阅读理解。
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, 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(最适度), 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, _______.
A. the longer you study every day, the more you will learn
B. you'll achieve better learning results if you work three hours every day
C. the less work you do, the better you will learn
D. your work efficiency will decrease once you exceed a certain point of work
2. Fatigue can result in ________.
A. loss of memory
B. a need for relaxation
C. a lot of anxiety
D. loss of concentration
3. The passage tells us that a person's optimum number of working hours _______.
A. follows a regular pattern with each individual
B. changes regularly from week to week
C. can be partly determined by the sort of work he is doing
D. should be determined before he gets too tired
4. The only way the mind can relax is by ________.
A. doing a variety of things in turn
B. not thinking about anything
C. turning continuously
D. getting oneself in a state of fatigue
5. After you have reached the optimum point of study in a day, you should ________.
A. lie in bed and rest
B. do something else actively
C. do some physical labor
D. stop thinking about your studies