阅读试题

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 Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.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) .

阅读试题

49. 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.

50. The author decided to write a novel ______ .

A. to finish the writing course

B. to realize her own dream

C. to satisfy readers' wish

D. to earn more money

51. How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A. Disturbed.

B. Ashamed.

C. Confident.

D. Uncertain.

52. What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

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.

参考译文

我以一个优秀的英语文学学位离开大学，但却不知道我想要做什么。在接下来的六年时间里，我没有什么进步，仅仅是努力赚钱。我尝试过当记者，但是我不在行，而金融呢，我有很讨厌。最后，我找到了一份工作，作为一个著名出版商的版权助理。虽然我做的工作很枯燥，但是我喜欢与书在一起。

我的存款足够我休息一年不工作，于是我决定尝试满足自己内心想要写一本小说的渴望。我参加了提供写作结构的小说写作文学硕士课程，因此我需要写我的第一个五千五百词。

一个新的开始需要有自信，在此之间将有一段黑暗的时期，那时你既不能这样又不能那样。当你出去吃饭时，人们会问你在做什么，而你却羞于说：“嗯，我正在写一本小说，但是我不确定我能不能写好。”而我的信心就像在潜水。确信无法出版的小说，我就把它放在一边。

后来，我遇见了一个代理商，他说我应该把我的小说寄给代理商。于是，我这样做了，让我吃惊的是我得到了一些很棒的反馈。我觉得我成为一个出版作家有点希望了，与代理商签约后，我完成了小说的第二部分。

接下来的问题就是要找一个出版商。度过没有收入只有等待与怀疑的两年半时间之后，一个出版商提供给我一本书的协议，而那个出版商就是我曾经为他工作过的人。

这很像是一股难以相信的运气，可能是命吧，真的。当你开始新的尝试时，那是没有尽头的。于是，为我自己找到一个位置，作为一个出版作家，与出版上签订合同，给我带来了意想不到的回报。

答案解析

49. C 考查句意理解。第一段的内容表明，对于合适的工作作者没有目标。tread water ”裹足不前，徘徊观望”。

50. B 考查细节理解。由第二段中的”I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel”可知B项正确。

51. D 考查推理判断。由第三段最后三句可推知作者写小说的中途感觉不自信，他不确定自己能否成功，故选D。

52. A 考查推理判断。由最后一段中作者的感慨可推知A项正确，pays与rewarding相对应。