13．Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day？Surely this extra time would relieve the tremendous pressure which we live．Our lives leave a trail of unfinished tasks．Unanswered letters，unvisited friends，unwritten articles，and unread books haunt quiet moments when we stop to evaluate．We desperately need relief．
But would a thirty-hour day really solve the problem？Wouldn't we soon be just as frustrated as we are now with our twenty-four allotment？A mother's work is never finished，and neither is that of any manager，student，teacher，minister，or anyone else we know．Nor will the passage of time help us catch up．Children grow in number and age to require more of our time．Greater experience brings more exacting assignments．So we find ourselves working more and enjoying it less．We are accuslomed to working without stop．
When we stop to evaluate，we realize that our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time； it is basically the problem of priorities（优先顺序）．Actually hard work does not hurt us．We all know what it is to go full speed for long hours，totally involved in an important task．The resulting weariness is matched by a sense of achievement and joy．Not hard work，but doubt and misgiving （疑虑） produce anxiety as we review a month or year and become oppressed by the pile of unfinished tasks．We sense demands have driven us onto a reef of frustration．We confess，quite apart from our sins，"we have left undone those things，which we ought to have done； and we have done those things which we ought not to have done．"To do the urgent thing or to finisnh the important thing，is a sharp question．
Several years ago an experienced cotton-mill manager said to me，"Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out of the important．"He didn't realized how hard his maxim hit．It often returns to haunt and rebuke me by raising the critical problem of priorities．
We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important．The problem is that the important task rarely must be done today，or even this week．The urgent task calls for instant action-endless demands，pressure every hour and day．
A man's home is no longer his castle； it is no longer a place away from urgent tasks because the telephone breaches the walls with imperious（专横的） demands．The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible and important，and they devour our energy．But in the light of time's perspective their deceptive prominence fades； with a sense of loss we recall the important tasks pushed aside．We realize we've become slaves to the"tyranny（暴政） of the urgent．"
51．The reason why we sometimes wish to have a thirty-hour day is that weC．
A．have too much work to complete
B．need more time to enjoy our lives
C．need longer hours to ease pressure
D．are used to working without stop
52．From Paragraph 3，we find anxiety increases when weD．
A．stop to think about our dilemma
B．go full speed working at our task
C．are doing meaningless things
D．recall lots of unfinished work
53．The motto that hits the writer tells usB．
A．to finish the urgent and the important thing
B．to avoid the urgent pushing out the important
C．the urgent thing shouldn't be done instantly
D．the important thing is different from the urgent
54．The writer presents the article to remind us thatA．
A．the urgent is not always to come first
B．the problem of time shortage is tough
C．the important is not always depressing
D．the way to deal with the urgent is hard．
分析 本文属于说明文阅读，作者通过这篇文章主要向我们描述了紧急的事情都是临时发生，不一定是最先发生的，紧急的事情也不一定要立即处理，因此我们应该权衡处理紧急的事情与重要的事情的顺序．
解答 51．C 细节理解题，根据第一段Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day？Surely this extra time would relieve the tremendous pressure which we live．可知有时候我们希望一天有三十个小时是因为我们需要更长的时间来缓解压力，故选C．
52．D 细节理解题，根据第三段Not hard work，but doubt and misgiving （疑虑） produce anxiety as we review a month or year and become oppressed by the pile of unfinished tasks．可知当我们回顾以前没完成的工作时会增加焦虑，故选D．
53．B 推理判断题，根据倒数第二段We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important．The problem is that the important task rarely must be done today，or even this week．The urgent task calls for instant action-endless demands，pressure every hour and day．可知作者的座右铭告诉我们不能因为做紧迫的事情而忽略了重要的事，故选B．
54．A 主旨大意题，通读全文可知作者在这篇文章中向我们介绍了紧急的事情都是临时发生，不一定是最先发生的，我们应该权衡处理紧急的事情与重要的事情的顺序，故选A．
点评 考察学生的细节理解和推理判断能力，做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句，和题干进行比较，再做出正确的选择．在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实，要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断．
