1 . Students from Oceanside High School in Rockland will be able to sleep a little longer from this autumn.
The director of Regional School Lew Collins said during the school’s Thursday night meeting that the schedule(时刻表) for the schools will be changed. Oceanside East and West will start half an hour later, at 8 a.m. for the new school year.
Research has shown that teenagers’ brains are often not fully awake at 6:30 a.m. Collins said the schedule, which is used to get students to go to school for classes that begin at 7:30 a.m., calls for some to get on buses before 6 a.m. to get to school on time. Teachers are having meetings at 6:40 a.m., which is too early, he thinks.
Collins visited the high schools in Rockland and asked students when they would like classes to begin. Most of them said 8 a.m. “I was surprised. I thought they would have said 9:00 or 10:00,” he said.
The National Sleep Foundation says on its website that teenagers’ biological clocks are designed to stay up later and get up later. The Foundation calls for schools to change their schedules, which means a later start for elementary students(小学生) as well.
“We do not have enough buses to run, because all the high school and elementary school buses run almost at the same time,” Collins said. He suggested, “We should buy six more buses and get six more drivers to keep the new schedule working.”
Elementary school classes in Rockland now start at 8:30 a.m., but they will be moved to 8:45 a.m., starting in the autumn. “I know this is a problem for working parents, but we will see what we can come up with,” said Jane Brown, a teacher at Bardonia Elementary School. “Anyway, I believe if students get more sleep they’ll be more ready to learn when classes start,” she added.
1. What’s the purpose of making a new schedule?A.To add more interesting subjects. |
B.To help students do better in class. |
C.To ask parents to learn about schools. |
D.To cut the number of meetings down. |
A.be afraid of working parents’ disagreement |
B.be worried about children’s safety |
C.be short of school buses and drivers |
D.be lacking in money |
A.She is not certain about it. |
B.She is not interested in it. |
C.She is worried about it. |
D.She is hopeful about it. |
2 . I often find myself running late on the edge of missing appointments. It’s not that I enjoy being late, but somehow, it keeps happening. A delayed train, a miscalculation in time, a wrong turn, the reasons for my lateness are many. I dislike being late, and yet, I frequently find myself in a rush or arriving behind schedule.
Michaela Thomas, a Swedish psychologist, calls people like me “time optimists” or “tidsoptimists”. We underestimate how long tasks will take and overestimate the time we have. As a result, we often find ourselves rushing, causing stress for both ourselves and those around us. It creates a domino effect of chaos, annoyance, and inconvenience for everyone involved. It can even have severe consequences.
The causes of standing lateness are complex. People, according to Jung, fall into two categories: “timekeepers” and “time enders”. Timekeepers work methodically, stay organized, and usually finish tasks ahead of schedule. In contrast, time enders, like me, push things to the last minute, feeling most energized and creative when under pressure.
Many see procrastination (拖延) as a key reason for lateness, but it’s not simply a time management issue. Fuschia Sirois, a professor of social and health psychology, believes procrastination often arises from mood management. People put off tasks to avoid dealing with emotions like anxiety, fear, or frustration. It can also be a form of rebellion when faced with boring or uncontrollable tasks.
Is there a solution for latecomers? Researchers suggest creating pre-event deadlines for important occasions like a wedding or catching a flight, so that the extra time can help you avoid being late when unforeseen circumstances arise. You can inform friends, family, and colleagues about your commitment to punctuality and ask for their support in helping you stay on time. For everyday improvement, setting alerts on phones for getting ready instead of departure time, breaking tasks into smaller, manageable parts and prioritizing time-flexible tasks can be helpful.
1. The underlined words “time optimists” in paragraph 2 refer to people who .A.work in an organized manner | B.always be punctual |
C.leave things until the last minute | D.have a casual personality |
A.It is driven by the desire for perfectionism. |
B.It is a charming and creative quality in individuals. |
C.It is always due to a lack of time management skills. |
D.It may arise from a desire to avoid uncomfortable emotions. |
A.Allowing enough time for important events. |
B.Setting departure time alerts on the phone. |
C.Relying on friends to make plans in advance. |
D.Prioritizing time-sensitive tasks over flexible ones. |
A.Ways of strict time management. | B.The impact of procrastination on punctuality. |
C.Benefits of punctuality in daily life. | D.Reasons for lateness and strategies to solve it. |
3 . For many high school students, it seems that there is never enough time. There are several steps you can take to organize your time better.
Make a to-do list every day. It makes it easy to plan any activities or meetings you may have in addition to homework. Be sure to set priorities (优先事项).
Use spare time wisely. Instead of wasting your spare time, read a book or do homework.
