From the time each of my children started school, I packed their lunches．And in each lunch, I 1 a note．Often written on a napkin(餐巾)，it might be a thank-you for a 2 moment, a reminder of something we were happily expecting, or a bit of 3 for the coming test or sporting event．
In early grade school they 4 their notes．But as children grow older they becomes self-conscious(有自我意识的)，and 5 he reached high school, my older son, Marc, informed me he no longer 6 my daily notes．Telling him that he no longer needed to 7 them but I still needed to write them, I 8 until the day he graduated．
Six years after high school graduation, Marc called and asked if he could move 9 for a couple of months．He had spent those years well, graduating from college, 10 two internship(实习)in Washington, D．C．, and 11 , becoming a technical assistant in Sacramento, 12 short vacation visits, however, he had lived away from home．With his younger sister leaving for college, I was 13 happy to have Marc back．Since I was 14 making lunch for his younger brother, I 15 one for Marc, too．Imagine my 16 when I got a call from my 24-year-old son, 17 his lunch．
“Did I do something 18 ?Don’t you love me 19 , Mom?” were just a few of the questions he threw at me as I 20 asked him what was wrong．
One day, an expert in time-management was speaking to a group of business students．To make the point 1 , he used an illustration．
As he stood in front of the group, he said, “Okay, time for a quiz．” He then pulled out a wide-mouth jar and set it on the table．Then he 2 placed about a dozen fist-sized rocks, one by one, into the jar．
When the jar was filled to the 3 and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar 4 ?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes．”
“
Really?” Then he 5 under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel(沙砾，石子)，dumped some in and 6 the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space 7 the big rocks．Then he asked the group the same question．“Probably not．” One of them answered．“Good!” he replied．
He reached under the table and 8 a bucket of sand．He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the 9 left between the rocks and the gravel．10 he asked the question．“No!” the class shouted．“Good!” Then he grabbed a can of water and began to pour it in 11 the jar was filled to the brim．
Then the expert in time-management looked at the class and asked, “What is the 12 of this illustration?” It is such a seemingly easy question that one 13 student raised his hand and said, “It is, however full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always 14 some more things in it．”
“
No,” the speaker replied, “The truth it teaches us is that you will 15 get them in at all if you don't put the big rocks in first．16 the big rocks in your life are, do things that you love and 17 for yourself．In your schedule if you value the little stuff then you'll fill your life with 18 things and you will never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff．So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are 19 on this short story, ask yourself what are the ‘big rocks' in your life? Then put those in your 20 first．”
One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students, he used an illustration that those students will never forget．
As he stood in front of the group he said, “Okay, time for a quiz．” Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide–mouthed jar and set it on the table in front of him．
He then produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar．When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is the jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes．"
He replied, "Really?"
He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel, then dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks．
He asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was on to him．"Probably not," one of them answered．
"Good!" he replied．
He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand．He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel．Once more he asked the question, "Is the jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted．
Once again he said, "Good!"
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim．Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager student raised her hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in!"
"Good answer, but no," the speaker replied, "that's not my point．The truth this illustration teaches us is：If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all．
(1)
The expert ________．
[ ]
A．
was speaking to the university students
B．
enjoyed giving students a quiz
C．
was used to making experiments
D．
was especially good at managing time
(2)
The expert used the jar ________．
[ ]
A．
to contain the rocks
B．
to contain the gravel
C．
to make an experiment
D．
to illustrate his ideas
(3)
”the class was on to him” menas ________．
[ ]
A．
the class went on his lesson
B．
the class began to understand him
C．
the class was confused
D．
the class was controlled by him
(4)
We can infer from the passage that ________．
[ ]
A．
No mater how full your schedule is, you can always fit some more things in
B．
In life you should put your big rocks in first or you'll never ge them in at all
C．
Putting the big rocks in first can make the jar contain most
D．
We should consider the important things first in our life
One day, an expert in time-management was speaking to a group of business students．To make the point 1 , he used an illustration．
As he stood in front of the group, he said, “Okay, time for a quiz．” He then pulled out a wide-mouth jar and set it on the table．Then he 2 placed about a dozen fist-sized rocks, one by one, into the jar．
When the jar was filled to the 3 and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar 4 ? ” Everyone in the class said, “Yes．”
“Really?” Then he 5 under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel(沙砾，石子)，dumped some in and 6 the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space 7 the big rocks．Then he asked the group the same question．“Probably not．” One of them answered．“Good! ” he replied．
He reached under the table and 8 a bucket of sand．He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the 9 left between the rocks and the gravel． 10 he asked the question．“No! ” the class shouted．“Good! ” Then he grabbed a can of water and began to pour it in 11 the jar was filled to the brim．
Then the expert in time-management looked at the class and asked, “What is the 12 of this illustration? ” It is such a seemingly easy question that one 13 student raised his hand and said, “It is, however full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always 14 some more things in it．”
“No, ” the speaker replied, “The truth it teaches us is that you will 15 get them in at all if you don't put the big rocks in first． 16 the big rocks in your life are, do things that you love and 17 for yourself．In your schedule if you value the little stuff then you'll fill your life with 18 things and you will never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff．So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are 19 on this short story, ask yourself what are the ‘big rocks’ in your life? Then put those in your 20 first．”
Once upon a time there was one storyteller who wanted to search for a real-life story．
He reached a village and took a cottage for rent．After 1 in the village throughout the month, the storyteller couldn't find one． 2 , he decided to stop his search．
The next day, while sitting in the cottage, he suddenly heard a voice-a woman was 3 someone．The voice was coming from the big 4 behind his cottage．
It sounded like the woman was abusing her 5 ．The storyteller didn't like it, 6 he was happy to finally get his story． 7 the conversations each day, he added them to his story．Though he couldn't 8 the characters of his story, he started 9 the mother-in-law, as she seemed to be a bad woman．
Before he finished his 10 , the storyteller wanted to see the 11 once, so he climbed the wall．
There he saw the mother-in-law sitting in a 12 ．It seemed that she was disabled．
He saw the old lady trying to 13 a food item on the table near her wheelchair．But because of her 14 , she couldn't reach it and the daughter-in-law looked like she was enjoying the old lady's 15 nearby．
Suddenly the old lady fell from the wheelchair and started 16 her daughter-in-law．The storyteller went back and 17 changed the ending of the story and was surprised at how 18 it was compared to what he once thought it would be．
Truly he found both a real-life story and a real-life 19 ：Never judge a situation unless you know all the aspects well．Sometimes you can't imagine your 20 from the reality．