Question

The iPhone, the iPad, each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad (一時的風尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” – and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer – which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet –adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear – popular in the US and UK – that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.

In general, single-letter prefixes (前綴) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.

Most “i” products are targeted at young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.

But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.

“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (輕便) .”adds Thorne.

Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.

Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.

But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend inevitably disappeared.

1.People use iPlayer to __________.

A. listen to music B. make a call

C. watch TV programs online D. read newspapers

2.We can infer that the Independent’s “i” is aimed at __________.

A. young readers B. old readers

C. fashionable women D. engineers

3.The underlined word “ambiguous” means “__________”.

A. popular B. uncertain

C. definite D. unique

4.Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are __________.

A. portable B. environmentally friendly

C. advanced D. recyclable

5.The writer suggests that __________.

A. “i” products are often of high quality

B. iTeddy is alive bear

C. the letter “b” replaces letter “i” to name the products

D. the popularity of “i” products may not last long

Answer 1

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.A

5.D

【解析】

試題解析：本文是一篇議論文，隨著當下ipad，iphone等設備的流行，引起了作者對前綴“i”的思考，這是蘋果主要為年輕人打造的，我們不能確定“i”的含義到底是什么。但是能確定的是，在當下“i”已經慢慢演化成輕便的代名詞。同時作者也發表了自己的看法，認為“i”的潮流也如同2000隨著21世紀的到來慢慢降溫一樣，終將過去。

1.】C 細節理解題。第一段中“The BBC’s iPlayer – which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet”提到，人們用iplayer來在線觀看電視節目。故選C。

2.】A細節理解題。第三段開頭“Most ‘I’ products are targeted at young people”大多數i產品的目標是年輕人，故選A。

3.】B詞義辨析題。A流行的；B不確定的；C確定的；D唯一的。 根據后文中“When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines..”當蘋果使用“i”的時候，沒有人知道它的意思是互聯網，信息，個人的或者是交互式的。可知文章要表達的是“i”的不確定性。故選B。

4.】A 詞義辨析題。A輕便的；B環境友好的；C先進的；D可回收的。第五段“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (輕便) .”然而，因為蘋果公司，這個術語現在與輕便聯系了起來，故選A。

5.】D 推理判斷題。最后一段表明：歷史現實，人們逐漸會厭倦時尚，從1900年到1990年，以“2000”命名產品變得很時尚因為這個年份和先進摩登的事物聯系在一起，然而當我們進入新時代，人們對“2000”時尚會慢慢厭倦，這個趨勢已不可避免。所以作者暗示了“i”的時尚也可能如此。故選D

考點：考察議論文閱讀。