20．When I look back on my life，most memories have faded away．But the words of Carl Walter，my piano teacher，is still fresh in my mind．
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 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，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．Later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal （零碎的）method．
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 for chewing your pencil．You must make yor mental preparations beforehand，and concentrate on your task instantly when the time comes．
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．
21．The underlined word"stretch"has the same meaning as that in sentence"A"．
A．Bob worked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years．
B．My family wasn't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination．
C．The dog woke up，had a good stretch and wandered off．
D．This material has a lot of stretch in it．
22．We can infer that the authorD．
A．has formed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels
B．is tired of interruptions in life because he always has much work
C．has new books published each year however busy his teaching is
D．usually thinks about his writing before he can find time to do it
23．What is probably the best title for this text？B
A．Concentrate on Your Work
B．A Little at a Time
C．How I Became a Writer
D．Good Advice．
分析 本文講述了作者的一次回憶，作者領會到很多事情不是非要等到有足夠的時間才去行動，而是利用好平時的分分秒秒，善于利用碎片時間．
解答 ADB
21．A 詞義猜測題 根據Do you practice in long stretches，an hour at a time可知，此處stretch指的是時間的長度，這與選項A a stretch of over twenty years的意思相一致，故答案為A．
22．D 推理判斷題 根據You must make yor mental preparations beforehand，and concentrate on your task instantly when the time comes．可知，作者在動筆寫作之前腦海中已經考慮好了，然后有時間后立即寫下來，故答案為D．
23．B 主旨大意題 根據作者的一次回憶，作者領會到很多事情不是非要等到有足夠的時間才去行動，而是利用好平時的分分秒秒，善于利用碎片時間．故答案為B．
點評 閱讀理解題測試考生在閱讀基礎上的邏輯推理能力，要求考生根據文章所述事件的邏輯關系，對未說明的趨勢或結局作出合理的推斷；或根據作者所闡述的觀點理論，對文章未涉及的現(xiàn)象、事例給以解釋．考生首先要仔細閱讀短文，完整了解信息，準確把握作者觀點．
