag(標簽) that drew 312,000 discussions among 15,000 users. On China’s biggest online search engine Baidu, it has been looked up almost 600,000 times. It’s been noticed in the West too, with Foreign Policy seeing it as a “break the internet” viral meme － like a certain Kirn Kardashian image, or a certain multicoloured dress.

But what does it mean? “Everyone’s duang-ing and I still don’t know what it means! As if it’s back to school for me,” said Weibo user Weileiweito. Another user asked: “Have you duang-ed today? My mind is full of duang duang duang.” “To duang or not to duang, that is the question,” wrote user BaiKut automan.

“Duang” seems to be an example of onomatopoeia(擬聲詞), a word that phonetically imitates a sound. It all seems to have started with Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, who in 2004 was featured in a shampoo commercial where he said famously defended his sleek, black hair using the rhythmical-sounding “duang”. The word resurfaced again recently after Chan posted it on his Weibo page. Thousands of users then began to flood Chan’s Weibo page with comments, coining the word in reference to his infamous shampoo appearance.

The word appears to have many different meanings, and there’s no perfect translation, but you could use it as an adjective to give emphasis to the word that follows it. A kitten might be “duang cute”, for example. Or you might be “very duang confused” by this blog.

For readers of Chinese characters, the Jackie Chan theme is also apparent from the quirky(古怪的) way in which the word is written: a combination of Chan’s Mandarin names.

1.How does the writer try to prove that Duang has already spread like wildfire online in China?

A. giving examples B. listing numbers

C. making comparisons D. offering quotations

2.Why does the author mention “a certain Kirn Kardashian image”?

A. to tell us “Duang” also draws attention in the West.

B. to tell us “Duang” is just like a certain image on a certain multicolored dress.

C. to tell us Foreign Policy doesn’t like “Duang”.

D. to tell us a certain Kim Kardashian image breaks the internet.

3. Which of the following statements about “duang is NOT true?

A. It came from Jackie chan’s commertial.

B. Weibo users created the word about his infamous shampoo appearance.

C. It was first used as an adjective to stress the word that follows it.

D. Many people are confused by the word.

4.What kind of people may not know the word “duang”?

A. the old who are over sixties

B. the young who are in fashion

C. a boy who has dropped out of school

D. a woman who never surfs the internet

Answer 1