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.
1.What does this passage mainly talk about?
A. Nobody likes luxury goods any more.
B. Tech products become the new “luxury goods”.
C. Luxury goods are of poor quality nowadays.
D. Iphones have taken the place of luxury products.
2. The underlined word “exclusive” in paragraph 2 means _______.
A. easy to sell
B. low in price
C. hard to find
D. unique and with no bargain
3.What do people pay most attention to nowadays?
A. The function of products.
B. The images of luxuries.
C. The Internet service.
D. The expectation from the consumers.
Many independent Chinese women like to earn their own bread, even if their husbands are already bringing home the bacon. But a recent survey suggests that such women find more joy from relationships, rather than successful careers.
About 73 percent of the 7,000 women surveyed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou said they would choose to work even if their husbands earned enough for the family. The survey also found that 77 percent define happiness as "enjoying a relationship".
But striking a balance between career and family can bring challenges to the woman's career advancement.
"In my company, women usually have an equal or even a higher starting salary than men," said Li Hua, general manager of Beijing Chuangjiashe Book Circulation Company. "However, as they begin to climb up the career ladder, women often meet problems along the way, while men can climb the ladder more easily."
Both physical and emotional differences can prevent some women from taking tough positions, Li said. But family life is often the main difficulty for Chinese career women.
Despite these challenges, however, some experts believe it's reasonable for some women to want to be breadwinners.
"In this way, the roles of a family are decided by the parents' abilities rather than their gender（性别）," said Gu Donghui, a sociology professor at Fudan University.
Gu says women should have the freedom to decide if they want to stay at home or work to support the family. "Everyone has a different interpretation（解释）of what it means to find self-worth".
Wang Haibin, an economic expert from Renmin University shares that view: "Traditionally, we tend to regard the family as the cell unit of society. Some members have always been expected to make sacrifices for it. But, it really doesn't matter who earns more. Economic independence and personal choice is essential for both sexes in the family."
1.What brings career women more joy and happiness according to the passage?
A. Relationships B. Money
C. Challenges D. Successful careers
2.What's the main problem that career women meet while working?
A. Physical difference B. Tough positions
C. Family life D. The career ladder
3.Some women want to be breadwinners probably because ______.
A. their families are poor
B. they have a lot of children
C. their husbands do not work
D. they want to show their self-worth
4.Who should make sacrifice for the family according to the passage?
A. The wife B. Either of them
C. The husband D. Neither of them
We have dreams almost every night. Do you ever notice the colors of your dreams? Do you dream in black and white or do you dream in yellow, red and green?
New research suggests that the type of television you watched as a child has a great effect on the color of your dreams.
While almost all people under 25 dream in color, thousands of people over 55, all of whom were brought up with black and white TV sets, often dream in monochrome(黑白画面)。
“It suggests there could be a critical period in our childhood when watching films has a big impact on the way dreams are formed”, said Eva Murzyn, a psychology student at Dundee University in Britain who carried out the study.
Research from 1915 through the 1950s suggested that the vast majority of dreams are in black and white. But the tide(潮流) turned in the sixties, and later results suggested that up to 83 percent of dreams contain some color.
Since this period also marked the transition(过渡) between black-and-white film and TV and Technicolor(印染法彩色)，an obvious explanation was that the media had been painting people’s dreams. However, there weren’t any firm conclusions.
But now Miss Murzyn believes she has proven the link. She made a survey of more than 60 people, half of whom were over 55 and half of whom were under 25.
She asked the volunteers to answer a questionnaire on the color of their dreams and their childhood exposure to film and TV.
She then analyzed her own data. Only 4.4 percent of the under-25s’ dreams were black and white. The over-55s who had had access to color TV and film during their childhood also reported a very low proportion of just 7.3 percent.
But the over-55s who only had access to black-and –white media reported dreaming in black and white about a quarter of the time.
Even though they would have spent only a few hours a day watching TV or films, their attention and emotion would have been heightened during this time, leaving a deeper imprint on their mind, Miss Murzyn told the New Scientist.
“The crucial time is between three and ten when we all begin to have the ability to dream”, she said.
1.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. The relationship between dream color and the age of the people.
B. The relationship between people’s dreams and colors that they see in their life.
C. The relationship between dreams and types of television and films that people watch.
D. The relationship between dream color and types of television and films people watch.
2. From the text, we can see that ___________.
A. all people who are below 25 dream in color
B. people over 55 always dream in monochrome
C. watching TV or films probably affects dream color
D. people begin to dream when they are 10 years old
3.Which is WRONG according to the passage?
