For years, my time spent in the shower could have got me a mention in Guinness World Records as the shortest time taken to bathe. I hurried up during this process.
One day, however, while at a party, I heard an artist friend telling everybody that his idea came while he was having a shower. 「What about you?」 he asked, 「Don't you get your creative thoughts from the same place?」
「I'm in and out in a hurry,」 I told him proudly. 「I have no time to waste!」
「What a pity,」 he said. 「That's the place where you need to slow down; plenty of great thoughts come from there!」 I tried it out. I slowed down the whole process, started enjoying the warm water, taking a little longer to soap myself and even spending more time just enjoying the process, and realized how much I had missed in hurrying up all these years.
A woman told me how much stress her friend was suffering from and how she sought to convince her that she needed to find ways to relax. She gave her a videotape on stress management and relaxation techniques, and encouraged her to watch it right away. Fifteen minutes later, her friend handed back the tape. 「It was good,」 she said,」 but I don't need it.」
「But it's a 70 - minute video,」 the woman replied, 「You couldn't have watched the whole thing.」
「Yes, I did,」 her friend said. 「I put it in fast - forward!」
A major social problem of the 21st century is Hurry Sickness. We hurry through work. We swallow fast food. We complain that we don't have enough time. We race through the days and weeks until one day we look back in amazement and comment, 「My god, how the years flew by!」 Then we realize the heavy price we have paid for traveling fast.
Symptoms of Hurry Sickness include stress and anxiety, bad relationships, lowered work performance and even disease. Some people don't survive it. What's the cure? Slow down, for life is so short and precious that we must live it well.
（1）What was the advantage of taking a shower in the eyes of the artist friend?
A. Time was saved. B. Nothing was missed.
C. Great ideas flew away. D. Creative thoughts came.
（2）What was the trouble with the woman's friend?
A. She felt stressed. B. She found the tape useless.
C. She found no way to relax. D. She watched the tape too fast.
（3）What are the major trouble people face in the 21st century in the writer's eyes?
A. People run fast to work. B. Everything is done in a hurry.
C. People don't have enough time. D. Time flies without being noticed.
（4）How can the problem be settled?
A. By pacing down. B. By learning to survive.
C. By developing friendship. D. By performing good work.
【答案】（1）D
（2）A
（3）B
（4）A
【解析】【分析】本文為應用文。很多人以自己的快節奏生活而自豪，這會造成一種匆忙症，它的突出症狀為焦慮，有壓力，生病，工作效率低甚至活不下去。如果想治癒症，就要放慢速度。比如放慢洗澡的速度有可能會創意的想法出現。
（1）細節理解題。根據第二段中的I heard an artist friend telling everybody that his idea came while he was having a shower. …「Don't you get your creative thoughts from the same place?」可知，作者的藝術家的朋友告訴大家。他創造性的想法是在他洗澡的時候來的。分析選項可知D項符合題意，故答案選D。
（2）細節理解題。根據第五段「A woman told me how much stress her friend was suffering from …」可知，這位女子說她的朋友遭受了很大的壓力。分析選項可知，故答案選A。
（3）細節理解題。根據第八段內容可知，21世紀的人最大的問題就是「匆忙病」。他們匆匆忙忙的工作。吃快餐。他們抱怨沒有足夠的時間。他們一直和時間賽跑，直到有一天，驚訝地回過頭來，說，「我的上帝，時光飛逝啊！「然後意識到他們已經付出了沉重的代價。分析本段的內容可知B項（一切都是匆匆忙忙完成的。）符合題意。在本段中說他們匆匆忙忙地工作而不是奔跑去上班， A錯誤。他們抱怨沒有足夠的時間而不是沒有足夠的時間，故C是錯誤的。而D項與題幹無關。故不選，分析可知B項符合題意。
（4）推理判斷題。最後一段說匆忙症的症狀包括有壓力和焦慮，不良的人際關係，工作效率低，甚至生病。有些人甚至無法生存下去。如何治呢？那就是放慢腳步。分析可知，要解決這個問題就要放慢速度。分析選項可知A項符合題意。
【點評】閱讀理解細節題解題技巧：
1）語義轉換題--跳讀查找法：根據題幹內容從原文中找到相關的句子，然後進行比較和分析，便可確定最佳答案。
2）生活應用題--常識理解法：在讀懂文章的基礎上結合一定的生活常識進行判斷。
3）細節排序題--首尾定位法：根據動作發生的先後順序和句子之間的邏輯關係，找出事件發生的正確順序。
4）尋找信息題--題幹定位法：尋找信息題一般為功能閱讀題，主要形式有廣告、公告、演出信息、航班時間表等。