The most important contribution of management in the 20th century was the 50fold increase in the Droductivity of the manual worker in manufacturin9，"wrote the management guru Peter Drucker．“The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21 st century is similarly to increase the productivity of the knowledge worker．
But how?While manual workers toiling on assembly lines can be reorganised in a top-down way to imDrove efficiencY，information workers are more selbdirected，and must find efficient routines to process a constant flow of information on their own．o The problem is akin to rewriting a piece of software to make it run more reliably． And just as programmers like to exploit tricks or“hacks"to get results auickly，a new“life hackin9”movement is now applying the same approach to reorganising life off the screen t00．
Dannv O'Brien，an internet activist and writer，introduced the term in a presentation at the 0’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference in 2004．He sent long questionnaires to dozens of“over-prolific alpha geeks”asking them how they managed to accomplish so much and avoid technological distractions．Mr O'Brien’s hypothesis was that these geeks had hit upon a set of strategies for working efficiently in a self-managed，infinitely diverting world．“I saw the people around me employing all these tricks，”he recalls．“But they kept their tricks to themselves．Some life hackers get self-conscious about talking about it tOO much．”
Mr O'Brien’s presentation resonated with many technologists，including Merlin Mann,who started a weblog in September 2004 called 43 Folders that synthesised life hackin9’s high-tech perspective with that of“Getting Things Done”，a bestselling productivity book by David Allen．“Getting Things Done’ advocates breaking down all projects into single steps that can be accomplished in a few minutes and keeping track of these steps on categorised lists--productivity software for the mind，in short．④ Although this kind of regimented approach is Of particular appeal to geeks，it could have wider application among information workers in general．“Geeks are the canaries in the coal mine，”says Mr Mann．“We were the first to be overwhelmed by e-mail．The tools used by geeks today often end up being more widely adopted tomorrow．
Life hacking does not rely on the use of technology for the sake of it，however．Indeed，perhaps Mr Mal3．il’s greatest claim to fame is the ironically named“Hipster PDA”一a stack of index cards held together by a bulldog clip that is，he contends，superior to an electronic personal organiser．④Mr Mann’ s presentation of the idea resembles a comedy routine，but his point is a serious one：there is not much fiddlin9，configuration and customisation to be done with a stack of index cards，so users must instead get on with doing something useful．[460 words]
1．Peter Drucker believes that management______．
A．contributes more to the productivity of manual workers
B．contributes less to the productivity of white-collar workers
C．may contribute to the increase of the productivity of all workers
D．will contribute more in the 2 1 st century than it did in the 20th century
2．It is less easy for the management to improve the efficiency of knowledge workers because______．
A．the work they do is totally different from that of manual workers
B．they tend to direct and organize their work by themselves
C．a piece of more reliable software has to be developed
D．a new“life hackin9”movement is under way
3．The phrase“over—prolific alpha geeks”in paragraph 3 refers t0______．
A．creative information workers with high efficienc)／
B．1ife hackers who often boast about their tricks in life
C．those who have to process a lot of information every day
D．those attending the 0’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference
4．Danny 0’Brien______．
A．is famous primarily for the idea of“Hipster PDA”
B．advocates the adoption of life hacker’s“hacks’’in life
C．spares no efforts to support the perspective of David Allen
