Market analysts in the United States have recently been quoted as saying that the biggest threat to the luxury (奢侈品) industry in the US is the tech industry. This is according to an article by fellow journalist Ashley Lutz. Her suggestion is sound. The main idea of her article is that products from Tiffany & Co. find their biggest competition not from other luxury brands but from companies like Apple. Lutz points out that luxury products are often only for “show,” while the attraction behind tech products is functionality.
You find few people in the United States today willing to purchase luxury goods at full price. It didn’t use to be that way. Luxury goods used to be actually exclusive. That meant you needed to travel to the right store to purchase them, and you didn’t even have the option of getting a deal.
Today, no one wants to pay full price for luxury goods. People have the unfortunate belief that fakes (赝品) somehow are equal to originals, and if you can’t get a deal on eBay, Amazon, or in an outlet store, purchasing a luxury product probably isn’t worth it. Luxury brands struggle to remain high-end (高档的) images despite the reality that the American consumer is motivated much more by discounts than they are by brand names or image.
Yet people stand in line to pay full price for a new product from Apple and crowds gather to hear about a new smart phone. While electronics are updating every day, people are purchasing technology at full prices much more than they are purchasing luxury goods. What are high-tech makers doing right that luxury makers are pitifully failing at?
Carefully looking at the situation, it would appear as if the Internet didn’t hurt the luxury industry, expectation from the consumers did. What people want these days more than anything is stuff that does something. They want cars that drive, shoes that are comfortable, games that are fun to play, screens that are beautiful to look at, tools that are useful, and entertainment that is entertaining. Little of that fits into what the luxury industry has typically offered with its status, image, and fine materials. The sad reality is that luxury products aren’t that luxury any more.
【小题1】What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Nobody likes luxury goods any more. |
| B．Luxury goods are of poor quality nowadays. |
| C．Tech products become the new “luxury goods”. |
| D．Iphones have taken the place of luxury products. |
| A．unique and with no bargain | B．low in price |
| C．hard to find | D．easy to sell |
| A．people have found that some luxury goods are fakes |
| B．people can buy luxury goods at a low price on eBay |
| C．luxury brands will give up high-end images |
| D．consumers prefer brand names to discounts |
| A．The Internet service. | B．The images of luxuries. |
| C．The function of products. | D．The expectation from the consumers. |
【小题1】C
【小题2】A
【小题3】B
【小题4】C
解析试题分析：文章大意：美国奢侈品行业所面临的威胁。其最大威胁来自美国的高科技行业。并分析了个中原因。
【小题1】C 主旨大意题。根据第一段的阐述：“据称美国的市场分析人士最近表示美国奢侈品行业面临的最大威胁来自美国的高科技行业。消息来自一位记者同行阿什丽·鲁兹Ashley Lutz的文章她的报道非常可信该文章的要点在于蒂芙尼公司Tiffany Co发现其产品的最大竞争者并非其他奢侈品牌而是苹果这样的公司。鲁兹指出奢侈品经常仅用于炫耀而科技产品背后的吸引力在于它的功能性”我们可以得到答案。
【小题2】A 词义猜测题。上文说“在美国你会发现很少有人愿意出全价购买奢侈品了”说明“奢侈品在过去是一种独特的不打折（不讨价还价）的商品”。
【小题3】B推理判断题。从本段中“如果你不能在e电子港湾（eBay）、亚马逊或一家打折店里买到折价商品而去购买奢侈品，这可能会被认为是非常不值的。”可以推断“人们可以在e电子港湾以打折的价格即低价买到奢侈品”。
【小题4】C 推理判断题。根据最后一段“审视这一情况时，看起来伤害奢侈品行业的好像不是互联网，而是消费者的预期。人们眼下最想要的是具有某些功用的东西。他们想要好开的汽车、舒适的鞋、有趣的游戏画质、出众的屏幕、实用的工具以及精彩的娱乐。这些诉求基本上与奢侈品行业传统上提供的产品及其看重的身份形象和精良材质不搭边。一个悲惨的现实是奢侈品不再那么奢侈了。”我们可以推断答案。
考点：考查议论文类阅读理解
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
As most university students are packing their bags，boarding trains or flying home for the Spring Festival，some will stay behind to spend the holiday on campus．
Zhou Yunyun，22，a senior finance major at Jilin University，has decided that instead of traveling to Hainan province，he will kill the time by playing computer games with his online friends．
“I'm used to chatting and playing with them every day．It’s just fun to make friends this way，”he said．“When I returned home in past years，my relatives always asked me a lot of questions about my plans after graduation．They had high expectations of me，which made me feel stressed，” said Zhou．
The campus，usually lively，will probably turn into a death town，with most restaurants，shops and student centers closed during the break．But there are also a few advantages，according to Jia Debao，2 1，a junior majoring in administration at China Agricultural University．“I might feel a bit lonely，but at least I can stay away from my parents’ complaining and enjoy the peaceful and quiet stay，” he said．“More importantly，I can enjoy the high speed of the Internet，I can always find empty seats in classrooms，and I don’t have to wait to use the bathroorm” But education experts recommend students who stay on campus to come up with more interactive plans．That’s because communication on the Internet can’t replace real life interpersonal relationships．
Society has promoted a kind of“couch potato" or close-in culture among some young people, according to Shi Tongyu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He warned that this kind of lifestyle can damage students’ mental and physical development.