Decide on the time that is good for you to do certain things. If you are more of a morning person, try getting up an hour earlier and do schoolwork before school.
Review your notes every day.
Tell your friends and family about your work timetable. Explain that you will be working at certain times and ask them not to disturb you.
A.Set goals for yourself. |
B.Get a good night’s sleep. |
C.Do the most important tasks first. |
D.And also, do not be afraid to say “no”. |
E.You should finish your task on time. |
F.Don’t take phone calls during the time you set aside for work. |
G.Don’t wait until just before a test to try and remember everything. |
4 . I read somewhere that we spend a full third of our lives waiting. But where are we doing all of this waiting, and what does it mean to an impatient society like ours? To understand the issue, let’s take a look at three types of “waits”.
The very purest form of waiting is the Watched-Pot Wait, It is without doubt the most annoying of all Take filling up the kitchen sink(洗碗池)as an example. There is absolutely nothing you can do while this is going on but keep both eyes fixed on the sink until it’s full. During these waits, the brain slips away from the body and wanders about until the water runs over the edge of the counter and onto your socks. This kind of wait makes the waiter helpless and mindless.
A cousin to the Watched-Pot Wait is the Forced Wait. This one requires a bit of discipline. Properly preparing packaged noodle soup requires a Forced Wait. Directions are very specific. “Bring three cups of water to boil, add mix, simmer three minutes, remove from heat, let stand five minutes.” I have my doubts that anyone has actually followed the procedures strictly. After all, Forced Waiting requires patience
Perhaps the most powerful type of waiting is the Lucky-Break Wait. This type of wait is unusual in that it is for the most part voluntary. Unlike the Forced Wait, which is also voluntary, waiting for your lucky break does not necessarily mean that it will happen.
Turning one’s life into a waiting game requires faith and hope, and is strictly for the optimists among us. On the surface it seems as ridiculous as following the directions on soup mixes, but the Lucky-Break Wait well serves those who are willing to do it. As long as one doesn’t come to rely on it, wishing for a few good things to happen never hurts anybody.
We certainly do spend a good deal of our time waiting. The next time you’re standing at the sink waiting for it to fill while cooking noodle soup that you’ll have to eat until a large bag of cash falls out of the sky, don’t be desperate. You’re probably just as busy as the next guy.
1. While doing a Watched-Pot Wait we tend to __________.A.keep ourselves bus | B.get absent-minded | C.grow anxious | D.stay focused |
A.The Forced Wait requires some self-control. | B.The Forced Wait makes people passive. |
C.The Watched-Pot Wait needs directions. | D.The Watched-Pot Wait engages body and brain. |
A.It is less voluntary than the Forced Wait. | B.It doesn’t always bring the desired result. |
C.It is more fruitful than the Forced Wait. | D.It doesn’t give people faith and hope. |
A.Take it seriously | B.Don’t rely on others | C.Do something else | D.Don’t lose heart |
5 . Some people think working overtime means you’re a hard worker. You have to sacrifice your personal time to stay at work, produce something, help the company, and be a more devoted employee. But is that right?
A good manager knows how to encourage his employees to work to their full potential instead of expecting them to work late even if they don’t have something to do. People who stay in their office until late hate their jobs.
Overworking may negatively influence the level of productivity and efficiency. Any company that makes their employees work those hours is not being managed well.
Nowadays, it’s hard for a young person to build a good future, for pressures are on his (or her) shoulders: housing, children, parents, themselves, etc. But everyone must keep working hard to have ourselves on the way to the good future, which is not certain.
A.No one wants to work overtime. |
B.The boss thinks highly of overworking. |
C.Working too many hours only means you are inefficient. |
D.For it affects their performance, as well as other aspects of their life. |
E.What’s sure is that if you’re lazy and don’t work hard, no good future will come. |
F.Managers believe that overworking is an evidence of devotion from their employees’ side. |
G.In many countries, overworking would be criticized because it reflects poor work efficiency. |
6 . The most important skill I picked up at school was keeping a routine.
Routines allow us to develop a rhythm to our lives, but they also have their downsides.
It can be easy to get so accustomed to your routine that you don’t realize you’re no longer conscious of your time. This can stop progress, which means you start living your life on autopilot. It’s important that you include time in your routine for self-reflection.
Doing the same thing week after week can be dull. If you make time to try new things and explore new interests, you can adjust your routine to better fit your lifestyle as things change.
When I first came to college, I was told countless times that it’s important you develop a routine so you can focus on things important to you. But it’s easy to forget the bigger picture. I got so used to the same old things that I would often forget about all of the other fun and exciting opportunities college had to offer.
