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     Jack lay, quiet and unmoving, for thirty minutes while a stranger repeatedly stabbed(刺) him with

sharp needles, causing blood to pour steadily out of his leg. Jack was getting a tattoo. His friend Tony

had recently gotten a tattoo, and Jack was so impressed by it that he decided to get one too. Peer

pressure, media influence, and personal expression are some of the common reasons for wearing

tattoos today.

     The desire to be accepted by one's friends or peers can have a great influence on what a person

does. Sometimes, wearing a tattoo can be a sign that you belong to a certain group. Gangs often use

special clothes and tattoos to identify their particular group. Some of these groups wear only brand-name

clothes. Others wear tattoos. When a person's friends are all doing something, that person is more likely

to do the same thing.

     The media is another big influence behind the popularity of tattoos in North America. A wide variety

of media images show tattoos-people appearing in commercials selling expensive cars, famous sport

s heroes with tattoos in magazines, fashion models wearing designer clothes that show their bodies

tattooed with detailed and colorful patterns. These media images link tattoos to ideas of wealth,

success, and status. As a result, many people decide to get a tattoo for its fashion and status value.

     Many people decide to wear tattoos in order to express their artistic nature, their beliefs, or their

feelings－in other words, to show their individuality(个性). A musician in a rock band may get a tattoo

of a guitar on the arm. Some environmentalists may tattoo pictures of endangered animals on their

shoulders. A tattoo can be a public sign to show what is important in a person's life.

     As you can see, there are many reasons why young North Americans get tattoos. A tattoo can be

part of a group's uniform, a sign of fashion, or an expression of individuality. The decision to get a tattoo

is most often a result of the influence of friends or media or the desire to express oneself. For Jack, it

was a mixture of all three.

1. Jack has got tattoos in order to ________.

A. show his great bravery

B. gain a special experience

C. make himself more healthy

D. be different from others

2. According to the passage, media images are linked to ________.

A. traditional lifestyle

B. social position

C. cultural background    

D. public interest

3. We can infer from the passage that ________.

A. some people get tattoos out of pressure

B. tattoo is related to religious belief

C. getting tattoos costs a lot of money

D. most people with tattoos are artists