Part A: Reading Comprehension

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 in 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. 

答案解析 (Answers & Explanations)

31. [D] what deep reading requires cannot be guaranteed.
解析：第二段详细解释了为什么寻常的时间管理技巧不起作用。即使挤出了30分钟，但你不是脑子里想着工作就是精疲力竭。段末总结道：“深度阅读不仅需要时间，而且需要一种无法仅仅通过变得更高效来获得的特殊时间（a special kind of time which can’t be obtained merely by becoming more efficient）”。这说明时间管理技巧无法保证深度阅读所需的那种专注的状态和特殊的时间，选D。

32. [B] make passing time fulfilling.
解析：第三段提到“空瓶子”的比喻：“我们感到一种压力，要去填满这些流逝的不同大小的瓶子（日子、小时、分钟）……因为如果不填满它们，我们就会浪费它们”。这里“填满（fill）”就意味着不想虚度光阴，想让时间过得充实（fulfilling）。因此，这个比喻说明人们有一种“让流逝的时间变得充实（make passing time fulfilling）”的压力，选B。

33. [D] achieve immersive reading.
解析：最后一段提到，Eberle 指出安排固定的时间阅读可以帮助我们“跳出时间的流动（step outside time’s flow）”，进入“灵魂时间（soul time）”。结合第三段，作者认为带着目标感和效率心态阅读无法达到“沉浸式阅读（Immersive reading）”。因此，“灵魂时间”也就是那种没有目的性、不计效率的专注状态，这种做法能帮助人们实现“沉浸式阅读（achieve immersive reading）”，选D。

34. [A] reading becomes your primary business of the day.
解析：最后一段指出，“随身带本书”实际上也能起作用，条件是（providing）“你要经常翻看，以至于阅读变成了你的默认状态（default state），然后你只是暂时浮出水面去处理事务（take care of business）……”。也就是说，不是在办事间隙阅读，而是在阅读间隙办事。这就意味着“阅读成为了你一天中的首要/主要事务（reading becomes your primary business of the day）”，选A。

35. [B] How to Find Time to Read.
解析：主旨题。文章第一段引出人们的抱怨：“永远没有时间阅读”。第二、三段反驳了靠常规时间管理（追求效率）来挤时间的方法。最后一段给出了作者认为真正有效的解决方案（So what does work?）：安排固定时间阅读，让阅读成为默认状态。因此，全文都是围绕“在这个忙碌的时代，我们该如何找时间阅读”这一核心话题展开的，最佳标题是“如何找时间阅读（How to Find Time to Read）”，选B。

核心长难句精解 (High-Light)

1. 动名词作主语与分词短语作状语：
"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."
【解析】句子的主语是动名词短语 `Thinking of... maximised`，谓语是 `means`。其后跟了一个宾语从句 `you approach it instrumentally`。在这个宾语从句中，`judging...` 是现在分词短语作伴随状语。`only in so far as` 意为“只有在……的范围内 / 只要”。这句话深刻剖析了现代人被“效率思维”绑架的状态。

2. 否定词 Not 引起的平行递进结构：
"Deep reading requires not just time, but a special kind of time which can’t be obtained merely by becoming more efficient."
【解析】使用了 `not just... but...`（不仅...而且...）结构。后面的 `time` 带有由 `which` 引导的定语从句，明确指出这种特殊的时间不是靠提高效率（挤时间）就能获得的，它需要心理的从容。

3. Not... but... 结构与隐喻的极致运用：
"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."
【解析】`not... but...` 意为“不是...而是...”。作者在这里进行了一个巧妙的“主客易位”：真正的阅读状态不是“为了阅读去挤时间（making time to read）”，而是把阅读当作生活的主体，然后“为了其他事情去挤时间（making time for everything else）”。