You and I agree to meet at four-thirty, I show up at 4: 33. I don’t say anything, because that’s close enough to satisfy our social contract. Only after five minutes do you expect me to say, “Sorry, I’m late.” At ten minutes I owe you an explanation, “The freeway exit was closed. I had to go four miles out of my way.” After twenty minutes I have to make a full and serious apology. After forty minutes I’d better not show up at all.
That sort of thing—formally observed and never explicitly stated—drives people from other cultures crazy. Anthropologists list the toughest things to cope with in a foreign land. Second only to language is the way we deal with time.
Now psychologists look at our view of time another way. They go into several countries and measure the pace of life. They measure the accuracy of bank clocks and how fast city dwellers walk. They time transactions in banks and post offices. They see how long people take to answer questions.
Japanese keep the fastest pace. Americans are a close second. Italians and Indonesians are at the bottom of the list. Italians give long answers to your questions. Indonesians don’t give a fig about setting their bank clocks. Among American cities, Boston and Kansas City are fastest. New York is up there, of course, but we keep a faster pace here in Houston. California’s “laid back” reputation is deserved. The slowest pace of all is kept in Los Angeles.
Finally, we look at heart disease. That’s tricky, because other factors are involved. Our heart’s greatest enemy is tobacco. But heart disease also correlates with the pace we keep. Smokers who drive themselves are really asking for it.
Now it’s 4:55. I’m strolling, unhurried toward our 4:30 meeting. I’m thinking something about Isaac Watts, the English poet, wrote:
Time, what an empty vapour it is;
And days how swift they are!
Swift as an Indian arrow flies,
Or like a shooting star.
That tension soaks through our view of time. Can we see time as an empty vapor? Or do our technologies define time and bind us to in? In a technology-dense world, we too often let time turn into an Indian arrow—one aimed at our heart.
So the clock ticks, and we ask: Is time an arrow we must dodge or vapor we can ignore? If we’re smart, we live by the clock only when we have to. Otherwise, we sit back and play. We know how to let time be only vapor, after all.
1. In America you have to apologize sincerely if you are ________.
2. We know from the passage that ________.
3. In the United States, the pace of life is quite relaxed in ________.
4. Which sentence correctly restates “Smokers who drive themselves are rally asking for it”?
5. What the author wants to tell us is that ________.
问题1选项
A.5 minutes late
B.20 minutes late
C.40 minutes late
D.10 minutes late
问题2选项
A.Indonesians do not measure the accuracy of bank clocks
B.Japanese keep a fairly fast pace
C.the pace of life in America is the fastest
D.Italians take their time in doing things
问题3选项
A.California
B.Houston
C.Los Angeles
D.New York
问题4选项
A.Smokers should not drive cars because they get into accidents easily.
B.Smokers who have heart disease should not drive themselves.
C.Smokers who work too hard will soon find themselves down with heart trouble.
D.Smokers who drive their own cars are really asking for trouble.
问题5选项
A.people with heart trouble should not smoke
B.time is dangerous in that it is like an arrow aimed at our hearts
C.living by the clock in our technology-dense world could be fatal
D.we should avoid having every moment of our life ruled by the clock
第1题:B
第2题:B
第3题:C
第4题:B
第5题:D
第1题:
【选项释义】
In America you have to apologize sincerely if you are _______. 在美国,你必须真诚地道歉,如果你______。
A. 5 minutes late A. 迟到五分钟
B. 20 minutes late B. 迟到二十分钟
C. 40 minutes late C. 迟到四十分钟
D. 10 minutes late D. 迟到十分钟
【答案】B
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以确定答案所在区域为第一段。根据第一段倒数第二句“迟到二十分钟,我必须做一个完整而严肃的道歉”,由此可知在美国,迟到二十分钟必须真诚地道歉,所以正确答案为B选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项:“迟到五分钟”,根据第一段第二句“只有在迟到五分钟后,你才希望我说:‘对不起,我迟到了。’”可知该选项属于曲解原文;
C选项:“迟到四十分钟”,根据第一段最后一句“迟到四十分钟后,我最好不要再出现了”可知该选项属于曲解原文;
D选项:“迟到十分钟”,根据第一段第三句“迟到十分钟后,我欠你一个解释:‘高速公路出口关闭了,我不得不绕道四英里。’”可知该选项属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
We know from the passage that _______. 从文章中我们知道______。
A. Indonesians do not measure the accuracy of bank clocks A. 印度尼西亚人不会测量银行时钟的准确性
B. Japanese keep a fairly fast pace B. 日本人的节奏相当快
C. the pace of life in America is the fastest C. 美国的生活节奏是最快的
D. Italians take their time in doing things D. 意大利人做事从容不迫
【答案】B
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以确定答案所在区域为第四段。根据第四段第一句“日本人回答问题的速度最快”,结合第三段第一句和最后一句内容“现在,心理学家以另一种方式看待我们对时间的看法。他们观察人们回答问题需要多长时间”,由此可知他们回答问题的速度,代表了他们生活节奏的快慢,因此根据日本人回答问题的速度最快可推断出日本人的生活节奏很快,所以正确答案为B选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项:“印度尼西亚人不会测量银行时钟的准确性”,根据第四段第五句“印尼人对设置银行时钟毫不在意”可知该选项属于曲解原文;
C选项:“美国的生活节奏是最快的”,根据第四段第二句“美国人紧随其后”可知美国人生活节奏并不是最快的,比日本人慢,该选项属于曲解原文;
D选项:“意大利人做事从容不迫”,根据第四段第三、四句“意大利人和印尼人排在最后。意大利人对你的问题会给出很长的答案”可知原文说的意大利生活节奏慢,以及回答问题的答案很长,但并没有说他们做所有的事都是从容不迫的,该选项属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
In the United States, the pace of life is quite relaxed in _______. 在美国,______的生活节奏相当轻松。
A. California A. 加利福利亚
B. Houston B. 休斯顿
C. Los Angeles C. 洛杉矶
D. New York D. 纽约
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以确定答案所在区域为第四段。根据第四段第六句至最后一句内容“在美国城市中,波士顿和堪萨斯城的生活节奏是最快的。当然,纽约在这方面一直领先,但休斯顿的节奏比纽约更快。加利福利亚‘悠闲’的名声当之无愧。最慢的是洛杉矶”,由此可知洛杉矶是美国生活节奏最轻松的,所以正确答案为C选项。
【干扰项排除】A、B、D选项均属于曲解原文。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Which sentence correctly restates “Smokers who drive themselves are really asking for it”? 哪句话正确地重新表述了“自己开车的吸烟者真的是自找麻烦”?
