一尺深的熱愛

“一尺深的熱愛”，是執著的熱愛，也是理智的熱愛;這種熱愛適得其所。

A friend of mine met with good fortunes in quick succession after he was signed as a writer with The Readers， a highly popular magazine in China. He was admitted， first of all， into the provincial Writers’ Association(作家協會). And then， a cashier(出納) as he had been， he was offered a position to teach in an institute(學院) of literature. That year he was only 28 years old， but had already published literary works of about 600，000 Chinese characters.

Many students were filled with admiration for his achievement. Quite a few literature fans went to him for advice. “Sir， would you share with us your secret for writing so successfully?”

He replied candidly(坦白地)， “Yes. Just one word—passion.”

“Then， how much passion do we need if we want to write as well as you do?” they pressed him.

“One foot deep，” answered my friend.

One-foot-deep passion? A perplexed(疑惑) look appeared on their faces. My friend took them home and fetched out a bundle of used writing paper from under his bed: all the sheets were filled with small and closely-written characters. Those were his rejected(被拒絕的) manuscripts， a good foot in thickness.

“If you want to achieve something in writing， you must maintain a passion that’s one foot feet. In other words， you should keep on writing until your rejected manuscripts accumulate(累加) to one foot thick. During this period， you must not become impatient or sink into despair. Only with expectation and passion can you have confidence and hope for the future，” he told his students.

Enlightened by his words， the students came to realize that success in writing is not something easy to come by. On the contrary， it requires painstaking efforts. They looked enthusiastic and eager to have a try right away.

But my friend continued， “There is one thing you must bear in mind: The passion can only be one foot deep! If after practising countless times and your writing still remains at the level of a high school student， you might as well try something else， lest(免得) you get into a blind alley. Any further attempt will just mean a waste of your time and talent.”

Indeed， whatever we do， we should do it with deep， persevering passion. However， if our exertion(努力) has proved to be fruitless， we should quit(退出) as soon as possible and try something different while we are young. Success may be at the corner just when we switch over to a new direction.

I. Reading comprehension Choose the best answers after reading the passage thoroughly.

1. The first paragraph tells us ________.

A. when the author’s friend became famous

B. why the author’s friend taught in an institute of literature

C. how the author’s friend became a teacher and writer of literature

D. what the author’s friend had achieved in literature

2. From this passage we see the passion for writing ________.

A. can be measured directly

B. may be measured in some way

C. should be kept forever

D. must be one foot deep

3. Which of the following is true according to this passage?

A. Passion goes with interest， confidence， expectation and patience.

B. If you’re signed with a famous magazine you’ll be a writer and teacher.

C. Before you become a writer， you have to write one-foot-deep manuscripts.

D. If you want to be a writer， you should first try to test your talent of literature.

4. The author intends to say ________.

A. the more passion you have， the better you write

B. there’s no secret for writing successfully

C. the idea that hardworking is all is not right

D. why someone succeeds easily

II. Writing practising Fill in the following blanks according to the passage you’ve read.

If we want to do well in writing， we must keep 1. We must keep on writing without 2. We should be full of 3 for the future. Also we ought to take 4 to try it on. But we must bear in mind that we should quit in time 5 countless times and the efforts have proved to be fruitless， and that we should try something different while we are young， for success may lie 6.

編輯/梁宇清

參考答案

Ⅰ.1—4DBAC

Ⅱ.1. a deep passion2. impatience and despair3. confidence and expectation

4. painstaking efforts5. when we’ve practised6. in a new direction