“When you constantly stare at a computer screen and type on your keyboard，you gradually lose the ability to socialize and survive normally，"said Shi．“A human’s most important task is to survive，which cannot be completed by staying at home all the time． Instead，it must be achieved through real life experience and communication．”
【小题1】What can we learn about Zhou Yunyun?
| A．He feels very lonely on campus． |
| B．He will promote close-in culture． |
| C．He will spend the Spring Festival with relatives． |
| D．He will spend the Spring Festival with on-line friends． |
| A．he will miss his parents a little bit |
| B．there will be more seats in classrooms |
| C．he will have a quiet and peaceful break |
| D．the speed of the Internet will get faster |
| A．inactive person | B．close friend |
| C．sociable student | D．addicted gamer |
| A．To do some traveling． |
| B．To stay more with families． |
| C．To find empty seats in classrooms． |
| D．To experience real lire and communication． |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Kelly Reeves was getting ready for a trip when her phone slipped into a sink full of water. Panic moment! She quickly picked up the wet phone and tried to turn it on, but nothing worked. Her first reaction? She got dressed, drove to the nearest store, and bought a new mobile at full price.
A new study finds that fear of losing your phone is a common illness. About 66 percent of those surveyed suffer from nomophobia or “no mobile phone phobia”. Interestingly, more women worry about losing their phone than men.
Fortunately, there’s a solution.
The first step is to figure out if you have nomophobia. Checking your phone too often is one thing, but the true sign of a problem is that you can’t conduct business or go about your routine when the fear becomes so severe.
Do you go to unusual lengths to make sure you have your phone? That’s another sign of a problem. If you find you check your phone plenty of times per hour, or a total of an hour per day, there may be a problem.
Some of the treatments are similar to those for treating anxiety attacks: leaving the phone behind and not checking e-mail or text messages, and then learning to tolerate the after anxiety. Even if this leads to a high level of worry and stress, the solution is to push through the fear and learn to deal with not having your phone.
Of course, there are also technological alternatives. Luis Levy, a co-founder at Novy PR, says he uses an application called Cerberus that can automatically track the location of his phone. To find it, he can just go to a website and see the phone’s location.
He also insures his phone through a service called Asurion. The company’s description of its product reads like a prescription for anxiety：“60 million phones are lost, stolen or damaged each year. You’ll have complete peace of mind knowing that your phone is protected and you can quickly reconnect with family, friends and work, as soon as the very next day!”
【小题1】Why does the author mention Kelly’s experience in the first paragraph?
| A．To introduce the topic for discussion. |
| B．To inform us that mobile phones are useful. |
| C．To warn us that we should be careful. |
| D．To tell us we should get phones ready for a trip. |
| A．habits of using mobile phones |
| B．fear of losing mobile phones |
| C．eagerness for new mobile phones |
| D．independence of mobile phones |
| A．Avoiding using a phone for some time |
| B．Learning more about modern technology |
| C．Protecting one’s phone against any damage |
| D．Not using a mobile phone in one’s daily work |
| A．Attitude toward mobile phones |
| B．New mobile phone technology |
| C．Disadvantages of mobile phones |
| D．Solutions to nomophobia |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
The way we get about has a deep influence on the way we live－affecting where we set up home, work and holiday. So what changes might come in the way we get around? What big ideas are out there, and do they have any chance of coming true?
