When middle-aged Alex gave up his job and made up his mind to become a self-employed writer, no one could tell surely  whether he would succeed or not．He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a used typewriter and settled down to work．After a year or so, however, Alex began to doubt himself．He found it was difficult to earn his living by selling what he wrote．But Alex determined to put his dream to the test-even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure．This is the shadow land （虚幻世界） of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there． One day Alex got a call, "We need an assistant, and we're paying $ 6,000 a yea  r．" $ 6,000 was real money in 1960．It would enable Alex to get a nice apartment, a used car and more．Besides, he could write in his spare time．As the dollars were dancing in Alex's head, something cleared his senses．He had dreamed of being a fulltime writer．"Thanks, but no," Alex said firmly and swiftly.After Alex got off the phone, he pulled out everything he had: two cans of vegetables and 18 cents．Alex put the cans and cents into a paper bag, saying to himself," There's everything you've made of yourself so far．I'm not sure I ever felt so low．" Finally his work was published in 1970．Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experience．The shadows had turned into focus of attention． Then one day, Alex found a box filled with things he had owned years before．Inside was a paper bag with two cans and 18 cents．Suddenly he pictured himself working in that cold storage room．It reminds Alex, and anyone with a dream, of the courage and persistence （坚毅） it takes to stay the course (坚持到底)in the shadow land． 小题1:Why did A lex give up his job?
 ress when he answered the call?
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