Foryears，
mytimespentintheshowercouldhavegotmeamentioninGuinnessWorldRecordsastheshortesttimetakentobathe.Ihurriedupduringthisprocess.
Oneday，however，whileataparty，
Iheardanartistfriendtellingeverybodythathisideacamewhilehewashavingashower.“Whataboutyou？”heasked，“Don’tyougetyourcreativethoughtsfromthesameplace？”
“I’minandoutinahurry，”Itoldhimproudly.“Ihavenotimetowaste！”
“Whatapity，”hesaid.“That’stheplacewhereyouneedtoslowdown；
plentyofgreatthoughtscomefromthere！”Itrieditout.Isloweddownthewholeprocess，
startedenjoyingthewarmwater，
takingalittlelongertosoapmyselfandevenspendingmoretimejustenjoyingtheprocess，
andrealizedhowmuchIhadmissedinhurryingupalltheseyears.
Awomantoldmehowmuchstressherfriendwassufferingfromandhowshesoughttoconvinceherthatsheneededtofindwaystorelax.Shegaveheravideotapeonstressmanagementandrelaxationtechniques，
andencouragedhertowatchitrightaway.Fifteenminuteslater，herfriendhandedbackthetape.“Itwasgood，”shesaid，“butIdon’tneedit.”
“Butit’sa70minutevideo，”thewomanreplied.“Youcouldn’thavewatchedthewholething.”
“Yes，Idid，”herfriendsaid.“Iputitinfastforward！”
Amajorsocialproblemofthe21stcenturyisHurrySickness.Wehurrythroughwork.Weswallowfastfood.Wecomplainthatwedon’thaveenoughtime.Weracethroughthedaysandweeksuntilonedaywelookbackinamazementandcomment，“Mygod，
howtheyearsflewby！”Thenwerealizetheheavypricewehavepaidfortravelingfast.
SymptomsofHurrySicknessincludestressandanxiety，badrelationships，
loweredworkperformanceandevendisease.Somepeopledon’tsurviveit.What’sthecure? Slowdown，forlifeissoshortandpreciousthatwemustliveitwell.
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语篇解读 本文是一篇夹叙夹议文，文章通过叙述“我”在一次聚会上与一位艺术家朋友谈及洗澡的时间问题，向我们介绍了21世纪存在的一个主要的社会问题“匆忙症”，从而告诉我们：生命是如此的短暂和珍贵，我们必须好好地慢下来生活。
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1．Whatwastheadvantageoftakingashowerintheeyesoftheartistfriend?
A．Timewassaved.
B．Nothingwasmissed.
C．Greatideasflewaway.
D．Creativethoughtscame.
答案 D
解析 细节理解题。根据第二段中的“hisideacamewhilehewashavingashower”和“Don’tyougetyourcreativethoughtsfromthesameplace？”可知，在那位艺术家朋友的眼里，在洗澡时会产生创造性的想法。
2．Whatwasthetroublewiththewoman’sfriend?
A．Shefeltstressed.
B．Shefoundthetapeuseless.
C．Shefoundnowaytorelax.
D．Shewatchedthetapetoofast.
答案 A
解析 细节理解题。根据第五段第一句中的
“Awomantoldmehowmuchstressherfriendwassufferingfrom”可知，那位女士的朋友感到压力很大。
3．Whatisthemajortroublepeoplefaceinthe21stcenturyinthewriter’seyes?
A．Peoplerunfasttowork.
B．Everythingisdoneinahurry.
C．Peopledon’thaveenoughtime.
D．Timeflieswithoutbeingnoticed.
答案 B
解析 细节理解题。根据倒数第二段第一句
“Amajorsocialproblemofthe21stcenturyisHurrySickness.”可知，在作者看来，21世纪人们面临的一个主要的社会问题是做任何事情都是匆匆忙忙的。
4．Howcantheproblembesettled?
A．Bypacingdown.
B．Bylearningtosurvive.
C．Bydevelopingfriendship.
D．Byperforminggoodwork.
答案 A
解析 细节理解题。根据最后一段最后三句“Somepeopledon’tsurviveit.What’sthecure? Slowdown，forlifeissoshortandpreciousthatwemustliveitwell.”可知，我们可以通过放慢脚步来解决这个问题。