A. Smokers should not drive cars because they get into accidents easily. A. 吸烟者不应该开车,因为他们很容易出事故。
B. Smokers who have heart disease should not drive themselves. B. 患有心脏病的吸烟者不应该自己开车。
C. Smokers who work too hard will soon find themselves down with heart trouble. C. 努力工作的吸烟者很快就会发现自己患有心脏病。
D. Smokers who drive their own cars are really asking for trouble. D. 自己开车的吸烟者真是自找麻烦。
【答案】B
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以确定答案所在区域为第五段。根据第五段内容“最后,我们来看看心脏病。这很棘手,因为还涉及其他因素。我们心脏最大的敌人是烟草。但心脏病也与我们的生活节奏有关。自己开车的吸烟者真的是自找麻烦”,由此可推断出“自己开车的吸烟者真的是自找麻烦”意思是患有心脏病的吸烟者不应该自己开车,所以正确答案为B选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项:“吸烟者不应该开车,因为他们很容易出事故”,原文只是说患心脏病的人开车是自找麻烦,并没有提及他们开车容易出事故,该选项属于曲解原文;
C选项:“努力工作的吸烟者很快就会发现自己患有心脏病”,原文没有提及,属于无中生有;
D选项:“自己开车的吸烟者真是自找麻烦”,该选项是对题干的复现,并没有对其进行新的表述,属于答非所问。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What the author wants to tell us is that _______. 作者想告诉我们的是______。
A. people with heart trouble should not smoke A. 患有心脏病的人不应该吸烟
B. time is dangerous in that it is like an arrow aimed at our hearts B. 时间是危险的,因为它就像一支指向我们心灵的箭
C. living by the clock in our technology-dense world could be fatal C. 在我们这个技术密集的世界里,按时钟生活可能是致命的
D. we should avoid having every moment of our life ruled by the clock D. 我们应该避免让时钟主宰我们生活的每一刻
【答案】D
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以确定答案所在区域为最后一段。根据最后一段前四行内容“所以时钟滴答作响,我们发问:时间是我们必须躲避的箭头还是我们可以忽略的蒸汽?如果我们聪明的话,我们只在必要的时候才按时间行事”,结合文章可知作者把时间比喻成蒸汽和指向我们心脏的利箭,但其实患心脏病也与生活节奏有关,所以可以推断作者认为生活节奏快对身体健康是不利的,我们的生活不应该完全受时间掌控,所以正确答案为D选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项:“患有心脏病的人不应该吸烟”,根据第五段第三句“我们心脏最大的敌人是烟草。但心脏病也与我们的生活节奏有关”可知文章只提到了吸烟对心脏病有消极作用,但作者还提到了生活节奏太快也会导致心脏病发作,且全文都与生活节奏相关,所以该选项不足以概括作者的意图,属于以偏概全;
B选项:“时间是危险的,因为它就像一支指向我们心灵的箭”,根据倒数第二段内容“这种张力渗透在我们的时间观中。我们能把时间看成是一团蒸汽吗?还是我们的技术定义了时间,束缚了我们?在一个技术密集的世界里,我们常常让时间变成一支印度箭——一支射向我们心脏的箭”此处提到我们的技术定义了我们对时间的看法,它可以是一把利箭,我们也可以把它当蒸汽,这都取决于人们自己的选择,该选项不是全文主旨,属于以偏概全;
C选项:“在我们这个技术密集的世界里,按时钟生活可能是致命的”,根据倒数第二段最后一句内容“在一个技术密集的世界里,我们常常让时间变成一支印度箭——一支射向我们心脏的箭”可知该选项属于倒数二段的内容,属于以偏概全。