I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading(在...上面走) water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start — here’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract（合同）of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding

  1. 1.

    The author decided to write a novel ______

    1. A.
      to finish the writing course
    2. B.
      to realize her own dream
    3. C.
      to satisfy readers’ wish
    4. D.
      to earn more money
  2. 2.

    How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

    1. A.
      Disturbed
    2. B.
      Ashamed
    3. C.
      Confident
    4. D.
      Uncertain
  3. 3.

    What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

    1. A.
      It pays off to stick to one’s goal
    2. B.
      Hard work can lead to success
    3. C.
      She feels like being unexpectedly lucky
    4. D.
      There is no end in sight when starting to do something
BDA
試題分析：文章中主人公“我”是一個(gè)有著英語(yǔ)文學(xué)學(xué)位的畢業(yè)生，但對(duì)自己做什么工作在開(kāi)始的時(shí)候很迷茫，做了一段時(shí)間的記者，后來(lái)又到出版商那里工作，后來(lái)有了足夠的積蓄暫停了工作去搞寫(xiě)作，開(kāi)始時(shí)對(duì)自己的寫(xiě)作并沒(méi)有足夠的信心，見(jiàn)了一次出版商，把自己的作品送了過(guò)去結(jié)果得到了好的反饋，從而增加了信心，最終取得了成功。
1. B細(xì)節(jié)理解題。  I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel.句意為：我有了足夠的積蓄請(qǐng)一年的假期，決定去滿足我寫(xiě)作的這種內(nèi)心的深層欲望。由此可知決定寫(xiě)小說(shuō)是為了實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的夢(mèng)想。
2.D細(xì)節(jié)理解題。My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.句意為：我的信心急劇下降，認(rèn)為，我的小說(shuō)可能不會(huì)被印刷，我把它放在了一邊，由此可知作者對(duì)自己的小說(shuō)是沒(méi)有把握的。
3.A細(xì)節(jié)判斷題。最后一自然段的大意為：我感覺(jué)似乎是難以置信的運(yùn)氣，當(dāng)你開(kāi)始去做一些不同常的事情時(shí)，我們是看不到結(jié)局的。我最終還是在出版商的合同上找到了自己的名字，也就是說(shuō)自己的小說(shuō)還是出版了，這是一次難以置信的回報(bào)。因此是想告訴我們堅(jiān)持自己的目標(biāo)就會(huì)得到回報(bào)。故答案應(yīng)為A。
【考點(diǎn)】考查人生百味類文章的閱讀理解。
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  1. 1.

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And it did. On arriving at the beach cottage, I kissed Evelyn meeting me at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love.
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”

  1. 1.

    From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ______.

    1. A.
      with his family
    2. B.
      with Evelyn
    3. C.
      alone
    4. D.
      with his children
  2. 2.

    During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ______.

    1. A.
      he was determined to be a good husband
    2. B.
      he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm
    3. C.
      she looked lovely in her new clothes
    4. D.
      the doctor said his wife was seriously ill
  3. 3.

    The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What does “one thing” refer to?

    1. A.
      He praised her sweater, which puzzled her
    2. B.
      She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated
    3. C.
      He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her
    4. D.
      He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying

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