Passage 7

　　Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there's a 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 ( 自由撰稿人 ), 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 typewriter 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 I 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.

　　( B )1. This passage is meant to ________ .

　　A. advise young people to give up their idea of becoming a professional writer

　　B. warn young people of the hardships that a successful writer has to experience

　　C. show young people it's unrealistic for a writer to pursue wealth and fame

　　D. encourage young people to pursue a writing career

　　( A )2. What can be concluded from the passage?

　　A. The chances for a writer to become successful are small.

　　B. Genuine writers often find their work interesting and rewarding.

　　C. A writer's success depends on luck rather than effort.

　　D. Famous writers usually live in poverty and isolation.

　　( A )3. why did the author begin to doubt himself after the first year of his writing career?

　　A. He hadn't seen a change for the better.

　　B. He wasn't able to produce a single book.

　　C. He wasn't able to have a rest for a whole year.

　　D. He found his dream would never come true.

　　( A )4. "…people who die wondering: What if?" (Para.3) refers to "those________ ."

　　A. who regret giving up their career halfway

　　B. who think too much of the dark side of life

　　C. who think a lot without making a decision

　　D. who are full of imagination even upon death

　　( C )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 exist only in one's imagination

　　Passage 8

　　Man's first real invention, and one of the most important inventions, because there are no wheels in nature-no living thing was ever created with wheels. How, then, did man come to invent the wheel?

　　The wheel is the simplest yet perhaps the most remarkable of all inventions, because there are no wheels in nature-no living thing was ever created with wheels. How, then, did man come to invent the wheel?

　　Perhaps some early hunters found that they could roll the dead body of a heavy animal through the forest on logs more easily than they could carry it. However, the logs themselves weighed a lot.

　　It must have taken a great prehistoric thinker to imagine two thin slices of log connected at their centers by a strong stick. This would roll along just as the logs did yet be much lighter and easier to handle. Thus the wheel and axle came into being, and with them the first carts.

　　( D )1.The wheel is important because ________ .

　　A it was man's first real invention

　　B all transportation depends on it

　　C every machine depends on it

　　D both Band C

　　( A )2. The wheel is described as ________ .

　　A simple B complicated

　　C strange D light

　　( C )3. It was remarkable of man to invent the wheel because ________ .

　　A it led to many other inventions

　　B man had no use for it then

　　C there were no wheels in nature

　　D it was very complicated

　　( D )4. This passage says that the first wheel might have been a ________ .

　　A round piece of stone B heavy log

　　C piece of metal D slice of log

　　( D )5. The idea of making wheels might have come from ________ .

　　A chasing an animal

　　B watching a rolling trunk

　　C watching running animals

　　D rolling the dead body of an animal on logs