Question

As the new semester begins, millions of college students across the country are trying hard to remember how best to write a paper or, more likely, how best to delay that paper.

Procrastination is the thief of time and a lot of students suffer from it. They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space, eating snacks, surfing the Internet, watching videos and looking at other students sitting around them, who, most likely, are doing nothing either.

Paralyzed (使失去活力) by their habit to procrastinate, they write micro blogs about their fears, asking their online friends if they sometimes have the same issue. But this does nothing to break the spell (魔咒).

According to a recent report, 95 percent of us procrastinate at some point and 20 percent of the world’s population are always procrastinating. The figures are disappointing. Procrastinators are less wealthy, less healthy and less happy than those who don’t delay. Procrastinators like to find excuses to justify their behavior, but BBC columnist Rowan Pelling says they are all wrong.

Many procrastinators tell themselves they are perfectionists who work best under pressure. Pelling says this is nonsense, as work done at the last minute is more likely to have mistakes than work done on time. The behavior of procrastinators often makes them feel ashamed, inconveniences others and annoys loved ones.

Pelling also points out that procrastination feels particularly delinquent (过失的）in a society that thinks of speedy action as admirable, and, at times, even as a moral good.

Fortunately, social scientists have thrown their weight behind efforts to understand this behavioral mistake and offer strategies to control it. Piers Steel, a Canadian social scientist and author of The Procrastination Equation, believes human is “designed” to procrastinate. Nevertheless, he suggests a couple of good ways to get through the task at hand.

1.From the first two paragraphs we can learn that _________.

A. procrastination is beneficial to many students

B. many students are under great pressure in their study

C.many students have the habit of delaying finishing their tasks

D. lots of college students work hard to write good essays on time

2.Which behavior belongs to procrastination?

A. Never dream away the time.

B. Always complete the tasks ahead of time.

C. Never put off till tomorrow what should be done today.

D. Always wait to work until the “good mood” or “good time”.

3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is not true?

A. Procrastination makes people waste their time.

B. Procrastinators usually complete their tasks perfectly.

C. Speedy action is considered as a moral standard in the society.

D. Procrastination is common among people.

4.What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?

A. Measures to deal with procrastination.

B. Approaches to handling the study pressures.

C. More examples to illustrate procrastination.

D. Introduction to the book The Procrastination Equation.

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：文章介绍了“拖延症”。拖延症是偷走时间的贼，有拖延习惯的学生往往花一整天时间发呆、吃零食、上网，而不完成学习任务。对于应对拖延症，加拿大的社会学家提出了一些方法。

1.more likely, how best to delay that paper ...Procrastination is the thief of time...They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space, eating snacks, surfing the Internet, watching videos”可知，大多数学生喜欢把论文延期，他们喜欢拖延时间，哪怕一天无所事事，故选C。

2.They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space, eating snacks, surfing the Internet, watching videos”可知，有拖延的毛病的学生，不会按时，甚至是提前完成任务，他们总是让时间白白流逝，排除A、B、C，故选D。

3. Pelling says this is nonsense, as work done at the last minute is more likely to have mistakes than work done on time.”可知，当学生把事情拖延到最后一刻再去完成时，由于时间仓促，他们会出现很多错误，故选B。

4.he suggests a couple of good ways to get through the task at hand”可知，接下来会介绍社会学家Piers Steel应对拖延的方法，故选A。

考点：社会类短文阅读