Question

"A good book for children should simply be a good book in its own right," says Mollie Hunter. Born and brought up near Edinburgh, Mollie has devoted her talents to writing primarily for young people. She firmly believes that there is always and should always be a wider audience

for any good book whatever its main market is. In Mollie' s opinion it is necessary to make full use of language and she enjoys telling a story, which is what every writer should be doing. "If you aren't telling a story, you're a very dead writer indeed," she says. With the chief function of a writer being to entertain, Mollie is indeed an entertainer. "I have this great love of not only the meaning of language but of the music of language," she says. "This love goes back to early childhood. I've told stories all my life. I had a school teacher who used to ask us what we would like to be when we grew up and, because my family always had dogs, and I was very good at handling them, I said I wanted to work with dogs, and the teacher always said 'Nonsense, Mollie, dear, you'll be a writer.' So finally I thought that this woman must have something, since she was a good teacher and I decided when I was nine that I would be a writer."

     This childhood intention is described in her novel, A Sound of Chariots, which although written in the third person is clearly autobiographical and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a Village with buttercup meadows and strawberry fields--sadly now covered with modern houses. "I was once taken back to see it and I felt that somebody had lain dirty hands all over my childhood. I'll never go back," she said, "Never." "When I set one of my books in Scotland," she said, "I can recall my romantic feelings as a child playing in those fields, or watching the village blacksmith at work. And that's important, because children now know so much so early that romance can't exist for them, as it did for US."

1. What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?

A. It should not aim at a narrow audience.

B. It should be attractive to young readers.

C. It should be based on original ideas.

D. It should not include too much conversation.

2. In Mollie Hunter's opinion, which of the following is one sign of a poor writer?

A. Being poor in life experience.               B. Being short of writing skills.

C. The weakness of description.                 D. The absence of a story.

3. What do we learn about Mollie Hunter as a young child?

A. She didn't expect to become a writer.        B. She didn't enjoy writing stories.

C. She didn't have any particular ambitions.    D. She didn't respect her teacher's views.

4. In comparison with children of earlier years, Mollie feels that modem children are ____

A. more intelligent                             B. better informed

C. less eager to learn                          D. less interested in reality

5. What's the writer's purpose in this text?

A. To describe Mollie Hunter's most successful books.

B. To share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter's books.

C. To introduce Mollie Hunter's work to a wider audience.

D. To provide information for Mollie Hunter's existing readers.

Answer 1

1.A 2.D 3.A 4.B 5.C