When I was seven
my father gave me a Timex, my first watch. I loved it, wore it for years, and
haven’t had another one since it stopped ticking a decade ago. Why? Because I
don’t need one. I have a mobile phone and I’m always near someone with an iPod
or something like that. All these devices （装置） tell the time — which is
why, if you look around, you’ll see lots of empty wrists; sales of watches to
young adults have been going down since 2007.
But while the
wise have realized that they don’t need them, others — apparently including
some distinguished men of our time — are spending total fortunes on them.
Brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Breitling command shocking prices, up
to ￡250,000 for a piece.
This is
ridiculous. Expensive cars go faster than cheap cars. Expensive clothes hang
better than cheap clothes. But these days all watches tell the time as well as
all other watches. Expensive watches come with extra functions — but who needs
them? How often do you dive to 300 metres into the sea or need to find your
direction in the area around the South Pole? So why pay that much of five
years’ school fees for watches that allow you to do these things?
If justice were
done, the Swiss watch industry should have closed down when the Japanese
discovered how to make accurate watches for a five-pound note. Instead the
Swiss reinvented the watch, with the aid of millions of pounds’ worth of
advertising, as a message about the man wearing it. Rolexes are for those who
spend their weekends climbing icy mountains; a Patek Philippe is for one from a
rich or noble family; a Breitling suggests you like to pilot planes across the
world.
Watches are now
classified as “investments” （投资）. A 1994 Patek Philippe
recently sold for nearly ￡350,000, while 1960s Rolexes
have gone from ￡15,000 to ￡30,000
plus in a year. But a watch is not an investment. It’s a toy for
self-satisfaction, a matter of fashion. Prices may keep going up — they’ve been
rising for 15 years. But when fashion moves on, the owner of that ￡350,000 beauty will suddenly find his pride and joy is no more a
good investment than my childhood Timex.
1.The sales of
watches to young people have fallen because they .
A. have other
devices to tell the time B.
think watches too expensive
C. prefer to
wear an iPod D.
have no sense of time
2.It seems
ridiculous to the writer that ______.
A. people dive
300 metres into the sea
B. expensive
clothes sell better than cheap ones
C. cheap cars
don’t run as fast as expensive ones
D. expensive
watches with unnecessary functions still sell
3.What can be
learnt about Swiss watch industry from the passage?
A. It targets
rich people as its potential customers.
B. It’s hard for
the industry to beat its competitors.
C. It wastes a
huge amount of money in advertising.
D. It’s easy for
the industry to reinvent cheap watches.
4.Which would be
the best title for the passage?
A. Timex or
Rolex? B.
My Childhood Timex
C. Watches? Not
for Me! D.
Watches — a Valuable Collection
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