Bella-Jay Dark surprised her family last year when she told them she was going to write a book. Her parents thought it was just “one of those things” children say. Except she was serious, her book The Lost Cat has been officially published by Ginger Fyre Press. It has since sold over 1,000 copies. The 5-year-old girl in Weymouth, England, has been awarded the title of world’s youngest published author by Guinness World Records.

In order to be eligible(有资格的) for this Guinness World Records title, the book must be published by a commercial publishing house and at least 1,000 copies must be printed and sold. Guinness World Records confirmed that at the age of 5 years 211 days, Bella is the world’s youngest person to publish a book. The record was previously held by Dorothy Straight who was six years old when her book How the World Began was published in August 1964.

Bella said that she got the idea for The Lost Cat from one of her drawings. “It started off as a picture. My daddy said I could make a book and a story came from the picture,” she said. They went to a book fair and someone there said they wanted to publish it.

According to her mother, Chelsie Syme, Bella has always had a great imagination and has been writing short stories “from as young as three”. “We are just so proud of Bella and honestly can’t believe how amazing this is,” Syme said. “We’re also so grateful for the support and acknowledgment(承认) she has already received so far and she deserves this so much. She has always thrived off positivity from people—she just loves reading and drawing.” Bella also illustrated the book all by herself, with the exception of one picture at the end drawn by sister Lacie May.

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1.What did Bella’s parents think of her idea of writing a book at the beginning?

A They encouraged it.

B They weren’t astonished at all.

C They thought highly of it.

D They didn’t take it seriously.

解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据第一段第二句“Her parents thought it was just ‘one of those things’ children say.”可知当时她的父母认为她说要写一本书只是小孩子的话，说说而已，所以当时他们并未当真。故选D。

2.Which of the following is a must for an author’s applying for the Guinness World Records?

A The author’s age.

B A standard printing house.

C The author’s growth experience.

D Book printing and sales amount.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据第二段第一句“In order to be eligible for this Guinness World Records title, the book must be published by a commercial publishing house and at least 1,000 copies must be printed and sold.”可知，为了有资格获得吉尼斯世界纪录，这本书必须由商业出版社出版，并且必须印刷和出售至少1000本。故选D。

3.What gave Bella an inspiration to create a book?

A A book fair.

B A painting.

C A story book.

D Her mother’s words.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第三段的“Bella said that she got the idea for The Lost Cat from one of her drawings.”可知，贝拉是从自己的一幅绘画作品中得到《走失的猫》的灵感的。故选B。

4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A Bella was born with a great imagination.

B Bella’s mother gave her some necessary help.

C Everything was going smoothly for Bella’s success.

D Bella’s sister participated in the creation of the picture book.

解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据最后一段的“Bella also illustrated the book all by herself, with the exception of one picture at the end drawn by sister Lacie May.”可知，贝拉还亲自为这本书配了插图，除了书本末尾她的姐姐莱西·梅的一幅画外。由此说明贝拉的姐姐也参与了这本绘本的创作。故选D。