单选题 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 pressure 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 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."
If 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 mined 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 a way 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.

单选题 What do we learn from the first paragraph?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 题干问：从第一段可以得知什么。第一段说，在这个网络聊天、视频游戏和电视真人秀的时代，供孩子们消遣的无聊活动当然也不会少。但我8岁的女儿丽贝卡却把空闲时间用来写短篇小说。她想要拿出一篇小说来参加一个写作大赛。在去年的上一届比赛中，她获得了优胜。A选项说如今大量娱乐活动在为争得孩子时间而竞争(即现在的儿童有充足的娱乐活动)。故本题答案为A。

单选题 What did the author say about her own writing experience?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 题干问作者讲了自己的哪些写作经历。由“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 pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories.”可知D选项是正确答案。

单选题 Why did Rebecca want to enter this year"s writing contest?

单选题 The author took great pains to refine her daughter"s stories because ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 题干问作者花费了很多心力去修改女儿的故事的原因。文中并未指明丽贝卡有当作家的梦想，从文中可知她写作的目的只是要分享她的故事而已，甚至连写作比赛的优胜都不在意。文中虽有“guiding the young writer across the hall”这句，似乎作者是想把女儿培养成作家，但这只是作者为了说明自己当时的心情而打的比方而已。第二，即便有这样的梦想，也不可能仅仅通过修改一篇作文就能实现。因此A选项并不正确。B、C选项文中未提，作者当初之所以要主动指导女儿，是相信自己的知识和经验可以对女儿提供帮助，只是结果不尽如人意。所以D选项是正确答案。