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 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 (自由撰稿者), 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 Shadow land of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.
55. By saying that "an American is not free to choose the costume of a Chinese peasant or that of a Hindu prince" (Lines 2-3, Para. 3), the writer means _______.
A) different people have different styles of clothes
B) ready-made clothes may need alterations
C) statuses come ready made just like clothes
D) our choice of statuses is limited
[答案及分析]:[D]句意理解題,問文章中說“一個美國人不能選擇中國農民或印度王子的服裝”(第三段第二、三行),作者說這句話是什么意思。文章說得很明白:身份如同已有的服裝一樣,我們在選擇時會受到一定限制。所以[D]項正確。
編輯推薦:
北京 | 天津 | 上海 | 江蘇 | 山東 |
安徽 | 浙江 | 江西 | 福建 | 深圳 |
廣東 | 河北 | 湖南 | 廣西 | 河南 |
海南 | 湖北 | 四川 | 重慶 | 云南 |
貴州 | 西藏 | 新疆 | 陜西 | 山西 |
寧夏 | 甘肅 | 青海 | 遼寧 | 吉林 |
黑龍江 | 內蒙古 |