选择知识点

In todayˈs world of smart phones and laptops, most people have at least one time-telling thing with them. Since these digital products are so common, is time running out for the 500-year-old watch? According to some consumers, the answer is yes. New Jersey teenager Charlie Wollman says a watch is “an extra piece of equipment with no necessary function.” Many young adults think so and use their smart phones to tell time. It is said that fewer young people wear watches today than ten years ago. As a result, some people say that the watch industry is at a crossroads.

However, watchmakers optimistically say that watches redeem（挽回）popularity when consumers reach their 20s and 30s. By then, they are willing to spend money on a quality watch that doesn’t just keep good time. Fifty years ago, watchmakers took pride in their products’ accuracy. But in recent years, the watch industry has changed itself into an accessory(配饰) business. And today, the image a watch conveys has become more important than the time it tells.

“Complications” — features that go beyond simple timekeeping — are an important part of a watch’s image. Today’s watches offer lots of features that meet almost any personality. These features include compasses, USB drivers, and even other functions that measure the effectiveness of golf swings!

Creativity also plays a key role in designing today’s watches. For example, Japanese watchmaker Tokyoflash makes watches that don’t even look like watches. The company’s popular Shinshoku model uses different color lights to tell time. It looks more like a fashionable bracelet（手镯）than a watch.

Whether a watch conveys fashion sense, creative talent or a love of sports, consumers want their watches to stand out. Nowadays, everyone has the same kind of little things in their bags, so people want to make a statement with what’s on their wrists. Will this interest in wrist fashion last? Only time will tell!

(1) What can we know from the first paragraph?
A. As most people see, watches are out of fashion. B. Some people feel that watches have been of no use. C. The watch industry will close down sooner or later. D. There are so many choices of watches for teenagers today.
(2) According to the passage, what image does a watch convey nowadays?
A. It simply tells time. B. It appeals to many teenagers. C. It has many complex functions. D. It has an impact on creativity and imagination.
(3) Japanese watchmaker Tokyoflash is mentioned in Paragraph 4 to _________.
A. show why Shinshoku watches are popular B. advertise Shinshoku watches made by Tokyoflash C. make a comparison between watches and bracelets D. tell that today’s watches need more imagination
(4) What may be the best title for the passage?
A. Watches Tell More Than Time B. Japanese Watches Stand Out C. Watch Industry Is in a Bad Situation D. Watches Are Becoming Less Popular

Everybody in this world is different from one another．But do you know that understanding differences can help you better manage your money?

As we grow up，we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family，the education we receive and so on．Once this value system is set up，itˈs not easy to change later in life．

Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief of how to manage their finances．This is part of our value system and it has a great impact on the way we look after our money．

According to our different values，experts put us in three categories．They are：the ant，the cricket（蟋蟀） and the snail（蜗牛）．

The ant works first

Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter，these people donˈt care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk．

The cricket fun first

The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesnˈt think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group．These people have little savings．When they get old，they might have problems．They should learn to save and buy insurance．

The snail lives under pressure

The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long term loans from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure whether they can afford it．This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully．

(1) People with the character of the snail would like to __________．
A. live a luxury life at all costs B. put work before everything else C. enjoy life at the moment without thinking much about the future D. take the risk of investing a large sum of money

(2) Our beliefs and values are affected by the following except __________．
A. money B. our family C. education D. society
(3) This passage mainly talks about __________．
A. the problems with dealing with money B. the relation between man and insects C. the insects in nature D. the spending nature of people
(4) Which of the following has the character that the author prefers？
A. The snail B. The cricket C. The ant D. None of the above

For years I struggled and fought with the bird’s nest that sat on top of my head—my Medusa (神话中的蛇发女妖) hair, a composition of frizz (鬈发) and giant ringlets (垂下的长鬈发) that in no way could be tamed.

Growing up in a Russian-Jewish home with parents who thought North American styling products were similar to illegal substances such as heroin, I was never allowed to put them in my hair.

“Why buy gel (凝胶)? Your hair is so beautiful naturally, ” my mother would say. However, from boys not wanting to kiss me when we played spin the bottle in Grade 7 to being called “the mop”, I suffered for my hair.

