2007.12閱讀第一篇
Passage One
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
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 (啟示) 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 (自發地) 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 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.
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2上作答。
57. What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A) A lot of distractions compete for children’s time nowadays.
B) Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.
C) Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.
D) Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.
58. 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) She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
D) Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.
59. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?
A) She had won a prize in the previous contest.
B) She wanted to share her stories with readers.
C) She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.
D) She believed she possessed real talent for writing.
60. The author took great pains to refine her daughter’s stories because ________.
A) she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dreams of becoming a writer
B) she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing
C) she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much
D) she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance
61. What’s the author’s advice for parents?
A) Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.
B) Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.
C) Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.
D) A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.
這篇文章講述了一個作家母親指導女兒寫作的故事，通過作者的親身經歷向人們揭示出當今社會的子女教育問題。這種個人化風格較強的文章在以學術性、科技類、說明性文章為主要材料來源的四級閱讀題中還是比較少見的;但文章的中心思想還是借作者的個人故事向人們揭示社會問題，具有較強的實用性。
全文一共六個自然段，第一段交待了女兒忙于參加寫作比賽的事實;第二段作者回顧了自身寫作歷程的艱辛，引出要為女兒修改作文的動機;第三、四、五段詳細講述了作者修改女兒作文的過程，作者最終的失敗使其對子女教育問題有所領悟;最后一段，作者具體說明了父母應該如何幫助子女成長的觀點。
這篇文章個人寫作風格明顯，語言平易，因而詞匯量不大，句子結構也較簡單，理解起來并不存在太大的問題，較少見到明顯的疑難部分。
57. What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A) A lot of distractions compete for children’s time nowadays.
B) Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.
C) Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.
D) Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.
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