Question

How should one invest a sum of money in these clays of inflation (通貨膨脹)? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.

   I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."

     Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of clay according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout tire time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.

     However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.

    Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?

According to the passage, collecting antique clocks____.

can hardly keep the value of your savings

will cost much of your savings

may increase your wealth

needs your bravery

By quoting (引用) the remark of a being from another planet, the author intends to____.

A. suggest human beings are controlled by a clock

B. describe why clocks can rule the planet Earth

C. tell readers what clocks look like

D. compare chicks to human beings

Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time?

A. Counting the beating of one's own heart.

B. Making use of candles, sand and water.

C. Observing shadows cast by the sun.

D. Keeping slaves busy day and night.

The underlined phrase stately homes in paragraph 4 means

state-owned houses

houses in very good condition

grand houses open to the public

houses where statesmen meet regularly

The purpose of the passage is

A. to introduce the culture of antique clocks

B. to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks

C. to compare different ways to make a future profit

D. to explain convenient and reliable ways of telling time

Answer 1

【小題1】C

【小題2】A

【小題3】D

【小題4】C

【小題5】B

解析:

【小題1】這是一道細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第一段中的“Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past.Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks,which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.”可判斷出收藏古代的鐘表可以致富。

【小題2】這是一道細(xì)節(jié)推斷題。根據(jù)第二段中的“Men can do nothing without its permission,and it fastens its young people’s wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control.”可判斷出作者暗示人類使鐘表的控制。it指的是鐘表。

【小題3】這是一道正誤判斷題。第三段中的“Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of day according to the beating of their own hearts.”和第四段中的“They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun.They marked the hours on candles,used sand in hour-glasses,and invented water-clocks.”可判斷出人們曾經(jīng)通過數(shù)自己的心跳、使用蠟燭、沙子和水和觀察太陽的陰影來計(jì)算時(shí)間，但沒有講使奴隸整日整夜地忙碌，所以選項(xiàng)D是錯(cuò)誤的。

【小題4】這是一道猜義題。根據(jù)這句話中的palaces和museums可判斷出stately homes指的是向公眾開放的巨大的房子。

【小題5】這是一道主旨題。這篇短文的第一段說明收藏古代的鐘表可以致富。在最后一段，作者又對收藏古代的鐘表的問題進(jìn)行了討論，最后以“After all,if you are going to be ruled by time,why not invest in an antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?”結(jié)束，說明這篇短文的目的是對收藏古代的鐘表提供一些建議。