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  3. Danielle Steel, the 71-year-old romance novelist is notoriously productive, having published 179 books at a rate of up to seven

Danielle Steel, the 71-year-old romance novelist is notoriously productive, having published 179 books at a rate of up to seven

admin2021-01-08  71
问题    Danielle Steel, the 71-year-old romance novelist is notoriously productive, having published 179 books at a rate of up to seven a year. But a passing reference in a recent profile by Glamour magazine to her 20-hour workdays prompted an outpouring of admiration.
   Steel has given that 20-hour figure when describing her "exhausting" process in the past: "I start the book and don’t leave my desk until the first draft is finished." She goes from bed, to desk, to bath, to bed, avoiding all contact aside from phone calls with her nine children. "I don’t comb my hair for weeks," she says. Meals are brought to her desk, where she types until her fingers swell and her nails bleed.
   The business news website Quartz held Steel up as an inspiration, writing that if only we all followed her "actually extremely liberating" example of industrious sleeplessness, we would be quick to see results.
   Well, indeed. With research results showing the cumulative effects of sleep loss and its impact on productivity, doubt has been voiced about the accuracy of Steel’s self-assessment. Her output may be undeniable, but sceptics have suggested that she is guilty of erasing the role of ghostwriters (代笔人) at worst, gross exaggeration at best.
   Steel says working 20 hours a day is "pretty brutal physically." But is it even possible? "No," says Maryanne Taylor of the Sleep Works. While you could work that long, the impact on productivity would make it hardly worthwhile. If Steel was routinely sleeping for four hours a night, she would be drastically underestimating the negative impact, says Alison Gardiner, founder of the sleep improvement programme Sleepstation. "It’s akin to being drunk."
   It’s possible that Steel is exaggerating the demands of her schedule. Self-imposed sleeplessness has "become a bit of a status symbol", says Taylor, a misguided measure to prove how powerful and productive you are. Margaret Thatcher was also said to get by on four hours a night, while the 130-hour work weeks endured by tech heads has been held up as key to their success.
   That is starting to change with increased awareness of the importance of sleep for mental health. "People are starting to realise that sleep should not be something that you fit in between everything else," says Taylor.
   But it is possible—if statistically extremely unlikely—that Steel could be born a "short sleeper" with an unusual body clock, says sleep expert Dr. Sophie Bostock. "It’s probably present in fewer than 1% of the population."
   Even if Steel does happen to be among that tiny minority, says Bostock, it’s "pretty irresponsible" to suggest that 20-hour days are simply a question of discipline for the rest of us.
What do sceptics think of Danielle Steel’s work schedule claims?
选项 A、They are questionable.
B、They are alterable.
C、They are irresistible.
D、They are verifiable.
答案A
解析 推理判断题。第四段第二句提到，人们开始对斯蒂尔自我评估的准确性表示怀疑。紧接着第三句指出，怀疑者认为她的过失从最坏的情况来看是抹杀了代笔人的作用，从最好的情况来看则是过于夸张。由此可知，怀疑者质疑斯蒂尔20小时工作制的准确性，即认为她所说的这个工作时间表是有问题的，故答案为A)。
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