Write a winning story!
You could win ￡1,000 in this year’s Fiction Prize and have your story printed in Keep Writing magazine. Ten other lucky people will win a cheque for ￡100.
Once again, we need people who can write good stories. The judges, who include Mary Littlejohn, the novelist, Michael Brown, the television reporter, and Susan Hitchins, the editor of Keep Writing, are looking for interesting and original stories. Detective fiction was extremely popular last year, although the competition winner produced a love story. You can write down about whatever you want but here’s some advice to start your thinking:
Write about what you know
This is the advice which every writer should pay attention to and, last year, nearly everyone who wrote for us did exactly that. Love, family, problems with friends ---- these were the main subjects of the stories. However, you need to turn ordinary situations into something interesting that people will want to read about. Make the reader want to continue reading by writing about ordinary things in a new and surprising way.
Get your facts right
It’s no good giving a description of a town or explaining how a jet engine works if you get it wrong. So avoid writing anything unless you’re certain about it.
Hold the reader’s attention
Make the beginning interesting and the ending a surprise. There is nothing worse than a poor ending. Develop the story carefully and try to think of something unusual happening at the end.
Think about the characters
Try to bring the people in your story alive for the reader by using well-chosen words to make them seem real.
Your story must be your own work, between 2,000 and 2,5000 words and typed, double-spaced, on one side only of each sheet of paper.
Even if you’re in danger of missing the closing date, we are unable to accept stories by fax or email. You must include the application form with your story. Unfortunately your story cannot be returned, nor can we discuss our decisions.
You should not have had any fiction printed in any magazine or book in this country ---- a change in the rules by popular request ---- and the story must not have happened in print or in recorded form, for example on radio or TV, anywhere in the world.
Your fee of ￡5 will go to the Writers’ Association. Make your cheque payable to Keep Writing and send it with the application form and your story to:
Keep Writing
75 Broad Street Birmingham
B12 4TG
The closing date is 30 July and we will inform the winner within one month of this date. Please note that if you win, you must agree to have your story printed in our magazine.
1.How should writers deal with ordinary situations while writing?
A. They should make them appealing to readers.
B. They should copy others’ ideas.
C. They should change some facts to make them interesting.
D. They should describe them as they are.
2.What shouldn’t a writer do?
A. Making the contents interesting.
B. Getting the facts right.
C. Meeting the deadline.
D. Making the end ordinary.
3.Writers should present their works in the following ways except that ____________.
A. they should write originally
B. they can type their stories as they like
C. they should follow some rules
D. they should hand in their stories in time
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Late stories can be faxed if necessary.
B. Entry needs no fee.
C. Winners can have their stories printed in other magazines.
D. All stories should be presented by mail
A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions（养老金）. Furthermore, some institution should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. The problems faced by the old in society.
B. Why we should take responsibility for the old.
C. How we can improve the lives of the old.
D. Where the old can go to get their pensions.
2.According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?
A. Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire.
B. Increase savings levels of people during their working years.
C. Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old.
D. Make available pensions for those who have retired.
3.The underlined word “viable” most probably means “__________”.
A. impossible B. practical C. useful D. successful
4.What can be concluded from the passage?
A. Taking care of the old is mainly an issue of money.
B. Employers should allow their workers to retire at a later age.
C. Becoming independent should be the goal of most old people.
D. There is no single solution to the problems of the old.
5.What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this article?
A. To point out the need for government support for old people.
B. To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.
C. To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.
D. To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.
The secret in re-remembering is to allow the full power of your memory to flow freely without “trying” to remember any one specific (特定的) thing.
I recently sat down to a relaxed and enjoyable dinner with some friends. At the beginning of the meal, a friend told us that his car had just been broken into and his briefcase (公文包) had been stolen. He was frustrated (懊恼的) because his diary and a number of other items important to him were in the briefcase. He said he could remember only four items that were in his stolen briefcase, that he knew there were many more, that he had to give a full report to the police within two hours, and that the more he tried to remember the more blocked he became.
Several of us at the table who were familiar with Memory Principles (规则) then took him through the following exercise; instead of continuing to allow him to think of what he could not remember, we asked him when he had last had his briefcase open. It turned out that it was at the office just before he left work, at which point he suddenly remembered that he had put two important magazine articles in the briefcase. We then asked him when he had last had the briefcase open before leaving home for work. It turned out to have been the night before, and he remembered having put in two more articles as well as a tape recorder, in preparation for the following morning. Finally we asked him to describe the inner (内部的) design of his briefcase, and as he went through a detailed description, he remembered pens, pencils, letters and a number of other items that he had completely “forgotten” before.
Within 20 minutes, he remembered 18 additional items. The secret is to “forget about” whatever you are trying to remember and “relive” all experiences that connect in any way with the item you are trying to remember. This method works at once almost in all cases, and takes the form of a created Mind Map around the “missing” center.
This memory method, like the others, improves your memory as well as your creativity, and in addition gives you confidence when you realize that, no matter what you have forgotten, there is still a chance to solve any memory mystery (谜团)!
1.Which of the following shows how the man remembered the items according to the passage?
