Today the long-awaited, much-heralded Apple Watch goes on sale. Touted by the company as its “most personal device yet,“ it promises everything from quicker “interactions and technology“ to a more intimate experience with our watches, whatever that might mean. The tech juggernaut, known for its cult-like devotion and grand live-streamed announcements, welcomes new product launches like Elvis just entered the building, with long lines of fans camped at local stores, and hysteria quickly hitting a fever pitch. Along with online launch countdowns and mass speculation, the company’s hype always raises questions of whether their latest product will bring on the future of “X“ — whether it’s tech, retail, communication, or, really, take your pick. Basically, anything Apple does is a big deal. The Apple Watch, which comes at several price points, from the “moderately priced“ US$350 Apple Watch Sport to the $15,000 luxurious Apple Watch Edition, has received pre-orders from over 2.3 million consumers and counting. Geek-chic watches have been around for decades, but the design of the iWatch, masterminded by Apple Senior Vice-President of Design and usability “god“ Jony Ive, is expected to break the mold of what we can expect from all future time-telling gadgets, not just in terms of functionality but also mass production. This great leap forward, however, has just as much a foot in the past as the future — specifically, in an influential German design movement that grew out of the chaos of World War I, aiming to reinvent a more ordered and just society through great design. The Bauhaus school shifted between Weimar (1919-1925), Dessau (1925-1932) and Berlin (1932-1933) during Germany’s most pivotal years, and acted as an innovation incubator, not unlike Apple’s Design Lab. In both instances, a team of dedicated practitioners thought they could alleviate the alienation of modern society through more personal consumer products, clean lines, and user-friendly interfaces. In other words, a revolution centered on aesthetics that benefited the people. In 1915, the visionary Walter Gropius, considered by many to be one of the first masters of modern architecture, began to develop his plan for a “purely organic building,“ which declared “its inner laws, free of untruths or ornamentation.“ This “building“ was more of a metaphor than a physical object, and extended beyond the concept of architecture to encompass product design, packaging, and even furniture. Not unlike Steve Jobs, Gropius was single-minded, and could be unwavering and brutally direct in his mission. As the head of the Bauhaus school in Weimar, he recognized the need to surround himself with a team of talented collaborators, instructors, and designers, on-boarding some of the biggest names in contemporary arts, including Paul Klee, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Lazlo Moholy-Nagy and Vassily Kandinsky — names that history would prove incandescent creators. New-media artist Anthony Antonellis is one of those inspired by both modern technology and the Bauhaus’s approach toward design education. Antonellis, who gained notoriety for his tech-inspired work and turning himself into a cyborg by implanting an RFID chip in his arm, studied at the current Bauhaus Dessau. He explained to me that the Bauhaus system, handed down by Gropius, is still resonant today. “I arrived where I am as a direct result of my studies in Weimar. I studied alongside other artists, students in media, architects, craftsmen, product designers, graphic designers, and all these disciplines taught and learned from each other in a profound exchange of ideas and approaches.“ So whether you pre-ordered your watch online, or are part of the horde checking it out in stores, when you snap on your Apple Watch, just remember: It took literally thousands of brilliant thinkers and over a century of work to bring you that tiny, dazzling device.

Which of the following statements is NOT true of the iWatch?

A．It has several versions.

B．It has been popular among consumers.

C．It is expected to make some breakthroughs.

D．It was designed by the late Steve Jobs.

In Paragraph 3, why did the author mention the German Design Movement?

A．Because both Apple and German innovators have improved the appearances of products.

B．Because Apple has learned a great deal of useful information from German designers.

C．Because Apple wants to promote its products in the German market.

D．Because the movement has started the revolution in computer technology.

What do Steve Jobs and Walter Gropius have in common?

A．They are both mathematical geniuses.

B．They are both profit-driven.

C．They are both very determined.

D．They are both very arrogant.

What has contributed greatly to Gropius’ success as the head of the Bauhaus school in Weimar?

A．His insight into the customers’ financial conditions.

B．His awareness of the importance of teamwork.

C．His inheritance that made it possible to establish an academy.

D．His incorporation of foreign styles into his design.

What does the author intend to tell buyers of iWatch?

A．Its size has been greatly reduced.

B．It results from the wisdom of generations of talents.

C．It is not that different from the watch made during World War I.

D．Technology can have adverse effects on our lives.

The new accessibility of land around almost every major city______an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we know as urbanization. incited followed claimed sparked

Japan’s______in the field of electronics would have to withstand much stronger challenge from competitors in the globalized economy. subordination supremacy submission subjection

After the 1870s, a number of important authors began to reject the Romanticism that had ______immediately following the civil war. appeared recurred surfaced prevailed

Studies reveal that obesity could, to a large extent, be attributed to the increasing popularity of the______lifestyle. sedentary secretive seclusive solitary

When ancient artifacts have been______to these processes, their origin is usually impossible to trace. subordinated subdivided subjected submitted

Fire ants make use of an alarm pheromone to______workers to an emergency, and their scouts lay down a trail as a guide during mass migrations. alert allot alternate adapt

