I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind w

 I must have been about fourteenthen, and I put away the incident from my mind with

the easycarelessness of  youth. But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, cameback to me

years later, andever since have been of great value to me.

Carl Walter wasmy piano teacher. During one of my lessons he asked how much practicing I

was doing. I saidthree or four hours a day.

"Do you practice in long stretches,an hour at a time?"

"I try to."

"Well, don't," he exclaimed."When you grow up, time won't come in long stretches.   Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them five or ten before school,after lunch, between household tasks. Spread the practice through the day, andpiano-playing will become a part of your life."

When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted towrite, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my daysand evenings. For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and myexcuse was that I had no time. Then I remembered what Carl Walter had said.During the next week I conducted an experiment. Whenever I had five minutesunoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so. To my astonishment, atthe end of the week I had a rather large manuscript ready for revision, lateron I wrote novels by the same piecemeal method. Though my teaching schedule hadbecome heavier than ever, in every day there were idle moments which could becaught and put to use. I even took up piano--playing again, finding that thesmall intervals of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and pianopractice.

There is an important trick in this time--usingformula: you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes forwriting, you can't afford to waste four chewing your pencil. You must make yourmental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantlywhen the time comes. Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of usrealize.

I admit I havenever learnt how to let go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. Butlife can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had atremendous influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even veryshort periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge（投入）in without delay.

1.Themeaning of “stretch” in the underlined part is the same as that in sentence “       ”.

A．Theforests in the north of the province stretch for hundreds of miles.

B．Bobworked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years.

C．Myfamily wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.

D．Duringhis senior year his earnings far enough to buy an old car.

2.Whichof the following statements is true?

A．Thewriter didn’t completely take the teacher’s words to heart at first.

B．CarlWalter has had a great influence on the writer's life since he became astudent.

C．Thewriter owes great thanks to his teacher for teaching him to work in longstretches.

D．Rapidconcentration is actually more difficult than most people imagine.

3.Wecan infer that the writer             . 

A．hasnew books published each year however busy his teaching is

B．isalways tired of interruptions in life because his teaching schedule is alwaysheavy

C．hasformed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels

D．canfind sufficient time for mental preparations beforehand, so he's devoted towork   instantly

4.Whatis the best title of this passage?

A．Concentrateon Your Work           B．A Little at a Time

C．HowI Became aWriter             D．Good Advice Is Most Valuable

试题答案

【答案】

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】略