17．
I have this old clock that belonged to my mom．My dad gave it to me years ago after mom passed away．
I have mixed feelings about keeping the clock．I love it because it was my mom's，but it also holds some bad memories．
You see，it chimes （打钟报时）．It counts out the hour and rings once on the half hour．Or at least it used to．Now you never know what number it will ring．
When my mother was at home dying from cancer，she asked for the clock to be unplugged （拔去插头等）．Hearing the hours count down really angered and frightened her．
Mom passed away．I decided I wanted to get the clock fixed so I could remember the good hours we had with her．
I took it to a local clock shop the other day．
"I know this has no particular value as a clock，but it was my mom's and I need to get it fixed，"I said to the shop owner．
I went on to describe the problem．
"We get a lot of these in，"he told me．"Here's what I do．We remove the clock works （机件） and replace it with a battery-operated movement （机芯） that chimes electronically，"he told me．
"You can't fix this？""No，we don't have the time nor the parts．"
I thanked him and went home．I called a few other places and was told the same thing．
"How incredibly sad，"I told the last one disappointedly．
We copy the original instead of creating something new．We duplicate （复制）； we don't originate （发明）．How incredibly sad that we have become a society that replaces craftsmanship （手艺） with convenience and easy fixes．
Sadly，this is also our attitude toward life itself．
Each of us is an original，one of a kind．But we find it so much easier to copy another's style than to develop our own．
We are wannabes （崇拜别人的人） rather than"hey-world-look-at-me"s．
We fail to see the real value in who we are，so we spend our lives trying to be someone else．
56．The author decided to get the clock fixed because itD．
A．was a really old and valuable clock
B．left the author with mixed feelings
C．was the only thing that his mother had left him
D．brought him memories of being with his mother
57．What did the clock shop owners tell the author？B
A．It would cost a lot to repair the clock．
B．They could only make the clock electronic．
C．The parts that the clock needed were electronic．
D．They had never repaired a clock like this before．
58．The purpose of the article is to criticizeC．
A．the irresponsible clock shop owners
B．people who do not value things with a history
C．people who do not have a creative attitude toward life
D．people's ignorance （无知） of traditional craftsmanship．
