I’m trying to be a writer, but I can’t even start. What should I do?

Abraham, Nebraska

There are many ways to come up with ideas, one of which is to write down a list of your experiences, as well as things from your imagination. When you want to write, look in the notebook for ideas.

Books for writers often have good suggestions, too. One we like is Spilling Ink: A Yong Writer’s Handbook by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter. Perhaps your library has it.

My classmates keep asking about a new movie I’ve seen. But I don’t want to spoil it for them. What should I do?

Corinne (by e-mail)

You could ask your classmates whether they are sure they want to know and if they insist, go ahead and tell them. You may be able to give them a general idea of the movie without revealing details of the ending.

I’m going to a soccer camp for youth, but I’m not sure if I’m good at soccer or if I’ll make friends.

Louise, New Hampshire

Soccer camp is for people who share an interest in the sport. No matter what a person’s ability is at the beginning, it’s likely that everyone will leave camp with improved skills.

Sharing a common interest may make conversations easier. Smile, be friendly, and have a sense of humor. Before long, you may find that you’ve made some good friends.

Someone invited me to a birthday party. When I got there, kids were doing stuff I’m not interested in, like watching scary movies. I told them my mom would pick me up, so I just left. Was I rude for doing that?

Sam (by e-mail)

You just did the right thing and that isn’t being rude.

We hope you’ll talk with your parents about this. They’re probably proud of what you did. They may have other suggestions for you, too. Talk about different situations that might come up and what would be the best way to handle (处理) them.

1.Who is interested in Spilling Ink: A Yong Writer’s Handbook?

A．Corinne.          B．Louise.            C．Abraham.          D．Sam.

2.What can we learn about the soccer camp?

A．The practice is hard but interesting.

B．It is difficult to make friends in the camp.

C．The camp only wants people who are new to soccer.

D．One’s skills can be improved when leaving the camp.

3.The answer to Sam’s question shows what Sam did is _____.

A．funny            B．strange           C．foolish            D．smart

4.According to the passage, you can make friends by the following means EXCEPT _________.

A．keeping smiling                         B．Being humorous

C．Changing your habits                     D．Being friendly to others

5.This purpose of the text is to _____.

A．give advice        B．tell stories         C．find friends        D．share interests

I am an elementary school teacher. I think homework should be done by the child and it should take only about a half an hour. Parents should write a note if they had to help a lot, this tells the teacher that the day’s lesson needs more review. Some things are more easily learned if they are practiced at home. Students should develop independence and organization. I send home fairly simple homework because I do not wish to see how creative mom, dad, the neighbors and grandma are with large projects... what is this teaching the child? Independence? Creativity?

　 Many readers are noticing the alarming trend to test, test, test. These new tests are not like the ones we remember. They are really difficult and abstract. Besides the usual math problems, third and fourth grade tests now ask about probability, tessellations and flips, slides, turns. Some teachers have had to increase the pace of their instruction to cover all the topics that will appear on the tests, thus, they send home homework that kids may not fully understand or send more homework home so they can, they hope, cover more content faster. It’s not a good idea, but the trend of testing has driven teachers to push, push, push. Parents should be concerned about the testing that is such an important issue. I would advice parents to talk to the teacher if they find the homework too hard. Is the child not getting work done at school, or is it simply too much? Some teachers will change the amount of work. And yes, I have been on the other side of the blackboard and had to make my son and daughter do their homework. I was a stickler for not doing it for them.

1. The passage might be an opinion posted on the internet under the title _________.

　 A. How Should Homework Done Independently by Students

　 B. Should Parents Contribute to Kids’ Homework

　 C. Should You Say No to Homework

　 D. How Should Test Papers Be Written

2. According to the writer, __________.

　 A. reasonable amount of easy homework is necessary

　 B. neighbors are not creative and independent enough

　 C. homework is good to children and teachers

　 D. parents are placed too much burden by teachers

3. The tests referred to by the author ________.

　 A. are questioned about the possibilities to solve the math problems

　 B. catch up with the increasing number of topics

　 C. are the result of teachers’ pushing

　 D. include much more demanding problems

4. Which of the following would the author most likely agree?

　 A. It is advisable for parents to pay enough attention to their kids’ lessons.

　 B. It is a good idea for teachers to send some difficult assignments home.

C. It is encouraging for parents to help with their children’s homework.

D. It’s practical for parents to leave their children’s homework with the teachers

When I was a kid, I always used to wonder how in the world my father work outside in the winter without a coat. It could be minus 20 degrees centigrade and there’d be Dad, removing snow, or perhaps chopping some wood --- his coat thrown  aside--- wearing a shirt , a cap, and a pair of gloves.
“Aren’t you cold, Dad?” I’d ask. “No,” Dad would reply. “I’m not cold--- working too hard to be cold.”
Many times I wondered whether my father was an extremely tough man, or whether he was foolish.
One time when I was quite young, perhaps five or so, I went ice fishing with Dad. It was a bright, clear day—and bitterly cold.
After we’d been out on the ice for a little while, my feet started getting cold.
“Daddy, my feet are cold.” I said.
“Yeah, it’s cold out here today,” he replied.
“Tell you what,” he said. “Walk around. Make some circles in the snow. See how many different patterns you can make. That will get your feet warm.”
Now, I was just a little girl at the time but I remember thinking, “How in the world will walking around in the snow make my feet warm? Dad must be out of mind.
But he was my father, after all. I made circles in the snow. I made squares. Pretty soon I was having so much fun making patterns in the snow. I forgot about my feet being cold.
Now, all these years later, I know, too, from personal experience how my father was able to take his coat off and work outside in the winter wearing just a shirt, a cap and gloves. Because I do it, too. “Aren’t you cold?” my husband asked one winter day. “No,” I replied. “I’m not cold—working too hard to be cold.”
I hope my husband has decided I’m both tough and smart. But I guess quite a bit of the time he thinks I’m foolish.
Wherever Dad is in that great big farm in the sky—I’m sure he can’t help but smile whenever I take my coat off while I’m working outside in the winter.
【小题1】When the author’s feet felt cold, her father advised her to              .