D．introduced the regimented approach to the knowledge workers
5．The text is mainly about______．
A．the application of a programmer’s tricks to reprogramming life and work
B．what contribution management will make in the 21st century
C．how to increase the productivity of workers in all lines
D．Mr 0’Brien and the new“life hackin9”movement
超纲词汇
PDA abbr．(Personal Digital Assistant)个人数字助理
Canary n．金丝雀
hack n．出租，做帮手
hacker n．电脑黑客，从网络中擅自存取的人
prolific adj．多产的，丰富的
stack-staek：n．摞，叠
svnlhesise vt．人工合成，综合处理
resonate vt，谐振，共鸣，回晌，调谐
distraction n．娱乐，分心，分心的事物
fold n．折，倍数
divert 转移，转向，使高兴
geek n．做低级滑稽表演的人 [NextPage]
参考答案：1．C 2．B 3．A 4．B 5．A
难句透析
①While manual workers[toiling on assembly lines]can be reorganised in a top-down way tO improve efficiency，information workers are more self-directed．and must find efficient routines to process a constant flow of infor— mation on their own．
【结构】本句是由两个分句组成的“while A，B”形式的并列句。方括号所标示的现在分词短语“toiling on assem— bly lines”是“manual workers”的后置定语。在第二个分句中，有两个由逗号和“and”连接的并列的谓语动词“are”和“must find”。
【释义】在装配线上辛苦工作的体力工人可以通过彻底重组来提高生产效率。但是，信息行业的工作人员更靠自身安排工作，必须独立地找到最有效的程序来处理源源不断的信息。
②Mr 0’Brien’S presentation resonated with many technologists，including Merlin Mann，[-who started a weblog in September 2004 called 43 Folders(that synthesised life hackin9’S high—tech perspective with that of“Getting Things Done”，a bestselling productivity book by David Allen)]．
【结构】方括号所标示的“who started…David Allen”是“Merlin Mann”的后置定语从句。圆括号所标示的“that synthesised…David Allen”是“webl09”的后置定语从句。过去分词短语“called 43 Folders”是“webl09”的后置定语。
【释义】奥赖利的陈述引起了许多技术专家的共鸣，其中包括于2004年创办一个名为“43 Folders”的网站的莫林·曼恩。在这个网站中，他将“life hacker”的高科技观点与大卫·艾伦关于生产力的畅销书《时间管理》的观点结合起来。
③“Getting Things Done”advocates”[breaking down all projects into single steps(that can be accomplished in a few minutes)]and [keeping track of these steps on categorised lists productivity software for the mind，in short]．
【结构】方括号所标示的动名词短语“breaking down…a few minutes”和“keeping track of…in short”是“advo cates”的两个并列的宾语。破折号后面的部分是对“categorised lists”的补充说明。
【释义】《时间管理》这本书提倡将所有项目都分解为许多在几分钟内就可以完成的单一步骤，然后再把这些步骤分类列表加以明确，简单地说，也就是脑力劳动效率软件。
④Indeed，perhaps Mr Mann’S greatest claim to fame is the ironically named“Hipster PDA” a stack of index cards[held together by a bulldog clip][that is，he contends，superior tO an electronic personal organiser]．
【结构】破折号后面的部分是对“Hipster PDA”的补充说明。方括号所标示的过去分词短语“held together…
clip”是“a stack of index cards”的后置定语。方括号所标示的“that is…personal organiser”是“a stack of index cards”的后置定语从句，其中“he contends”是插入语。
【释义】实际上，曼恩先生赢得声誉的最主要原因可能是名称本身带有反话意味的“掌上灵通”。那是一叠用牛头犬夹夹在一起的索引卡片。他认为，这叠卡片远远胜过个人电子管理器。
⑤”Mr Mann’S presentation of the idea resembles a comedy routine，but his point is a serious one：there is not much fiddlin9。configuration and customisation to be done with a stack of index cards，S0 users must instead get on with doing something useful．
【结构】本句是由逗号和“but”连接的两个分句组成的并列句。冒号后面的部分是对第二个分句的补充说明，该部分是由两个分句并列而成的。
【释义】曼恩先生的理念陈述就像惯有的玩笑，但他所表达的观点是很严肃的：有了一堆索引卡，就省掉了很多琐事、复杂的结构以及专门定翩，所以用户可以腾出时间着手做一些有用的事情。
全文翻译
20世纪管理领域最重要的贡献是让制造行业体力劳动者的生产力提高了50倍。而相似地，21世纪管理领域所要做出的重要贡献是提高脑力工作者的生产力。”Peter Drucker在他的书中写道。
但是如何提高呢?在装配线上辛苦工作的体力工人可以通过彻底重组来提高生产效率。但是，信息行业的工作人员更靠自身安排工作，必须独立地找到最有效的程序来处理源源不断的信息。这个问题就类似于重新编写一个软件以提高其安全性。正如程序员为了更快得到结果而倾向于寻找窍门或是使用“hack”技巧，在电脑之外也兴起了一种使用同样方式重组生活的全新“life hackin9”运动。
这个术语是由互联网积极倡导者兼作家——丹尼·奥赖利在2004年奥赖利的新兴技术会议中提出的。在会上，他向许多“过于多产的(图形处理)透明度狂人”们发出很长的调查问卷，询问他们如何在完成如此大量工作的同时有效避免技术失误。奥赖利的假设是这些“狂人”们在自我管理、充满无限快乐的世界中偶然发现了一套使工作更有效率的策略。“我曾见过我周围的人运用这些窍门，”他回忆道，“但他们只是自己使用这些窍门。有一些‘life hacker’甚至会有意识地尽量少谈论这些话题。”
奥赖利的陈述引起了许多技术专家的共鸣，其中包括于2004年创办一个名为“43 Folders”的网站的莫林·曼恩。在这个网站中，他将“life hacker”的高科技观点与大卫·艾伦关于生产力的畅销书《时间管理》的观点结合起来。②《时间管理》这本书提倡将所有项目都分解为许多在几分钟内就可以完成的单一步骤，然后再把这些步骤分类列表加以明确，简单地说，也就是脑力劳动效率软件。尽管这种把事情分组管理的方法对那些“狂人”们尤其具有吸引力，但对普通的信息工作者也有更广泛的应用。“‘狂人们’是矿井中的特高频噪音，”曼恩先生说道，“我们是第一批被电子邮件所包围的人。狂人们今天使用的工具往往会在今后得到广泛的使用。
然而，“life hack”并非为了使用技术而依赖于技术。实际上，曼恩先生赢得声誉的最主要原因可能是名称本身带有反话意味的“掌上灵通”。那是一叠用牛头犬夹夹在一起的索引卡片。他认为，这叠卡片远远胜过个人电子管理器。曼恩先生的理念陈述就像惯有的玩笑，但他所表达的观点是很严肃的：有了一堆索引卡，就省掉了很多琐事、复杂的结构以及专门定制，所以用户可以腾出时间着手做一些有用的事情。
