阅读理解
For Chen Hua, 28, an automobile engineer in Shanghai, reading out English text aloud after taking pronunciation lessons on a mobile app has become an evening routine. Chen might skip dinner, but wouldn't trade even one language class delivered by the app for anything. Not having been using English much since leaving college, Chen feels the pressure to pick it up using spare time. The "pressure" arises from a constant fear of being left behind as English-proficient peers appear to get ahead. Academic circles refer to this as "middle-class anxiety", which is grasping some sections of China's population. In a report released by leading online recruiter Zhaopin in January, one-fourth of surveyed white-collar workers said they feel more stressed than inspired, citing reasons from unstable paychecks to gloomy career prospects. Most important of all, many people worry that the worth and utility of their knowledge and qualifications could erode due to thriving technological progress, globalism and entrepreneurship. "Intensified peer pressure, especially at workplaces, is one factor that fuels our business," said Wang Yi, CEO of Liulishuo, an English-learning app that Chen uses every day. Wang, a Princeton computer science graduate and former product manager at Google Inc, launched the app over five years ago with the intention to disrupt China's hidebound brick-and-mortar language schools. Liulishuo—it is Chinese for "speaking fluently" —brings social media and gaming elements to the genre. Wang said that unlike pre-school or K12 education, the adult-learning market is characterized by an inherent desire for self-improvement. Students of online adult education courses feel the fee is money well spent. To personalize offerings, Liulishuo has introduced big data and algorithms to quantify multiple dimensions of speech, as well as automatically tailor courses so that the courses could walk a fine line between challenging the students and discouraging them to the extent that they quit learning. Actually, this is not just confined to language courses. China's growing learners have shown they will spend time on the right educational programs.
单选题
Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
单选题
What does the underlined word "middle-class anxiety" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】推断题。画线部分的指代内容即文章中this的指代内容。根据上下文可知this指的是“The‘pressure’arises from a constant fear of being left behind as English-proficient peers appear to get ahead”。故本题选D。
单选题
People surveyed feel more stressed than inspired due to the following reasons EXCEPT______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题。根据第三段中的“citing reasons from unstable paychecks to gloomy career prospects…the worth and utility of their knowledge and qualifications could erode…”可知,A、B、D三项文中均有提及,只有C项在文中没有体现。故本题选C。
单选题
What was the purpose of Wang Yi launching Liulishuo over five years ago?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题。文章第四段最后一句话“…launched the app over five years ago with the intention to disrupt China’s hidebound brick-and-mortar language schools”点明了“流利说”推出的原因——打破学习者在实体语言学校学习语言的固有模式。故本题选C。