Our quarrel with efficiency is not that it gets things done, but that it is a thief of time when it leaves us no leisure to enjoy ourselves, and that it strains our nerves when we try to get things done perfectly. In building bridges, American engineers calculate so finely and exactly as to make the two ends come together within one-tenth of an inch. But when two Chinese begin to dig a tunnel from both sides of a mountain both come out on the other side. --The Chinese’s firm belief is that it doesn’t matter so long as a tunnel is dug through, and if we have two instead of one, why, we have a double track to boot.
The pace of modern industrial life forbids this kind of glorious and magnificent idling. But, worse than that, it imposes upon us a different conception of time as measured by the clock and eventually turns the human being into a clock himself. (This sort of thing is bound to come to China, as is evident, for instance, in the case of a factory of twenty thousand worker. The luxurious prospect of twenty thousand workers coming in at their own sweet pleasure at all hours is, of course, somewhat terrifying.)Nevertheless, such efficiency is what makes life so hard and full of excitement. A man who has to be punctually at a certain place at five o’clock has the whole afternoon from one to five ruined for him already. Every American adult is arranging his time on the pattern of the schoolboy - three o’clock for this, five o’clock for that, six-thirty for change of dress, six-fifty for entering the taxi, and seven o’clock for arriving at the destination. It just makes life not worth living.
1. The writer objects to efficiency mainly on the grounds that it ____.
A) entitles us to too much leisure time
B) urges us to get things done punctually
C) deprives us of leisure time
D) imposes on us a perfect concept of time
2. In the eyes of the author, the introduction of industrial life gives rise to ____.
A) the excitement of life
B) magnificent idling of time
C) more emphasis on efficiency
D) terrifying schoolboy
3. The passage tells us ____.
A) Chinese workers come to work when it is convenient
B) all Americans are forced to be efficient against their will
C) Chinese engineers are on better terms with the management
D) Americans ought not to work so hard for efficiency
4. The author believes that relaxing the rule of punctuality in factories would lead to ____.
A) great confusion
B) increased production
C) a hard and exciting life
D) successful completion of a tunnel
5. What is implied but NOT stated by the author is that ____.
A) every American is arranging his time in the pattern of a schoolboy
B) every American is reluctant to be efficient
C) every one should have some time to spend as he pleases
D) being punctual is an undesirable habit which should not be formed
【參考答案】：
1.C)deprives us of leisure time對應原文第一句but that it is a thief of time when it leaves us no leisure to enjoy ourselves. 選項A是與作者想法完全相反的; 選項B雖有章可循, 但要注意原文是it strains our nerves when we try to get things done perfectly, 而非it直接urges us to get things done punctually; 選項D要看清, 原文是a different conception of time而非a perfect concept of time.
2.C)more emphasis on efficiency對應原文第二段第一句The pace of modern industrial life forbids this kind of glorious and magnificent idling. 通過第一段可以看出, 與efficiency對立的是this kind of glorious and magnificent idling, 而industrial life又forbids, 自然說明industrial life gives rise to more emphasis on efficiency.
3.D)Americans ought not to work so hard for efficiency. 排除法: A)Chinese workers come to work when it is convenient不符合原文()中的內容; B)all Americans are forced to be efficient against their will語氣太重, 不是被強迫講求效率, 也不是違背自己意願, 只是為了適應工業社會; C)Chinese engineers are on better terms with the management不屬於本文討論範疇。。。
4.A)great confusion對應原文(This sort of thing is bound to come to China, as is evident, for instance, in the case of a factory of twenty thousand worker. The luxurious prospect of twenty thousand workers coming in at their own sweet pleasure at all hours is, of course, somewhat terrifying.)
5.C)every on should have some time to spend as he pleases, 這是4個選項中唯一一個符合is implied but NOT stated兩個條件的. A選項有被直接提及, B選項reluctant是不願的意思, 而本文並非討論願不願的問題, D選項being punctual is an undesirable habit which should not be formed, 黑體部分分別為守時和不良習慣的意思, 顯然不是作者本意.
總結一下, 今天這期比昨天講小貓小狗的閱讀要難一些- -, 是一篇既要求詞彙量, 同時又要求答題技巧的典型的閱讀理解. 所謂答題技巧, 就是首先要讀懂文章的大概意思, 然後注意一些關鍵句子.
關鍵句子很有可能出現在段落的`連線部分, 比如開頭和結尾. 一般情況下, 閱讀理解的前面幾道題是可以從原文的關鍵句子中直接找出答案的, 而後面幾道題, 往往要求綜合全文來分析. 最近幾天的閱讀, 大體分為兩種: 一種是偏向主觀論述的閱讀, 比如倒數55天的癌症、倒數53天的空調和今天的效率; 另一種是偏向客觀敘述的閱讀, 比如倒數52天的家養寵物和倒數54天的無家可歸的兒童. 前者往往要著重考慮作者的中心思想, 後者往往要著重考慮作者的整體內容.
