英语美文：Big Rocks

 One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students. He stood in front of them and said, “Okay, time for a quiz¹.” Then he pulled out a wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table. He then produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is the jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”

　　He replied, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket² (一桶) of gravel³(碎石), then dumped(倾倒) some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel down into the space between the big rocks.

　　He asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them answered.

　　“Good!” he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping⁴ the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is the jar full?” “No!” the class shouted.

　　Then he began to pour water in until the jar was filled to the brim⁵ (边缘). Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration⁶ (演示)?” One student raised her hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule (日程安排) is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in!”

　　“Good answer,” the speaker replied, “this illustration also teaches us the truth: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life?”

　一天，一名时间管理专家在对一群学生讲话时，站在这群出类拔萃的学生面前，他说：“来，做个小测试。”他拿出一个广口玻璃瓶放在桌上。接着他拿出一小堆拳头大小的石块，小心翼翼地、一块一块地放进瓶子里。等石块装满到瓶子，再也塞不下时，他问：“瓶子满了吗？”大家都说：“满了。”

　　他问：“真的满了吗？”他伸手到桌下提出一桶碎石，将碎石倒进瓶子里，摇晃瓶子让碎石漏进石块的间隙里去。

　　他又问学生：“瓶子装满了吗？”这时学生们领悟过来了。“可能还没满吧!”一个学生回答说。

　　“好！”他说道。他伸手从桌底下拎出了一桶沙，把沙往瓶子里倒，沙子塞满了石块与碎石的缝隙，他又一次问：“满了吗？”“没满！”全班学生大声回答。

　　然后他又往瓶子里倒水，一直倒到水升到瓶口高。他看着学生们问：“这个演示说明了什么？”一个学生举手说：“说明了不管时间安排得多紧，只要你想办法，总是可以见缝插针地做更多的事情。”

　　“回答得好，”专家说：“不过这个例子还告诉我们一个事实：如果你不是先放大石块，以后它们就永远摆不进去。你生活中的‘大石块’是什么呢？”

1 quiz   

n.智力竞赛；测验，小型考试

参考例句：

• They are having a quiz now.他们正进行小测验。
• He took part in a television quiz and won a prize.他参加了一个电视知识竞赛并得了奖。

2 bucket   

n.水桶，一桶之量，吊桶

参考例句：

• The bottom of the bucket has worn through after all this time.经过这么长时间，这只桶的底部终于磨穿了。
• Can you fill me a bucket of water,please?请给我打一桶水好吗？

3 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

4 dumping   

n.倾销v.倾倒( dump的现在分词 )；丢下；随便堆放；释放

参考例句：

• a ban on the dumping of radioactive waste at sea 禁止向海里倾倒放射性废物
• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 brim   

n.帽檐，（容器的）边，边缘；vi.注满，充溢

参考例句：

• The glass was full to the brim.玻璃杯中的液体已满到要溢出来了。
• She was filled to the brim with happiness.她充满了幸福。

6 illustration   

n.说明，例证；图解，插图

参考例句：

• Illustration by example is better than explanation in words.用实例说明比用词语解释清楚。
• He used photographs as illustration for his talk.他用照片为他的演讲作图片说明。