题型：阅读表达 题类：常考题 难易度：普通
北京市海淀区2018-2019学年高二下学期英语期中考试试卷
A Letter that Changed My Life
I was about 30 years old and was working as a firefighter in the South Bronx's Engine Co. 82. It was a restful Sunday and between alarms I rushed to the office to read a copy of the New York Times. I read an article on the Book Review section which openly stated what I took to be a calumny – that William Butler Yeats had gone beyond his Irishness and was forever to be known as a universal poet. As I read it, my blood began to boil.
There were few things I was more proud of than my Irish heritage, and ever since I first picked up a book of his poems from a shelf when I was in the military, Yeats had been my favorite Irish writer, followed by Sean O'Casey and James Joyce.
I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out a letter of anger to the editor. Throughout Yeats' poetry, his view of the world and the people in it was basically Irish. He had lived his life and written his poetry through the very essence of his Irish sensibility. It was offensive to think Irishness was something to be transcended(超越).
I don't know why I felt it my duty to safeguard the reputation of the world's greatest poet. I just knew that I had to write that letter.
After my letter got published, I received a letter from The New Yorker, asking for an interview. When my article Fireman Smith appeared in that magazine, the editor of a large publishing firm called me, asking if I was interested in writing a book about my life. I had little confidence to write a whole book, though the subject was worthy. I wrote Report From Engine Co. 82 in six months, and it sold really well. In the years that followed, I wrote three more best-sellers.
Being a writer had been far from my expectations. How had it happened? I often found myself thinking about it, and my thoughts always came back to that letter to the New York Times. For me, the writing was a natural consequence of the passion I felt and the subjects represented the great values burning within me as I wrote.
Over the years, my five children have come to me with one dilemma or another. My answer is always the same. Think about what you're feeling and measure the heat of the fire in your heart, for that is your passion. Your education and your experience will guide you toward making a right decision, but your passion will enable you to make a difference in whatever you do. That's what I learned the day I stood up for Ireland's greatest poet.
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