题目内容
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 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.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 |
2.What can be learnt about Swiss watch industry from the passage?
A.It’s hard for the industry to beat its competitors. |
B.It targets rich people as its potential customers. |
C.It wastes a huge amount of money in advertising. |
D.It’s easy for the industry to reinvent cheap watches. |
3.Which would be the best title for the passage?
A.Watches? Not for Me! |
B.My Childhood Timex |
C.Timex or Rolex? |
D.Watches—a Valuable Collection |
1.D
2.B
3.A
【解析】文章表达了作者自己对待手表的态度——手表是无用的。
1.D 细节题。根据第三段第3行Expensive watches come with extra functions—but who needs them?可知现在很多功能多样化的昂贵的手表仍然在出售让他感觉很荒谬,因为那些功能根本用不着。
2.B 推理题。根据文章第四段后四行内容可知手表是以富人为潜在的客户对象的。
3.A 主旨大意题。通读全文可知作者对于手表是持反对态度的,故A正确。
完形(15%)
Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” Once __41 __, such opportunities are like valuable diamonds hidden in the sand.
Several years ago, I spoke at a school about how we were surrounded by “___42___ ” if we could only recognize them. A man stopped by to see me, and I remembered him as somebody who had suffered through a(n) ___43___ divorce (离婚) and was examining what was most important to him. He took a small ___44___ out of his pocket. Here is what he said to me that day.
“I ___45___ on this stone when I was leaving church last Sunday. You had spoken about ___46___ opportunities—diamonds. I put the stone in my ___47___ to remind me to look for those “diamonds” that I need. I have been trying to sell my business . On Monday morning, a man who seemed interested in ___48___ some of my stock (股票) stopped by. I thought, ‘Here’s my diamond—don’t let it ___49___!’ I sold the entire stock to him by noon. Now my next diamond is to find a new ___50___ !”
Not long afterward, he did find a new and better job. From then on, he decided to keep his stone with him all the time as a ___51___ to look for “diamonds” as he dug through the ___52___ of life.
Richard DeVos is right when he points out. “This is an exciting world. It is filled with opportunities. Great moments wait around every corner.” Those moments are diamonds that, ___53___ left unrecognized, will be forever lost.
Are you looking for “diamonds” every day? If not, you may ___54___ pass them by! Perhaps there is a diamond of opportunity hidden in the difficulty you’re ___55___ now.
【小题1】 |
|
【小题2】 |
|
【小题3】 |
|
【小题4】 |
|
【小题5】 |
|
【小题6】 |
|
【小题7】 |
|
【小题8】 |
|
【小题9】 |
|
【小题10】 |
|
【小题11】 |
|
【小题12】 |
|
【小题13】 |
|
【小题14】 |
|
【小题15】 |
|
完形填空 (共20小题;每小题1分,满分20分)
请认真阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
We often talk about ourselves as if we have permanent genetic defects (缺陷) that can never be changed. “I’m impatient.” “I’m always behind.” “I always put things 31 !” You’ve surely heard them. Maybe you’ve used them to describe 32 .
These comments may come from stories about us that have been 33 for years—often from 34 childhood. These stories may have no 35 in fact. But they can set low expectations for us. As a child, my mother said to me, “Marshall, you have no mechanical skills, and you will never have any mechanical skills for the rest of your life.” How did these expectations 36 my development? I was never 37 to work on cars or be around 38 . When I was 18, I took the US Army’s Mechanical Aptitude Test. My scores were in the bottom for the entire nation!
Six years later, 39 , I was at California University, working on my doctor’s degree. One of my professors, Dr. Bob Tannbaum, asked me to write down things I did well and things I couldn’t do. On the positive side, I 40 down, “research, writing, analysis, and speaking.” On the 41 side, I wrote, “I have no mechanical skills.”
Bob asked me how I knew I had no mechanical skills. I explained my life 42 and told him about my 43 performance on the Army test. Bob then asked, “ 44 is it that you can solve 45 mathematical problems, but you can’t solve simple mechanical problems?”
Suddenly I realized that I didn’t 46 from some sort of genetic defect. I was just living out expectations that I had chosen to 47 . At that point, it wasn’t just my family and friends who had been 48 my belief that I was mechanically hopeless. And it wasn’t just the Army test, either. I was the one who kept telling myself, “You can’t do this!” I realized that as long as I kept saying that, it was going to remain true. 49 , if we don’t treat ourselves as if we have incurable genetic defects, we can do well in almost 50 we choose.
【小题1】 |
|
【小题2】 |
|
【小题3】 |
|
【小题4】 |
|
【小题5】 |
|
【小题6】 |
|
【小题7】 |
|
【小题8】 |
|
【小题9】 |
|
【小题10】 |
|
【小题11】 |
|
【小题12】 |
|
【小题13】 |
|
【小题14】 |
|
【小题15】 |
|
【小题16】 |
|
【小题17】 |
|
【小题18】 |
|
【小题19】 |
|
【小题20】 |
|