Question

My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork.

My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.

Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors by saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant (无关的). What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the “hard worker” dodge (诀窍), and I have come to some conclusions — all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.

If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not how hard one works but the quality of the product that’s important.

That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office: “Don’t work harder. Work smarter.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.

If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “study habits”.

Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off in all your studies.

1.We can infer from the 2^nd paragraph that we students still _____ .

A．have enough time                       B．can meet the president

C．get everything done well                  D．should accept the explanation

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The author’s students make good use of their time to do all their homework.

B．The author tried to tell the professor that he/she (author) had done a good job.

C．You can’t improve the quality of the work if you can’t get more time.

D．You’ll try to improve your skills in reading and writing if you’re a clever student.

3.What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Students don’t have enough time.         B．Don’t work harder; work smarter.

C．No one can get more time.                D．Read better and write better.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文是一篇夹叙夹议论文。每个人每天拥有的时间都是相同的, 那么想把事情做好就要有一定的技巧了。作者认为:不要苦干, 要巧干。

1.本段(第二段)指出: 你的时间和总统的时间一样多。并把“时间不够”

作为没有完成某事的理由是不可接受的。由此推断:我们学生仍有充足的时间。

2.考查考生对具体信息的理解能力。A项与第一段和第二段内容不符; B项中的...a good job与第三段第一句中的…working hard不符; C项与第六段中的第一句不符; D项与最后一段的第一句意思相吻合。

3.考查考生对短文主旨要义的理解能力。由文章大意可知本文主题是: 不要苦干, 要巧干。而A、C、D项都是文章的部分细节。

考点：教育类短文阅读。