中国人做事讲求“中庸之道”、“过犹不及”，放到“时间”这个概念上就是“守时（punctuality）”。现代人生活节奏快，交通拥堵，即使约会迟到几分钟（unpunctuality），朋友也绝不会责怪。但是……
Punctuality is a necessary habit in all
public affairs in civilized society. Without it, nothing could ever be
brought to a conclusion; everything would be in a state of chaos.
Only in a sparsely-populated rural community is it possible to disregard
it（倒装句）. In ordinary
living, there can be some tolerance of unpunctuality. The intellectual, who is
working on some abstruse (=difficult to understand) problem, has
everything coordinated and organized for the matter in hand (=which is
being done or dealt with). He is therefore forgiven if late for a dinner party.
But people are often reproached for unpunctuality when their only fault is cutting
things fine. It is hard for energetic, quick-minded people to waste time,
so they are often tempted to (=want to) finish a job before setting out
to keep an appointment. If no accidents occur on the way, like punctured tires,
diversions of traffic, sudden descent of fog, they will be on time. They are
often more industrious (=hardworking) , useful citizens than those who
are never late. The over-punctual（早到） can be as much a trial to
others as the unpunctual. The guest who arrives half an hour too soon (=half
an hour earlier) is the greatest nuisance. Some friends of my family had this
irritating habit. The only thing to do was ask them to come half an hour
later than the other guests. Then they arrived just when we wanted them.
If you
are catching a train, it is always better to be comfortably early than even a
fraction of a minute too late. Although being early may mean wasting a
little time, this will be less than if you miss the train and have to wait an
hour or more for the next one; and you avoid the frustration of arriving at the
very moment when the train is drawing out of the station (=pulling out
of the station) and being unable to get on it.
法国国王路易十八有一句名言：Punctuality is
the politeness of princes（守时是王侯之礼）。守时是对自己和对方的尊重，虽说“Better late than
never”，but “better never
late”. 第一段讲了对付“早到的客人”，请他晚来半小时；那对付老爱迟到的人呢？除了严肃警告他“Please be there
at o'clock sharp.（几点整到）”，不妨也让他早来半小时吧！
重要词组：
1. bring sth to an end/ a
close/ a conclusion etc.: to cause someone or sth to reach a particular state or
condition; make sth stop
例：
（本文）Without it, nothing could ever be brought to a conclusion.不准时将一事无成。
The presentation of the trophy brought the tournament to
an end. 颁奖完，锦标赛结束了。
The trial was swiftly brought to an end. 审讯快速结束。
It was the war that first brought him to power (=made
him have power over a country). 最初，是战争让他站上权力之巅。
So far the US has been unable to bring him to justice (=make
him be punished for his actions). 美国迄今为止还不能对他进行制裁。
Bring the sauce to the boil (=heat it until it boils). 把酱煮开。
2. in chaos =in a state of
chaos 混乱不堪
The kitchen was in chaos. 厨房乱糟糟的。
At that time, East Germany’s economy was in chaos. 那时，东德经济一团糟。
2. sparsely-populated rural
community：人口稀少的农村
sparse: adj. existing only in small amounts
rural: happening in or relating to the countryside, not the
city
例：rural bus routes 城郊公交线路
rural的<反义词>：urban
顺便介绍一下urban的词源是拉丁语“urbanus” , 其中包含了代表“city”的词根“urbs” 。
3. 与hand有关的几个词组：
（1）in hand: if sth is in
hand, it is being done or dealt with
例：
Liza seemed to have things in hand by the time he returned. 他回来之前，丽莎好像都在做事。
They have to concentrate 100% on the task in hand. 他们得集中全部精力处理手头的任务。
（2）on hand：close by and
ready when needed
例：
Our staff are always on hand to help. 员工随时待命。
（3）at hand：①needing to be
dealt with now；②close to you and available to be used
例：
Peter turned his attention to the task at hand (=needing to
be dealt with now). 皮特把注意力转向急需处理的任务上。
Don’t worry! Help is at hand (=close to you and available to
be used). 宽心，有人帮忙。
5. cut it/ things fine：（口语）to leave yourself
just barely enough time to do sth
这是英式英语的说法，美式英语常说：cut it close
例：
Even in normal traffic, 20 minutes to get to the airport is
cutting it fine. 即使不堵车，20分钟去机场也够紧张的。
6. The only thing to do was ask them to come
half an hour later than the other guests. 只能请他们比别的客人晚来半小时。
“只要……”、“只能……”，类似的表达：
All you have to do is punch a few buttons, and the
computer will do the rest for you. 你只需按几个按钮，剩下的事电脑会帮你完成。
7. a fraction of: （某物的）一小部分
例：
I got these shoes at a fraction of the original price. 我买这双鞋的价格比原价低非常多。
She paused for a fraction of a second. 她停了一小下。
Could you move a fraction closer? 你能不能稍微再挪近点？