Collections were the inspiration(灵感) for a project at Thomas Tallis School, which formed part of the Imagine Children's Literature Festival last autumn. Each child (aged 12-13) beautified a box and wrote a story on the subject of collections to throw inside it. The boxes were spread within the Royal Festival Hall's Ballroom. Some were left empty to encourage visitors to write their own stories.
The subject chosen by Lauren was an imaginative one. "It's a sort of Cinderella (灰姑娘) story," she told me, inspired by a collection of letters from her cousin, In the story these become love letters, burned by a cruel stepmother. Lauren's best friend Charlotte is the stepmother. "I'm in Charlotte's story too," says Lauren, "and I get run over." Charlotte's tale was inspired by the girls' coin collection. "We've collected foreign coins for years – since our families went on holiday to Tenerife." she explains. "That was before the Euro, so we put pesetas in." Lauren continues: "I find a coin in the road, go to get it and get run over. I'm in hospital and then I die." Charlotte adds: "Or she might not die. I haven't decided yet."
Millie Murray, who is a teen-novel author, thinks that setting the subject of collections was a useful inspiration to their creativity rather than a restriction(限制). "In the beginning I thought, 'Will the children be able to do it?"she says. "But it's been fruitful. Some have their own collection, some have parents who do, and some have written complete stories. It's made them think about something they wouldn't have otherwise, which can only be a good thing."
59. What were the children asked to do in the project?
A. To meet friends at Thomas Tallis School. B. To write stories on the subject of collections.
C. To encourage visitors to write their own stories.
D. To have their friends for characters in the stories.
60. The underlined word "pesetas" in Paragraph 2 is a kind of _____.
A. story B. collection C. inspiration D. foreign coin
61. From the stories by Lauren and Charlotte, we know that _____ .
A. Charlotte hurt herself when getting a coin
B. both of them developed their imagination
C. both of them will die in each other's stories
D. Lauren's cousin posted her some love letters
62. Millie Murray thinks ________.
A. collections could inspire writing creativity
B. it was good for parents to have collections
C. inspirations were very useful in writing stories
D. setting collection subjects restricted inspirations
