Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown. Quite the contrary, just as the cook has to undergo an intensive training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose—schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication. You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and the more rewarding.

There are still some remote places in the world where you might find a public scribe to do your business or social writing for you, for a fee. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letter writing with no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.

We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to paper. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages, letters, and reports put into the mails or delivered by hand, but the daily figure must be enormous. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes, that his writing will be read. We want to arouse and hold the interest of the readers. We want whatever we write to be read, from first word to last, not just thrown into some "letters-to-be-read" file or into a wastepaper basket. This is the reason we bend our efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.

1. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food because         .

A) both writers and cooks have to work long hours every day

B) both are essential to life

C) both writers and cooks can earn a good living

D) both are enjoyable

2. A public "scribe" (Para 2) is          .

A) a secretary who does your business or social writing

B) a machine that does writing for you

C) a public school where writing is taught

D) a person who earns a living by writing for others

3. According to the passage, some managers don’t have to do any letter writing because       .

   A) the rely on quick notes                C) they have a computer to do it

   B) they have excellent secretaries          D) they prefer making phone calls

4. According to the author, if your letter is thrown into some "letters-to-be-read: file,         .

   A) it will receive immediate attention       C) it is likely to be neglected

   B) it will be dealt with by the secretary      D) it is meant to be delivered soon

5. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is         .

   A) to show writing is an entertainment and rewarding              

   B) to criticize some writers’ works for not so enjoyable        

C) to argue that writing is not necessary for anyone

D) to explain why we should make effort to learn to write

参考答案：Passage 12. D D B C B

  像美食一样，好的文字作品也会带给我们愉悦，会给我们带来全程的享受。像烹饪大师一样，优秀的作家也不是突然之间就全面成功的。相反，正如厨师必须接受强化培训才能掌握烹调技术一样，作家们无论要写学业论文还是商务信函或者完全是社交书信，他们都必须伏案写作并要投入大量时间才能练就自己的写作风格。你也许可以肯定的是付出的努力越多，作品的效果就越好，得到的回报就越多。
在世界上一些偏远的地方，你也许还能找到公共代笔人收费代你书写；一些经理则非常幸运，有秘书为他们服务，秘书只要得到经理的一张便条便可以完成所有需要的文字书写。但是，对我们大多数人来说，如果有东西要写，我们必须靠自己完成。
我们在校要写学业论文，我们要写商务信函或者家庭信函，我们经常不得不把文字写在纸上。我们很难数清我们亲手写过多少文字，写过多少便条，写过多少书信，我们也很难数清我们亲手将多少份报告投进了邮箱，但是每天的数量一定很多。另外，每个动笔书写的人都期望（至少希望）他们的作品有人看，我们想激起并吸引读者的兴趣，我们希望别人从头到尾阅读我们书写的任何东西都而不是把他们扔进“待读”文件柜或者被扔进废纸篓。这就是我们为什么要付出努力学习并练习有趣有效的写作技巧的原因。