A. Miss Murzyn thought she has proved the connection between dream color and TV and films.
B. Eva Murzyn is a professor at Dundee University in Britain.
C. The period between 3 and 10 is an important time in forming dreams.
D. The 1960s was a time which marked a transition in dream color.
4. In which magazine can you find the article?
A. New Scientist B. Psychology Analysis
C. Aging Healthily D. TV And Film Reviews
Not having done physical exercise for some time, I found myself a little low-spirited and couldn't study efficiently, so I decided to do some running the next day. At 6:15 the next morning, my alarm clock rang. Unwilling to rise from my bed, I turned it off and went back to sleep. However, 5 minutes later, I struggled to get up. After washing and brushing, I had my sneakers on and went out.
Wow! The air was so fresh that I couldn't help breathing it deeply. I stretched (伸展)my arms and legs, then started to run. I found all things around me were so attractive. Look, the branches were waving, as if they were welcoming me; the blossoming flowers were bowing, with shyness, just like girls. Listen, the wind was whispering, as if to say “come on, girl”. What's more interesting was those two birds, perching in the tree. They were scared and flew away when I passed them. “Hey, chaps, relax.” I shouted without stopping running. “Let's enjoy the beautiful morning together!” Then miracle(奇迹) happened. The two little creatures seemed to understand what I said. They turned back and twittered(吱吱叫) around me. “Are you singing for me?” I asked. They twittered again and again, sounded like “Yes”. I was delighted to hear that. Ah, what a wonderful morning and how beautiful life is!
Actually, there are a lot of charming things around us. Helen Keller wrote in her famous article Three Days to See, “The seeing see little”. Indeed, many of us ignore the beauty around us, just because we are familiar with them. They always complain that life is boring. But, I just want to say, if you live each day with appreciation of things around, you'll find life is very charming. So, let's enjoy life from now on.
1.According to the passage, the writer went running with the purpose of _____.
A. seeing the beauty of nature
B. making herself more active
C. talking with birds
D. breathing fresh air
2.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The writer rose immediately after the clock went off.
B. The writer enjoyed the singing of the two birds.
C. The writer did some warm-up exercises before running.
D. The writer felt refreshed after doing some running in the morning.
3.What does the underlined sentence “The seeing see little” in the last paragraph mean?
A. Those who go out only see little things.
B. Those who can see enjoy nature much more than the blind.
C. People who go sight-seeing can see little.
D. People who can see hardly find the beauty of nature.
4.The purpose of the writer in writing this passage is to tell us that _____.
A. the nature in the morning is very beautiful
B. fresh air is beneficial
C. we should appreciate the beautiful things in life
D. physical exercise is useful
阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇120词左右的英语短文。
For long, there was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he would hammer a nail in the back fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled(逐渐减少) down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.
He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day when he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal (言语的) wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care.”
【写作内容】
（1）用约30个词概括上文的主要内容。
（2）用约90个词发表你的看法，内容包括：
①愤怒的负面影响；
②通过你或你身边的例子说明愤怒的负面影响；
③在你愤怒的时候你将怎么控制自己的情绪。
【写作要求】
（1）写作时，可以参考阅读材料，但不得直接引用原文；
（2）作文中不得出现真实姓名和学校名称；
（3）不必写标题
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用方框内所给词的适当形式填空
in conclusion keep one’ word absorb let off follow in the footsteps of apology result in illegal cut back on argue |
1.At last, Mr Smiths declared that they would ______ the production of computers by ten percent.
2.Since he had a(n) ___ with his wife, he hasn’t spoken to her even if they sit next to each other.
3.He ________ other famous scientists and tried to make contributions to the important research.
4.We’d better believe him because he is always ___________________.
5.____________, I wish China Daily European Weekly every success in the Year of the
Monkey and years beyond.
6.She felt guilty about what she had done and _________ to her friend for it.
7.When lying on the sofa, _________ in her book, Mary didn’t notice her parents come in.
8.Yesterday two people are arrested at the train station for bringing animals into China from the Korea ___________.
9.You may also want to _________ some steam(过剩精力) by drawing, writing or anything else that relaxes yourself.
10.Some chemical factories pour waste water into rivers for convenience, _________ serious water pollution.
