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 workers. 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. gives us rights to have too much leisure time

　　 B. urges us to get things done punctually

　　 C. robs 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 trouble                       B. increased production

　　 C. a hard and exciting life                D. successful completion of a tunnel

I stole your dog.No，I didn't set a foot on your house，but from the condition of your dog，I can imagine what it looks like—the word “rubbish” comes to mind.

I found her along a road，with a heavy chain wrapped around her neck，still attached to rotten boards from her doghouse.Not only did I know that most of the town people had already ignored her，judging by the place where I found her，but I knew that if she had gotten into the woods，the “cross” that she dragged behind her would have wrapped itself around a tree until starvation or thirst killed her.

She has a beautiful name now.Already in the first week she has come to look more like she should.Her eyes sparkle and she has learned to wag her tail in greeting.She has stopped flinching(畏缩) when I make a sudden movement，because she knows now that I won't beat her.In fact，she rarely leaves my side.She's even become brave enough to bark at a cat and today I looked out of the window as she attempted to play with other dogs.No，it's clear that she does not miss you or her former life on a chain.

It's not clear yet whether she'll remain here or whether I'll find her a loving home where she can count on more individual attention than I can give her，but one thing is certain，this is a bit of stolen “property” which is never returning to you.So sue me，accuse me，plead with the court that she is rightfully yours...I'm convinced that this is the best “crime” I've ever committed.Hardly anything has pleased me more than the day when I stole your dog.I need only look into her beautiful brown eyes to know that she'd defend my decision with her life.If we have one prayer，it is that you will not replace her，and if we have one special day to celebrate together，it is the day I stole your dog and the day she stole my heart.

1．What's the author's attitude towards the former owner of the dog?

A．Puzzled. 　　　　　 B．Angry.

C．Shocked. 　　　　　 D．Satisfied.

2．It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．the dog is not lovely

B．the dog tried to find a kind master

C．the dog was treated badly by its former master

D．the author will be charged with stealing the dog

3．What did the author think of his theft?

A．He was afraid of being punished.

B．He thought he had to do it.

C．He believed that the law would allow him to do so.

D．He did it with pride.

If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it’s helpful to do kind, peaceful things. One of my  16 ways to do this is by developing my own 17 actions. These little acts of kindness are  18  to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be  19  and helpful.

We live in a rural area of the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of what we see is beauty and 20  .One of the exceptions to the beauty is the  21 that some people throw out of their windows as they are  22 on the rural roads. One of the few drawbacks to  23  the mountainous area is that public services, such as litter collection, are less  24  than those are closer to the city.

　  A helping action that I practice  25  with my two children is picking up litter in our surrounding area. We' ve become so  26  to doing this that my daughters will often say to me in exciting  27 , "There' s some litter, Daddy, stop the  28  !" And if we have time, we will often pull over and pick it up. It may seem  29  , but we actually enjoy it. We pick up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically  30 . Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to  31  we live. He smiled at me and said, "I saw you doing it, and it seemed like a good       32 ."

Picking up litter is only one of an  33  supply of possible helping actions. You might like holding a door open for people,  34  lonely elderly people in nursing homes, or removing snow off someone else' s driveway. Perhaps you might  35  something that seems effortless yet helpful. It' s fun, personally rewarding, and setting a good example. Everyone wins.

1.                A．favorite        B．familiar         C．difficult   D．different

2.                A．taking          B．placing         C．passing   D．helping

3.                A．customs        B．ceremonies      C．opportunities  D．occasions

4.                A．cruel          B．kind           C．proud    D．brave

5.                A．science         B．weather        C．universe  D．nature

6.                A．list            B．guidebook       C．litter D．check

7.                A．driving         B．directing        C．floating   D．flying

8.                A．search for       B．live in          C．look at   D．march into

9.                A．acceptable      B．available        C．horrible  D．honorable

10.               A．regularly       B．completely      C．calmly D．roughly

11.               A．opposed        B．reduced        C．devoted   D．accustomed

12.               A．lungs          B．voices          C．sounds    D．noises

13.               A．horse          B．carriage        C．bike  D．car

14.               A．strange         B．sensitive        C．imaginable D．necessary

15.               A．nowhere       B．anywhere       C．somewhere    D．everywhere

16.               A．why           B．when          C．which D．where

17.               A．idea           B．plan           C．excuse    D．feel

18.               A．empty         B．endless         C．immediate D．attractive

19.               A．describing      B．developing      C．visiting    D．valuing

20.               A．ask for         B．look into        C．carry out  D．think of

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 workers. 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.
【小题1】The writer objects to efficiency mainly on the grounds that it ____.