In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied．Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories．She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year．

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them．I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip form the publishers. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories．What if she doesn't win the contest again? That's the strange thing about being a parent．So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface．

A revelation （启示） came last week when I asked her, "Don't you want to win again?" "No," she replied, "I just want to tell the story of an angel （天使） going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she naturally told them．Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts （冲突） and endings for her tales．The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly "guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson．I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it．

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks．Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting （借用） my daughter's experience．

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help when asked．All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices．

1..

What do we learn from the first paragraph?                 

A．Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities．

    B．Rebecca is much too busy to enjoy her leisure time．

    C．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing．

    D．A lot of recreations compete for children's time nowadays．

2..

What did the author say about her own writing experience?

    A．She didn't quite live up to her reputation as a writer．

    B．Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations．

    C．She was constantly under the pressures of writing more．

    D．Most her stories had been rejected by publishers．

3..

．The author took great efforts to correct her daughter's stories because ________．

    A．She believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance

    B．she didn't want to disappoint her daughter who needed her help so much

    C．she wanted to help her daughter realize her dream of becoming a writer

    D．she was afraid her daughter's imagination might run wild while writing

4..

What's the author's advice for parents?

    A．A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue．

    B．Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience．

    C．Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in．

    D．Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions

 

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.
　　As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.
　　A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
　　I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
　　Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.
　　While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
56. What did the author say about her own writing experience?
　　A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.
　　B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.
　　C. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.　　

D. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
57. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?
　　A. She wanted to share her stories with readers.
　　B. She had won a prize in the previous contest.
　 C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.
　　D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.
58. The author took great pains to refine her daughter’s stories because ________.
　　A. she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dream of becoming a writer
　　B. she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance
　　C. she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much
　　D. she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing
59. What’s the author’s advice for parents?
　　A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.
　　B. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.
　　C. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.
　 D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

 

I practised religion in this district. I used to find notes left in the collection basket of the church, beautiful notes about my homilies (布道) and about the writer’s thoughts on the daily readings. The  1attracted me. But it was a long time __2__I met the author of the notes.

One Sunday morning, I was  3that someone was waiting for me in the office, a young woman who said she  4all the notes. When I saw her I was  5, since I had no idea that it was she who wrote the notes. She was sitting in a chair in the office. Her  6was bowed and when she raised it to look at me, she could hardly  7without pain. Her face was disfigured (畸形), so smiling was very  8for her.

We  9for a while that Sunday morning and agreed to meet for lunch later that week.

As it  10, we went to lunch several times, and we shared things about our  11. We spoke of authors we both had  12, and it was easy to tell that  13are a great love of hers.

She suffered from a disfigurement which cannot make her look  14. I know that her condition  15

her deeply. Yet there was a beauty to her that had nothing to do with  16. She was one to be listened to, whose words came from a wounded but  17heart. She possessed a fine tuned sense of beauty. Her only

18in life was the loss of a friend.

The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the  19for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found  20and grace (优雅) and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.

1.A. questions           B. words           C. answers          D. texts

2.A. since               B. after              C. when                D. before

3.A. told            B. warned         C. informed            D. showed

4.A. lost            B. left               C. dropped         D. collected

5.A. shocked         B. satisfied          C. frightened          D. disappointed

6.A. hand            B. arm                C. head            D. body

7.A. stand           B. smile              C. say             D. sit

8.A. pleasant            B. bitter             C. ugly            D. difficult

9.A. chatted         B. discussed     C. drank           D. greeted

10.A. turned out         B. turned up     C. came out            D. came up

11.A. families           B. beliefs            C. hobbies         D. lives

12.A. realized           B. read               C. met             D. heard

13.A. friends            B. churches      C. writings            D. books

14.A. friendly           B. happy              C. attractive          D. wonderful

15.A. hurt               B. impressed      C. changed             D. affected

16.A. fame           B. wealth             C. interest            D. appearance

17.A. cheerful           B. interesting       C. loving          D. exciting

18.A. defeat         B. wonder             C. fear                D. defend

19.A. dream          B. surface            C. imagination         D. time

20.A. success            B. hope               C. beauty              D. help

 

 

I practised religion in this district. I used to find notes left in the collection basket of the church, beautiful notes about my homilies (布道) and about the writer’s thoughts on the daily readings. The  31  attracted me. But it was a long time __32__I met the author of the notes.

One Sunday morning, I was  33  that someone was waiting for me in the office, a young woman who said she  34  all the notes. When I saw her I was  35 , since I had no idea that it was she who wrote the notes. She was sitting in a chair in the office. Her  36  was bowed and when she raised it to look at me, she could hardly  37  without pain. Her face was disfigured (畸形), so smiling was very  38  for her.

We  39  for a while that Sunday morning and agreed to meet for lunch later that week.

As it  40 , we went to lunch several times, and we shared things about our  41 . We spoke of authors we both had  42 , and it was easy to tell that  43  are a great love of hers.

She suffered from a disfigurement which cannot make her look  44 . I know that her condition  45

her deeply. Yet there was a beauty to her that had nothing to do with  46 . She was one to be listened to, whose words came from a wounded but  47  heart. She possessed a fine tuned sense of beauty. Her only

 48  in life was the loss of a friend.

The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the  49  for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found  50  and grace (优雅) and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.

31. A. questions         B. words           C. answers          D. texts

32. A. since           B. after                   C. when            D. before

33. A. told                  B. warned               C. informed             D. showed

34. A. lost                    B. left                 C. dropped               D. collected

35. A. shocked              B. satisfied                   C. frightened            D. disappointed

36. A. hand                   B. arm                   C. head                  D. body

37. A. stand                 B. smile               C. say                      D. sit

38. A. pleasant                   B. bitter                C. ugly                  D. difficult

39. A. chatted               B. discussed           C. drank                 D. greeted

40. A. turned out           B. turned up          C. came out             D. came up

41. A. families             B. beliefs               C. hobbies                D. lives

42. A. realized              B. read                C. met                      D. heard

43. A. friends             B. churches           C. writings              D. books

44. A. friendly             B. happy              C. attractive              D. wonderful

45. A. hurt                         B. impressed          C. changed                    D. affected

46. A. fame                 B. wealth              C. interest               D. appearance

47. A. cheerful            B. interesting              C. loving                 D. exciting

48. A. defeat                B. wonder             C. fear                     D. defend

49. A. dream                B. surface              C. imagination        D. time

50. A. success             B. hope               C. beauty                  D. help