There is a lot of misunderstanding about studying. Most students have not been taught the principles behind really effective working. Imagine a graph showing the amount a person learns against the number of hours he works in a day. If he doesn’t do any work, he learns nothing (point 0). If he does an hour’s work he learns a certain amount (point 1). If he does two hours’ work he learns about twice as much (point 2). If he does more work he’ll learn still more (point 3). However, if he tries to do twenty-three and a half hours’ work in a day, he will be so tired that he’ll hardly remember anything: what he learns will be very little (point 4). If he did less work he’d learn more (point 5).
Now whatever the exact shape of the graph’s curve(曲线), made by joining these points, it must have a high point. Point “X” is the very maximum anyone can learn in the day. And this represents the optimum(最适度), the best, amount of work to do. It is the best possible compromise between adequate time at the books and fatigue(劳累). Fatigue is an absolutely real thing; one can’t escape it or ignore it. If you try to ignore it and press yourself to work past the optimum, you will only get on this downward slope and achieve less than the best – and then become very tired and lose your power of concentration.
The skill in being a student consists of getting one’s daily study as near the optimum point as possible. I cannot tell you what the optimum is. It differs with the type of work, it differs from person to person, and even in the same person it varies from week to week. You must try to find your own. Every day you study, bear this principle of the optimum in mind. When you feel yourself getting fatigued, if you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again and not taking it in, that’s a pretty good sign you’ve reached your highest point for the day and should stop. Most ordinary students find their optimum at five hours a day. Yours may be a little more or a little less – but if you get in five hours’ good work a day, you will be doing well.
Now, what are you doing with yourself when you aren’t working? Before examinations some students do nothing at all except sit in a chair and worry. Here is another misunderstanding. People often think that the mind works like the body; it does not. If one wanted to save one’s physical energy in order to cut the maximum amount of firewood, one would lie flat on a bed and rest when one wasn’t chopping. But the mind cannot rest. Even in sleep you dream, even if you forget your dreams. The mind is always turning. It gets its relaxation only by variety. That is what makes the mind rest.
When you’ve finished your optimum number of hours you must stop. You must not then sit around in the chair thinking about the work – that only tires without any learning. You must get out and do something. It doesn’t matter what – anything so long as you are actively doing something else but work.
【小题1】According to the passage, _______.

Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.         

During the hours when you labor through your work you may say that you're “hot”. That's true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak(高峰). For some people the peak comes before noon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues ( 自言自语 ) as: “Get up, John! You'll be late for work again!” The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and- energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.

You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract ( 对抗 ) your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam ( 鼓起干劲 ) and work better at your low point.

Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy or concentration for your sharper hours.

If a person finds getting up early a problem, most probably________.

A. he is a lazy person              

B. he refuses to follow his own energy cycle

C. he is not sure when his energy is low     

D.he is at his peak in the afternoon or evening

Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage?

A.Unawareness of energy cycles.      B.Familiar monologues.

C.A change in a family member's energy cycle.

D.Attempts to control the energy cycle of other family members.

. If one wants to work more efficiently at his low point in the morning, he should________.

A.change his energy cycle                B.overcome his laziness

C.get up earlier than usual                D. go to bed earlier

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A.Getting off to work with a minimum effort helps save one's energy.

B.Dr. Kleitman explains why people reach their peaks at different hours of day.

C.Habits help a person adapt to his own energy cycle.

D.Children have energy cycles, too.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about studying. Most students have not been taught the principles behind really effective working. Imagine a graph showing the amount a person learns against the number of hours he works in a day. If he doesn’t do any work, he learns nothing (point 0). If he does an hour’s work he learns a certain amount (point 1). If he does two hours’ work he learns about twice as much (point 2). If he does more work he’ll learn still more (point 3). However, if he tries to do twenty-three and a half hours’ work in a day, he will be so tired that he’ll hardly remember anything: what he learns will be very little (point 4). If he did less work he’d learn more (point 5).

Now whatever the exact shape of the graph’s curve(曲线), made by joining these points, it must have a high point. Point “X” is the very maximum anyone can learn in the day. And this represents the optimum(最适度), the best, amount of work to do. It is the best possible compromise between adequate time at the books and fatigue(劳累). Fatigue is an absolutely real thing; one can’t escape it or ignore it. If you try to ignore it and press yourself to work past the optimum, you will only get on this downward slope and achieve less than the best – and then become very tired and lose your power of concentration.

The skill in being a student consists of getting one’s daily study as near the optimum point as possible. I cannot tell you what the optimum is. It differs with the type of work, it differs from person to person, and even in the same person it varies from week to week. You must try to find your own. Every day you study, bear this principle of the optimum in mind. When you feel yourself getting fatigued, if you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again and not taking it in, that’s a pretty good sign you’ve reached your highest point for the day and should stop. Most ordinary students find their optimum at five hours a day. Yours may be a little more or a little less – but if you get in five hours’ good work a day, you will be doing well.

Now, what are you doing with yourself when you aren’t working? Before examinations some students do nothing at all except sit in a chair and worry. Here is another misunderstanding. People often think that the mind works like the body; it does not. If one wanted to save one’s physical energy in order to cut the maximum amount of firewood, one would lie flat on a bed and rest when one wasn’t chopping. But the mind cannot rest. Even in sleep you dream, even if you forget your dreams. The mind is always turning. It gets its relaxation only by variety. That is what makes the mind rest.

When you’ve finished your optimum number of hours you must stop. You must not then sit around in the chair thinking about the work – that only tires without any learning. You must get out and do something. It doesn’t matter what – anything so long as you are actively doing something else but work.

1.According to the passage, _______.

2.Fatigue can result in ________.

3.The passage tells us that a person’s optimum number of working hours _______.

4.The only way the mind can relax is by ________.

5.After you have reached the optimum point of study in a day, you should ________.

Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.         

During the hours when you labor through your work you may say that you're “hot”. That's true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak(高峰). For some people the peak comes before noon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues ( 自言自语 ) as: “Get up, John! You'll be late for work again!” The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and- energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.

You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract ( 对抗 ) your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam ( 鼓起干劲 ) and work better at your low point.

Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy or concentration for your sharper hours.

1.If a person finds getting up early a problem, most probably________.

A. he is a lazy person              

B. he refuses to follow his own energy cycle

C. he is not sure when his energy is low     

D.he is at his peak in the afternoon or evening

2.Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage?

A.Unawareness of energy cycles.      B.Familiar monologues.

C.A change in a family member's energy cycle.

D.Attempts to control the energy cycle of other family members.

3.. If one wants to work more efficiently at his low point in the morning, he should________.

A.change his energy cycle                B.overcome his laziness

C.get up earlier than usual                D. go to bed earlier

4.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A.Getting off to work with a minimum effort helps save one's energy.

B.Dr. Kleitman explains why people reach their peaks at different hours of day.

C.Habits help a person adapt to his own energy cycle.

D.Children have energy cycles, too.