As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents in Texas. And every few summers, we’d __16__ the caravan (旅游团队), a group of Airstream trailer owners who __17__ together around the U.S. and Canada．
I loved and worshipped my grandparents and I really looked __18__ to these travels. On one particular __ 19__ ，I was about 10 years old. I was rolling around in the backseat. My grandfather was __20__ . And my grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked throughout these trips, and I hated the __21__.
At that age, I’d take any excuse to make estimates(估计) and do minor __22__．At any rate, I decided to do the math for my __23__. I estimated the number of  cigarettes per days, estimated the number of __24__ per cigarette and so on. When I was satisfied that I’d come up with a reasonable number, I poked my head  into the __25__ of the car, tapped my grandmother __26__ the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed, “At two minutes per puff, you've taken nine years off your __27__!” Because the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some  number of minutes __28__ smoker’s life．
I expected to be applauded for my __29__ and arithmetic skills. That’s not what happened．__30__, my grandmother burst into __31__. I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do. My grandfather was a highly intelligent, __32__ man. He had never said a harsh word to me. He pulled __33__ onto the shoulder of the highway. He stopped and got out of the car, __34__ me, and after a bit of silence，he gently and __35__ said, “Jeff, one day you’ll understand that it’s harder to be kind than clever.”  

Writing being largely a self-taught occupation, texts on how to get about it -though great in number- seldom are of much use. .www.7caiedu.cn

You try, and fail. Then try again. Until at last, if you have some gift for it, the failures become less frequent, or at any rate less apparantly.

It is this ability to cover up one’s defects that is finally regarded as accomplishment or achievement.

Along the way there are the discouragements of unkind criticism, outright rejection, troublesome insecurity and irregular inability to meet debts.

It is uncommon, therefore, to come across a book containing advice of much practical value for anyone toying（漫不经心地考虑） with the dangerous idea of staring on a writing life.

A friend recently lent me such a book, however - one I wish I’d had the luck to read years ago, and which I would recommend to any young person devoted to making a career of words. It is the autobiography （自传） of the English novelist Anthony Trollope, first published in 1883, the year after his death.

Needing some means to support himself, Trollope at age 19 worked as a junior clerk in the British postal service. He was at his desk at 5:30 each morning to write for three hours. And he remained in the mail service 33 years, long after reputation and prosperity had come to him.

Now, what of his advice in his works?

1. For safety’s sake, arm yourself with some other skills, some other line of work to fall back on（求助）。 That way, failure at writing, though the disappointment may appear, will not mean ruin.

2. Do not depend too much on inspiration. Writing is a craft, which Trollope compared to the craft of shoemaking. The shoemaker who has just turned out one pair of his work sets to work immediately on the next pair.

3. Have a story to tell, but, more important than that, people with characters who will speak and move as living creatures in the reader’s mind. Without memorable characters, story alone is nothing.

4. Meet your deadlines. Life is endlessly “painful and troublesome” for writers who can’t finish their work on time.

5. Do not be carried away by praise. And, above all, do not be injured by criticism.

6. Understand the risks of writing for a living. “The career, when successful, is pleasant enough certainly; but when unsuccessful, it is of all careers the most painful.”

1.This passage mainly discusses__________.

2. From the context we can figure out that the underlined word “defect” in Paragraph 3 means__.

3.According to the author, writing _______.

4.From the passage we may infer that the author is most probably        

用词组的恰当形式填空.

in vain   wipe out   come up     at  random   go through,  equip  with

stop sth in its tracks   at any rate  at all costs   straight away 

1.The government succeeded in __________ the epidemic _____________.

2.What you said was ________ since he didn’t listen to you.

3.If you have any question, ask the assistants ___________.

4.John is so casual that he throws things ___________.

5.After typhoon, we can see houses _________ everywhere.

6.He will keep his promise ___________.

7.He always __________ late at the meeting.

8.It’s his habit to ___________ the newspaper before work.

9.The school will meet students’ requirement of study ___________________.

10. The school is ___________________ advanced machines.

Among the more colorful characters of Leadville’s golden age were H.A.W. Tabor and his

second wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as "Baby Doe". Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West. Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. With his first wife and two children he left Vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homestead in Kansas. Perhaps he did not find farming to his liking, or perhaps he was attracted by rumors of fortunes to be made in Colorado mines. At any rate, a few years later he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. "A large amount of lead is sure to be found here." he said.

　　As it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make Leadville’s fortune and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, which sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco. It was his custom to "grubstake" prospective（预期的） miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or"grub", while they looked for ore（矿石）, in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. He did this for a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value.

　　Finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for "grub". Tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he had lost too much money that way. These were persistent（坚持的）, however, and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. "Oh help yourself. One more time won’t make any difference," He said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. The two miners took $17 worth of supplies, in return for which they gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings. They picked a barren place on the mountainside and began to dig. After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. This mine, known as the "Pittsburgh Mine," made $1,300, 000 for Tabor in return for his $17 investment.

　　Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117,000.This turned out to be even more abundant than the Pittsburgh, producing $35 000 worth of silver per day at one time. Leadville grew. Tabor became its first mayor, and later became the governor of the state.

1. The word "grubstake" in paragraph 2 means __________ .

　　A. to supply miners with food and supplies

　　B. to open a general store

　　C. to do one’s contribution to the development of the mine

　　D. to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine,  if one    

was discovered

2. The underlying（潜在的）reason for Tabor’s successful life career is __________.

　　A. purely accidental

B. based on the analysis of miner’s being very poor and their possibility of   discovering profitable mining site

C. through the help from his second wife

　　D. he planned well and accomplished targets step by step

3. If this passage is the first part of an article, who might be introduced in the following  part?

A. Tabor’s life.      　　                     B. Tabor’s second wife, Elizabeth McCourt.

　　C. Other colorful characters.　　         D. Tabor’s other careers.　　

The librarian took a story book _____ from the shelf and gave it to the girl.

A．in vain            B．at random         C．at the moment      D．at any rate