单选题 How should one invest a sum of money in these days of inflation? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate is. 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 day according to the heating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout the 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 antiques should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, {{U}}stately homes{{/U}} 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 the time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?

单选题 According to the passage, collecting antique clocks ______.

A. can hardly keep the value of your savings
B. will cost much of your money
C. may increase your wealth
D. needs your bravery

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章最后“why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?”和开头的意图知道，作者建议大家收藏古董钟的目的是可以赚钱。

单选题 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 clicks to human beings

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 根据第二段最后一句“This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves.”知道作者描述的意图是说明时间是人类的主宰。

单选题 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.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 文章的第三、四段是介绍古代掌握时间的方法，其中A、B、C选项都提到过，只有D选项说让奴隶们一天忙到晚，没有提到，而且不符合常识。

单选题 The underlined phrase "{{U}}stately homes{{/U}}" in Paragraph 4 means ______.

A. state-owned houses
B. houses in very good condition
C. grand houses open to the public
D. houses where statesmen meet regularly

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] stately homes的意思是“庄严的房子”，而结合这句话，是可以参观的房子，因此，应该是向公众开放的大房子。

单选题 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 tell people that we are the slaves of clocks

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 第一段最后一句“Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.”说明了文章的意图是介绍收藏古董钟的建议。