一、阅读理解
A
When I was seven my father gave me a Timex，ray 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 Patek 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. 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. have no sense of time
2. It seems ridiculous to the writer that________.
A. people dive 300 meters 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.
4. Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Timex or Rolex?
B. My Childhood Timex
C. Watches? Not for Me!
D. Watches - a Valuable Collection
B
A few years ago I had an " aha！" moment regarding handwriting.
I had in my hand a sheet of paper with handwritten instructions on it for some sort of editorial task. It occurred at first that I did not recognize the handwriting, and then I realized whose it must be. I finally became aware of the fact that I had been working with this colleague for at least a year, maybe two, and yet I did not recognize her handwriting at that point.
It was a very important event in the computerization of life - a sign that the informal, friendly communication of people working together in an office had changed from notes in pen to instant messages and emails. There was a time when our workdays were filled with little letters, and we recognized one another's handwriting the way we knew voices or faces.
As a child visiting my father's office, I was pleased to recognize，in little notes on the desks of his staff，the same handwriting I would see at home in the notes he would leave on the fridge - except that those notes were signed "dad" instead of" RFW"．
All this has been on my mind because of the talk about The Rise and Fall of Handwriting, a book by Florey. She shows in her book a deep concern about the fall of handwriting and the failure of schools to teach children to write well, but many others argue that people in a digital age can't be expected to learn to hold a pen.
I don't buy it.
I don't want to see anyone cut off from the expressive, personal associations that a pen still promotes better than a digital keyboard does. For many a biographer, part of really getting to know their subjects is learning to read their handwriting.
What some people advocate is teaching one of the many attractive handwritings based on the handwriting of 16thcentury Italy. That may sound impossibly grand-as if they want kids to learn to draw by copying classical paintings. However, they have worked in many school systems.
5. Why was the author surprised at not recognizing his colleague's handwriting?
A. He had worked with his colleague long enough.
B. His colleague's handwriting was so beautiful.
C. His colleague's handwriting was so terrible.
D. He still had a lot of work to do.
6. People working together in an office used to________.
A. talk more about handwriting
B. take more notes on workdays
C. know better one another's handwriting
D. communicate better with one another
7. The author's father wrote notes in pen________.
A. to both his family and his staff
B. to his family in small letters
C. to his family on the fridge
D. to his staff on the desk
8．According to the author，handwritten notes________.
A. are harder to teach in schools
B. attract more attention
C. are used only between friends
D. carry more message
9．We can learn from the passage that the author________.
A. thinks it impossible to teach handwriting
B. does not want to lose handwriting
C. puts the blame on the computer
D. does not agree with Florey
（18.0分）
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