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.
这篇文章讲述了一个作家母亲指导女儿写作的故事,通过作者的亲身经历向人们揭示出当今社会的子女教育问题。这种个人化风格较强的文章在以学术性、科技类、说明性文章为主要材料来源的四级阅读题中还是比较少见的;但文章的中心思想还是借作者的个人故事向人们揭示社会问题,具有较强的实用性。
全文一共六个自然段,第一段交待了女儿忙于参加写作比赛的事实;第二段作者回顾了自身写作历程的艰辛,引出要为女儿修改作文的动机;第三、四、五段详细讲述了作者修改女儿作文的过程,作者最终的失败使其对子女教育问题有所领悟;最后一段,作者具体说明了父母应该如何帮助子女成长的观点。
这篇文章个人写作风格明显,语言平易,因而词汇量不大,句子结构也较简单,理解起来并不存在太大的问题,较少见到明显的疑难部分。
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.
题目解析
题目问从第一段可以得知什么。第一段的大意如下: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,如今大量娱乐活动在为儿童竞争(即现在的儿童有充足的娱乐活动)。文章开篇的In this age of 词组与A中的nowadays在时间上相互呼应。there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied中的 shortage是“少”的意思,但no shortage of并不仅指有一些,而是“较为丰富”,如there is no shortage of tall buildings here,这里的高楼可不少。从这一句可以看出,供孩子们消遣娱乐的活动确实很多,可以由此推出A的结论。
B, 孩子们确实在许多无聊活动中得到了乐趣。作者只是指出供孩子选择的娱乐活动很多,但没有指明孩子们是否从中得到了乐趣。从mindless(没头脑的, 不用脑子的)一词可以看出,作者对这些活动至少是持有怀疑态度的。另外,从文中可知作者的女儿对这些活动没有兴趣,当然也谈不上乐趣,可以作为一个反例。
C,丽贝卡太忙而不能享受空余时间。文中只说丽贝卡把空闲时间用来写小说,[考试[大]是不是真的太忙不能确定。另外写小说本身也许即是丽贝卡的享受空闲时间的方式,那样的话她也就是在完全地享受自己的空闲时间,C的叙述不对。
D,丽贝卡从网络上汲取了很多写作材料。这句话和文意相去甚远,只要理解了第一段的意思,相信排除该选项不会太难。
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.
题目问作者讲了自己的哪些写作经历。
作者介绍自己的写作经历是在文章的第二段前半部分。大意是:“作为一个作家,我享受过夺得竞赛优胜的喜悦,也品尝过失败的滋味。我知道辛辛苦苦写出来一个故事、结果却得到一张出版商的退稿信时的感受。我同样知道夺得优胜后再想保住这份荣誉的压力。”
A, 她经常处在要写作更多作品的压力之下。文中只说作者在卫冕比赛优胜时有压力,而不是写作新作品时,因此A的说法不对。
B, 她大部分小说都被出版商退稿了。文中说作者的稿件被退过,没有提到是否大部分都被退稿。从文章大体可以推断出作者是一个成功的作家,一个成功作家不可能大部分作品都被退稿。