M. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there’s 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 a 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 type writer 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 Shadowland of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.
1. The passage is meant to ________.
A. warn young people of the hardships 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’s unrealistic for a writer to pursue wealth and fame
D. encourage young people to pursue a writing career
2. What can be concluded from the passage?
A. Genuine writers often find their work interesting and rewarding.
B. A writer’s success depends on luck rather than on effort.
C. Famous writers usually live in poverty and isolation.
D. The chances for a writer to become successful are small.
3. Why did the author begin to doubt himself after the first year of his writing career?
A. He wasn’t able to produce a single book.
B. He hadn’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. “...People who die wondering, What if?” (Line 3, Para. 3) refers to “those ________”.
A. who think too much of the dark side of life
B. who regret giving up their career halfway
C. who thinka lot without making a decision
D. who are full of imagination even upon death
5. “Shadowland” in the last sentence refers to ________.
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 |
