Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.
As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
57. What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A) A lot of distractions compete for children’s time nowadays.
B) Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.
C) Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.
D) Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.
58. What did the author say about her own writing experience?
A) She was constantly under pressure of writing more.
B) Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.
C) She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
D) Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.
59. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?
A) She had won a prize in the previous contest.
B) She wanted to share her stories with readers.
C) She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.
D) She believed she possessed real talent for writing.
60. The author took great pains to refine her daughter’s stories because ________.
A) she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dream of becoming a writer
B) she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing
C) she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much
D) she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance
61. What’s the author’s advice for parents?
A) Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.
B) Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.
C) Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.
D) A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.
这篇文章讲述了一个作家母亲指导女儿写作的故事，通过作者的亲身经历向人们揭示出当今社会的子女教育问题。这种个人化风格较强的文章在以学术性、科技类、说 明性文章为主要材料来源的四级阅读题中还是比较少见的;但文章的中心思想还是借作者的个人故事向人们揭示社会问题，具有较强的实用性。
全文一共六个自然段，第一段交待了女儿忙于参加写作比赛的事实;第二段作者回顾了自身写作历程的艰辛，引出要为女儿修改作文的动机;第三、四、五段详细讲述 了作者修改女儿作文的过程，作者最终的失败使其对子女教育问题有所领悟;最后一段，作者具体说明了父母应该如何帮助子女成长的观点。
这篇文章个人写作风格明显，语言平易，因而词汇量不大，句子结构也较简单，理解起来并不存在太大的问题，较少见到明显的疑难部分。
