2016考研英语二真题及答案

　　Text 3

　　That everyone’s too busy these days is a cliché. But one specific complaint is made especially mournfully： There’s never any time to read.

　　What makes the problem thornier is that the usual time-management techniques don’t seem sufficient. The web’s full of articles offering tips on making time to read: “Give up TV” or “Carry a book with you at all times” But in my experience, using such methods to free up the odd 30 minutes doesn’t work. Sit down to read and the flywheel of work-related thoughts keeps spinning-or else you’re so exhausted that a challenging book’s the last thing you need. The modern mind, Tim Parks, a novelist and critic, writes, “is overwhelmingly inclined toward communication…It is not simply that one is interrupted; it is that one is actually inclined to interruption”. Deep reading requires not just time, but a special kind of time which can’t be obtained merely by becoming more efficient.

　　In fact, “becoming more efficient” is part of the problem. Thinking of time as a resource to be maximised means you approach it instrumentally, judging any given moment as well spent only in so far as it advances progress toward some goal immersive reading, by contrast, depends on being willing to risk inefficiency, goallessness, even time-wasting. Try to slot it as a to-do list item and you’ll manage only goal-focused reading-useful, sometimes, but not the most fulfilling kind. “The future comes at us like empty bottles along an unstoppable and nearly infinite conveyor belt,” writes Gary Eberle in his book Sacred Time, and “we feel a pressure to fill these different-sized bottles (days, hours, minutes)as they pass, for if they get by without being filled, we will have wasted them”. No mind-set could be worse for losing yourself in a book.

　　So what does work? Perhaps surprisingly, scheduling regular times for reading. You’d think this might fuel the efficiency mind-set, but in fact, Eberle notes, such ritualistic behaviour helps us “step outside time’s flow” into “soul time”. You could limit distractions by reading only physical books, or on single-purpose e-readers. “Carry a book with you at all times” can actually work, too-providing you dip in often enough, so that reading becomes the default state from which you temporarily surface to take care of business, before dropping back down. On a really good day, it no longer feels as if you’re “making time to read,” but just reading, and making time for everything else.

　　31. The usual time-management techniques don’t work because

　　[A] what they can offer does not ease the modern mind

　　[B] what challenging books demand is repetitive reading

　　[C] what people often forget is carrying a book with them

　　[D] what deep reading requires cannot be guaranteed

　　32. The “empty bottles” metaphor illustrates that people feel a pressure to

　　[A] update their to-do lists

　　[B] make passing time fulfilling

　　[C] carry their plans through

　　[D] pursue carefree reading

　　33. Eberle would agree that scheduling regular times for reading helps

　　[A] encourage the efficiency mind-set

　　[B] develop online reading habits

　　[C] promote ritualistic reading

　　[D] achieve immersive reading

　　34. “Carry a book with you at all times” can work if

　　[A] reading becomes your primary business of the day

　　[B] all the daily business has been promptly dealt with

　　[C] you are able to drop back to business after reading

　　[D] time can be evenly split for reading and business

　　35. The best title for this text could be

　　[A] How to Enjoy Easy Reading

　　[B] How to Find Time to Read

　　[C] How to Set Reading Goals

　　[D] How to Read Extensively

　　【参考答案】

　　31 D what deep reading requires cannot be guaranteed.

　　解析：因果细节题。题干指出：传统的时间管理方法不起作用的原因是什么。根据题干定位到第二段首句指出the usual time-management techniques don’t seem sufficient，是题干的同义替换，但要找原因。整段都在分析过程环节，最终原因必然在该段末句提到。直接定位到该段末句，指出深入阅读不仅需要时间，而且是一种仅仅通过有效无法获得的一种时间。结合选项D，深入阅读所需的无法得到确保，是原文末句的同义替换。

　　32 答案 B make passing time fulfilling

　　解析：题干问的是“empty bottles”暗喻证明了人们在做什么方面有压力，empty bottles直接可以在文中Gary Eberle所说的话中找到：“The future comes at us like empty bottles…”。其所说的话证明的目的必然是为了说明前一句的观点。因此，该题定位到三段“try to slot…but not the most fulfilling kind”，该句就指出：只会处理目标集中的阅读，这是有用的，但不是最有满足感的。结合选项B使流逝的时间更有满足感，是原文的同义替换。

　　33 答案 D achieve immersive reading

　　解析：文中人物观点题，注意区分文中人物观点和作者观点。题干问的是Eberle赞同为阅读设定规定性时间帮助什么。根据题干精确定位到第四段第二句：“You’d think this might fuel the efficiency mind-set, but in fact, E…..into soul time”，意思是你会认为这可以提升效率性思维设定，但实际上这些行为帮助我们跨入到灵魂阅读时间。对应选项D，获得深入阅读，属于同义替换。

　　34 答案 A reading becomes your primary business of the day

　　解析：细节题。题干指出：总是带一本书会起作用如果怎么样。根据题干定位到末段中间部分“carry a book with you at all times can actually work, too … so that reading becomes the default state from which you temporarily surface to take care of business.”，意思是这样的话阅读就成为默认状态，偶尔会出来管理工作(注意business并非默认状态，非主要事情)。对应选项A 阅读成为每天的主要任务，是该句的同义替换。

　　35 答案 B How to Find Time to Read

　　解析：标题题，即全文中心主旨。通过题干，可发现题干关键词中time复现多次，因此可确定time为全文的主题词。整篇文章都围绕阅读时间来展开，因此正确答案为A如何寻找阅读时间。