Question

My students often tell me they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork. My reply is often brief –You have as much time as the president. I usually carry on a bit about there being 24 hours per 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 justify myself to one of my professors by saying that I was working. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant. What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to reflect on the “hard worker” dodge(伎俩), and I have come to some conclusions – all relevant to the issue of how much time we have.

If you look at the matter analytically, 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 issue of “work” during that time, which can vary in intensity. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not diligence but the quality of the product that is important.

That led me to a new idea, the quality of work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office – Don’t work harder but work smarter! There’s 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 work. That means thinking of ways of getting 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 “learning 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 across the board in all your studies.

1.From the passage, we know that the author is _____.

A. a poet   B. an educator

C. an editor D. a director

2.We can infer from the first two paragraph that we students _____.

A. have enough time

B. can meet the president

C. get something done well

D. should accept the explanation

3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 means _____.

A. That is impossible B. That is not important

C. That is unbearable D. That is not acceptable

4.The main purpose of writing the passage is to give _____.

A. information B. encouragement

C. criticism   D. advice

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.B

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：作者从时间问题入手，建议学生们要注重学习技巧和学习效率。

1.B细节推理题。根据开头My students和Once in graduate school, I tried to justify myself to one of my professors by saying that I was working.可知作者的职业是教育工作者，故选B.

2.A推理判断题。根据前两段内容You have as much time as the president.和that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation可知学生们有时间，有足够的时间。故选A.

3.B句意猜测题。句意：你是不相干的，重要的是工作的质量。此处指教授认为时间不重要，重要的是质量。故选B.

4.推理判断题。作者写这篇文章的目的是给学生们提建议：要注重学习技巧和学习效率。故选D.

考点：考查文化教育类短文阅读。