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 Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.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.
小題1:The author decided to write a novel ______ .
A.to finish the writing courseB.to realize her own dream
C.to satisfy readers’ wishD.to earn more money
小題2:How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?
A.Disturbed.B.Ashamed.C.Confident.D.Uncertain.
小題3:What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?
A.It pays off to stick to one’s goal.
B.Hard work can lead to success.
C.She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.
D.There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

小題1:B
小題2:D
小題3:A

試題分析:文章中主人公“我”是一個有著英語文學學位的畢業(yè)生,但對自己做什么工作在開始的時候很迷茫,做了一段時間的記者,后來又到出版商那里工作,后來有了足夠的積蓄暫停了工作去搞寫作,開始時對自己的寫作并沒有足夠的信心,見了一次出版商,把自己的作品送了過去結(jié)果得到了好的反饋,從而增加了信心,最終取得了成功。
小題1: B細節(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一年的假期,決定去滿足我寫作的這種內(nèi)心的深層欲望。由此可知決定寫小說是為了實現(xiàn)自己的夢想。
小題2:D細節(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,認為,我的小說可能不會被印刷,我把它放在了一邊,由此可知作者對自己的小說是沒有把握的。
小題3:A細節(jié)判斷題。最后一自然段的大意為:我感覺似乎是難以置信的運氣,當你開始去做一些不同常的事情時,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,也就是說自己的小說還是出版了,這是一次難以置信的回報。因此是想告訴我們堅持自己的目標就會得到回報。故答案應為A。
【考點】考查人生百味類文章的閱讀理解。
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