Do you ever get that feeling that there aren’t enough hours in the day？ That time is somehow racing away from you， and it is impossible to fit everything in. But then， you step outside into the countryside and suddenly everything seems slower， more relaxed， like time has somehow changed.

Recent research suggests that the antidote to our lack of time may lie in the natural world. Psychologist Richardo Correia， at the University of Turku in Finland， found that being in nature may change how we experience time and， perhaps， even give us the sense of time abundance.

Correia examined research which compared people’s experiences of time when they performed different types of tasks in urban and natural environments. These studies consistently showed that people report a sense of expanded time when they were in nature compared to when they were in an urban environment.

For example， people are more likely to perceive a walk in the countryside as longer than a walk of the same length in the city. Similarly， people report perceiving time as passing more slowly while performing tasks in natural green environments than in urban environments. Nature seems to slow and expand our sense of time.

It’s not just our sense of time in the moment which appears to be altered by the natural world， it’s also our sense of the past and future. Previous research shows that spending time in nature helps to shift our focus from the immediate moment towards our future needs. So rather than focusing on the stress of the demands on our time， nature helps us to see the bigger picture.

This can help us to prioritise our actions so that we meet our long-term goals rather than living in a perpetual state of “just about keeping our head above water”.

This is in part because spending time in nature appears to make us less impulsive， enabling us to delay instant gratification in favour of long-term rewards.

（材料選自ChinaDaily網(wǎng)站，有刪改）

1.What’s the function of the first paragraph？

A. To lead in the topic of the passage.

B. To tell us the author’s opinion.

C. To give background information.

D. To stress the importance of time.

2.What does the underlined word “antidote” in the second paragraph mean？

A. Adjustment." " " " " " " " B. Solution.

C. Damage." " " " " " " " " " "D. Application.

3.How did Correia get his finding？

A. By making some comparisons.

B. By investigating different people.

C. By analyzing previous researches.

D. By doing some experiments.

4.Which of the following isn’t the benefit of nature？

A. Nature can slow our sense of time.

B. Nature can help us focus on future needs.

C. Nature can delay our instant gratification.

D. Nature can enable us to live in the moment.

1.A。解析：推理判斷題。材料第一段提到“你是否有過這樣的感覺：一天的時間不夠用，時間不知不覺地從你身邊溜走，不可能把所有事情都安排好。但是，當(dāng)你走到郊外，突然間一切都變得緩慢、輕松起來，就好像時間發(fā)生了某種變化”。由此可知，材料第一段的作用是引出文章的話題——大自然可以調(diào)節(jié)我們的時間感。A選項與材料內(nèi)容相符，故選A。

2.B。解析：詞義猜測題。材料第二段的第二句提到“身處在大自然中可能會改變我們對時間的體驗方式，甚至可能讓我們感覺到時間充?！?，那么材料第二段的第一句的句意應(yīng)為“最新研究表明，解決我們的時間匱乏問題的辦法可能在于自然世界”。由此可知，畫線詞“antidote”的意思應(yīng)有“解決辦法”之意，與B選項“Solution”的意思相似，故選B。

3.C。解析：推理判斷題。材料第三段的第一句提到“科雷亞查閱了比較人們在城市和自然環(huán)境中執(zhí)行不同類型的任務(wù)時對時間的體驗方式的研究”。由此可知，科雷亞是通過分析以前的研究獲得調(diào)查結(jié)果的。C選項與材料內(nèi)容相符，故選C。

4.D。解析：細節(jié)理解題。材料第四段的最后一句提到“Nature seems to slow and expand our sense of time.”，由此可以排除A選項。材料第五段的第二句提到“…to shift our focus from the immediate moment towards our future needs.”，由此可以排除B選項。材料最后一段提到“…enabling us to delay instant gratification in favour of long-term rewards”，由此可以排除C選項。材料倒數(shù)第二段提到“…rather than living in a perpetual state of ‘just about keeping our head above water’.”，由此可知，我們不應(yīng)該永遠生活在“只求過得去”的狀態(tài)中，D選項的意思與之相反，故選D。