“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’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 and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免的)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 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.”

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.

In Mollie Hunter’s opinion, which of the following is one sign of poor writer?

A. Being poor in life experience

B. Being short of writing skill.

C. The weakness of description

D. The absence of a story.

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 ambition.

D. She didn’t respect her teacher’s view.

In comparison with children of earlier years, Mollie feels that children now are _____.

A. more intelligent

B. better informed

C. less eager to learn

D. less interested in reality

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 work 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 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 and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免的)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 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.”
【小题1】 What does Mollie Hunter feel about the nature of a good book?

“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’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 and her struggle towards its achievement. Thoughts of her childhood inevitably(不可避免的)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 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 poor writer?

A. Being poor in life experience

B. Being short of writing skill.

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 ambition.

D. She didn’t respect her teacher’s view.

4.In comparison with children of earlier years, Mollie feels that children now 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 share her enjoyment of Mollie Hunter’s book.

B. To introduce Mollie Hunter’s work 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 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.

Ｃ
A Brown University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don’t start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students who nod off at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce (确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically these sleepyhead students aren’t used to the early hour.
“Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies,” says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent  (青春期的) sleep at Brown’s School of Medicine.
Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level. she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns.
Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.
Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at nigh and sleep later in the morning. But it’s not just a matter of choice –their bodies are going through a change of sleep patters.
All of this makes the transfer from middle school to high school—which may start one hour earlier in the morning  ---- all the more difficult , Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the “sleep late, rise late” pattern, adolescent are up against difficulties when it conics to trying to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first hell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body’s way of saying. “I need a timeout.”
【小题1】Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because ________.