Question

    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

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了一项对交通堵塞的研究，从而验证了自己对写作或完成创造性工作的见解——有纪律的停止和开始是一样重要的，即使你一直在工作。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段中的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.(当Boreyko和他的同事在一个特殊的测试轨道上重现了交通信号灯的场景时，他们发现司机挤在一起并没有更快的进步。没错，他们停在离灯光稍近的地方。但他们恢复安全移动也需要更长的时间，这两个因素相互抵消)及选项分析A. The sooner, the better.(越早越好)；B. More haste, no extra speed.(欲速则不达)；C. The early bird catches the worm.(早起的鸟儿有虫吃)；D. Chances favour the prepared mind.(机会总是垂青有准备的人)可知，B项能够最好地总结Boreyko研究的发现。故选B。

2.推理判断题。根据第三段中的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.(但正如心理学家Robert Boice所指出的，匆忙完成一项任务通常会带来成本大于收益。你把自己累坏了，所以你不能在第二天表选突出。或者你忽略了很多其他的事情，你不得不多花一天的时间来弥补。或者你开始破坏你已经完成的作品——这就是小说家Cabriel Carcfa Marqucz说他放弃下午写更多东西的原因，但第二天早上又得重写，所以整体效果是让他慢下来)可知，作者想告诉我们的是，在创造性的工作中，急躁几乎从不带来回报。故选C。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段中的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.(事实上，问一问急躁在你的生活中扮演了什么样的角色是很可怕的：我们每天花多少时间展望未来，试图让任务“不碍事”，总是专注于目标，隐讳性地一点一点靠近前方的汽车保险杠。没有一个能让我们走得更快)可推知，作者写这篇文章是建议人们停止比速度。故选A。