To date， over 1 billion Barbie dolls have been sold. The average American girl aged between three and 11 owns a staggering ten Barbie dolls， according to Mattel， the American toy giant. An Italian or British girl owns seven; a French or German girl， five. The Barbie brand is worth some $2 billion——a little ahead of Armani， just behind the Wall Street Journal——making it the most valuable toy brand in the world， according to Interbrand， a consultancy. How is it that this impossibly proportioned， charmless toy has endured in an industry notorious for whimsical fad and fickle fashion?

Part of Barbie's appeal is that she has become， according to Christopher Varaste， a historian of Barbie， “the face of the American dream”。 Barbie is not a mere toy， nor product category： she is an icon. Quite how she became one is hotly debated among the Barbie sorority. Some think she answers an innate girlish desire for fantasy， role-playing and dressing-up. Others believe that Mattel has simply manipulated girls' aspirations to that end.

Either way， wrapped up in her pouting lips and improbable figure——buxom breasts， wafer-thin waist and permanently arched feet waiting to slip into a pair of high heels——is an apparently enduring statement of aspiration and western aesthetic. She is， according to M.G. Lord， who has written a biography of Barbie， “the most potent icon of American popular culture in the late twentieth century.”

Officialdom has recognised Barbie's iconic status. The Americans included a Barbie doll in the 1976 bicentennial time capsule. Earlier this year， the American government buried her in a “women's health” time capsule， alongside a pair of forceps and a girdle. As an emblem of Americana she is subject to pastiche， derision and political statement. Andy Warhol made a portrait of Barbie， the Campbell's soup of toy brands. An exhibition in London earlier this year displayed “Suicide Bomber Barbie” by Simon Tyszko， a British artist. Her hair was blonde， her hair ribbon red， and around her slender waist was wrapped a belt of explosives， attached to a detonator held daintily in her hand.

Barbie has not colonised girls' imaginations by accident. Mattel has dedicated itself to promoting Barbie as “a lifestyle， not just a toy”。 In addition to selling the dolls， Mattel licenses Barbie in 30 different product categories， from furniture to make-up. A girl can sleep in Barbie pyjamas， under a Barbie duvet-cover， her head on a Barbie pillow-case， surrounded by Barbie wall-paper， and on， and on. There are Barbie conventions， fan clubs， web sites， magazines and collectors' events.

“She's so much more than a character brand，” enthuses a Mattel publicity person， “she's a fashion statement， a way of life.” (449 words)

1. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

[A] The average American girl aged between three and 11 owns 10 staggering Barbie dolls.

[B] Wall Street Journal is the most valuable toy brand in the world.

[C] The Barbie brand is the most valuable toy brand in the world.

[D] The Barbie brand is worth more than $2 billion.

2. How did Barbie become an icon according to the text?

[A] Barbie has “the face of the American dream”。

[B] She answers an innate girlish desire for fantasy， role-playing and dressing-up

[C] It is Mattel that manipulated girls' aspirations to that end.

[D] Different people have different explanations.

3. Barbie's iconic status is shown in all the following EXCEPT______.

[A] Barbie doll in the 1976 bicentennial time capsule

[B] She was buried in a “women's health” time capsule

[C] She is subject to pastiche， derision and political statement

[D] Barbie has colonised girls' imaginations

4. It can be inferred from the text that Mattel is_______.

[A] a man who created Barbie doll

[B] the name of a toy manufacturer

[C] an individual organization

[D] a sorority

5. The best title for the text may be ______.

[A] Barbie dolls in USA

[B] Barbie's appeal

[C] Barbie's appeal and iconic status

[D] Barbie， the most valuable toy brand

答案與解析

1. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。本題的問題是“根據(jù)本文，下面哪項(xiàng)說法正確?”[A]“3到11歲的普通美國女孩都令人驚訝地?fù)碛?0個(gè)芭比娃娃玩具”與第一段第二句話的意思不符，文中說的是3到10歲的普通美國女孩;[B]“《華爾街期刊》是世界上最有價(jià)值的雜志”與第一段第四句話的意思不符;[D]“芭比這個(gè)品牌值20多億美元”與第一段第四句話的意思不符，文中是說值大約20億美元，不是說20多億美元。文章第一段提到，芭比這個(gè)品牌值大約20億美元，這使得它成為世界上最有價(jià)值的玩具品牌。[C]“芭比這個(gè)品牌是世界上最有價(jià)值的玩具品牌”是對(duì)該句話的改寫，為正確答案。

