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（優(yōu)先順序）．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 （疑慮） 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（專橫的） 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 本文屬于說明文閱讀，作者通過這篇文章主要向我們描述了緊急的事情都是臨時發(fā)生，不一定是最先發(fā)生的，緊急的事情也不一定要立即處理，因此我們應該權衡處理緊急的事情與重要的事情的順序．
解答 51．C 細節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)第一段Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day？Surely this extra time would relieve the tremendous pressure which we live．可知有時候我們希望一天有三十個小時是因為我們需要更長的時間來緩解壓力，故選C．
52．D 細節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)第三段Not hard work，but doubt and misgiving （疑慮） produce anxiety as we review a month or year and become oppressed by the pile of unfinished tasks．可知當我們回顧以前沒完成的工作時會增加焦慮，故選D．
53．B 推理判斷題，根據(jù)倒數(shù)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．可知作者的座右銘告訴我們不能因為做緊迫的事情而忽略了重要的事，故選B．
54．A 主旨大意題，通讀全文可知作者在這篇文章中向我們介紹了緊急的事情都是臨時發(fā)生，不一定是最先發(fā)生的，我們應該權衡處理緊急的事情與重要的事情的順序，故選A．
點評 考察學生的細節(jié)理解和推理判斷能力，做細節(jié)理解題時一定要找到文章中的原句，和題干進行比較，再做出正確的選擇．在做推理判斷題不要以個人的主觀想象代替文章的事實，要根據(jù)文章事實進行合乎邏輯的推理判斷．
