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Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. 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.
56. 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（A）
57. 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.（D）
58. 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 years.
D) He found his dream would never come true.（B）
59. “... 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 think a lot without making a decision
D) who are full of imagination even upon death（B）
60. “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（C）
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