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

 

A

Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson, Arizona. He moved there a few years ago, and I was eager to see his new place and meet his friends.

My earliest memories of my father are of a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and family, but uncomfortable with his children. As a child I loved him; as a school girl and young adult I feared him and felt bitter about him. He seemed unhappy with me unless I got straight A’s and unhappy with my boyfriends if their fathers were not as “successful” as he was. Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to struggle to think up things to say, feeling on guard.

On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father’s friends for lunch at an outdoor café. We walked along that afternoon, did some shopping, ate on the street table, and laughed over my son’s funny facial expressions. Gone was my father’s critical(挑剔的) air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around? What had held him back before?

The next day my dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him at that moment. After so many years, I’m at last seeing another side of my father. And in so doing, I’m delighted with my new friend. My dad, in his new home in Arizona, is back to me from where he was.

Why did the author feel bitter about her father when she was a young adult?

   A. He was silent most of the time.                B. He was too proud of himself.

   C. He did not love his children.                    D. He expected too much of her.

When the author went out with her father on weekends, she would feel ______.

   A. nervous                 B. sorry                       C. tired             D. safe

What does the author think of her father after her visit to Tucson?

   A. More critical.  B. More talkative.     C. Gentle and friendly. D. Strict and hard-working.

The underlined words “my new friend” in the last paragraph refer to ______.

   A. the author’s son                                      B. the author’s father

   B. the friend of the author’s father                D. the café owner

信息匹配 (共5小题；每小题1分，满分5分)

请阅读下列应用文和相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑 (若选择E，请涂AB；若选择F，请涂CD)。   

以下是演讲会的资料：

A. Are you interested in Dream of the Red Mansion? Listen to a lecture on this classical novel.

Venue: National Museum of Chinese Modern Literature (Beijing)

Time: 9:30 am

Price: free

Tel: 010-84615522

B. “Jiaguwen” is among the oldest pictographic characters in the world. How much do you know about it? Get all the answers at this free lecture.

Venue: Dongcheng District Library (Beijing)

Time: 9:00 am

Price: Free

Tel: 010-64013356

C. Former United Nations interpreter Professor Wang Ruojin speaks about her experiences at the UN and shares her understanding of the cultural differences between East and West.

Venue: National Library of China (Beijing)

Time: 1:30 pm -- 4:00 pm

Price: free

Tel: 010-68488047

D.Qi Baishi, one of China’s greatest modern painters, was also a poet, calligrapher (书法家) and seal-cutter (刻印者). Can you appreciate his works? Then come to spend the time with us.

Venue: Beijing Art Academy

Time: 9:00 am – 11:00am

Price: 10 yuan

Tel: 010-65023390

E. It is the year of the Dog, and you can see “Fu” everywhere. But how much do you know about dogs – man’s best friend? What is “Fu” and where does it come from? Why do people hang “Fu” character upside down on the door? Get all the answers from this free lecture.

Venue: Capital Library (Beijing)

Time: 2:00 pm

Price: free

Tel: 010-67358114

F. About 160 cultural relics from Guangdong, Macao and Hong Kong are on display to April 15^th. Meanwhile experts will talk about the important roles these three cities have played in the past two thousand years of Sino-Western exchanges.

Venue: Beijing Art Museum

Time: 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Price: 20 yuan, students 10 yuan

Tel: 010-83659337

以下是想去听演讲会人员的基本信息，请匹配适合他们的演讲内容。

76. Alice is now studying in Beijing University, and she is especially interested in Chinese writing. In her spare time she enjoys drawing, writing poems and is fond of sharing her pieces with her classmates.

77. Simon comes from Egypt. He is now studying in Beijing Art Academy. He shows great interest in Chinese ancient characters. Now he wants to know much about them.

78. Lora and Peter, visiting professors from Australia, are both crazy about Chinese traditional culture. At weekends they like to call on Chinese families to learn about Chinese festivals as well as their history.

79. Eward is a senior student in Beijing Foreign Language University. He likes traveling very much and has made up his mind to work as an interpreter for some joint-venture enterprises (合资企业).

80. Steve and Mark are both studying in the Chinese Department of China’s Renmin University. They want to do some research on Chinese ancient literature.

My dad was never the kind to offer many words of love or encouragement. But we knew he loved us... he just had his own way of showing it.

    When I was a teen, we were seasonal campers at a family campground almost an hour outside the city where we lived. Each family had their own campsite with water and electric, and you basically parked your camper there from May through October. Most "Seasonals" visited them every weekend during those months, with the occasional weeklong stay. There were plenty of other kids who camped seasonally each weekend, and they came to be some of my closest friends. Of course, many of them were boys.

    We kids paired up with our little boyfriends or girlfriends, and we'd hold hands as we'd walk around the campground. We'd play ping-pong, have some snacks, and play songs. Most weekends were pretty similar, but the couples would change. You'd see so-and-so with a different so-and-so than they were with the weekend before. You know how it is when you're a teen — a three-week relationship is a really long time.

    So, needless to say, my teen years were spent with quite a few different boys. But every single one of them had something in common... they'd all received The Evil Eye.

    The Evil Eye was a magical sort of thing. One simple look from my dad, and the boy immediately knew not to mess with me. It was as if he could send his warnings through invisible laser（激光）beams that shot directly from his eyes to the boys' brains.

    "You will not put your hands on my daughter... You will not kiss my daughter... You will not even whisper sweet nothings into my daughter's ear."

    I remember one night in particular, walking with a boy around the campground after dark. We came from one direction, and my dad from the other. The boy and my dad locked eyes for a brief second, then the boy dropped my hand like a hot potato and turned away, giving me a quick, "See ya later."

    Yes, the Evil Eye. Best way ever to keep wandering teen boy hands away from your daughters.  

The Evil Eye in the passage implies that__________.

A. Dad gets angry easily                    B. Dad’s eyes are like evil’s

C. Dad’s eyes are ugly-looking         D. Dad’s eyes are protective to his daughter

The underlined words “mess with” in paragraph 5 most probably means_________.

A. cause trouble        B. make untidy      C. get married to       D. talk to

A. As teenagers, we went camping every weekend.

B. We made lots of friends during the seasonal camping.

C. We had regular boyfriends or girlfriends and enjoyed ourselves.

D. The boy dropped my hand and turned away because he loved The Evil Eye.

It can be inferred from the passage that the author ___________.

A. is a teenage girl who loves her father

B. is a teenage boy who hates his father

C. is now an adult who has come to understand her father’s love

D. used to be a naughty boy who changed girlfriends now and then