TEXT G
First read the following question.
53. The primary purpose of the passage is to ____.
A. discuss the Japanese Prime Minister.
B. discuss the coined words in the recent Japanese language.
C. deal with language problem.
D. deal with word formation.
Now go through TEXT G quickly and answer question 53.
Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi was famous for making his own phone calls， ringing up advertisers， friends， politicians and people he read about in newspapers.
He picked up his push-button phone —— called a “pushu-phone” in Japanese —— punched in the number and announced，“ This is Obuchi.”
After Obuchi's habits became known， it wasn't long before someone coined the word “buchi-phones.”
So was born a Japanese word.
More than 6，000 words and phrases are added to the language each year —— most of them short-lived —— and used in a stream so rapid that people complain they often cannot figure out what is being said.
One word that is now acknowledged as a permanent part of the lexicon is “risutora”， the Japanese version of “restructure”。 Its most common meaning here is to be fired or pressured to quit as a company downsizes.
“He was restructured” is heard frequently these days.
Teenagers are a major source of the linguistic additions， and， perhaps not surprisingly， adults say they are particularly difficult to understand.
All teens seem to know that “one-girl”， which translates as “one-cut”， is a way of communicating with friends by cell phone without paying the phone company. The caller lets the receiving phone ring once， then cuts it off. The recipient sees the number that the call came from， recognizes a friend and perhaps sends a one-giri back.
Many of these words are in English， often shortened and always pronounced according to the Japanese syllabic alphabet， which does not include， for example， “th” or any single consonant except “n.”。
The Japanese words derived from English are not always recognizable.
“Game” is “geimu”， “animation” is “anime”。 From “poketo （pocket）” and “monsuta （monster）” the Japanese took “poke” and “mon” to make， of course， “Pokemon”。
Fumio Inoue， professor of social linguistics at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies， said：“ I do think that the number of new words reflects the degree of modernization of the culture. That's the first reason. The second is that we have a precedent for absorbing language from others.”
The Japanese language is a mix of Chinese characters， words with Japanese roots and words from other language.
The distinction between words that were originally Japanese and those that came from Western language is eroding.
The Japanese word for “shame” is “shuchi”。 Young people are adding the English ending “l(fā)ess.” So Japanese now say “shuchi-lesu” —— which is what many people seem so feel about twisting and stretching their language.
TEXT H
First read the following question.
54. The novel “Generation X” was written mainly for ____.
A. card games. B. economy. C. finance. D. younger generation.
Now go through TEXT H quickly and answer question 54.
Douglas Coupland coined not only the term for a generation with novel “Generation X” but others like “Mcjob” and “veal-fattening pen”。
All of them describe demoralizing prospects facing twenty-somethings.
But he is growing up. At 38， 10 years after he penned his culture-defining novel， Coupland now has an agent and a new book， “Missing Wyoming”， with the new publishers Knopf/Pantheon in the United States and Random House in Canada.
But even though he is hurtling toward his 40s and has several books under his belt， he is still identified as the spokesman for careless twenty —— and thirty —— somethings drowning in consumerism.
“Generation X” is a field guide to and for the vast generation born in the 1970s and the 1980s —— a generation that has been incorrectly labeled “postponed” and “indifferent”。 It's a fiction about a wildly speeding subculture with no place to go.
“It's a calling card. It was written when the economy was really in the toilet， so a lot of the dialogue about identity got clumsily smashed together with financial futures and expectations”， he said.
But Coupland has not turned his back on directionless souls. The craving for spirituality and human connection live on in his latest novel.
A smart， funny and fast-paced mystery with a heartfelt American romance at its core. “Missing Wyoming” is a tale of a has-been movie producer， John Johnson， and a former TV star and child beauty queen winner， Susan Colgate. Susan refuses to spend on more day peddling herself for cheesy TV sitcom parts and takes advantage of a very weird situation to disappear. John turns his back on a pleasure-seeking life making blockbuster action films.
At a point in their lives when glamour and fame seem to be a thing of the past， both decide to disappear.
Assisting Susan and John are a former beauty pageant mom， a pair of suburban intellects， a refugee， a variety of other 20th century Americans who all share the dream of one day taking center stage. In the novel they are lost souls looking for love in the celebrity-obsessed landscape of Los Angeles when they fatefully connect.
Born on a Canadian NATO base in Badensollingen， Germany， the soft-spoken Coupland spends much of his time in relative solitude at his home in Vancouver， where he has lived most his life.
Coupland says he is pleased the Generation X fame lives on in younger audiences because people have little guidance when it comes to steering through their terrible 20s.
“Your 20s suck. I wish someone would have told me that. We prepare people in this culture how to do an algebraic equation but no one ever teaches you how to deal with loneliness and worrying”， he said. “I'd like to tell people in their 20s not to worry so much.”
Which is what he does through his novel that increasingly are reaching a younger readership —— as evidence by those who came to his reading at Toronto's Glen Gould Theatre.
“There are these kids who really identify with this stuff， which is so specific to my own life， and Vancouver. The fact that anyone can relate to it outside of my own group of friends really surprises me，” Coupland said.
“There again， I always assume that whatever book I am doing is going to be the one that no one understand”。
First read the following question.
