My students often tell me that they do not have "enough time" to do all their schoolwork.
My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president”. I usually carry on a bit about
there being twenty four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an
acceptable explanation of not getting something done.
Once in graduate school, I tried to justify (证明……有理) myself to one of my professors by saying
that I was working hard. His answer to me was, "That's irrelevant. What's important is the quality of your work." Since then I have had time to reflect on the "hard worker" dodge(妙计), and I have come to some conclusions, all relevant to the issue of how much time we have.
If you look at the matter analytically, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course,
the matter of "time", which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the issue of "work" during that time,
which can vary in intensity. But, as my professor suggested, it's not the diligence of the work but the
quality of the product that's important.
That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I
once saw on the wall in someone's office: "Don't work harder. Work smarter." There's a lot of sense in
that idea.
If you can't get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work.
That means devising(想出) ways of getting more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That
should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since "work" for students usually means "homework",
the expression "work habits" should be read as "study habits".
Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading
and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off across the
board in all your studies.
1. From the passage, we know that the author is most probably________.
A. a poet
B. an educator
C. a novelist
D. an engineer
2. We can infer from the second paragraph that students still________.
A. have enough time
B. can meet the president
C. can get something done well
D. should accept the teacher's suggestion
3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. My students often make full use of their time to do all their homework.
B. I once tried to show myself to my professor by saying that I was wrong.
C. Many of us can get more time to improve the quality of the work.
D. Improving reading and writing skills will benefit students a lot.
1. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Not an Acceptable Explanation
B. Don't Work Harder. Work Smarter
C. An Analysis of Our Work Habits
D. Read Better And Write Better