Romantic love is a culture trait found primarily in industrialized societies. Elsewhere in the world, pragmatic(重实效的) considerations rather than flights of fancy are often used to make a choice of partner, and romantic love is seen as an unfortunate inconvenience that gets in the way of the ordinary, rational process of mate selection. Traces of this attitude persist in the American upper classes, where daughters are expected to marry “well”-----that is, to a male who is eligible by reason of family background and earning potential. Most Americans, however, see romantic love as essential for a successful marriage, and tend to look askance（轻蔑地）at anyone who marries for a more practical reason in which love plays no part.

The phenomenon of romantic love occurs when two young people meet and find one another personally and physically attractive. They become mutually absorbed, start to behave in what appears to be a flighty（充满幻想的）, even irrational manner, decide that they are right for one another, and may then enter a marriage whose success is expected to be guaranteed by their enduring love. Behavior of this kind is portrayed and warmly endorsed（赞同）throughout American popular culture, by books, magazines, comics, records, popular songs, movies, and TV.

Romantic love is a noble ideal, and it can certainly provide a basis for the spouses to “live happily ever after.” But a marriage can equally well be founded on much more practical considerations”----as indeed they have been in most societies throughout most of history. Why is romantic love of such importance in the modern world? The reason seems to be that it has some basic functions in maintaining the institution of the nuclear family（小家庭）.

1. Romantic love is less frequently found in many non-industrial societies because people in these societies_______.

A . firmly believe that only money can make the world go round

B. fail to bring the imaginative power of the mind into full play

C. fondly think that flights of fancy prevent them from making a correct choice of partner

D. have far more practical considerations to determine who will marry whom

2. The word eligible (in Line5, Para. l), could best be replaced by ____.

A . qualified   B. available  C. chosen  D. influential

3. According to the passage, most Americans _____.

A. expect their daughters to fall in love with a male at first sight

B. regard romantic love as the basis for a successful marriage

C. look up to those who marry for the sake of wealth

D. consider romantic love to be the most desirable thing in the world

4. What can we learn from the second paragraph about romantic love?

A. It is a common occurrence among the old.

B. It is primarily depicted by books.

C. It is characterized by mutual attraction and absorption.

D. It is rejected as unreasonable.

5. The author seems to believe that ___________

A. romantic love makes people unable to think clearly in the process of mate selection

B. only romantic love can make a marriage happy ever after

C. much more practical considerations can also be the basis for a successful marriage

D. romantic love plays an insignificant role in maintaining the institution of the nuclear family                           

I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was 1  and when I was 14 he said, “You’re never going to be 2  but a failure.”
After five years of 3  jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best  4 that could have happened to me. I 5  I wanted to do something positive (积极地) with my life because I wanted to prove to 6  that what people said about me was 7 . Especially her mother, who had said to me, “Let’s 8  it, you’ve failed at everything you’ve ever done.”  So I tried hard with my 9  and went to college. My first novel (小说) 10  while I was at college.
`After college I taught during the 11  in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a 12 in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of 13    that job to write full time 14  I was offered a part-time job at Leeds University. I began to feel proud of myself — 15  was a working-class boy who’d 16  school early, now teaching at the university
My writing career (职业) took off when I discovered my own style. Now I’m rich and 17 , have been on TV, and met lots of film stars. 18  what does it mean? I 19  wish all the people that have put me down had 20 : “I believe in you. You’ll succeed.”

Even when you’re extremely busy, you aren’t using your time with 100% efficiency. There are gaps in everyone’s schedule where they aren’t doing anything important. Even if your schedule has no gaps, there is probably lots of time where you aren’t working as fast or as effectively as you possibly could.

Why aren’t you completely efficient? It’s because time isn’t the limiting factor. If it were the limiting factor, people could work non-stop without breaks or any unproductive distractions(消遣). Instead, people, even those who are highly productive, need to take breaks, occasionally procrastinate(拖延) and slow down on tasks throughout the day.

The real and most important limiting factor for productivity is your energy levels to pay attention. Energy levels limit your productivity because when you’re tired, you can have ample time and still not get everything done. Your attention ability is also limited, because even if there are a million things that need to be done, you can only focus on one or two at a time.

You might not be able to insert another 4-5 hours into your schedule without making some sacrifices. But even extremely busy people can add an hour or two into their schedule without cancelling anything. The reason it’s hard to “find time” isn’t a lack of time. It’s because you don’t have enough energy left to focus on something else that needs to fit into your day.

I first suspected time wasn’t the real problem during an extremely busy period in my life over a year ago. I was insanely （发疯地）busy, but at that time I still exercised regularly. I had daily to-do lists with over twenty items, and I still found time to exercise. However, after a few weeks off, due to illness, I stopped exercising. I was not busy by any standards, in fact, my schedule was incredibly light. Despite this free time, I found it hard to find time to exercise. It seemed to get pushed later and later into my schedule until it was gone. How can I explain this odd experience? I believe you have known it.

1.If someone can’t work with 100% efficiency, the most important limiting factor is ________.

A．a schedule without gaps                           B．breaks and distractions

C．the limited time                              D．the limited energy

2.According to paragraph 4, everyone, including the extremely busy people, can ___________.

A．work without any rest                        B．focus on many things at a time

C．find some more time in a day            D．do some exercise regularly

3.After a few weeks off, what was the change of the writer’s life?

A．He had a longer daily to-do lists with over twenty items.

B．He stopped doing exercise because of the lack of energy.

C．He found it hard to find time to exercise because he was busier.

D．He pushed most of the things later and later in his schedule.

4.The writer gives the example of himself in the last paragraph in order to ___________.

A．prove what the real limiting factor is

B．show us how busily he needs to work

C．explain how important a healthy body is

D．tell us what an odd experience he has

5.What is the best title of the passage?

A．Are You Really Lack of Time?          B．How Can You Work Efficiently?

C．What Makes Your Energy Limited?       D．When Should You Do Exercise?