Personal Air Travel
The idea: flying cars
Developments in light small plane technology will make it possible for everyone to own what are, in fact, flying cars. They will have closed cabins, heating, stereos and room for two people.
You will take off from a field near your home and fly to towns and cities. After landing, you will take off the fixed wing and continue your journey by road just as if you were traveling by car.
Fuel efficient engines and the advantage of being able to travel in the sky will keep costs and the environmental influence down.
Flying for Fun
The idea: Jet Packs
The idea was a hit when a stuntman (特技演员) flew around on one during the opening ceremony of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which was very successful.
You’ll be able to use the equipment－roughly the size of two scuba tanks fastened to your back－for short journeys.
They will be handy for cleaning hard-to-reach windows, arriving in style at a party and shopping.
Taxis
The idea: driverless taxis
These computer-controlled taxis will take you wherever you want along a fixed route, whenever you want to go.
For the price of one person’s bus fare, several people can ride at speeds of up to 25 mph, and there will be fences to guard against accidents.
There will be little, if any, wait for the use of the taxis, which will leave from stations and will be used by prepaid cards.
The taxis, which will travel on a 1.5 m-wide track, will use 75% less energy per passenger than a car and 50% less than a bus.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．future travel | B．big ideas and dreams |
| C．advanced technology | D．the influence of travel |
| A．will operate only in the sky |
| B．will be more expensive than common cars |
| C．will have few bad effects on the environment |
| D．won’t be equipped with things similar to what cars have |
| A．attend a party | B．clean high windows |
| C．go shopping | D．have a long journey |
| A．we can go wherever we want in them |
| B．they will be both convenient and safe |
| C．it costs more to take them than to take ordinary cars |
| D．they will be operated by computers as well as by people |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Most of us are used to seasons. Each year, spring follows winter, which follows autumn, which follows summer, which follows spring. And winter is colder than summer. But the earth goes through temperature cycles over much longer periods than those that we experience. Between 65,000 and 35,000 years ago, the planet was much colder than it is now. During that time the temperature also changed a lot, with periods of warming and cooling. Ice melted during the warm periods, which made sea levels rise. Water froze again during the cold periods.
A new study from Switzerland, sheds light on where ice sheets melted during the ice age. It now seems that the ice melted at both ends of the earth, rather than just in either northern or southern regions.
This surprised the researchers from the University of Bern. Scientists have long assumed that most of the ice that melted was in the Northern hemisphere(半球) during the 30,000-year long ice age. That belief was held because the North Pole is surrounded by land, while the South Pole is surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean. It is easier for ice sheets to grow on land. If surrounded by sea the ice can easily just slip into the ocean instead of building up.
The researchers used a computer model to look at ways the ice could melt and how it might affect sea levels. They compared these results to evidence of how temperatures and currents actually changed during that time. The model showed that if it was only in the Northern hemisphere that ice melted, there would have been a bigger impact(影响) on ocean currents(洋流) and sea temperatures than what actually happened. Studies suggest that melting just in the Southern hemisphere would have been impossible, too. The only reasonable conclusion, the scientists could make, was that ice melted equally in the North and the South.
It is still a mystery as to what caused the temperature changes that caused the ice to melt.
【小题1】The North Pole is surrounded by land, while the South Pole is surrounded by the Antarctic Ocean. So scientists thought that ________.
| A．most of the ice melted in the Northern hemisphere |
| B．most of the ice melted in the Southern hemisphere |
| C．The North Pole is colder than South Pole |
| D．The South Pole is colder than North Pole |
| A．the ice can easily just slip into the ocean |
| B．volcanoes caused the ice to melt |
| C．melting just in the Northern hemisphere would have been impossible |
| D．researchers often use the computer models help their research work. |
| A．how long the ice age lasted |
| B．where ice sheets melted during the ice age |
| C．what caused the temperature changes |
| D．what the earth is made up of |
| A．A computer model |
| B．Studies show ice melted equally in the North and the South during the ice age |
| C．Most of the ice melted in the Northern hemisphere during the 30,000-year long ice age. |
| D．A survey result |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：完型填空
Driving a car is not just handling controls and judging speed and distance. It requires you to predict what other road users will do and get ready to react to something unexpected. When alcohol is consumed, it enters your bloodstream and acts as a depressant (抑制药), damaging eyesight, judgment and co-ordination(协调)，slowing down reaction time and greatly increasing the risk of accidents. Even below the drink driving limit, driving will be affected.
