Question

　　　 Sam Trafton was my violin teacher and what he said during one of my lessons often came back to me years later.

One day he asked me how much practicing I was doing, I said three or four hours a day.

“Do you practice in long stretches, an hour at a time?”

“I try to.”

“Well, don’t.” he shouted. When you grow up, time won’t come in long stretches. Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them, five or ten before school, after lunch, between household tasks. Spread the practice through the day, and the violin playing will become a part of your life.”

　　　 When I was teaching at Boston, I wanted to write a novel, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my days and evenings. For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and my excuse was that I had no time. Then I remembered what Sam had said. During the next week I conducted an experiment. Whenever I had five minutes unoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so. To my surprise, at the end of the week I had finished a chapter. Later on I continued my novels by the same piecemeal period. Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, every day there were unoccupied moments that could be caught and put to use. I even took up violin-playing again, finding that the short moments of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and violin practice.

There is an important trick in this time-using formula(方案): you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing, you can’t afford to waste for chewing your pencil. You must make your mental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes. Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize.

I admit I have never learnt how to let it go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Sam Traffton has had a great influence on my life. To him I owe discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge in without delay.

56.　 The underlined part “counted on” can be probably replaced by 　　　　　.

　　　 A. expected　　　　　 B. valued　　　 C. concentrated on　　　 D. enriched

57.　 Which of the following statements is TRUE?

　　　 A. Sam owes great thanks to the writer for teaching him how to use time.

　　　 B. Sam has had a great influence on the writer’s life since he became a student of the 　　　　　 violinist.

　　　 C. Rapid concentration is actually more difficult than most people imagine.

　　　 D. The writer didn’t take the teacher’s words to heart at first.

58.　 We can infer the writer　　　　 .

　　　 A. has new books published each year however busy his teaching is

B. is always able to find enough time for mental preparations beforehand, so he is devoted to work instantly　　　　

C. has formed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels

　　　 D. is always tired of interruptions in life because his teaching schedule is always heavy

59.　 What is the best title for this passage?

　　　 A. A Little Time at a Time　　　　　　　　　 B. How I Became a Writer

　　　 C. Concentrate on Your Work　　　　　　　　　　 D. A Good Teacher

Answer 1

ADBA