Question

I watch documentaries, not movies．I read history books, not fiction．I use every free moment to accomplish one of the tasks on my never-ending checklist, and I am completely filled with thoughts of productivity．An hour sleeping is an hour wasted．And like the rest of 21st century America, I like it．But this fixation on productivity is increasingly destroying character and transforming men into robots.

New York Times columnist David Brooks warned American University students of this cultural decline in a speech．“We cut off all things spiritual and emotional in a competitive urge to stand out”, he said, “The pressure to succeed professionally, to acquire skills, to do the things you need to do to succeed in an information age economy really became the overwhelming（難以應付的） pressures, and it sort of eclipses the thinking about character and morality.”

Many students happily go to college, viewing it as a next step on their rise to professional achievement．Forcing as many success-building activities into their schedules as they can, they enjoy keeping busy with little sleep．“Today’s outstanding kids are likely to spend their afternoons and weekends shuttling from one skill-improving activity to the next,” Brooks wrote in an article, “We fear failure more than we desire success.”

A century ago, college was about character building．Today, our characters are in decline．We are experts on economics, material things and professional skills．We fail to discuss and understand relationships, emotions and all things spiritual．

Philosopher Karl Popper divided the world into two categories: Clocks and Clouds．Clock problems are those that can be taken apart, examined and solved through deductive reasoning（演繹推理）．Clouds cannot be taken apart．Cloud problems represent whole systems that need to be understood in a different way.

“When we have a Cloud problem, we try to turn it into a Clock problem,” Brooks said．And in a reason-centered culture, adding titles to one’s resume becomes a trend．At American University, 85 percent of seniors (and 89 percent of business majors) graduate with at least one practical experience which is often helpful to a student’s future career, but can sometimes draw focus away from academics.

To prevent the death of man’s character, Brooks urges rediscovering our human natures through falling in love．And by love he means love for a task, job, or another person．“Synchronicity is key to happiness,” he said．Rather than crazily increasing our long lists of accomplishments, we need to lose ourselves in what we do, and success will come on its own.

1.From Paragraph 1, we can learn that people __________.

A．a(chǎn)re controlled by time

B．a(chǎn)re keen on reading books

C．a(chǎn)re changing their characters

D．a(chǎn)re eager to achieve more

2.In Paragraph 2, the underlined word “eclipses” means _________.

A．deletes B．weakens

C．worsens D．emphasizes

3.The last paragraph mainly tells us that __________．

A．love is more important than focus

B．the focus on human natures counts

C．more work contributes to happiness

D．success comes from devotion to work

4.The purpose of this passage is to __________.

A．bring awareness to character building

B．stress the importance of productivity

C．warn about the pressure to seek success

D．criticize students’ desire for achievements

Answer 1