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.From the passage, we know that the author is probably ______ .

A. a poet          B. an educator

C. a novelist      D. an engineer

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

A. have enough time

B. can meet the president

C. get everything done well

D. should accept the explanation

3.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.

4.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.B

2.A

3.D

4.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.B考查推理判断题。根据文章第一段My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork．中的my students说明我是一个教育者，故B正确

2.A考查推理判断题。根据本段第一句My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president．和最后一句“not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done．都说明作者认为我们有足够的时间，故A项正确

3.D考查细节理解题。根据最后一段提到Then, as a smart student，you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing．作为聪明的学生我们要提高我们的阅读和写作技巧，故D项正确。

4.B 考查文章的主旨。根据文章的主题段最后一段可知本文主要讲述的是我们要提高我们学习的质量，故Ｂ项符合文章的大意。

考点：考查教育类短文阅读