Alcohol may take a few minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and start action on the brain. Absorption rate is increased when drinking on an empty stomach or when consuming drinks mixed with fruit juice. To get rid of alcohol from the body is a very slow process and it is not possible to speed it up with any measures like taking a shower or having a cup of tea or coffee.
The present Road Traffic Ordinance states clearly that the limit of alcohol concentration is:
50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood; or
22 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath; or
67 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of urine(尿液).
Drivers who cause traffic accidents, or who commit a moving traffic offence or are being suspected of drink driving will be tested.
Any driver found drinking beyond the limit will be charged. The driver declared guilty may be fined a maximum of HK $25,000 and be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and punished for 10 driving-offence points; or temporarily banned from driving.
The same punishment applies to failing to provide specimens(样本)for breath, blood or urine tests without good excuse.
Drink driving is a criminal offence. Be a responsible driver, think before you drink. For the safety of yourself and other road users, never drive after consuming alcohol.
【小题1】The first paragraph is mainly about______.
| A．the introduction of driving skills |
| B．the damage of drinking to your body |
| C．the effect of drinking on driving |
| D．the process of alcohol being absorbed |
| A．alcohol | B．absorption | C．blood | D．process |
| A．Drinking below the drink driving limit has no effect on driving. |
| B．Alcohol is taken in more quickly when drunk with fruit juice. |
| C．Having a cup of tea helps to get rid of alcohol from the body. |
| D．50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of breath is below the drink driving limit. |
| A．should provide specimens for testing |
| B．will be forbidden to drive for 3 years |
| C．will be punished for 10 driving-offence points |
| D．should pay a maximum fine of HK $ 25,000 |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
When I lived in Spain，some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car，before they left，they asked me about how to find accommodation（住所）．I suggested that they should stay at “bed and breakfast” houses，because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family．My friends listened to my advice，but they came back with some funny stories．
“We didn't stay at bed and breakfast houses，”they said．“Because we found that most families were away on holiday．”
I thought this was strange．Finally I understood what had happened
My friends spoke little English，and they thought “VACANCIES” meant “holidays” because Spanish word for “holiday” is “vacaciones”．So they did not go to houses where the sign outside said “VACANCIES”，which in English meant there are free rooms．Then my friends went to houses where the sign said “NO VACANCIES”，because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday．But they found that these houses were all full．As a result，they stayed at hotels！
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs．In Spanish，a word very similar to “DIVERSION” means fun．In English it means that workman is repairing the road，and that you must take a different road when my friends saw the word “DIVERSION” on a road sign，they thought they were going to have fun．Instead， the road ended in a large hole．
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages．Once in Paris，when someone offered me some more coffee，I said “Thank you” in French．I meant that I would like some more．However，to my surprise the coffee pot was taken away！ Later I found out that “Thank you” in French means “No，thank you”．
【小题1】My Spanish friends wanted advice about _________．
| A．learning English |
| B．finding places to stay in England |
| C．driving their car on English roads |
| D．going to England by car |
| A．they would be able to practise their English |
| B．it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels |
| C．it would be convenient for them to have dinner |
| D．there would be no problem about finding accommodation |
| A．no free rooms | B．free rooms |
| C．not away on holiday | D．holidays |
| A．hadn't finished drinking my coffee |
| B．was expecting another cup of coffee |
| C．meant that I didn't want any more |
| D．was never misunderstood |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. For example, many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities). Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian culture, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.
Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attempt（尝试）to “read” people from another culture as we would “read” someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.
It is difficult to conclude about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of “reading” the other person incorrectly.
【小题1】What does the smile usually mean in the U.S.?
| A．Love. | B．Politeness. | C．Joy. | D．Thankfulness. |
| A．show friendliness to strangers | B．be used to hide true feelings |
| C．be used in the wrong places | D．show personal habits |
| A．Learn about their relations with others. |
| B．Understand their cultural backgrounds. |
| C．Find out about their past experience. |
| D．Figure out what they will do next. |
| A．Cultural Differences | B．Smiles and Relationship |
| C．Facial Expressiveness | D．Habits and Emotions |
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