It seems to me that all writers, including those brilliant ones, need encouragement particularly in their early years. I always knew I could write,but that just meant I wrote a little better than my peers. I hope that I might one day write well enough to derive income from my efforts. Oddly enough,this never occurred to me until I met a special teacher in life.
There was a kind teacher at Hyde Park High School in Chicago,who simply by concentrating her attention on me, made me believe that I might be able to master the knack of writing well enough to consider the craft as a profession. Miss Marguerite Byme taught English,which of course, involved writing skills.Whatever instruction she shared with me was exactly the same as all her other students enjoyed, but the only difference was that she encouraged me to begin the process of submitting things I was writing, in those days, chiefly poems.
To my surprise, the Chicago Tribune not only thought enough of several of my verses to publish them, but also paid me, inadvertently, the highest compliment a fledgling author can receive. The editor wrote a confidential letter to Miss Byme, asking her to see, if by any chance, one of her students, a certain Stephen Allen, might be guilty of copying. The editor's suspicions had been aroused, because he was kind enough to say, he found it hard to believe that a seventeen-year-old student could create material on such a professional level.When Miss Byme shared the letter with me, I was overjoyed! It was wonderfully heartening.
Miss Byme made me realize that I should not hide my light. This made me collect my courage to enter a writing contest. The assignment was to write an essay titled "Rediscovering America". I was literally astonished when I received a letter saying that I was the winner of the contest.The prize was a thousand dollars. My mother, at the time, was not even aware that I was interested in writing, or if she had somehow found out about it, she took little notice.When I arrived home that evening with the letter, she was indifferent and did not ask how the evening had gone.
Without encouragement, even talented students will continue to perform below expectations. For example, at the same high school, there was a teacher whose Spanish language classes I attended but from whom I unfortunately learned very little simply because of the woman's cold sarcastically critical attitude. She seemed to know nothing about nurturing students. Soon, I withdrew from her classroom literacy instruction.
Years later, I was able to repay my debt to Marguerite Byme by dedicating one of my books, Wry on the Rocks------A collection of Poems.to her. I have enjoyed a lifetime writing books and television scripts because of her urge.
36. Miss Byme treated me differently from other students in that ________.
A.she encouraged the author to try to earn money from writing |
B.she gave the author private instructions on writing skills |
C.she advised the author to contribute his writing works |
D.she taught the author the knack of writing as a profession |
37. The editor wrote a letter to Miss Byme because ________.
A.he regretted overpaying the author |
B.he had doubts about the author's writing abilities |
C.he wanted to inform her of the author's talent |
D.he wanted to befriend a future star writer |
38. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.The author had set the goal of writing professionally since childhood. |
B.The share of the editor's letter made the author ashamed of his behavior. |
C.The author won the writing contest which made his mother proud of him. |
D.The author quitted Spanish course because of the teacher's negative attitude. |
39. The author is writing the passage mainly to tell readers that ________.
A.writing skills should be cultivated since high school years |
B.it's easy for a writer like him to make a living by writing |
C.parents should take kid's interests and talents seriously |
D.development of skills and abilities require adequate encouragement |