Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always __1__ such people, but I also explain that there’sa big difference between" being a writer" and writing. In most cases these individuals are dreaming of __2__ and fame, not the long hours alone at a typewriter." You’ve got to want to write," I say to them," not want to be a writer."The reality is that writing is a __3__, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never __4__.

When I left a 20-year career in the US. Coast Guard to become a freelance writer(自由撰稿人), I had no __5__ at all. What I did have was a friend who found me my room in a New York apartment building. It didn't even matter that it was __6__and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a __7__ writer. After a year or so, however, I still hadn't gotten a break and began to __8__ myself. It was so hard to sell a story that __9__ made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn’t going to be one ofthose people who die wondering, what if? I would keeo putting my dream to the test — even though it meant living with __10__and fear of failure. This is the Shadow land of hope, and anyone with a dream learn to live there.

[A] barely

[B] genuine

[C] rewarded

[D] doubt

[E] lonely

[F] poverty

[G] persuade

[H] prospects

[I] uncertainty

[J] impossibly

[K] encourage

[L] awarded

[M] alone

[N] wealth

[O] cold

參考答案：

1.選K

2.選N

3.選E

4.選C

5.選H

6.選O

7.選B

8.選D

9.選A

10.選I