2.What does the underlined word “relive” mean in the passage?
A. go through again B. get out of C. get used to again D. pay attention to
3.What can be the best title for the passage?
A. Forgetting — You can never really forget
B. Drawing — The better way to remember things
C. Re-remembering — Remember what you have forgotten
D. Replacing — Forgetting something instead of remembering
Compassion is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into actions. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register（收款机）with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash (现金), had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.
I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.
Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.
What I had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.
1.The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits_________ .
A. hoped to have the food first and pay later
B. promised to obey the store rules
C. forgot to take any money with him
D. could not afford anything more expensive
2.Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?
A. kind and lucky B. friendly and helpful
C. poor and lonely D. hurt and disappointed
3.The writer acted upon the store rules because_________ .
A. he felt no pity for the old gentleman
B. he considered the old man dishonest
C. he expected someone else to pay for the old man
D. he wanted to keep his present job
4.What does the writer learn from his experience?
A. Wealth is more important than anything else
B. Experience is better gained through practice
C. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.
D. Helping others is easier said than done
Dear Michelle,
Why can't my daughter manage her life better? She is 17 and an honor student, but she seems to be wasting her life away with a boyfriend who is holding her back.
He consumes every waking minute of her precious time and smooth-talks her as well.
His goal is to get her to agree to go to the college of his choice, not her choice, and because his grades are lower, his choice will be limited.
A worried mother
Dear Mother of a 17-year-old Girl,
Hmmmmm. What's the matter with kids today? Remember that song from "Bye Bye Birdie"?
Well if you do not, let me fill you in about teenagers and their life-management skills. Do not expect too much too soon because at the ripe age of 17, life-management is not within their reach, nor should it be.
Life experience creates both the conditions and the skills for management, and if management went before experience, there would be little of it.
Your daughter is an honor student for good reasons. She is smart, studies with intelligence and you have given her good values.
When the time comes for her to apply for college, and she visits the ones that are specifically designed for students at the top of their grade, she will most likely break away from her boyfriend's influence.
It is rare for an honor student to change the path of their academic career for puppy love. That being said, there might be some adolescent wisdom in her behavior after all.
Perhaps she is choosing to worry you, her parents, for unconscious reasons. Being such a good girl and being a steady source of joy might have become a bit too much for her.
Let your daughter have her own private moment of 11th grade rebellion. She deserves a break from perfection.
Michelle
1.From the mother's letter we can learn that her daughter _________ . .
A. is being fooled by the boy
B. has fallen behind in her studies
C. doesn't talk much with her mother
D. has chosen which college to attend
2. According to Michelle, 17-year-old teenagers _________ . .
A. are too young to manage their life
B. are old enough to live their own life
C. should have management before experience
D. have reached the age of an adult
3.The underlined word "puppy-love" refer to_________ . .
A. false love B. foolish love C. pure love D. adolescent love
4.Michelle seems to believe that the daughter will finally_________ . .
A. come up with the right decision
B. follow her boyfriend's advice
C. worry her parents for unconscious reasons
D. influence her boyfriend's behavior
What is intelligence anyway? When I was in the army I_____an intelligence test that all soldiers took, and, against _____of 100, scored 160.
I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not ______ have scored more than 80. ____, when anything went wrong with my car I hurried to him -- and he always _____ it.
Well, then, suppose my auto-repair man____questions for some intelligence tests. By every one of them I'd prove myself a _____. In a world where I have to work with my ____, I'd do poorly.
Consider my auto-repair man_____.He had a habit of telling ____. One time he said, "Doe. a deaf-and-dumb (����) man______some nails. Having entered a store, he put two fingers together on the counter and made ______ movements with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He ______ his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk ______ him some nails. He picked out the right size and left. Well, Doe. the______man who came in was blind. He wanted scissors. ______ do you suppose he asked for them?" I lifted my right hand and made scissoring movements with my first two fingers. He burst out laughing and said, "Why, you fool, he used his ______ and asked for them. I've been ______ that on all my customers today, but I knew ______ I'd catch you." "Why is that?" I asked. "Because you are so goddamned educated, Dr. I knew you couldn't be very______.
And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.
1.A. failed B. wrote C. received D. chose
2.A. an average B. a total C. an exam D. a number
3.A. always B. possibly C. certainly D. frequently
4.A. Then B. Thus C. Therefore D. Yet
5.A. fixed B. checked C. drove D. changed
6.A. answered B. practised C. designed D. tried
7.A. teacher B. doctor C. winner D. fool
8.A. brains B. effort C. hands D. attention
9.A. again B. as usual C. too D. as well
10.A. lies B. jokes C. news D. tales
11.A. bought B. tested C. found D. needed
12.A. cutting B. hammering C. waving D. circling
13.A. nodded B. raised C. shook D. turned
14.A. brought B. packed C. sent D. sold
15.A. clever B. other C. right D. next
16.A. What B. How C. Who D. Which
17.A. imagination B. hand C. voice D. information
18.A. trying B. proving C. practising D. examining
19.A. for sure B. at once C. in fact D. right now
20.A. clear B. silly C. slow D. smart
