For the person keeping a journal, whatever he experiences and wants to hold he can write down. But to get it down on paper begins another adventure. For he has to focus on what he has experienced, and to be able to say what, in fact, the experience is. What of it is new? What of it is remarkable because of associations in the memory it stirs up? It is a good or bad thing to have happened? And why, specifically? The questions multiply (增多) themselves quickly. As one tries to find the words that best represent this discovery, the experience becomes even clearer in its shape and meaning.
Beyond the value of the journal as record, there is the value of the discipline it teaches. The journalist begins to pay closer attention to what happened to and around himself. He develops and sharpens his skills of observation. He learns the usefulness of languages as a means of representing what he sees, and gains skill and certainty in the expression of his experiences. To have given up one’s experience to words is to have begun marking out the limits and potential of its meaning. In the journal that meaning is developed and clarified (澄清、阐明) to oneself. When the intention of the development of that meaning is the consideration of another reader, the method of the journal redirects itself and it becomes the essay.
小题1:According to the author, keeping a journal is good for ________.
A．observation and expression
B．certainty and discipline
C．experience and adventure
D．consideration and development小题2:By keeping a journal, one can ________.
A．develop the usefulness of language
B．develop his memory
C．clarify the consideration to everyone
D．have a thorough understanding of his experience小题3:Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
A．The journalist can express what has happened.
B．A journal can serve as a record of the past happening.
C．The journalist must be able to observe closely.
D．Writing helps develop the consideration of others.小题4:The passage is mainly about ________.
A．how to write a journal
B．the expressions of a journal
C．the values of keeping a journal
D．how to solve the problems in a journal
