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 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 — there’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 Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.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(有回报的).
【小题1】What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?
A.I was waiting for good fortune. |
B.I was trying to find an admirable job. |
C.I was being aimless about a suitable job. |
D.I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time. |
A.to finish the writing course |
B.to realize her own dream |
C.to satisfy readers’ wish |
D.to earn more money |
A.Disturbed. | B.Ashamed. | C.Confident. | D.Uncertain. |
A.It pays 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. |
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
When I was a child, I often dreamed of the time when I could leave home and escape to the city. We lived on a farm, in the winter especially, we wear quite out off from the outside world. As soon as I left school, I packed my bags and moved to the capital. However, I soon discovered that my life has its too.
One big disadvantage is money. It costs so much to go out, not to mention basics like food and housing. Another disadvantage is pollution. I suffer from asthma(哮喘), and the air is so that I am afraid to go outside. Then there is the problem of traveling round. Although I have a car, I seldom use it became of the traffic jams. One choice is to go by bicycle, but that can be quite dangerous.
Of course there are advantages. First, there is so much to do in the city, whatever you tastes in culture or entertainment(娱乐活动). Besides, there are wonderful jobs and greater chances of moving to a more important job or position. Finally, if you like shopping, the variety of goods is very surprising --- and , what is more, shops are often only a short walk away.
Is life better then, in the city? Perhaps it is , when you are in your teens(十几岁)or twenties. However, as you get older, and especially if you have small children, the peace of the countryside may seem preferable. I certainly hope to move back there soon.
What was the writer always thinking about when he was a child?
A. Staying on the farm. B. Moving to the countryside.
C. Leaving home for the city. D. Running away from the school.
Which of the following is true about the writer?
A. He is very old now. B. He is in good health.
C. He prefers driving a car. D. He lives in the city now.
In the passage, the writer tries to __________.
A. express his opinions about way of life B. describe his life in the countryside
C. an interest in the outside world D. persuade the reader to live in the city
How is the passage mainly developed?
A. By inferring. B. By comparing. C. By listing examples. D. By giving explanations.
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科目:高中英语 来源:2012届陕西省长安一中高三开学第一次考试英语试卷 题型:填空题
根据对话情景和内容,从对话后所给的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。选项中有两项为多余选项。
—Young people are given too much freedom nowadays, and as a result they have lost respect for their parents and elders in general.
—【小题1】 My parents gave me advice but never forced me to do anything I didn`t want to do .I respect and love them for this.
—【小题2】
—Oh, yes. After I left school and started to work as a nurse, I became economically independent.
—【小题3】
—I am. Many young people today say they have nothing in common with their parents. But I`m very lucky because I get along very well with them. What about you?
—【小题4】 I am also very fond of my family. But I don`t always get along very well with my parents. They seldom allow me to do what I want to.
—But they allowed you to come to study in England on your own.
—【小题5】
A.You seem very close to your parents. |
B.Yes, but that`s after many times of request. |
C.I don`t think so. |
D.Well, we value family life very much in my country. |
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科目:高中英语 来源:2015届四川成都南片区六校联考高二上学期期中考试英语试卷(解析版) 题型:阅读理解
This is a true story of how my car got stuck in water and how a stranger helped me during the worst rain storm.
Last Sunday, the sky was grey when I woke up. The weather report said rain was coming, but I couldn’t stay home just because of rain.
Around 8:00 am I had a doctor’s appointment. It wasn’t raining then. At 9:00 I left the doctor’s office to drive to work, and it was raining hard. I just had to go about 5-6 miles down one main road to get to a nearby school, where I could stay until the rain ended. Unfortunately, the road in front of the school was flooded, and my car stopped in the middle.
“Who is going to save me?” I wondered. I shut off the engine and turned on my flashers (车灯). I called 911. They were not helpful. I called my husband, even though he couldn’t come and help me. I was also very close to a police station. But I never saw even one police car. I decided to get out of the car, since it was still pouring.
My best decision of the day had been to wear rain boots. I took my umbrella and quickly got out and ran across the street to a shelter.
Before long, a tow truck(拖车) happened to pass by the street. The driver kindly offered to help me. At that moment, I really needed car pulled out quickly, so I trusted the stranger. He pulled my car and drove me home. After he had dropped my car off, he also helped me check the engine. He said the engine was most likely flooded, but fortunately there was no water inside the car.
Although many years have passed, I still remember that stormy day and the warm-hearted stranger clearly.
1.How was the weather when the author got up?
A. Rainy. B. Cloudy. C. Windy. D. Sunny.
2.Which of the following is the correct order about the things that the author did?
① Drove to work. ② Drove to the doctor’s office.
③ Ran to a shelter. ④ Called 911 for help.
A. ②①④③ B. ②③①④ C. ①②④③ D. ①③②④
3.What did the author do after her car had got stuck in the water?