2. D 細(xì)節(jié)題。本題的問題是“芭比成為世界上的一個(gè)偶像，因?yàn)?”。題干中的“an i. con”出自文章第二段第二句話中，表明本題與第二段有關(guān)。第二段在解釋芭比這種現(xiàn)象的原因時(shí)指出，有人認(rèn)為芭比已經(jīng)成為“美國夢(mèng)想的表現(xiàn)”，有人認(rèn)為芭比是一個(gè)偶像，有人認(rèn)為芭比滿足了少女對(duì)幻想、追星以及穿著打扮的天生渴望，其他人認(rèn)為，墨泰爾只是巧妙地滿足了少女們對(duì)那個(gè)目標(biāo)的渴望。這說明，對(duì)于芭比成為一個(gè)偶像這一點(diǎn)，人們的觀點(diǎn)不同。[D]“不同的人們有不同的解釋”是對(duì)第二段的概括，為正確答案。[A] “芭比有‘美國夢(mèng)想的表現(xiàn)”’、[B]“她滿足了少女對(duì)幻想、追星以及穿著打扮的天生渴望”和[C]“正是墨泰爾巧妙地滿足了少女們對(duì)那個(gè)目標(biāo)的渴望”都只是部分原因，不全面。

3. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。本題的問題是“下面所有選項(xiàng)都體現(xiàn)了芭比的偶像地位，除了 ”。題干中的“iconic status'‘出自文章第四段第一句話中，表明本題與第三段有關(guān)。第三段提到，美國人把芭比娃娃玩具放入”200周年紀(jì)念的時(shí)代文物儲(chǔ)放器“中，美國政府把她隨同一把鉗子和一個(gè)腰帶一起放入一個(gè)”女性健康“時(shí)代文物儲(chǔ)放器中;第五段提到，芭比并不是偶然俘獲少女們的幻想的。這些都是芭比產(chǎn)生的正面效應(yīng)，說明[A]”芭比玩具被放入1976年的’200周年紀(jì)念的時(shí)代文物儲(chǔ)放器‘中“、[B]”她被放入一個(gè)’女性健康‘時(shí)代文物儲(chǔ)放器中“和[D]”芭比俘獲了少女們的幻想“體現(xiàn)了芭比的偶像地位。第四段中間部分提到，作為美國文物的象征，芭比容易成為模仿作品，成為笑柄，成為政治聲明，隨后提到了有人制作的人體炸彈芭比。這是在講芭比產(chǎn)生的負(fù)面結(jié)果，所以[C]”她容易成為模仿作品，成為笑柄，成為政治聲明“不能體現(xiàn)芭比的偶像地位。

4. B 推論題。本題的問題是“根據(jù)本文i可以推知，墨泰爾 ”。題干中的“Mattel”出自文章第一段第二句話中，表明本題與第一段有關(guān)。第一段提到墨泰爾時(shí)是說“美國玩具制造業(yè)巨頭墨泰爾”，最后一段是說“墨泰爾的一位發(fā)言人充滿激情地說……”。由此可知，墨泰爾應(yīng)該是一家玩具制造企業(yè)的名稱。[B]“是玩具制造商的名稱”與文意符合，為正確答案。[A]“是一個(gè)創(chuàng)作芭比娃娃玩具的人”、[C]“是一個(gè)個(gè)體組織”和[D] “是一個(gè)婦女聯(lián)誼會(huì)”都是對(duì)墨泰爾的錯(cuò)誤推理，與文意不符。

5. C 主旨題。本題的問題是“本文的最佳標(biāo)題可能是 ”。文章第一段提到，芭比這個(gè)品牌已經(jīng)成為世界上最有價(jià)值的玩具品牌，接著分析了導(dǎo)致這種吸引力的原因，隨后的段落介紹了芭比的偶像地位，指出，她遠(yuǎn)不只是一個(gè)知名品牌，她是一種時(shí)尚宣言，是一種生活方式。這說明，本文主要是介紹芭比的吸引力以及偶像地位。[C]“芭比的吸引力與偶像地位”是對(duì)全文的概括，為正確答案。[A]“美國的芭比娃娃玩具”太籠統(tǒng)，不能恰當(dāng)表達(dá)本文的主題;[B]“芭比的吸引力”和[D]“芭比，最有價(jià)值的玩具品牌”只是第一、二段的內(nèi)容，比較片面，也不能表達(dá)本文的主題。