Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people, but I also explainthat there’s a big difference between a writerand writing. In most cases these individuals are dreaming ofwealth and fame, not the long hours at a typewriter. “You have got to want to write,” I said to them, “not wantto be a writer.”
The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortunethere are thousands more whose longing is never rewarded. When I left a 20-year career in the U.S. CoastGuard to become a freelance writer, I had no prospects at all. What I did have was a friend who found for memy room in a New York apartment building. It didn’t even matter that it was coldand had no bathroom. Iimmediately bought a used typewriter and felt like a genuine writer.
After a yearor so, however, I still hadn’t got a breakand began to doubt myself. It was so hard to sell astory that barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for many years. Iwasn’t going to be one of those people who died wondering. What if? I would keep putting my dream to test(even though it meant living with uncertainty and fea
r of failure). This is the shadow-land of hope, and anyonewith a dream must learn to live there.
1.The passage is meant to ___A____
A、warn young people of the hardship that a successful writer has to experience
B、
advise young people to give up their idea of becoming a professional writer
C、
show young people it is unrealistic for a writer to pursue wealth
D、
encourage young people to pursue a writing career
2.What can be concluded from the passage? D
A、Genuine writers often find their work interestingａｎｄrewarding.
B、A writer’s success depends on luck rather on effort.
C、Famous writers usually live in povertyａｎｄisolation.
D、The chances for writers to become successful are small.
3.Why did the author begin to doubt himself after the first years of his writing career? B
A、He was not able to produce a single book.
B、Hehadn’t seen a change for the better.
C、He wasn’t able to have a rest for a whole year.
D、He found his dream would never come true.
4.In “…people who died wondering”, “who” refers to those ___B___ .
A、who think too much of the dark side of life
B、who regret giving up their career halfway
C、who think a lot without making a decision
D、who are full of imagination even upon death
5.“Shadow-land” in the last sentence refers to ____C__ .
A、the wonderland one often dreams about
B、the bright future that one is looking forward to
C、the state of uncertainty before one’s final goal is reached
D、a world that exists only in one’s imagination
In many stories on TV and in science-fiction books, men travel to faraway stars. They have quick, easy journeys. But sofar, men have been able to reach only the earth’s own moon.
Suppose a man wanted to reach a distant star. Even if he traveled his whole life, he would
have to move faster than thespeed of the light. Nothing can move that fast except light itself.
weigh怎么读Strange things happen to an object when it moves rapidly. The object weighs more. An object moving at 86 percent of thespeed of light is twice as heavy as it is at rest. A stick appears shorter. A clock runs more slowly. A man would not age so fast ashe would on the earth.
Light travels more than 186,000 miles a second, or about 11 million miles a minute. In one year, light travels six trillionmiles. That great distance is called a light-year. It is used to measure distance in space.
The star closest to our sun is Alpha Centauri. It is more than four light-years away. If one traveled at the speed of light, he couldmake a round trip to Alpha Centauri in nine years. But, even at that speed, he could not reach Alcaid (北斗星) in the handle ofthe Big Dipper. A one-way journey to Alcaid would take almost 200 years.
1.In this passage the words “closest to our sun” means the star ____B____ .
A、the earth we live on
B、Alpha Centauri
C、the Big Dipper
D、the moon
2.A one-way journey to Alcaid would take ___C_____ .
A、about nine years
B、less than four years
C、almost 200 years
D、less than 100 years
3.Why do we measure the distance in light-years instead of miles? B
A、Units of light-years sound better.
B、Using light- years reduced the number of figures used.
C、We used to measure distance in light-years long ago.

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