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 which 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 letter from the publisher. I also know the pressure 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 destroyed hopes can resurface in our children.
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 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.
小题1:What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A．A lot of amusements compete for children’s time nowadays.
B．Children have lots of fun doing mindless activities.
C．Rebecca is much too busy to enjoy her leisure time.
D．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.小题2:What did the author say about her own writing experience?
A．She was constantly under pressure to write 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 road to success was full of pain and frustrations.小题3:Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?
A．She believed she possessed real talent for writing.
B．She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.
C．She wanted to share her stories with readers.
D．She had won a prize in the previous contest.小题4:The author took great pains to improve her daughter’s stories because _______.
A．she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dreams 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小题5:The underlined sentence probably means that the author was _______.
A．trying not to let her daughter enjoy her own life
B．trying to get her daughter to do the thing as the author wished
C．making sure that her daughter would win the contest
D．helping her daughter develop real skills for writing小题6: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.
