Question

They will be here in a minute, surely. I’ll just stare at my shoes a little while longer to pass the time. Wish I’d brought a book. Hang on, though, what if I’ve got the wrong day? The wrong place? Have the clocks gone back? No, damn it, I’m off home. Whoever I’m waiting for clearly lives in a different time zone from me.

I am always 10 minutes early, so if you’re 10 minutes late, I’ve been foot-tapping for 20 minutes. I know it’s not fair to hold the first 10 against you, but I just can’t help myself. I never wait more than 20 minutes beyond the meeting time we decided upon, not for anyone, ever.

OK, that’s not strictly true. I have, on occasion, hung around anxiously and heart-brokenly for up to an hour, but the bitter anger that follows is never a pretty sight. If you’ve made me wait that long, you will wish you hadn’t bothered turning up at all.

How come some people are always late and some are always on time? If I can manage to be punctual, why can’t you? Because I left a hot cup of coffee at home while you sat down to roll another cigarette. Because I spilled jam on my pants and quickly wiped it off whereas you took time to change your whole outfit. Because I switched off midway through a TV series, but you had to ride out the end, didn’t you? And don’t even think about blaming the traffic. How do you think I got here? By flying carpet? Only carelessness or arrogance (傲慢) can explain a habit of lateness.

Some people are always late because they can’t make realistic calculations about how long it takes to do things. There are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. Just deal with it. Painful as it may be, you have to accept that, as you’ve agreed to meet at eight and it’s now a quarter to, you don’t have time to phone your girlfriend.

Much worse, though, are those with big egos (自我). Being late is just rude. Being late on purpose really means that you hate the person you are meeting.

Of course, there are some perfectly lovely latecomers out there. I just never wait long enough to find out.

1.Which of the following words best describes how the author feels in the first paragraph?

A. Anxious. B. Curious.

C. Thankful. D. Joyful.

2.What does the author think contributes to people always being late?

a. Their big egos.

b. Traffic jams.

c. Their carelessness.

d. Being picky when choosing clothes.

e. Their realistic calculations of how long it takes to do things.

A. a, b B. a, c C. b, d, e D. c, d, e

3.We can learn from the article that the author ___________.

A. is tolerant of people being late

B. has missed lots of meetings

C. has trouble getting along with others

D. has a strong preference for good timekeeping

4.According to the author, people should ____________.

A. be patient when waiting for a latecomer

B. keep in mind that being late is rude and selfish

C. always arrive 10 minutes early for an appointment

D. ask people around them to remind them about an appointment

Answer 1

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】本文是一篇记叙文。作者以自己的视角表达了对迟到的看法。迟到能体现出一个人的自大，也能让我们知道那个人很粗鲁。

1.杂乱无章的内容来看，我们可以知道作者是很焦虑的。该段意思为：当然，他们将会在1分钟之内到达。我只是盯着我的鞋子时间有点长，并以此来消磨时间。真希望我带了本书。坚持下去。要是这是一个错误的日子、错误的地点怎么办？时钟能倒走么？不，真见鬼。我不在家，我等待的那个人一定和我不在一个时区！由此可以判断作者这一段话表达出了他的焦虑故选A

2. carelessness or arrogance (傲慢) can explain a habit of lateness. 只有不小心或者傲慢才能解释迟到的习惯，故选B

3. never wait more than 20 minutes beyond the meeting time we decided upon, not for anyone, ever. 我从来不会在我们决定好的开会时间后为某人多等20分钟。从这里可以推断出，作者对守时有很强烈的偏好。

4. Much worse, though, are those with big egos (自我). Being late is just rude. 更糟糕的是，尽管迟到和自大有关系。迟到更是粗鲁的，故选B

考点：考察记叙文阅读。