Nowadays more and more people are trapped in too busy work to relax themselves. We have no time to tell a bed-time story to our children, or enjoy a nice dinner with our family, or take a break to think about how we live the precious life, or even meet friends. All we notice is that the distinctions that used to guide and steady us ------ between Sunday and Monday, public and private, here and there ------ are gone. We have more ways to communicate, but less and less to say. Partly because we’re so busy communicating.
Maybe that’s why more and more people I know, even if they have no religious commitment, seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or tai chi. Some friends of mine try to go on long walks every Sunday, or to “forget” their cellphones at home. A series of tests in recent years has shown that after spending time in quiet rural settings, subjects “exhibit greater attentiveness, stronger memory and generally improved cognition. Their brains become both calmer and sharper.” More than that, empathy, as well as deep thought, depends on neural processes that are “inherently slow. ” The very ones our high-speed lives have little time for.
In my own case, I turn to eccentric and often extreme measures to try to keep my sanity and ensure that I have time to do nothing at all. I’ve not yet used a cellphone and I’ve never Tweeted or entered Facebook. I try not to go online till my day’s writing is finished, and I moved from Manhattan to rural Japan.
None of this is a matter of principle or asceticism (苦行主义): it’s just pure selfishness. Nothing makes me feel better-----calmer, clearer and happier----than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It’s actually something deeper than mere happiness: it’s joy, which the monk David Steindl-Rast describes as “that kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.” That is the highest of the highest we have been longing for----The Joy of Quiet.
小题1:The writer sometimes doesn’t do anything because ________.
A．he is out of work .
B．whatever he does make no sense
C．he is worried about his writing.
D．he can enjoy himself in his leisure time.小题2:When the writer uses the word “forget” , his real meaning is _______.
A．Somebody really forgets his cellphone at home.
B．Somebody thinks cellphone is not a suitable means of communication.
C．Somebody hates modern techniques such as the cellphone.
D．Somebody leaves his cellphone at home on purpose.小题3:Which of the following is right?
A．It is better to go back to the ancient times since we are so busy now.
B．The writer is unwilling to help others since he is selfish.
C．Slowing down to find time and space to think and enjoy oneself is urgent.
D．We have more to say because we have more ways to communicate.小题4:What does the underlined word mean?
A．difference
B．sameness
C．simplicity
D．complication小题5:What is the main idea of the article?
A．The importance of spending time in quiet.
B．We can do some sports such as yoga to relax.
C．Principle or asceticism is important in one’s life.
D．The more we communicate, the more we will be closer.