It wasn’t until my junior year that I really started setting time aside to explore things that were interesting to me. This was partly because COVID-19 and lockdown made my college life a lot more boring. It was this experience that made me realize I was stuck in a rut, a feeling I’m sure many came to terms with.
I decided I was going to make a change. I needed to find a balance between keeping a structured schedule and finding time to be creative and try new things.
I started writing and doing research to apply the things I learned in class. I started learning new instruments, visiting new places around town and exploring new ways to get involved in the local community. All of these different experiences allowed me to look at the things I was doing from a new perspective. It made me reassess what I’m doing with my life and pursue new goals, which have added huge value to my life.
Routines are important, yes, but don’t forget: it’s not the routine that determines your life. So don’t forget to throw something new in there from time to time. Above all else, don’t live your life on autopilot.
1. What can happen if we “live our lives on autopilot” according to the author?A.We make rapid progress. |
B.We get bored by our dull lives. |
C.We forget to practice self-reflection. |
D.We become more sensitive to changes. |
A.He developed and stuck to some routines. |
B.He always tried to break routines. |
C.He forgot how to draw the picture. |
D.He couldn’t adapt to college life. |
A.It was vital to develop a routine. |
B.A structured schedule helped beat boredom. |
C.He should focus on important things. |
D.He should lead a more balance d life. |
A.He changed his career path. |
B.He changed his major in college. |
C.He paid more attention to his looks. |
D.He enriched his social life. |
A.We should balance our school work and interests. |
B.It’s important to explore possibilities outside our routines. |
C.Our routines define our goals and who we are. |
D.Colleges offer us numerous opportunities to try new things. |
7 . A punctual (准时的) person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.
Failure to be punctual in keeping one’s appointments is a sign of disrespect towards others. If a person is invited to dinner and arrives later than the appointed time, he keeps all the other guests waiting for him.
Unpunctuality, moreover, is very harmful when it comes to doing one’s duty, whether public or private. Imagine how it would be if those who are put in charge of important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time.
A.However, the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful with his time and seldom complains because he lacks it. |
B.The unpunctual man, on the other hand, never does what he should do ahead of time. |
C.The unpunctual man, on the other hand, never does what he has to do at the proper time. |
D.A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by his friends or fellow men. |
E.In fact, time is life itself. |
F.All guests present ought to be respected by the host. |
G.Usually this will be regarded as a great disrespect to the host and all other guests present. |
8 . College life is colorful.
Use technologies. Many modern students can back up the fact that technologies make studying easier and faster. You don’t always have to waste time to go to a library when you can find everything online. You can save time on calculating things and solving different problems.
Give yourself a treat.
All in all, college time is a very special period when you learn a lot of things including time management techniques. If you take them seriously, you can use them in your future and make your work and life more productive and organized.
A.Help each other. |
B.Help to take notes. |
C.There are many fun things to do. |
D.You can see many colorful things. |
E.There are now many apps for that. |
F.It is a nice motivation to be productive. |
G.You can give yourself some small treats for finishing small tasks. |
9 . Have you noticed that some people just seem to accomplish tons and still appear happy and relaxed? Here are some tips for making life more productive and fun.
Combine your activities
Many people go crazy trying to figure out how to spend time with friends, family, work, play, etc. Stop trying to balance time between them separately.
Under certain circumstances, social media, family, friends and co-workers all can waste your precious time if you let them. Budget your time for necessary activities. Make a choice to limit non-supportive interactions. As for social media, it can easily be a black hole for time and productivity.
Be an active learner
Lighten up
There is no need to beat yourself up if you can’t do all the things you want because you are handling other stuff that needs attention. It happens. The world won’t come to an end just because you leave a few things undone. Instead, celebrate your progress.
A.Make a to-do list |
B.Actively manage time-wasters |
C.Find ways to enjoy them in a combined manner |
D.You might think learning takes more time from you |
E.Use it appropriately as a tool to support your needs |
F.Every completion is a small victory that adds up in a big way |
G.The things you do well usually give you greater joy and require less time |
10 . Have you ever complained that there just aren’t enough hours in a day? Do you usually find yourself falling short on time in completing assigned tasks?
That didn’t change until I discovered the time management technique called Time Blocking. Since then, I have been able to transform my daily schedule for the better with the help of Time Blocking.
It is a simple time management technique where you schedule your day such that it is divided into time blocks that are dedicated to specific tasks or groups of tasks.
A.So what is it exactly? |
B.Is everyone interested in it? |
C.I used to be in the same boat. |
D.The benefits of Time Blocking are substantial. |
E.Let’s further explain the concept in another way. |
F.You’ll encounter countless questions like these in your life. |
G.You’ll need to be very specific about the time and what you’re planning to do. |