16 moments. If I'm working while the kids are home, I have the added 17 of tuning out their chaos. I'll write and write until I fall under a spell, and just when I was getting 18 , it happens - Camille will 19 into my office wearing a big smile - and a smelling diaper (尿布).

　　I wish I had a daily 20 , a solid time no one can interrupt, but I don't. I may go days or even weeks without writing. I hate these 21 , but much as I like to believe the world needs my writing, my daughters need me much more. So for now I write when I can. While this arrangement works, I sometimes 22 how productive I'd be if my life wasn't stop-and-go. With time on my side, I could be a writing machine, 23 at once what would normally take me months.

　　This leads me to a question I find 24 to all parents: Do kids hold back or 25 our dreams? Children are needy by nature, and regardless of how much 26 we show them, they want more. By the time we tend to them, we're tired out - and 27 in the mood to follow our dream. They push our personal pleasures 28 and slow us down, making tortoises out of hares.

　　On the other hand, children add a richness to our lives that I believe inspires better work, thus 29 for time we lose. As a writer, I don't find inspiration sitting at my computer. 30 , I find it when I'm out living, and the 31 I take because of my children - going to the ballpark, birthday parties, even doctor visits - put me in 32 with people who constantly set off new ideas. Many ideas arise through 33 conversation, which can 34 me like thunder. Immediately, I'll make a mental note, knowing that someday I'll use that 35 in a story.

　16. A. quiet B. stolen C. critical D. precious

　17. A. courage B. challenge C. instruction D. priority

　18. A. direction B. invention C. inspiration D. application

19. A. crawl B. run C. jog D. jump