When I got to university, I believed my frizzy hair was something that stood between me and everything—finding an internship (实习期), getting a boyfriend.

Then, in my second year, a miracle happened. I was asked to be a hair model for Japanese hair straightening, a process by which the molecules (分子) of my curls would be broken and reset in a straight position. I was the perfect candidate, the hairdresser told me. Although there are rumours about how hair relaxing can damage the scalp (头皮), for the next five years I didn’t find them to be true.

However, there was extreme damage done to my wallet. To keep up the straightening cost $700 every six months, and that was considered cheap. While some people thought I was crazy, I was willing to do anything to never again feel like that bored, frizzy-headed girl in Grade 7. But when I moved out of my parents’ house at age 26 and rented an apartment, the upkeep of my image became too costly. I couldn’t hide from my inner Medusa any longer. It was time to hug her and let her fly.

Seeking an alternative to my high-end habit, I turned to Google. After hours of searching, I hit upon a “curly haired” salon, a place designed for girls like me who were at their wits’ end. Although I bought the service called the “Curly-Doo”, I suspected I’d have the same mop at the end of the appointment.

I dragged my feet so hard getting there that I arrived 45 minutes late. I secretly hoped they would turn me away and give me the excuse I needed to justify the expense of relaxing again. Instead, my stylist simply said: “You are very late. Flip your head over.”

As my head was dipped in a tub full of freezing-cold water, then generously slathered with a jelly-like substance, I wondered what I had got myself into.

“Do you really think this will work?” I asked the stylist, Jacquai. “My curls are a lost cause.”

“No curly hair is hopeless,” she replied. “They just haven’t found a way to work with it, that’s all.”

After the hour was over, Jacquai had completed her work. She had styled my hair using only her hands, water and a mixture of organic potions.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing in the mirror: a naturally curly, Medusa-free me.

According to Jacquai, 75 percent of the population have a wave or curl in their hair and don’t know what to do with it. Men cut theirs short. Women flat-iron theirs to death.

When I browse through a beauty magazine or take the subway to work, it makes me sad to see so many people repressing their natural beauty.

Since I tamed my locks (头发), my world has changed. I have always been outgoing, but these days I seem to be more outspoken and confident than ever.

On top of that, friends and co-workers tell me I am looking better than ever, but they can’t tell the source of the change. I don’t need to tell them. My Medusa hair sways and speaks for herself.

(1) The sentence “If only I could find a way to tame the frizz, I told myself, I would feel secure and sexy.” should be put between______.
A. Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 B. Paragraph 2 and Paragraph 3 C. Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 4 D. Paragraph 4 and Paragraph 5
(2) The writer turned to Google for an alternative because______.
A. hair straightening did damage to her scalp B. she was teased by her friends because of her hair C. she couldn’t afford to keep up her image D. some people thought she was crazy
(3) It can be inferred from the passage that Jacquai______.
A. was annoyed with the writer being late for the appointment B. applied something special to the writer’s hair to make her look better C. was quite convinced she would make the writer feel better D. didn’t think people should care much about the wave or curl in their hair
(4) The writer will probably agree that______.
A. physical features have a large influence on how we view ourselves B. it is wrong to judge a person by his or her appearance C. her family background casts a shadow on her character D. beauty comes from the way we look at ourselves

Are traditional fairytales good all the time？ Recent research found one in five parents have abandoned those old classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Hansel and Gretel and they prefer more modern books．
One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the terrible details of Little Red Riding Hood． The survey of 2，000 adults was carried out to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM（格林）， which starts tonight at 9：00 pm on Watch， and sees six series based on traditional fairytales． The research found a quarter of parents wouldn't consider reading a fairytale to their child until they had reached the age of five， as they cause too many awkward（尴尬的）questions． And 52 percent of the parents said Cinderella didn't send a good message to their children as it portrays （描绘） a young woman doing housework all day． Similarly， Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it condones （宽恕） stealing．
Steve Hornsey， General Manager of Watch， said： "Bedtime stories are supposed to relax the children and send them off to sleep soundly． But as we see in GRIMM， fairytales can be dark and dramatic tales so it's understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children． As adults we can see the innocence in fairytales， but a five year old with an over active imagination could think they are true． Despite the dark nature of classic fairytales， as we see in GRIMM， good will defeat evil and there is always a moral（道德准则，教育意义） to the story．"
Though half of parents said traditional tales are more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids" books， two thirds of mums and dads said they were no longer proper to soothe youngsters before bed． On the contrary， they might give their children nightmares（噩梦）．



