Reading Smart B: Unit 46

 Section 2---Unit 46 Science and Technology

App Sticker Popularity

The craze for app stickers has taken over Asia, with Cony, Hello Kitty, and other characters gracing billions of mobile app messages each day. These digital stickers are also responsible for the popularity of Asian app giants like LINE, WeChat, and KakaoTalk.

Now these services are looking to enter the North American market, and whether or not they'll be successful depends largely on the fate of these stickers across the ocean. Stickers are popular in Asia because they can be used as a visual shortcut. Typing Asian characters using smartphones designed with the Latin alphabet may be tiring. Stickers let users communicate quickly and efficiently without using strings of characters. With stickers, users can also express ideas indirectly, thus avoiding embarrassment or offending people. For example, to decline someone's invitation to dinner, one could send a sticker to get that message across in a cute way, rather than saying "no" or "I can't."

Cultural factors that have made digital stickers popular in Asia may not exist in North America, though. To begin with, the styles of many of the stickers fit into Japan's cute culture, which is popular in other Asian countries but may be considered childish by North Americans.

Also, many English speakers may not find writing text messages time-consuming. In fact, many common expressions are typed using abbreviations, such as TTYL for "talk to you later" and BTW for "by the way." Lastly, North Americans may not be as willing as Asians to spend money on buying stickers.

So far, social messaging apps have focused on Asian tastes. To be profitable in North America, these companies will have to take culture into consideration to make stickers that will actually stick.

Reading Comprehension

(   ) 1. Why have app stickers become a hit in Asia?

(A) They are very cheap.

(B) Asians prefer to express ideas indirectly so that they don't offend people.

(C) Asians prefer to not talk about serious things.

(D) The stickers don't hurt your eyes like regular text messages do.

(   ) 2. According to the writer, what is one reason that digital stickers might not be popular in North America?

(A) Most North Americans think the stickers are ugly.

(B) Most North Americans don't get "texting thumb."

(C) Most North Americans think "cute" culture is childish.

(D) Most North Americans don't appreciate the value of using app stickers.

(   ) 3. Which of the following is true, according to the article?

(A) Most popular stickers in Asia are cute, and this is slowly being accepted by North Americans.

(B) Many English speakers think writing text messages takes time, so they often use abbreviations.

(C) Sending stickers can mean less embarrassment for English speakers.

(D) Whether app giants like Line will be successful in North America is up to the popularity of the app stickers.

(   ) 4. What can we infer from the article?

(A) The writer thinks app stickers won't be popular in North America because of the cultural differences.

(B) With a strong marketing strategy, app stickers will be profitable in North America.

(C) The writer doesn't know what will happen in the future, so he doesn't comment on this.

(D) App-sticker services can be popular in North America as long as they can create stickers that fit into their culture.