Pleasingly, a new study supports one of my favourite insights about writing, or getting any creative work done-though I’m pretty sure that wasn’t intentional, since the researchers were actually studying traffic jams. Jonathan Boreyko, an American engineering professor, was crawling along in his car one day, observing how drivers naturally bunch up at red lights, leaving mere inches between vehicles. Their motivation isn’t a mystery: the closer you are to the car ahead, you’d assume, the better your chances of squeezing through before the light goes back to red, and the sooner you’ll reach your destination, even if you also increase the risk of collisions.
But you’d assume wrong. When Boreyko and a colleague recreated the traffic-light scenario (场景) on a special test track, they found that drivers who bunched up made no swifter progress. True, they stopped slightly closer to the light. But it also took them longer to resume (继续) moving safely, and these two factors canceled each other out. “There’s no point in getting closer to the car in front of you when traffic comes to a stop.” Boreyko concluded.
This is true of writing or similar work. People never rest in urgent pursuit of their goals. Yes, it all looks impressively productive. But as the psychologist Robert Boice argues, racing to get a task completed generally brings a cost that outweighs the benefit. You tire yourself out, so you can’t shine the next day. Or you neglect so many other duties that you’re forced to take an extra day to catch up. Or you start damaging work you already produced — which is why the novelist Cabriel Carcfa Marqucz said he gave up writing in the afternoon: he wrote more, but he had to redo it the next morning, so the overall effect was to slow him down. That’s also why Boice insists that when you’re writing on a schedule, it’s as important to be disciplined about stopping as starting, even if you’re on a roll.
Clearly, this is all a convenient way to feel superior to people who put in more hours. But that doesn’t mean it’s untrue. Indeed, it’s scary to ask what role impatience play in your life in general: how much of each day we spend leaning into the future, trying to get tasks “out of the way”, always focused on the destination, metaphorically (隐喻地) inching closer and closer to the bumper of the car ahead. None of it gets us anywhere faster. It’s also no way to live.
1.Which of the following best summarizes the finding of Boreyko’s study?
A.The sooner, the better. B.More haste, no extra speed.
C.The early bird catches the worm. D.Chances favour the prepared mind.
2.The author wants to tell us that in creative work____.
A.tight planning avoids chaos B.overwork polishes our images
C.impatience almost never pays D.afternoon time is less productive
3.The author writes the passage to______.
A.advise people to stop racing B.instruct people to write skillfully
C.persuade people to treasure time D.warn people to obey traffic rules
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The Handbag Raincoat If you’ve splashed(挥霍)out on a good handbag, you don’t want it to be ruined in a downpour. This simple-as-can-be plastic cover is the solution (10:amazon.co.uk).
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YOSH waterproof (防水) phone case If you put your phone in this waterproof bag it will be protected from the rain — but you’ll still be able to use its touchscreen. With a snap and lock seal. It fits most phones up to 6.1 inches in size (10; amazon.co.uk). |
Hunter Women’s Original Play Short Wellington Boots Tall wellies (长筒靴) are great for walking in long grass, but unnecessarily heavy for city wear; these short boots are a sensible investment for urban folks who want to arrive at work with dry feet (100; com). |
1.What do the four items have in common?
A.They are waterproof.
B.They are of the same price.
C.They are made of fiberglass.
D.They are on sale on Amazon
2.From the passage, we know_______.
A.the handbag raincoat is of low quality
B.the short boots are suitable for urban living
C.the waterproof phone case has different sizes
D.the travel umbrella can be folded using a button
I joined the army as an infantryman (步兵) instead of as a helicopter pilot because I only had the literacy (读写) level of an 11-year-old. I had no idea that I had a reading level that_______; I had just _______words when I didn’t know them, and usually ended up getting them wrong.
It was just before I turned 19 that I _______ my very first book. I can vividly remember the sense of _______and achievement I felt. It was meant for primary school children but I didn’t _______. I had read a whole book, and I was _______. From then on I read anything and everything I could get. I just wanted to get as much_______ as I could.
I learned in those days at the _______education centre. There are always people looking forward to helping you and _______you stuff. But you are never going to progress __________you keep learning. The unbelievable educational__________that the army offers make it one of the few places that can help you climb up the ladder of social classes in the UK.
For me, improving my literacy level had another more surprising__________. When I left the army, I was asked to write a(n)__________of the Bravo Two Zero Mission and that led to the unexpected career change of becoming a(n)__________.
I have spent quite a bit of time over the past few years__________schools, and workplaces, as well as army bases and businesses, to talk about my past and__________others to start reading and writing like me. The__________I give to all the people that I chat to is that if I can do it, anyone can. If that is a message that even one of them accepts and__________, then it has been__________. My experience shows that the best soldier out there is the one with a __________card.
1.A.high B.new C.low D.senior
2.A.gone over B.made up C.put down D.taken back
3.A.wrote B.received C.bought D.read
4.A.pride B.beauty C.duty D.security
5.A.panic B.care C.doubt D.agree
6.A.depressed B.puzzled C.trapped D.hooked
7.A.wealth B.knowledge. C.support D.freedom
8.A.community B.nursery C.army D.health
9.A.showing B.selling C.lending D.teaching
10.A.unless B.until C.though D.since
11.A.expenses B.backgrounds C.opportunities D.requirements
12.A.trouble B.burden C.outcome D.challenge
13.A.email B.diary C.scheme D.account
14.A.athlete B.typist C.author D.reporter
15.A.visiting B.attending C.constructing D.inspecting
16.A.permitting B.encouraging C.commanding D.preferring
17.A.message B.story C.impression D.influence
18.A.changes B.uses C.questions D.ignores
19.A.controversial B.arbitrary C.ridiculous D.worthwhile
20.A.library B.credit C.business D.fitness
—Could Martha afford the money to go on a trip abroad with us?
—I’m afraid not. She is ___________ at the moment.
A.physically challenged B.between jobs C.not all there D.all ears
Our village is making efforts to _________its development pattern to promote green growth.
A.squeeze B.compromise C.transform D.differentiate
Nantong has become one of the most_____cities in the Yangtze River Delta through innovation.
A.dynamic B.conservative C.primitive D.ethnic
