Things like hula hoops (呼啦圈) used to be very popular. Did you ever own any of these? If you didn't, don't feel too bad. They were all fads. A fad is something that becomes very1 among a large number of people, but only for a short time.2 can become a fad very quickly, but can stop being popular just as quickly.3 it is no longer "cool", a fad goes away. Anything can become a(n)4 —fashion, food, music, technology, even language.
In the late 1970s,Erno Rubik, a professor was looking for a5 wayto teach his students about 3D objects. He6 a six-color plastic object that would becalled the Rubik's Cube (魔方). Thegoal was to get each side of the cube a7 color. It was very challenging. It took a fewyears for the toy to become popular, but then8,in 1982, it seemed everyone had one. People bought over a hundred million ofthe9. There were 50 books available that yearoffering solutions. Then, just as suddenly as the craze (风尚) started, it10. By 1983, people were not interested inthe Rubik's Cube anymore, perhaps because so many people11 hadone in their home.
In 2012, a South Korean musician named Psy released a song called "Gangnam Style". The music video show Psy pretending (假装) to horse ride while he is dancing. In six months, it became the first Youtube video ever to reach a billion views (观看). Six months after that,12 went on to reach two billion views. The song and video started a worldwide13 craze. "Gangnam Style" had a huge influence on world popular culture. U.S. President Barack Obama and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron even14 the dance. "Gangnam Style" became less and less popular,15 the "Korean Wave" of culture remains popular all over the world.
