Question

If you live in America in the 21^st century you'll probably have to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It's become the default response when you ask anyone how they are doing:"Busy!""Crazy busy!".It is,pretty obviously,a boast disguised as a complaint. And the common response is a kind of congratulation:"That's a good problem to have,"or"Better than the opposite."

Notice it isn't generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the ICU or commuting by bus to three minimum-wage jobs who tell you how busy they are.What those people are is not busy but tired.Exhausted!Dead on their feet.It's almost always people whose busyness is purely self-imposed:work and obligations they've taken on voluntarily,classes and activities they've "encouraged" their kids to participate in.They're busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety,because they're addicted to busyness and dread that they might have to face in its absence.

Almost everyone I know is busy. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren't either working or doing something to promote their work.It's something they have chosen.Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance(令人安心的保證），a measure against emptiness,obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or tiny or meaningless if you are so busy,completely booked,in demand every hour of the day.

Idleness is not just a vacation.It is as necessary to the brain as vitamin D is to the body,and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as ugly as rickets.The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole,for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration."Idle dreaming is often the essence of what we do,"wrote Thomas Pynchon.Archimedes' "Eureka"in the bath, Newton's apple :history is full of stories of inspirations that come in idle moments.

1.When many Americans say"Crazy busy", they mean______.

A．they are really tired of their present situation

B．they are really proud of their present life

C．they are complaining about their current work

D．their life are full of all kinds of problems

2.The writer mentions Archimedes' "Eureka"and Newton's apple to show that________.

A．history is full of interesting stories

B．Archimedes and Newton were very busy, so they made great discoveries

C．people may get inspiration when they are idle

D．inspirations come from hard work

3.The word "its" in the second paragraph refers to_______________________________.

A．ambition          B．anxiety           C．busyness          D．dread

4.From the article,we can infer that ___________________________________.

A．generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the ICU tell you they are busy

B．"Dead on their feet" means "being tired out"

C．all the kids are self-imposed due to the drive and motivation

D．The author seems to agree that idleness is better than busyness

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.C

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文敘述了21世紀的美國人們的生活現狀，。“忙！”“很忙。”“忙瘋了。”已經變成了“你最近還好嗎”的默認回答。很明顯，這些都是偽裝在抱怨之下的自我標榜。對于它們的常備答復是：“忙一點好，”或者“總比不忙強。”他們忙，是出于自己的志向、動力或者焦慮情緒，只因為他們對忙碌上癮，并且恐懼無所事事的感覺。但是歷史總是充滿了靈感的故事，它們恰恰來自于悠閑的時光與白日夢。

1.這是細節理解題。根據It is,pretty obviously,a boast disguised as a complaint. And the common response is a kind of congratulation:"That's a good problem to have,"or"Better than the opposite."忙一點好，”或者“總比不忙強。”故選B。

2.這是細節理解題。根據"Eureka"in the bath, Newton's apple :history is full of stories of inspirations that come in idle moments.人們得到靈感是他們閑的時候，故選C。

3.這是詞義猜測題。根據他們忙，是出于自己的志向、動力或者焦慮情緒，只因為他們對忙碌上癮，并且恐懼無所事事的感覺。故選C。

4.這是推理判斷題。根據What those people are is not busy but tired.Exhausted!可以判斷是人累壞了，故選B。

考點：社會現象類。

點評：做詞義猜測題我們應當充分利用上下文猜測詞義，即利用上下文中我們已經熟悉或明了的單詞或短語，立足上下文語義，進行邏輯上的推理。通常我們可以通過分析構詞法、語法以及同位關系、對比關系、因果關系等來推測，有時還需要借助平時所積累的常識和經驗來判斷。