单选题 Directions:
Read the following text. Answer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D.
Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there's a big difference between "being a writer" and writing. In most cases these individuals are dreaming of wealth and fame, not the long hours alone at a typewriter. "You've got to want to write, "I say to them," not want to be a writer."
The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For. every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never rewarded. When I left a 20-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard to become a freelance writer (自由撰稿人), I had no prospects at all. What I did have was a friend who found me my room in a New York apartment building. It didn't even matter that it was cold and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a genuine writer.
After a year or so, however, I still hadn't gotten a break and began to doubt myself. It was so hard to sell a story that barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn't going to be one of those people who die wondering. What if? I would keep putting my dream to the test even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. This is the shadowland of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.
单选题 The passage is meant to ______.
  • A. warn young people of the hardships that a successful writer has to experience
  • B. advise young people to give up their idea of becoming a professional writer
  • C. warn young people it's unrealistic for a writer to pursue wealth and fame
  • D. encourage young people to pursue a writing career
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨题。根据文章的第一段的第二句话和末段的末句可知道要成为一名作家要经历艰辛。通常文章的首段和末段是文章的中心思想或结论所在处，阅读时要注意。
单选题 What can be concluded from the passage?
  • A. Genuine writers often find their work interesting and rewarding.
  • B. A writer's success depends on luck rather than on effort.
  • C. Famous writers usually live in poverty and isolation.
  • D. The chances for a writer to become successful are small.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。从文章的第二段第二句可推知成为成功的作家的机会很小。
单选题 Why did the author begin to doubt himself after the first year of his writing career?
  • A. He wasn't able to produce a single book.
  • B. He hadn't seen a change for the better.
  • C. He wasn't able to have a rest for a whole year.
  • D. He found his dream would never come true.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实辨别题。这道题的关键是理解“and”一词。从第三段第一行可知。
单选题 "... people who die wondering. What if?" (Lines 3—4, Para. 3) refers to "those ______".
  • A. who think too much of the dark side of life
  • B. who regret giving up their career halfway
  • C. who think a lot without making a decision
  • D. who are full of imagination even upon death
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 词汇题。答案在文章最后一段的最后几句话中。
单选题 "Shadowland" in the last sentence refers to ______.
  • A. the wonderland one often dreams about
  • B. the bright future that one is looking forward to
  • C. the state of uncertainty before one's final goal is reached
  • D. a world that exists only in one's imagination
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。文章中的“shadowland”相对应的词是“this”，而“this”指的是“even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure”。因此，答案为C。