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 (贗品) 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 (高檔的) 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 “l(fā)uxury 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.

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來源:2015-2016學(xué)年湖北沙中學(xué)高一下第一次半月考英語(yǔ)試卷(解析版) 題型:語(yǔ)法填空

閱讀下面的句子,根據(jù)首字母或中文提示在空白處填入合適的單詞

1.The species of apes(猿) may have been the last common a__________ of humans and all great apes living today.

2.It’s bad manners for the children to play a t___________ on their teacher.

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4.If you do something wrong you should a________ to others.

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One rainy evening I went to fill up at the gas station. A pre-teen boy approached my car and asked me for money to help him and his mother stay in their hotel for an additional week. He stated that if they did not come up with $25 they would be evicted that same evening. Having worked in social services before and having doubt about this, I asked why his mother hadn’t applied for social services for assistance. The boy said that they needed to remain in their hotel for one more week until his grandmother, who lived out of town, could take them in. I gave the boy what I had — $5. He thanked me and continued to wander the parking lot asking for help. I got my gas and drove away.

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1.The whole story is about _____.

A. dirty tricks by poor teenage boys

B. a car accident in a gas station

C. warm help in a cold rainy evening

D. loving gifts from a rich stranger

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B. had came across the boy before

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D. gave the boy $20 in total

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As part of the new course, self-absorbed photographers will be taught “valuable life skills^ to prepare themselves to face a world which could present a photo opportunity at any point. Apart from offering the much-needed but seldom-sought guidance on the best angles and lighting, the course promises to improve your critical understanding of the “selfie”. There will also be a brief exploration into the concepts of “identity, self-hood and memory” as well as the opportunity to “develop new ideas to you’re your photography more relevant to your aims,'

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B. teach people to master the art

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A. It makes students get to know the concept of beauty.

B. It offers the steps on how to take photos.

C. Students taking the course are likely to take better selfies.

D. Students’ critical understanding of selfie is promised to improve.

4.Who can have access to the course on taking selfies?

A. Anyone who shows passion for taking selfies.

B. Anyone who is a full-time student of the college.

C. Only young photographers who are interested in it.

D. Only those who are good at taking photos.

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1.自我介紹(性別、年齡等);

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注意:

1.詞數(shù)100左右;

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3.開頭已為你寫好,不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)。

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將以下中文句子翻譯成英語(yǔ),并將答案填寫在答題卡上的相應(yīng)位置

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The Collections of Chinese Ancient Cultural Relics Abroad: Volume Victoria and Albert Museum has just been published, the fruit of ten years' efforts by Chinese experts.

The book is the first of an upcoming series that centers on ancient cultural heritage(文化遺產(chǎn)) collections in different museums around the world. The book details 195 out of 18,000 items now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in England.

More than 1.64 million ancient Chinese artifacts have been transported out of China because of different reasons such as wars and smuggling(走私) since the mid 19th century. More than 200 museums in 47 countries hold such collections, according to a report from UNESCO.

"The information we now have about these pieces is still very patchy(不全面的)," said Lu Zhangshen, curator(館長(zhǎng)) of the National Museum of China. "In order to have a clearer picture about these items, National Museum of China decided to start the Chinese Ancient Cultural Relics Abroad book project in 2005. But after we began, we found it really difficult to collect information for every piece from each museum. That’s why the first volume took us ten years."

"The pieces in the book include 102 porcelains(瓷器), 31 bronzes(銅器), 22 lacquer(漆器), 10 enamel vessels(搪瓷器皿) and so on," Liu Mingqian from Victoria and Albert Museum said.

According to the National Museum of China, the volume of the Japanese museum Sen-oku Hakuko Kan is coming out soon and the museum will seek more cooperation from museums worldwide to accelerate(加速) the project.

1.Which of the following best describes Lu Zhangshen’s attitudes towards the Chinese Ancient Cultural Relics Abroad book project?

A. worthwhile but expensive

B. reasonable but worthless

C. meaningless but hard

D. meaningful but difficult

2.Which of the following statements is NOT True According to the text?

A. So far, Volumes Victoria, Albert Museum and the Japanese museum have been published.

B. A great many ancient Chinese artifacts have been distributed(分散) worldwide due mainly to wars and smuggling.

C. It is nearly ten years since the Chinese Ancient Cultural Relics Abroad book project was set up.

D. At present, collecting information for every piece from each museum is to some degree tough.

3.The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A. compare and evaluate

B. inform and explain

C. argue and discuss

D. examine and explain

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