If you live in America in the 21st century you'll probably have to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It's become the default response when you ask anyone how they are doing:"Busy!""Crazy busy!".It is,pretty obviously,a boast disguised as a complaint. And the common response is a kind of congratulation:"That's a good problem to have,"or"Better than the opposite."
Notice it isn't generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the ICU or commuting by bus to three minimum-wage jobs who tell you how busy they are.What those people are is not busy but tired.Exhausted!Dead on their feet.It's almost always people whose busyness is purely self-imposed:work and obligations they've taken on voluntarily,classes and activities they've "encouraged" their kids to participate in.They're busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety,because they're addicted to busyness and dread that they might have to face in its absence.
Almost everyone I know is busy. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren't either working or doing something to promote their work.It's something they have chosen.Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance(令人安心的保证），a measure against emptiness,obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or tiny or meaningless if you are so busy,completely booked,in demand every hour of the day.
Idleness is not just a vacation.It is as necessary to the brain as vitamin D is to the body,and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as ugly as rickets.The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole,for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration."Idle dreaming is often the essence of what we do,"wrote Thomas Pynchon.Archimedes' "Eureka"in the bath, Newton's apple :history is full of stories of inspirations that come in idle moments.
小题1:When many Americans say"Crazy busy", they mean______.
A．they are really tired of their present situation
B．they are really proud of their present life
C．they are complaining about their current work
D．their life are full of all kinds of problems小题2:The writer mentions Archimedes' "Eureka"and Newton's apple to show that________.
A．history is full of interesting stories
B．Archimedes and Newton were very busy, so they made great discoveries
C．people may get inspiration when they are idle
D．inspirations come from hard work小题3:The word "its" in the second paragraph refers to_______________________________.
A．ambition
B．anxiety
C．busyness
D．dread小题4:From the article,we can infer that ___________________________________.
A．generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the ICU tell you they are busy
B．"Dead on their feet" means "being tired out"
C．all the kids are self-imposed due to the drive and motivation
D．The author seems to agree that idleness is better than busyness
小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:C
小题4:B
题目分析：本文叙述了21世纪的美国人们的生活现状，。“忙！”“很忙。”“忙疯了。”已经变成了“你最近还好吗”的默认回答。很明显，这些都是伪装在抱怨之下的自我标榜。对于它们的常备答复是：“忙一点好，”或者“总比不忙强。”他们忙，是出于自己的志向、动力或者焦虑情绪，只因为他们对忙碌上瘾，并且恐惧无所事事的感觉。但是历史总是充满了灵感的故事，它们恰恰来自于悠闲的时光与白日梦。
小题1:这是细节理解题。根据It is,pretty obviously,a boast disguised as a complaint. And the common response is a kind of congratulation:"That's a good problem to have,"or"Better than the opposite."忙一点好，”或者“总比不忙强。”故选B。
小题2:这是细节理解题。根据"Eureka"in the bath, Newton's apple :history is full of stories of inspirations that come in idle moments.人们得到灵感是他们闲的时候，故选C。
小题3:这是词义猜测题。根据他们忙，是出于自己的志向、动力或者焦虑情绪，只因为他们对忙碌上瘾，并且恐惧无所事事的感觉。故选C。
小题4:这是推理判断题。根据What those people are is not busy but tired.Exhausted!可以判断是人累坏了，故选B。
点评：做词义猜测题我们应当充分利用上下文猜测词义，即利用上下文中我们已经熟悉或明了的单词或短语，立足上下文语义，进行逻辑上的推理。通常我们可以通过分析构词法、语法以及同位关系、对比关系、因果关系等来推测，有时还需要借助平时所积累的常识和经验来判断。