One of the best-known examples of mass extinction occurred 65 million years ago with the______of the dinosaurs and many other forms of life. demolition demise diffusion decline

When water is scarce, lizards may reduce their movements and remain in that condition for______periods of time. pronounced programmed projected prolonged

Because the droplets or ice crystals in clouds are exceedingly small, the effect of gravity on them is minute. second mere tiny quick

This century, the work of cognitive psychologists has illuminated the subtle forms of daily learning on which intellectual progress depends. implied ascribed denoted clarmed

The disclosure of sensitive information related to national security was reportedly inadvertent. reluctant irrational consequent unintentional

Many ice researchers believe that the melting Greenland, if it continues, will add at least three feet to global sea levels by 2100. melted Greenland melting Greenland Greenland’s melting Greenland melted

Irrespective on its disadvantages, however, genetic engineering has proliferated swiftly. with to of from

The impossible high demands you make of yourself will invite only disappointment and widespread unhappiness. highly impossible demands impossibly high demands demands impossibly high demands highly impossible

Opponents of genetic engineering claim that scientists are tampering with matters that they know little and essentially committing a crime against nature. that they know about little that they know little about they know about that little about that they know little

They are intelligent animals and can see work together as they hunt schools of small fish. can be seen working to be seen working can be seeing work to be seeing work

In the store, famous perfumes are displayed and guard against works of art in the nearby Louvre Museum. guarded like guard for guarded by guard with

Researchers hypothesize that sharks sometimes confuse humans for another type of animals they usually consume, different from seals or fish. the other type another types other type the other types

To fetch water before breakfast seemed, to the villagers, a rule never have broken. never being broken never to be broken never to break never breaking

At the end of a recent feast at Restaurant Revolution in New Orleans, I ordered a cup of hot tea and was presented with an elegant silver kettle filled with an intoxicatingly aromatic lemon brew. Another notable meal enjoyed not long ago at Fixe in Austin began with their house-iced tea, a black tea and fruit blend customized for them by a local “tea guru.“ Tea has been a cherished beverage in the eastern hemisphere since the third millennium B.C., but didn’t make its way to the UK until late in the 17th century, where it enjoyed immediate popularity. Another two centuries later, southerners in the United States began drinking their sweet and iced tea, but not until recently has tea appreciation started to spread throughout the rest of North America. These days, it’s not uncommon to find Earl Grey in your cocktail or learn that your fried chicken was cooked in the stuff. “I believe tea is still in its infancy in our country,“ says Zhena Muzyka, owner of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea, a Fair Trade Certified^TM organic tea company, now in its 13th year. “It’s the second-most-consumed beverage in the world, but the sixth-most-consumed in the U.S.“ But like a newborn, the U.S. tea industry is growing fast. Since 1990, Americans have quadrupled their tea consumption, bringing it to a US$10-billion industry in 2014, according to the Tea Association of the U.S. Tea imports to the U.S. have grown by 70 percent in the last two decades alone. Starbucks, which started selling more than two dozen varieties of loose-leaf tea at their first location in Seattle, bought high-end tea-shop chain Teavana in 2012. The concurrent artisanal food and beverage trend means that as more Americans )earn to appreciate a cup of tea, they’re also more interested in the source of the leaves, making “Fair Trade“ tea particularly attractive. Fair Trade U.S. calculates that just between 2012 and 2013, Fair Trade Certified tea — produced by cooperatives and farms — imports jumped by 26 percent. Fair Trade certification ensures that farmers are guaranteed safe working conditions as well as a sustainable wage and fair capital, determined by the prices they set for their products. All workers also receive a Fair Trade premium, which they may choose to invest back into their farm or community. “I believe that Americans love Fair Trade — they’ve backed it and bought it even when the economy was trashed,“ Muzyka says, recalling when tea first joined coffee, bananas, and cocoa on the short list of available Fair Trade Certified products. Muzyka has visited Sri Lanka, India and China many times, growing closer with each visit to the families who grow and harvest the tea she uses for her blends. On conventional farms, a tea worker’s daily quota is 17.6 pounds of tea per day, or about 16,000 individual plucks of leaves, she says. This strenuous work is usually done on steep hillsides at altitudes of 5,000 feet or higher, and workers collect leaves into large baskets on their backs, which are held in place by a forehead strap. Back when she was starting her company, Muzyka spent several years educating consumers and buyers at major grocery stores to choose Fair Trade suppliers over those without the certification. “I showed them the photos I’d taken in the conventional fields, and explained that the workers were being paid US$1.35 a day and unable to feed their families,“ she says.

From Paragraph 1, we know that the author’s attitude toward the Apple product campaign is______.

The word “hysteria“ underlined in Paragraph 1 means______.

We can predict from the public response to the Apple iWatch that the sales of this product will be______.

Which of the following statements is NOT true of the iWatch?

In Paragraph 3, why did the author mention the German Design Movement?

What do Steve Jobs and Walter Gropius have in common?

What has contributed greatly to Gropius’ success as the head of the Bauhaus school in Weimar?

The word “resonant“ underlined in Paragraph 5 is synonymous to______.

Antonellis deems his studies in Weimar______.

What does the author intend to tell buyers of iWatch?