Everyone knows that laziness is a sin. We have probably all had lectures
pointing out that laziness is immoral, wasteful, and that lazy people will never
amount to anything in life. But laziness can be more harmful than that, and it
is often caused by more complex reasons than simple wishes to avoid work. Some
people who appear to be lazy are suffering from much more serious problems. They
may be so distrustful of their fellow workers that they are unable to join in
any group task for fear of ridicule or for fear of having their ideas stolen.
These people who seem lazy may be paralyzed (喪失活動能力的) by a fear of failure that
prevents fruitful work. Or other sorts of fantasies may prevent work; some
people are so busy planning, sometimes planning great deals or fantastic
achievements, that they are unable to deal with whatever “l(fā)esser” work is on
hand. Still other people are not avoiding work; strictly speaking, they are
merely procrastinating (拖延)—rescheduling their day.
Laziness can actually be helpful. Like procrastinators, some people may
look lazy when they are really thinking, planning, contemplating ( 深 思 ) and
researching. We all should remember that some great scientific discoveries
occurred by chance or while some were “goofing off” (磨洋工). Newton wasn’t working
in the orchard when the apple hit him and he discovered the law of universal
gravitation. Sometimes, being “l(fā)azy”— that is, taking time off for a rest —is
good for overworked students or executives. Taking a rest can be particularly
helpful to the athlete who is trying too hard or the doctor who’s simply working
himself overtime too many evenings at the clinic. So be careful when you are
tempted to call someone lazy. That person may be thinking, resting, or planning
his or her next book.
1. The underlined word “that” in the first paragraph refers to “______”. A. laziness is immoral B. laziness is wasteful C. lazy people will never amount to anything in life D. all of the above
2. The first paragraph is mostly devoted to the discussion of ______. A. complex reasons that make people seem lazy B. serious problems that lazy people suffer from C. other sorts of fantasies that may prevent work D. great deals that people are busy planning
3. According to the second paragraph, being “l(fā)azy” is good for ______. A. a student who is on holiday B. a doctor who is working overtime C. an executive who is on leave D. an athlete who is not training
4. The tone of the passage is ______. A. cautious B. careless C. optimistic D. pessimistic
5. What does the writer intend to tell us in the passage? A. Laziness is definitely a sin. B. Laziness can be of great help all the time. C.Laziness makes people good for nothing. D. Laziness should be properly defined.
答案解析
1.【答案】D。解析：含義題。
題干：第一段中的劃線詞“that”指______。根據第一段第二、三句 We have probably all had lectures pointing out that laziness is immoral, wasteful, and that lazy people will never amount to anything in life. But laziness can be more harmful than that...(我們可能都聽過這樣的說教：懶惰是不道德的、浪費的， 懶人將一事無成。但懶惰的危害可能比這更大……)可知，劃線詞 that 指代的是前面提 到的“懶惰是不道德且浪費的，懶人將一事無成”，A 項“懶惰是不道德的”、B 項“懶 惰是浪費”、C 項“懶惰的人在生活中永遠一事無成”三項均包含在內。D 項“上述全 部”概括全面，故選 D。
2.【答案】A。解析：主旨題。
題干：第一段主要討論的是______。根 據 第 一 段 第 三 句 ...and it is often caused by more complex reasons than simple wishes to avoid work.(這往往是由更復雜的原因造成的，而不是簡單地希望逃避工作) 可知，導致懶惰的原因不僅僅是想要逃避工作那么簡單，而是更為復雜。下文具體分析了人們懶惰的各種原因。由此可推知，本段主要討論的是導致人們看起來懶惰的復雜原 因，A 項“讓人看起來懶惰的復雜原因”符合第一段主旨大意。B 項“懶人遭受的嚴重問題”，C 項“其他可能妨礙工作的幻想”，D 項“人們正 忙于計劃的大交易”均是第一段中讓人看起來懶惰的原因之一，屬于以偏概全，需排除。故答案選 A。
3.【答案】B。解析：細節(jié)題。
題干：根據第二段，變得“懶惰”對______有幫助。根據題干關鍵詞 is good for 可定位至第二段倒數第三、四句...being ‘lazy’ —that is, taking time off for a rest— is good for overworked students or executives. Taking a rest can be particularly helpful to the athlete who is trying too hard or the doctor who’s simply working himself overtime too many evenings at the clinic.(“懶惰”——也就是請假休息 ——對過度勞累的學生或高管來說是好事。休息對于那些太努力的運動員或者在診所加 班太多的醫(yī)生來說特別有幫助)可知，“懶惰”對于勞累過度的學生或者主管來說是有 好處的，且對于努力過度的運動員或連續(xù)多日在診所加夜班的醫(yī)生來說，休息也是特別 有幫助的，所以 B 項“一位正在加班的醫(yī)生”符合題意。A 項“一名在度假的學生”、C 項“一位在休假的主管”和 D 項“一位沒有在訓 練的運動員”均不符合題意。故選 B。
4.【答案】A。解析：態(tài)度題。
題干：文章的基調是______。題干問文章的基調，實際上也就是在問作者的態(tài)度。通讀全文可知，作者首先講述 了懶惰的危害和導致懶惰的原因，接著在第二段講述了懶惰的益處。由此可推知，作者 采取了一種客觀且嚴謹的態(tài)度對懶惰進行了分析。cautious 小心的，謹慎的;careless 不小心的;optimistic 樂觀的;pessimistic 悲觀的。故選 A。
5.【答案】D。解析：主旨題。
題干：文中作者想告訴我們什么?通讀全文可知，文章探討了導致懶惰的原因，并闡述了懶惰的某些情況下也會有好 處。再結合第二段最后兩句“So be careful when you are tempted to call someone lazy. That person may be thinking, resting, or planning his or her next book.”可知，當你想說某個人 懶惰的時候要小心了，那個人可能在思考、休息或構思自己的下本書。由此可推知，對 懶惰的界定并不是一成不變的，我們應該采取正確的方式來定義它。D 項“懶惰應該得 到恰當的定義”符合文意。A 項“懶惰絕對是一種罪惡”、B 項“懶惰總是很有幫助的”、C 項“懶惰使人一 無是處”均無法正確概括文章主旨。故答案選 D。