大石塊

江蘇省興化市竹泓初級中學 張家桐 供稿

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 quiz.”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 bucket (一桶) of gravel (碎石)，then dumped(傾倒) 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 dumping 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 brim (邊緣).Then he looked at the class and asked，“What is the point of this illustration (演示)?”O(jiān)ne 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，一名時間管理專家在對一群學生講話時，站在這群出類拔萃的學生面前，他說：“來，做個小測試。”他拿出一個廣口玻璃瓶放在桌上。接著他拿出一小堆拳頭大小的石塊，小心翼翼地、一塊一塊地放進瓶子里。等石塊裝滿到瓶子，再也塞不下時，他問：“瓶子滿了嗎？ ”大家都說：“滿了。”

他問：“真的滿了嗎？”他伸手到桌下提出一桶碎石，將碎石倒進瓶子里，搖晃瓶子讓碎石漏進石塊的間隙里去。

他又問學生：“瓶子裝滿了嗎？”這時學生們領悟過來了。“可能還沒滿吧! ”一個學生回答說。

“好！”他說道。他伸手從桌底下拎出了一桶沙，把沙往瓶子里倒，沙子塞滿了石塊與碎石的縫隙，他又一次問：“滿了嗎？ ”“沒滿！ ”全班學生大聲回答。

然后他又往瓶子里倒水，一直倒到水升到瓶口高。他看著學生們問：“這個演示說明了什么？”一個學生舉手說：“說明了不管時間安排得多緊，只要你想辦法，總是可以見縫插針地做更多的事情。”

“回答得好，”專家說：“不過這個例子還告訴我們一個事實：如果你不是先放大石塊，以后它們就永遠擺不進去。你生活中的‘大石塊’是什么呢？ ”