Our quarrel with efficiency is not that it gets things done, but that it is a thief of time when it leaves us no leisure to enjoy ourselves, and that it strains our nerves when we try to get things done perfectly. In building bridges, American engineers calculate so finely and exactly as to make the two ends come together within one-tenth of an inch. But when two Chinese begin to dig a tunnel from both sides of a mountain both come out on the other side. --The Chineses firm belief is that it doesnt matter so long as a tunnel is dug through, and if we have two instead of one, why, we have a double track to boot.
The pace of modern industrial life forbids this kind of glorious and magnificent idling. But, worse than that, it imposes upon us a different conception of time as measured by the clock and eventually turns the human being into a clock himself. Nevertheless, such efficiency is what makes life so hard and full of excitement. A man who has to be punctually at a certain place at five oclock has the whole afternoon from one to five ruined for him already. Every American adult is arranging his time on the pattern of the schoolboy - three oclock for this, five oclock for that, six-thirty for change of dress, six-fifty for entering the taxi, and seven oclock for arriving at the destination. It just makes life not worth living.
1. The writer objects to efficiency mainly on the grounds that it ____.
A) entitles us to too much leisure time
B) urges us to get things done punctually
C) deprives us of leisure time
D) imposes on us a perfect concept of time
2. In the eyes of the author, the introduction of industrial life gives rise to ____.
A) the excitement of life
B) magnificent idling of time
C) more emphasis on efficiency
D) terrifying schoolboy
3. The passage tells us ____.
A) Chinese workers come to work when it is convenient
B) all Americans are forced to be efficient against their will
C) Chinese engineers are on better terms with the management
D) Americans ought not to work so hard for efficiency
4. The author believes that relaxing the rule of punctuality in factories would lead to ____.
A) great confusion
B) increased production
C) a hard and exciting life
D) successful completion of a tunnel
5. What is implied but NOT stated by the author is that ____.
A) every American is arranging his time in the pattern of a schoolboy
B) every American is reluctant to be efficient
C) every one should have some time to spend as he pleases
D) being punctual is an undesirable habit which should not be formed
答案：
1.C)deprives us of leisure time对应原文第一句but that it is a thief of time when it leaves us no leisure to enjoy ourselves. 选项A是与作者想法完全相反的; 选项B虽有章可循, 但要注意原文是it strains our nerves when we try to get things done perfectly, 而非it直接urges us to get things done punctually; 选项D要看清, 原文是a different conception of time而非a perfect concept of time.
2.C)more emphasis on efficiency对应原文第二段第一句The pace of modern industrial life forbids this kind of glorious and magnificent idling. 通过第一段可以看出, 与efficiency对立的是this kind of glorious and magnificent idling, 而industrial life又forbids, 自然说明industrial life gives rise to more emphasis on efficiency.
3.D)Americans ought not to work so hard for efficiency. 排除法: A)Chinese workers come to work when it is convenient不符合原文中的内容; B)all Americans are forced to be efficient against their will语气太重, 不是被强迫讲求效率, 也不是违背自己意愿, 只是为了适应工业社会; C)Chinese engineers are on better terms with the management不属于本文讨论范畴。。。
4.A)great confusion对应原文
5.C)every on should have some time to spend as he pleases, 这是4个选项中唯一一个符合is implied but NOT stated两个条件的. A选项有被直接提及, B选项reluctant是不愿的意思, 而本文并非讨论愿不愿的问题, D选项being punctual is an undesirable habit which should not be formed, 黑体部分分别为守时和不良习惯的意思, 显然不是作者本意.
总结一下, 今天这期比昨天讲小猫小狗的阅读要难一些- -, 是一篇既要求词汇量, 同时又要求答题技巧的典型的阅读理解. 所谓答题技巧, 就是首先要读懂文章的大概意思, 然后注意一些关键句子.
关键句子很有可能出现在段落的连接部分, 比如开头和结尾. 一般情况下, 阅读理解的前面几道题是可以从原文的关键句子中直接找出答案的, 而后面几道题, 往往要求综合全文来分析. 最近几天的阅读, 大体分为两种: 一种是偏向主观论述的阅读, 比如倒数55天的癌症、倒数53天的空调和今天的效率; 另一种是偏向客观叙述的阅读, 比如倒数52天的家养宠物和倒数54天的无家可归的儿童. 前者往往要着重考虑作者的中心思想, 后者往往要着重考虑作者的整体内容.