53. The primary purpose of the passage is to ____.
A. discuss the Japanese Prime Minister.
B. discuss the coined words in the recent Japanese language.
C. deal with language problem.
D. deal with word formation.
Now go through TEXT G quickly and answer question 53.
Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi was famous for making his own phone calls， ringing up advertisers， friends， politicians and people he read about in newspapers.
He picked up his push-button phone —— called a “pushu-phone” in Japanese —— punched in the number and announced，“ This is Obuchi.”
After Obuchi's habits became known， it wasn't long before someone coined the word “buchi-phones.”
So was born a Japanese word.
More than 6，000 words and phrases are added to the language each year —— most of them short-lived —— and used in a stream so rapid that people complain they often cannot figure out what is being said.
One word that is now acknowledged as a permanent part of the lexicon is “risutora”， the Japanese version of “restructure”。 Its most common meaning here is to be fired or pressured to quit as a company downsizes.
“He was restructured” is heard frequently these days.
Teenagers are a major source of the linguistic additions， and， perhaps not surprisingly， adults say they are particularly difficult to understand.
All teens seem to know that “one-girl”， which translates as “one-cut”， is a way of communicating with friends by cell phone without paying the phone company. The caller lets the receiving phone ring once， then cuts it off. The recipient sees the number that the call came from， recognizes a friend and perhaps sends a one-giri back.
Many of these words are in English， often shortened and always pronounced according to the Japanese syllabic alphabet， which does not include， for example， “th” or any single consonant except “n.”。
The Japanese words derived from English are not always recognizable.
“Game” is “geimu”， “animation” is “anime”。 From “poketo （pocket）” and “monsuta （monster）” the Japanese took “poke” and “mon” to make， of course， “Pokemon”。
Fumio Inoue， professor of social linguistics at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies， said：“ I do think that the number of new words reflects the degree of modernization of the culture. That's the first reason. The second is that we have a precedent for absorbing language from others.”
The Japanese language is a mix of Chinese characters， words with Japanese roots and words from other language.
The distinction between words that were originally Japanese and those that came from Western language is eroding.
The Japanese word for “shame” is “shuchi”。 Young people are adding the English ending “l(fā)ess.” So Japanese now say “shuchi-lesu” —— which is what many people seem so feel about twisting and stretching their language.
TEXT H
First read the following question.
54. The novel “Generation X” was written mainly for ____.
A. card games. B. economy. C. finance. D. younger generation.
Now go through TEXT H quickly and answer question 54.
Douglas Coupland coined not only the term for a generation with novel “Generation X” but others like “Mcjob” and “veal-fattening pen”。
All of them describe demoralizing prospects facing twenty-somethings.
But he is growing up. At 38， 10 years after he penned his culture-defining novel， Coupland now has an agent and a new book， “Missing Wyoming”， with the new publishers Knopf/Pantheon in the United States and Random House in Canada.
But even though he is hurtling toward his 40s and has several books under his belt， he is still identified as the spokesman for careless twenty —— and thirty —— somethings drowning in consumerism.
“Generation X” is a field guide to and for the vast generation born in the 1970s and the 1980s —— a generation that has been incorrectly labeled “postponed” and “indifferent”。 It's a fiction about a wildly speeding subculture with no place to go.
“It's a calling card. It was written when the economy was really in the toilet， so a lot of the dialogue about identity got clumsily smashed together with financial futures and expectations”， he said.
But Coupland has not turned his back on directionless souls. The craving for spirituality and human connection live on in his latest novel.
A smart， funny and fast-paced mystery with a heartfelt American romance at its core. “Missing Wyoming” is a tale of a has-been movie producer， John Johnson， and a former TV star and child beauty queen winner， Susan Colgate. Susan refuses to spend on more day peddling herself for cheesy TV sitcom parts and takes advantage of a very weird situation to disappear. John turns his back on a pleasure-seeking life making blockbuster action films.
At a point in their lives when glamour and fame seem to be a thing of the past， both decide to disappear.
Assisting Susan and John are a former beauty pageant mom， a pair of suburban intellects， a refugee， a variety of other 20th century Americans who all share the dream of one day taking center stage. In the novel they are lost souls looking for love in the celebrity-obsessed landscape of Los Angeles when they fatefully connect.
Born on a Canadian NATO base in Badensollingen， Germany， the soft-spoken Coupland spends much of his time in relative solitude at his home in Vancouver， where he has lived most his life.
Coupland says he is pleased the Generation X fame lives on in younger audiences because people have little guidance when it comes to steering through their terrible 20s.
“Your 20s suck. I wish someone would have told me that. We prepare people in this culture how to do an algebraic equation but no one ever teaches you how to deal with loneliness and worrying”， he said. “I'd like to tell people in their 20s not to worry so much.”
Which is what he does through his novel that increasingly are reaching a younger readership —— as evidence by those who came to his reading at Toronto's Glen Gould Theatre.
“There are these kids who really identify with this stuff， which is so specific to my own life， and Vancouver. The fact that anyone can relate to it outside of my own group of friends really surprises me，” Coupland said.
“There again， I always assume that whatever book I am doing is going to be the one that no one understand”。