I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind with the easy carelessness of youth. But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, came back to me years later, and ever since have been of great value to me.

Carl Walter was my piano teacher. During one of my lessons he asked 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 said loudly. “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 piano-playing will become a part of your life.”

When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted to write, 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 Carl Walter 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 astonishment, at the end of the week I had a rather large manuscript(手稿) ready for revision. Later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal （零碎的）method. Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, in every day there were moments which could be caught and put to use.

There is an important trick in this time-using principle: you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing, you can’t afford to waste it in 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 go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had a significant influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I throw myself into it without delay.

1.The meaning of “stretch” in the underlined part is the same as that in the sentence “_______”

A. The dog woke up, had a good stretch and wandered off.

B. Bob worked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years.

C. My family wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.

D. This material has a lot of stretch in it.

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The author didn’t take the teacher’s words to heart at first.

B. Rapid concentration is more difficult than people imagine.

C. The author thanked his teacher for teaching him to work in long stretches.

D. Carl Walter has influenced the writer greatly since he was a student.

3.We can infer that the author______.

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

B. is tired of interruptions in life because he always has much work

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

D. makes mental preparations beforehand so as to focus on work quickly

4.What is probably the best title for this text?

A. Concentrate on Your Work            B. A Little at a Time

C. How I Became a Writer                            D. Good Advice

I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind with the

easy carelessness of  youth．But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, came back to me years

later, and ever since have been of great value to me．

Carl Walter was my piano teacher． During one of my lessons he asked 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 exclaimed．"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 piano-playing will become a part of your life．"

When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted to write, 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 Carl Walter 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 astonishment, at the end of the week I had a rather large manuscript ready for revision, later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal method．Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, in every day there were idle moments which could be caught and put to use．I even took up piano--playing again, finding that the small intervals of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and piano practice．

There is an important trick in this time--using formula: you must get into your work quickly．If you have but five minutes for writing, you can't afford to waste four 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 go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes．But life can be counted on to supply interruptions．Carl Walter has had a tremendous influence on my life．To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge（投入）in without delay．

1．The meaning of “stretch” in the underlined part is the same as that in sentence “        ”．

      A．The forests in the north of the province stretch for hundreds of miles．

       B．Bob worked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years．

       C．My family wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination．

       D．During his senior year his earnings far enough to buy an old car．

2．Which of the following statements is true?

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

　　B．Carl Walter has had a great influence on the writer's life since he became a student．

　　C．The writer owes great thanks to his teacher for teaching him to work in long stretches．

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

3．We can infer that the writer             ． 

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

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

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

       D．can find sufficient time for mental preparations beforehand, so he's devoted to work   instantly

4．What is the best title of this passage?

       A．Concentrate on Your Work           B．A Little at a Time

       C．How I Became a Writer                  D．Good Advice Is Most Valuable

I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.

     I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows(誓约) mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today.

     So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a desire of the next promotion(提升), the bigger paycheck, the larger house.

     Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure(空闲), it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted.

      It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to exist instead of to live. I learned to live many years ago. Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my choice, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all.

      I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and totally. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a deadly illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion(热情) as it ought to be lived.

The best title of this passage probably is            

      A. Love your friends                        B. Live a real life

      C. Don't waste time                         D. Be a good mother and wife

The underlined sentence "It is so easy to exist instead of to live" in the fifth paragraph probably has the same meaning as               

      A. it is so easy to keep alive but not to live a real life

      B. it is very hard to live a real life

      C. it is so easy to make a living

      D. it is more difficult to exist than to live a happy life

What's the author's attitude toward work?

      A. Do it well to serve others.

      B. To earn enough money to make life better.

      C. Try your best to get higher position and pay.

      D. Don't let it affect your real life.

It can be inferred from the passage that          

     A. the author is a success in personal life

     B. the author didn't try her best to work well

     C. the author spent all her time caring for her children

     D. the author likes traveling very much