阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中, 选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The ability to do several things at once has become one of the great measures of self-worth for 21-century Americans. It is called multitasking, and it takes many forms. As one example, why go out to lunch when you can eat at your desk, talk to a client on the phone, scroll through your e-mail, and scan a memo simultaneously? And why simply work out on treadmill (单调的工作) when you could be watching television and talking on a portable phone at the same time? What a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment --- three activities for the time commitment of one! Ah, such efficiency. No wonder those who turn “to do” lists into a time-management art form tend to boast (自夸): “Look, me, how many things I can accomplish at once. If I’m this busy, I must be important.”
Yet last week the New York Assembly struck a blow against multitasking, at least behind the wheel, when it approved a bill banning drivers in the state from using handheld cellular phones. Too dangerous, the assembly said, citing research showing that drivers are four times more likely to have a collision when they are talking on a cellphone.
No one can argue against using time effectively. But accompanying the supposed gains are losses. Consider the woman out for an early-morning walk in a suburban neighborhood. She strides briskly, head down, cellphone clamped to her ear, chattering (喋喋不休) away, oblivious of the birds and flowers and glorious sunshine. Did the walk have any value?
More than a decade ago, long before multi-tasking became a word in everyday use, a retired professor of theology(神学) in Indiana with whom I corresponded (通信) made a case for what might be called uni-tasking — the old-fashioned practice of doing one thing at a time.
Offering the simplest example, he said, “When you wash the dishes, wash the dishes.” Good advice, I’ve found, whatever the task.
Perhaps, too, the ban on phoning-on-the-road will even spark a move away from other forms of dual activity. Who can tell? It could mark the first step in a welcome reconsideration of what really constitutes productivity and accomplishment.
1. The author thinks that multitasking has become one of the great measures of self-worth because ________.
A.it helps people to use time effectively |
B.it makes people feel they are important |
C.it means the ability to do several things at once |
D.people worship speed and desire |
A.demonstrate the danger of multitasking |
B.show the high efficiency of multitasking |
C.introduce the legislation system in America |
D.argue against using time effectively |
A.serious | B.absorbed deeply |
C.not noticing | D.forgetting |
A.the new fashion for 21-century Americans |
B.accepted by most residents in Indiana |
C.created by a retired professor of theology |
D.the traditional act of doing one thing at once |
A.could not be avoided in this fast-changing age |
B.should be taken the place of by uni-tasking |
C.robs people of time to focus and reflect |
D.should not become a word in everyday use |
SYDNEY: As they sat sharing sweets beside a swimming pool in 1999, Shane Gould and Jessicah Schipper were simply getting along well, chatting about sport, life and anything else that came up.
Yet in Sydney next month, they will meet again by the pool, and for a short time the friends will race against each other in the 50-meter butterfly in the Australian championships at Homebu Bay.
Gould, now a 47-year-old mother of four, has announced she will be making a return to elite competition (顶级赛事) to swim the one event, having set a qualifying (合格的) time of 30. 32 seconds in winning gold at last year’s United States Masters championships. Her comeback comes 32 years after she won three golds at the Munich Olympics.
Schipper, now a 17-year-old girl from Brisbane with a bright future of going to Athens for her first Olympics, yesterday recalled (回忆) her time with Gould five years ago. “I was at a national youth camp on the Gold Coast and Shane had come along to talk to us and watch us train.” Schipper explained. “It seemed as if we had long been good friends. I don’t know why. We just started talking and it went from there.”
“She had a lot to share with all of us at that camp. She told us stories about what it was like at big meets like Olympics and what it was like to be on an Australian team. It was really interesting.”
Next time, things will be more serious: “I will still be swimming in the 50m butterfly at the nationals, so there is a chance that I could actually be competing against Shane Gould.” said Schipper, who burst onto the scene at last year’s national championships with second places in the 100 m and 200 butterfly.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
A.Stories happening in swimming competitions. |
B.Two women swimmers winning Olympic golds. |
C.Lessons learned from international swimming championships. |
D.Friendship and competition between two swimmers. |
A.talk about sport and life | B.go back to elite competition |
C.set a qualifying time and win gold | D.take part in the same sports event |
A.15 | B.17 | C.22 | D.30 |
A.the Olympics | B.the youth camp |
C.the friendship | D.the Australian team |
A.was no longer Gould’s friend | B.had learned a lot from Gould |
C.was not interested in Gould’s stories | D.would not like to compete against Gould |
In the depths of my memory, many things I did with my father still live. These things come to represent, in fact, what I call __21__and love.
I don’t remember my father ever getting into a swimming tool. But he did __22__the water. Any kind of __23__ride seemed to give him pleasure. __24__he loved to fish; sometimes he took me along.
But I never really liked being on the water, the way my father did. I liked being __25__the water, moving through it, __26__it all around me. I was not a strong __27__, or one who learned to swim early, for I had my __28__. But I loved being in the swimming pool close to my father’s office and __29__those summer days with my father, who __30__ come by on a break. I needed him to see what I could do. My father would stand there in his suit, the __31__person not in swimsuit.
After swimming, I would go __32__ his office and sit on the wooden chair in front of his big desk, where he let me __33__anything I found in his top desk drawer. Sometimes, if I was left alone at his desk __34__ he worked in the lab, an assistant or a student might come in and tell me perhaps I shouldn’t be playing with his _35__. But my father always __36__and said easily, “Oh, no, it’s __37__.” Sometimes he handed me coins and told me to get __38__ an ice cream…
A poet once said, “We look at life once, in childhood,; the rest is __39__.” And I think it is not only what we “look at once, in childhood” that determines our memories, but __40__, in that childhood, look at us.1.
A.desire | B.joy | C.anger | D.worry |
A.avoid | B.refuse | C.praise | D.love |
A.boat | B.bus | C.train | D.bike |
A.But | B.Then | C.And | D.Still |
A.on | B.off | C.by | D.in |
A.having | B.leaving | C.making | D.getting |
A.swimmer | B.rider | C.walker | D.runner |
A.hopes | B.faiths | C.rights | D.fears |
A.spending | B.saving | C.wasting | D.ruining |
A.should | B.would | C.had to | D.ought to |
A.next | B.only | C.other | D.last |
A.away from | B.out of | C.by | D.inside |
A.put up | B.break down | C.play with | D.work out |
A.the moment | B.the first time | C.while | D.before |
A.fishing net | B.office things | C.wooden chair | D.lab equipment |
A.stood up | B.set out | C.showed up | D.turned out |
A.fine | B.strange | C.terrible | D.funny |
A.the student | B.the assistant | C.myself | D.himself |
A.memory | B.wealth | C.experience | D.practice |
A.which | B.who | C.what | D.whose |
Many roads and places in Singapore(新加坡)are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries ---- in both the West and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ---- obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay(马来语). Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent(月牙) because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again.
1. We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.A.the government is usually the first to name a place |
B.many places tend to have more than one name |
C.a ceremony will be held when a place is named |
D.people prefer the place names given by the government |
A.Change suddenly. | B.Change significantly. |
C.Disappear mysteriously. | D.Disappear very slowly. |
A.Raffles Place. | B.Selector Airbase. |
C.Piccadilly Circus. | D.Paya Lebar Crescent. |
A.after a person | B.after a place | C.after an activity | D.by its shape |
A.Some place names in Singapore are the same as in Britain. |
B.Some places in Singapore are named for military purposes. |
C.The way Singaporeans name their places is unique. |
D.Young Singaporeans have forgotten the pioneers. |