The necktie looks set to follow the top hat in being handed over to the fashion museum by office workers within the next 50 years, according to research.
Nearly three quarters (74%) think the tie will not survive within British firms beyond the next half a century with the popularity of the open-collared shirt. Its demise is being blamed on the boom in creative businesses, such as Facebook and Google, and online trading companies where formal dress codes tend to be avoided in favour of a more casual approach.
Once considered an important part of business dress, the tie has become a victim of the spread of "casual Fridays" into other weekdays, according to researchers.
The poll, by Deal Jungle. com, which helps small and medium enterprises, found more than half (51% ) thought the tie would die out in offices within the next 20 years and almost a quarter (22%) believed it would last less than 10 years.
A spokesman for the site, which has 20, 000 registered members, said: "Ties have been around seemingly forever but increasing numbers of office workers are telling them to get away."
"The success of businesses such as Facebook and Google, where even the CEO turns up wearing jeans and a hoodie, also seems to have had a corrosive (��ʴ��) effect on the idea of dressing formally for work."
"Many of our members keep their expenses to a minimum by working from home so they feel no need to dress up to go to work. We know that when they meet with clients, they still put on a business suit, but a tie is no longer seen as an essential part of the suited-and-booted look."
"Instead, many businessmen and increasing numbers of executives choose a suit and shirt with an open collar. The tie-less suit creates an impression of a more approachable deal maker, someone who is still business-minded, yet creative and technology-sensible, too. "
1.Why are ties expected to disappear in offices?
A. CEOs in creative businesses set a rule to forbid wearing ties.
B. The idea of casual weekdays is increasingly accepted.
C. Office workers are tired of wearing ties daily.
D. The tie-less look appears more modern.
2.According to the spokesman, how are their members dressed before clients?
A. Business suits and casual jeans.
B. Formal suits and a shirt with a tie.
C. Casual suits and buttoned-up shirt.
D. Business suits and an open-collared shirt.
3.What kind of image does the tie-less suit create?
A. Accessible in business. B. Professional in fashion.
C. Casual in working. D. Creative in dressing.
4.What does the underlined word "demise" mean in Para.2?
A. popularity B. survival C. disappearance D. development
Each spring brings a new wildflower blooming in the fields along the highway I travel daily to work.
There is one particular blue flower that has always caught my eye. I've noticed that it blooms only in the morning hours. The afternoon sun is too warm for it. Every day each year for about two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.
This spring, I started a wildflower garden in my yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I've often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the fields would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers.
Every day I drove past the flowers, thinking, "I'll stop on my way home and dig them." "Gee, I don't want to get my good clothes dirty…" Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a tool one year for that expressed purpose.
One day on my way home from work, I was saddened to see that the highway department had cleared up the fields and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, "Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring. "
A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister-in-law has a cancer. She is 20 years older than my husband and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven't been as close as we all would have liked.
I couldn't help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my husband's sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us.
And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, I'm sure I'll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.
1.How long might the blue flower bloom in spring?
A. About two weeks. B. The whole season.
C. About one week. D. The whole day.
2.Where did the writer want to transplant the flowers?
A. Across the fields. B. Along the highway.
C. In the garden. D. Outside the yard.
3.Which of the following is NOT true about the writer's sister-in-law?
A. She is seriously ill.
B. She is twenty years old.
C. She lives far away from the writer.
D. She is not in close touch with the writer.
4.What does the writer want to tell us?
A. Value now and don't lose chances.
B. Visit our relatives only after they get ill.
C. Refresh our wonderful moments every year.
D. Plant flowers and don't enjoy them in the field.
A group of graduates got together to visit their old university professor.
The conversation soon turned into complaints about 26 in work and life. To offer his guests coffee, the 27 went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and a variety of 28 — porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some 29 , some expensive, some delicate — telling them to help themselves to the 30 .
When all the students 31 a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, "If you have 32 , all the nice-looking expensive cups have been taken up, 33 the plain and cheap ones. While it is 34 for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the 35 of your problems and stress. "
"Be assured that the cup itself adds no 36 to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even 37 what we drink. "
"What all of you really want is coffee, 38 the cup, but you 39 went for the best cups … And then you began 40 each other's cups. "
"Now consider 41 : Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain 42 , and the type of cup we have does not determine, nor 43 the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we 44 to enjoy the coffee. Fully appreciate the coffee, not the cups! Don't let the cups 45 you ... enjoy the coffee instead. "
1.A. stress B. progress C. condition D. pride
2.A. advisor B. professor C. monitor D. graduate
3.A. glasses B. bowls C. trays D. cups
4.A. plain-looking B. beautiful C. modern D. nice-looking
5.A. pot B. sugar C. milk D. coffee
6.A. made B. had C. cooked D. served
7.A. talked B. discussed C. noticed D. decided
8.A. leaving behind B. falling about
C. leaving about D. falling behind
9.A. strange B. wonderful C. normal D. important
10.A. source B. purpose C. doubt D. result
11.A. price B. quality C. sweet D. color
12.A. proves B. tastes C. hides D. steals
13.A. more than B. less than C. other than D. rather than
14.A. consciously B. wisely C. shyly D. carelessly
15.A. showing B. eyeing C. exchanging D. praising
16.A. it B. that C. this D. one
17.A. jobs B. money C. position D. life
18.A. change B. increase C. discover D. lower
19.A. try B. manage C. fail D. plan
20.A. envy B. drive C. support D. assess
— What do you think of color of my handbag?
— Perfect! It is __ good match for your dress.
A. a; the B. the; a C. a; a D. the; the
To learn the piece of music quickly, you'd better hear it ___ as many times as possible.
A. play B. playing C. played D. to play
It matters much most of your group members support you.
A. if B. whether C. what D. that
