Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the
box. Each word can be used only once. Note that then is one word more than you
need.
|
A. potential B. limitless C. attached
D. initial E. promotion F. appeal
G. expand H. equal
I. recognition J. threaten K. practice
|
Celebrity
(名人) has become one of the most important
representatives of popular culture. Fans used to be crazy about a specific
film, but now the public tends to base its consumption on the interest of
celebrity {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to any given product. Besides, fashion
magazines have almost abandoned the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} of putting models on the cover because they
don't sell nearly as well as famous faces. As a result, celebrities have
realized their unbelievably powerful market {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, moving from advertising for
others' products to developing their own.
Celebrity
clothing lines aren't a completely new phenomenon, but in the past, they were
typically aimed at the ordinary consumers, and limited to a few TV actresses.
Today they're started by first-class stars whose products enjoy {#blank#}4{#/blank#}fame with some world top brands. The
most successful start-ups have been those by celebrities with specific personal
style. As celebrities become more and more experienced at the market, they try
to {#blank#}5{#/blank#}their production scale
rapidly, covering almost all the products of daily life.
However,
for every success story, there's a related warning tale of a celebrity who
overvalued his consumer {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. No
matter how famous the product's origin is, if it fails to impress consumers
with its own qualities, it begins to resemble an exercise in self-promotional
marketing. And once the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}attention
dies down, consumer interest might fade, loyalty returning to tried-and-true
labels.
Today,
celebrities face even more severe embarrassment. The pop-cultural circle might
be bigger than ever, but its rate of turnover has speeded up as well. Each
misstep is likely to {#blank#}8{#/blank#}to
reduce a celebrity's shelf life, and the same newspaper or magazine that once
brought him fame has no problem picking him to pieces when the opportunity
appears. Still, the ego's (自我的) potential
for expansion is {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. Having
already achieved great wealth and public {#blank#}10{#/blank#}, many celebrities see fashion as
the next frontier to be conquered. As the saying goes, success and failure
always go hand in hand. Their success as designers might last only a short
time, but fashion—like celebrity—has always been temporary.
