"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 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 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 （自传体的） and gives a picture both of Mollie’s ambition and her struggle towards its achievement．Thoughts of her childhood inevitably （不可避免地） brought thoughts of the time when her home was still a village with buttercup （金凤花） 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 life aims．

　 D．She didn’t respect her teacher’ views．

4．What’s the writer’s purpose in this text?

　 A．To share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter’s book．

　 B．To introduce Mollie Hunter’s works to a wider audience．

　 C．To provide information for Mollie Hunter’s existing readers．

　 D．To describe Mollie Hunter’s most successful books．

　　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 (自传体的) and gives a picture both of Mollie's ambition (理想) and her struggle towards its achievement．Thoughts of her childhood inevitably (不中避免的) 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 laid 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 modern 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．

What is time? Is it a thing to be saved or spent or wasted, like money? Or is it something we have no control over, like the weather? Is time the same all over the world?
That's an easy question, you say. Wherever you go, a minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes, a day is 24 hours, and so forth. But in America, time is more than that. Americans see time as a valuable resource. Maybe that's why they are fond of the expression, "Time is money."
Because Americans believe time is a limited resource, they try to conserve and manage it. People in the U.S. often attend seminars or read books on time management. It seems they all want to organize their time better. Professionals carry around pocket planners -- some in electronic form -- to keep track of appointments and deadlines. People do all they can to squeeze more time out of their time. The early American hero Benjamin Franklin expressed this view best: "Do you love life? Then do not waste time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
To Americans, punctuality is a way of showing respect for other people's time. Being more than 10 minutes late to an appointment usually calls for an apology and an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know of the delay. Of course, the less formal the situation is, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes past the appointed time.
To outsiders, Americans seem tied to the clock. People in other cultures value relationships more than schedules. In these societies, people don't try to control time, but to experience it. Even Americans would admit that no one can master time. Time -- like money -- slips all too easily through our fingers. And time -- like the weather-- is very hard to predict. Nevertheless, time is one of life's most precious gifts. And unwrapping it is half the fun.
【小题1】What’s the main topic of this passage?

What is time? Is it a thing to be saved or spent or wasted, like money? Or is it something we have no control over, like the weather? Is time the same all over the world?

That's an easy question, you say. Wherever you go, a minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes, a day is 24 hours, and so forth. But in America, time is more than that. Americans see time as a valuable resource. Maybe that's why they are fond of the expression, "Time is money."

Because Americans believe time is a limited resource, they try to conserve and manage it. People in the U.S. often attend seminars or read books on time management. It seems they all want to organize their time better. Professionals carry around pocket planners -- some in electronic form -- to keep track of appointments and deadlines. People do all they can to squeeze more time out of their time. The early American hero Benjamin Franklin expressed this view best: "Do you love life? Then do not waste time, for that is the stuff life is made of."

To Americans, punctuality is a way of showing respect for other people's time. Being more than 10 minutes late to an appointment usually calls for an apology and an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know of the delay. Of course, the less formal the situation is, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes past the appointed time.

To outsiders, Americans seem tied to the clock. People in other cultures value relationships more than schedules. In these societies, people don't try to control time, but to experience it. Even Americans would admit that no one can master time. Time -- like money -- slips all too easily through our fingers. And time -- like the weather-- is very hard to predict. Nevertheless, time is one of life's most precious gifts. And unwrapping it is half the fun.

1.What’s the main topic of this passage?

2.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “conserve”?

3.The sentence “Americans seem tied to the clock” probably means __________.

4.We can safely draw a conclusion from this passage that _________________.

What is time? Is it a thing to be saved or spent or wasted, like money? Or is it something we have no control over, like the weather? Is time the same all over the world?
That's an easy question, you say. Wherever you go, a minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes, a day is 24 hours, and so forth. But in America, time is more than that. Americans see time as a valuable resource. Maybe that's why they are fond of the expression, "Time is money."
Because Americans believe time is a limited resource, they try to conserve and manage it. People in the U.S. often attend seminars or read books on time management. It seems they all want to organize their time better. Professionals carry around pocket planners -- some in electronic form -- to keep track of appointments and deadlines. People do all they can to squeeze more time out of their time. The early American hero Benjamin Franklin expressed this view best: "Do you love life? Then do not waste time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
To Americans, punctuality is a way of showing respect for other people's time. Being more than 10 minutes late to an appointment usually calls for an apology and an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know of the delay. Of course, the less formal the situation is, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes past the appointed time.
To outsiders, Americans seem tied to the clock. People in other cultures value relationships more than schedules. In these societies, people don't try to control time, but to experience it. Even Americans would admit that no one can master time. Time -- like money -- slips all too easily through our fingers. And time -- like the weather-- is very hard to predict. Nevertheless, time is one of life's most precious gifts. And unwrapping it is half the fun.

1. 1.

   What’s the main topic of this passage?

   1. A.
      What is time?
   2. B.
      How to control time?
   3. C.
      Make good use of time.
   4. D.
      Time among Americans.
2. 2.

   What’s the meaning of the underlined word “conserve”?

   1. A.
      protect
   2. B.
      develop
   3. C.
      produce
   4. D.
      assist
3. 3.

   The sentence “Americans seem tied to the clock” probably means __________.

   1. A.
      Americans often carry a clock with them.
   2. B.
      Americans can not predict the time.
   3. C.
      Americans can take control over time.
   4. D.
      Americans often make full use of time.
4. 4.

   We can safely draw a conclusion from this passage that _________________.

   1. A.
      Americans have more time than others.
   2. B.
      by using pocket planners, people can have more time.
   3. C.
      for informal meeting, Americans often arrive 30 minutes earlier.
   4. D.
      Americans often attend seminars, because they want to use time better.