A. She turned off her flashers.
B. She tried to restart the engine.
C. She went to the police station nearby.
D. She got out of her car.
4.How did the stranger help the author?
A. He lent his car to her.
B. He pulled her car out of the water.
C. He drove her to school.
D. He helped her fix her engine.
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科目:高中英语 来源:2014届宁夏高三上期第一次月考英语卷(解析版) 题型:阅读理解
“Indeed,” George Washington wrote in his diary in 1985, “some kind of fly, or bug, had begun to eat the leaves before I left home.” But the father of America was not the father of bug. When Washington wrote that, Englishmen had been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century, and Americans had already created lighining-bug(萤火虫)。But the English were soon to stop using the bugs in their language, leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The American bug could also be a person, referring to someone who was crazy about a particular activity. Althoug fan became the usual term. sports fans used to be called racing bugs, baseballbugs, and the like.
Or the bug could be a small machine or object, for example, a bug-shaped car. The bug could also be a burglar alarm, from which comes the expression to bug, that is, “to install (安装) an alarm”. Now it means a small piece of equipment that people use for listening secretly to others’ conversation. Since the 1840s, to bug has long meant “to cheat”, and since the 1940s it has been annoying.
We also know the bug as a flaw in a computer program or other design. That meaning dates back to the time of Thomas Edison. In 1878 he explained bugs as “little problems and difficulties” that required months of study and labor to overcome in developing a successful product. In 1889 it was recorded that Edison “had been up the two previous nights discovering ‘a bug’ in his invented record player.”
1.We learn from Paragraph 1 that ___________.
A.Americans had difficulty in learning to use the word bug
B.George Washington was the first person to call an insect a bug
C.the word bug was still popularly used in English in the nineteenth century
D.both Englishmen and Americans used the word bug in the eighteenth century
2.What does the word “flaw” in the last paragraph probably mean?
A. Explanation. B. Finding. C. Origin. D. Fault.
3.The passage is mainly concerned with__________.
A. the misunderstanding of the word bug
B. the development of the word bug
C. the public views of the word bug
D. the special characteristics of the word bug
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科目:高中英语 来源:2013年全国普通高等学校招生统一考试英语(浙江卷解析版) 题型:完型填空
Last spring, I was fortunate to be chosen to participate in an exchange study program. In my application letter, I was careful to 21 how much I wanted to see France; evidently, my excitement really came through in my words. Once I 22 that I was going, all I could think about was the fun of foreign travel and making all sorts of new and 23 friends. While traveling was inspiring and meeting people was 24 , nothing about my term in France was what I 25 .
The moment I arrived in Paris, I was 26 by a nice French couple who would become my host parents. My entire experience was joyous and exciting 27 I received some shocking news from my program coordinator(协调人): there had been a death in my host parents’ extended family. They had to travel outside France for several weeks. That afternoon, I had to 28 out of one family’s house into another. The exchange coordinator told me I’d have a 29 this time and asked whether I could share a bedroom with an English speaker. To avoid the temptation(诱惑) to 30 my native language, I asked not to be 31 with an English-speaking roommate. When I got to my new room, I 32 myself to my new roommate Paolo, a Brazilian(巴西人) the same age as I, whom I was surprised to find playing one of my favorite CDS! In just a few hours, we knew we’d be good friends for the rest of the 33 .
I left France with many 34 , so when people asked me what my favorite part of the trip was, they are always 35 to hear me talk about my Brazilian friend Paolo and scores of weekdays in class, weeknights on the town, and weekends 36 France we enjoyed together. I love how people 37 seem so different, but end up being so 38 . The most valuable lesson I gained from studying in France wasn’t just to respect the friend people 39 to respect all people, for your next best friend could be just a continent away. I would recommend an exchange program to anyone who wants to experience foreign cultures and gain meaningful 40 .
1. A.discuss B.express C.announce D.argue
2. A.approved B.knew C.warned D.denied
3. A.stubborn B.anxious C.universal D.interesting
4. A.boring B.upsetting C.exciting D.promising
5. A.expected B.liked C.doubted D.feared
6. A.sponsored B.witnessed C.greeted D.supported
7. A.until B.when C.since D.while
8. A.move B.travel C.walk D.rush
9. A.housekeeper B.leader C.roommate D.colleague
10. A.learn B.appreciate C.speak D.master
11. A.combined B.fitted C.involved D.placed
12. A.added B.introduced C.devoted D.adapted
13. A.term B.week C.month D.vocation
14. A.presents B.suitcase C.stories D.dreams
15. A.surprised B.disturbed C.embarrassed D.concerned
16. A.analyzing B.exploring C.describing D.investigating
17. A.need B.shall C.must D.can
18. A.generous B.independent C.similar D.distant
19. A.and B.but C.or D.so
20. A.instructions B.friendships C.facts D.data
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