What I like to advise people is to find out what it is that makes them happy. What do you love to do? If you truly love what you do just go ahead and try to make a living by doing it. People will throw money at you to do it. But you will always have to work hard at it. I have to draw every single day of my life. I have to draw about 20 ideas. My advice is to put aside a certain amount of time every day and make you draw or whatever, especially when you don’t feel like it. Only in this way will you be able to perfect your talent.

The first step you take is to go to your local library and ask for the publications issued in the current years. When you get these publications, try to find the names of the top people concerned and their presidents. After you find these, write down their names and addresses. Keep this list and update it every year. Next thing you want to do is to create at least 40 cartoons. Get a grid（格子） from one of the strips in the newspapers, enlarge it to whatever size you wish and draw inside this grid. Now take the best 20 of your ideas and make them into finished pieces. To do this, you would want to copy them in ink because if you were a professional cartoonist, that was what you should do. Now you can reduce the size of the finished cartoons to fit onto a regular comic’s page. By comparing yours with the others already in print, it gives you a good idea of clarity to your cartoon.

The next step is to write letters to presidents of the publication. In the letters, explain who you think would read your work, or in other words, what group do you think you would target. After you complete these, send all of your information enclosed with letters in the appropriate envelope.

Now as soon as you send out these letters, start to create a brand new strip with all new characters. Don’t get married to one idea because if your idea gets turned down then you will give up. And always remember. If you receive a rejection from any of them, keep in mind that you are working on something better. You will be working on something new and more exciting and the rejection letter will not have any impact. With this in mind…

1.What is the advice from the writer in the first paragraph when you want to succeed in your life?

A. Stop doing anything until you find something quite suitable for your future career.

B. Put aside a certain amount of time every day to consider how to make a living.

C. Make a living by something that you truly like to do as your profession and work hard at it.

D. Perfect your talent only by drawing some cartoons.

2.The purpose of writing a letter to the president was to ____.

A. get some money to support the later career

B. enclose the information on how to become cartoonists with the letter

C. focus his attention on the work

D. explain who would be the readers of the work

3. The underlined phrase “get married to one idea” in the last paragraph probably refers to ______.

A. having a strong desire to get married

B. fixing all attention on one idea

C. marrying someone is a good ideas

D. refusing one idea to get married

When I was a kid, I always used to wonder how in the world my father work outside in the winter without a coat. It could be minus 20 degrees centigrade and there’d be Dad, removing snow, or perhaps chopping some wood --- his coat thrown  aside--- wearing a shirt , a cap, and a pair of gloves.

“Aren’t you cold, Dad?” I’d ask. “No,” Dad would reply. “I’m not cold--- working too hard to be cold.”

Many times I wondered whether my father was an extremely tough man, or whether he was foolish.

One time when I was quite young, perhaps five or so, I went ice fishing with Dad. It was a bright, clear day—and bitterly cold.

After we’d been out on the ice for a little while, my feet started getting cold.

“Daddy, my feet are cold.” I said.

“Yeah, it’s cold out here today,” he replied.

“Tell you what,” he said. “Walk around. Make some circles in the snow. See how many different patterns you can make. That will get your feet warm.”

Now, I was just a little girl at the time but I remember thinking, “How in the world will walking around in the snow make my feet warm? Dad must be out of mind.

But he was my father, after all. I made circles in the snow. I made squares. Pretty soon I was having so much fun making patterns in the snow. I forgot about my feet being cold.

Now, all these years later, I know, too, from personal experience how my father was able to take his coat off and work outside in the winter wearing just a shirt, a cap and gloves. Because I do it, too. “Aren’t you cold?” my husband asked one winter day. “No,” I replied. “I’m not cold—working too hard to be cold.”

I hope my husband has decided I’m both tough and smart. But I guess quite a bit of the time he thinks I’m foolish.

Wherever Dad is in that great big farm in the sky—I’m sure he can’t help but smile whenever I take my coat off while I’m working outside in the winter.

1.When the author’s feet felt cold, her father advised her to              .

A．go home alone first                      B．keep walking in the snow

C．draw pictures in the snow                 D．light a fire on the ice

2.Hearing her father’s advice, the author thought her father              .

A．forgettable        B．warm-hearted      C．crazy             D．cruel

3.What might the author’s husband think of her?

A．Tough            B．Smart             C．Brave            D．Foolish

4.The author’s purpose of writing this passage is to              .

A．remember her tough and smart father

B．show how her father cared about her

C．describe memories of her childhood

D．explain why her father loved her so much