When I was seven my father gave me a Timex, my first watch．I loved it, wore it for years, and haven’t had amother one since it stopped ticking a decade ago．Why?Because I don’t need one．Ihave a mobile phone and I’m always near someone with an iPod or sonething 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．
This is ridiculous．Expensive cars go faster than cheap cars．Expensive clothes hang better than cheap clthes．But these days all watches tell the time as well as all lther 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 colsed 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 piunds’ 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 famoly; a Breitling suggests you like to pilot planes across the world．
Watches are now classified as“investments”(投资)．A 1994 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 of fashion．Prices may keep going rp-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 Times．
(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．
hame no sense of time
(2)
Itseems ridiculius 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．
She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121st birthday．
Whe n it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world’s recordholder．She lived to the ripe old age of 122．So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span(寿命)?If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150－or beyond?
Researchers don’t entirely agree on the answers．“Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135,”says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas．
Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees．“People can live much longer than we think,”he says．“Experts used to say that humans couldn’t live past 110．When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120．So why can’t we go higher?”
The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it’s all just guessing．“Anyone can make up a number,”says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan．“Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine．”
Won’t new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries?Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120．Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most．So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller,“adding another 50 percent would get you to 120．”
So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers?That life span is flexible(有弹性的)，but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington．“We can get flies to live 50 percent longer,”he says．“But a fly’s never going to live 150 years．”
“Of course, if you became a new species(物种)，one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story,”he adds．
Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve(进化)their way to longer life?“It’s pretty cool to think about it,”he says with a smile．
(1)
What does the story of Jeanne Calment prove to us?
[ ]
A．
People can live to 122．
B．
Old people are creative．
C．
Women are sporty at 85．
D．
Women live longer than men．
(2)
According to Steve Austad at the University of Texas, ________．
[ ]
A．
the average human life span could be 110
B．
scientists cannot find ways to slow aging
C．
few people can expect to live to over 150
D．
researchers are not sure how long people can live
(3)
Who would agree that a scientist will become famous if he makes the wildest guess at longevity?
[ ]
A．
Jerry Shay．
B．
Steve Austad
C．
Rich Miller
D．
George Martin
(4)
What can we infer from the last three paragraphs?
[ ]
A．
Most of us could be good at sports even at 120．
B．
The average human life span cannot be doubled．
C．
Scientists believe mice are aging at a slower speed than before．
D．
New techniques could be used to change flies into a new species．
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