Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from scho

Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day's events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary. I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper. After all, isn't accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?

When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well－equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera. During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across. I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels. On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand. The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows. I automatically took out my pen…

At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley. All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.

Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling. I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful. I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful. I'm no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old. I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.

I don't want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes. Maybe I won't have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I'll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me. I don't live to make memories—I just live, and the memories form themselves.

56．Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of ________．

A．observing her school routine            

B．expressing her satisfaction

C．impressing her classmates              

D．preserving her history

57．What caused a change in the author's understanding of keeping a diary?

A．A dull night on the journey.    

B．The beauty of the great valley.

C．A striking quotation from a book. 

D．Her concerns for future generations.

58．What does the author put in her diary now?

A．Notes and beautiful pictures.   

B．Special thoughts and feelings.

C．Detailed accounts of daily activities. 

D．Descriptions of unforgettable events.

59．The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is ________．

A．to experience it                       

B．to live the present in the future

C．to make memories                     

D．to give accurate representations of it

【要点综述】 本文是一篇记叙文，主要讲述了作者记日记发生的一些变化。13岁前，作者每天都记日记，记下一天发生的事及自己的感受等。作者很喜欢把自己看到的东西记在纸上。13岁以后， 一次去大峡谷的旅行改变了作者对记日记的看法，从那以后作者只在日记里记载特殊的想法和感受。作者认为要想过有意义的生活，就要亲自去经历。

56．D 　细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句中的“… a way of preserving the past？”可知，作者在13岁以前认为记日记是一种保存过去的方式。 故D正确。

57．B 　细节理解题。根据第三段可知，作者改变是因为看到了峡谷的美丽景色。故B正确。

58．B 　细节理解题。根据第四段中的第一句“Now, I … write down a special thought or feeling.”可知，现在作者在日记里只记录特殊的思想和感情。

59．A 　细节理解题。根据最后一段可知，作者意识到要想过有意义的生活得自己亲自去经历。故A正确。