Which of the following is TRUE about the recent research？ ______

A. Steve Hornsey General Manager of Watch led the research．
B. 20% parents thought old classics aren't fit for modern children．
C. People like more modern books because old classics are out of date．
D. 30% parents were moved to tears after hearing some classic fairytales．

Why aren't some traditional fairytales read by parents to children？ ______

A. They are forbidden to read according to the rules．
B. They are difficult for their children to understand．
C. They are too scary for their young children to hear．
D. They don't have any strong moral messages in them．

What's the author's attitude towards traditional fairytales？ ______

A. Objective．
B. Supporting．
C. Disapproving．
D. Doubtful．

The underlined word "soothe" in the last paragraph means " ______ "．

A. surprise
B. astonish
C. stress
D. comfort

The French have always loved Apple. Its elegant products and smart operating system, and its struggles against IBM and Microsoft in the 1980s, are especially appealing in a country that prides itself on being fashionable, clever and revolutionary. Apple’s two stores in central Paris lie in locations that are dear to French hearts — under the Louvre and directly opposite the Opera.

But the love affair is fading — in official circles at any rate — as concern grows that the technology giant’s market control does harm to a business in which French companies have been successful: designing applications for mobile devices. The government has complained Apple’s eviction (逐出) from its application store of a popular product developed by a French start-up firm — AppGratis. AppGratis offers its users one free application a day, charging developers for making products known to a wider audience.

Simon Dawlat, the boss of AppGratis thinks the application performs a valuable service in providing “a continuous stream of editorial picks” of the highest quality from the complex world of applications. Around 12 million people have downloaded AppGraits, he says, and perhaps a quarter of them at least consider the chosen application each day. First marketed outsideFrancein 2012, AppGraits has at times been the most popular free entertainment download for devices running Apple’s iOS operating system in 78 countries including the United States, according to App Annie, a market-research firm. In early 2013 AppGratis had raised more than $13 million for an expansion that has now been put on hold.

Apple says AppGratis disobeyed its bans on promoting other publishers’ products and on using “push” notifications (通知) for paid marketing. Apple dislikes applications that serve as shop-fronts for other ones. It worries that “app-discovery” products can help developers with deep pockets move their applications up the league tables and disturb the market. So it is rather puzzling that a version of AppGratis for iPads was approved less than a week before the mobile-phone version was evicted from the application store, and that other app-discovery applications are still available there. Perhaps AppGratis was growing too popular too quickly and that was its real fault.

Fleur Pellerin,France’s digital economy minister, blamed Apple on April 11th for its cruel treatment of AppGratis and spoke of tightening the regulation of giant Internet firms, in France and at European Union level. ‘The country’s competition authority is looking into the relationship between app stores — Google’s no less than Apple’s—and developers. The French have a lengthening list of grievances (抱怨) against the Internet giants including their failure to pay serious taxes, the refusal of Microsoft’s Skype to register as a telecoms operator and Twitter’s refusing to name those behind an outburst of racists. Ms Pellerin may not manage to cut them down to size; others have tried and failed. But for Apple and France, at least, it is looking increasingly like the end of the affair.

(1) Paragraph 2 mainly illustrates ______.
A. Apple’s products have a significant place in French electronic market B. the fierce competition between Apple and AppGratis C. AppGratis’ future development problems D. France and Apple have had conflicts
(2) What can be inferred from Paragraph 3?
A. AppGratis is a branch company of Apple. B. AppGratis develops very well in France. C. AppGratis’ new application is considered a threat to Apple. D. The products of AppGratis are considered of low quality by Apple.
(3) In the last paragraph, many big Internet companies are mentioned to show that ______.
A. French government is starting a new supervision policy toward these companies B. these companies must cooperate with French companies to seek development C. the development of these companies prevents that of French domestic companies D. big digital companies are facing a brighter future in France