A
For about three years now, I have been writing poetry. It was not until my junior year in high school that I developed an interest, love, and skill for writing poetry.
Back in elementary school, I loved to write stories. I would write stories on postit notes and anywhere I could. Yet when I had to write a limerick (五行打油诗) for an assignment, I could not wrap my head around poetry. I had a very hard time figuring out how to rhyme words and have the words make sense. I eventually tossed the paper with the attempted limerick in the trash. I did not try my hand at poetry again until several years later.
Many years later in my freshman year of high school, my English teacher gave my class a poetry project as an assignment. I still remember my limerick assignment and was afraid of doing the poetry project. For the project, we had to analyze a poem and write a response to it. I chose to respond to Robert Frost's poem Fire and Ice. I also wrote my own poem first. I became really excited when writing the poem.
Two years later, I started writing poetry as a hobby and for fun. To learn how good or bad my poems were, I handed them in to some magazines and contests. I won second place in the North Carolina Poetry Society's Sherry Pruitt Award Contest with a poem called The Ocean, and had my two poems published as high merit (优等) poems. I have continued to write poetry, and have even selfpublished three collections of poetry in both print and ebook formats, which can be found at my store on Lulu.
Now, I love writing poetry, but I don't hate writing short stories. I just find it more difficult and not my style of writing, even though I still write short stories occasionally.
1．When the author was a pupil, he ________.
A．liked writing stories
B．was good at writing poetry
C．could understand poetry well
D．was often praised by his teacher
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据第二段“Back in elementary school, I loved to write stories.”可知，答案为A。
2．When given the poetry project in high school, the author was ________.
A．excited B．annoyed
C．confident D．worried
解析：选D 推理判断题。根据第三段“I still remember my limerick assignment and was afraid of doing the poetry project.”可推断，答案为D。
3．The author took up writing poetry as a hobby when he ________.
A．was in Grade Three in high school
B．worked as a storekeeper
C．was in Grade One in high school
D．was at college
解析：选A 推理判断题。根据第三段“Many years later in my freshman year of high school”及第四段第一句“Two years later, I started writing poetry as a hobby and for fun.” 可推断，答案为A。
4．How did the author increase his confidence in writing poetry?
A．He wrote a lot of poems and asked advice from his teacher.
B．He published three collections of poetry by himself.
C．He submitted his poems to magazines and contests.
D．He gave up writing stories and only wrote poetry.
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第四段“To learn how good or bad my poems were, I handed them in to some magazines and contests.”可知，答案为C。
