When I was a kid I was a bit of a scaredy-cat. The "adventurer" in my family has always been my big brother. Still, I'm always trying to shake up the scaredy-cat inside me. And I've always known how important it is for girls to feel brave. However, girls, at large, experience so much hesitancy and a drop in confidence as they grow up.
One way to stop losing heart is to encourage a sense of adventure in girls before they are teenagers. Such adventures don't have to be big. Research from Angelia Ruskin University shows that even just going for a walk or a run outside leaves people feeling more confident and better about their bodies. After all nature doesn't care how we look. It doesn't care who our friends are or what grades we get. It is a place where we can really be ourselves.
That's why I teamed up with Amy Blackwell, the award-winning illustrator, to create a middle-grade book containing real-life women's adventures from around the world, from 2,000 years ago to today. The Girl Who Rode a Shark and Other Stories of Daring Women has been receiving star reviews in lots of places.
It is all of those amazing women that make the book a hit. While reading, they can trace the ocean-soaring flights of pilot Amelia Earhart, follow Isabella Bird's exploration up the Yangtze River and meet Kimi Werner, the freediving chef who met with a great white shark. That's why kids just can't get enough of those stories. I hope these stories can help so many kids feel confident and excited when they walk into the world.
As for me? While I still feel a little nervous to begin an adventure up a big mountain or across a frozen river, I feel I have more courage than I did as a kid. I now have a lot of role models to help me.
【小题1】What does the underlined part in the first paragraph probably mean?| A．The author wants to keep a pet cat. |
| B．The author makes effort to overcome her fear. |
| C．The author wishes to beat her brother in the game. |
| D．The author plans to experience an adventure on her own. |
| A．Playing outdoor sports. | B．Having a long-term hobby. |
| C．Making friends with strangers. | D．Improving their school performance. |
| A．They are all travel diaries. | B．They are based on true stories. |
| C．They teach girls how to succeed. | D．They are designed for preschool kids. |
| A．To express her pride in her career. | B．To attract more readers to writing. |
| C．To present the trouble of creating her stories. | D．To explain the reason for the book's popularity. |
