Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[jasonlulu_2000]

I was the middle child of three, but there was a gap of five years on either side, and I hardly saw my father before I was eight. For this and other reasons I was somewhat lonely. I had the lonely child�s habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued. I knew that I had a natural ability with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts, and I felt that this created a sort of private world in which I could get my own back for my failure in everyday life.
However, the quantity of serious writing which I produced all through my childhood would not add up to half a dozen pages. I wrote my first poem at the age of four or five, my mother taking it down to dictation. I cannot remember anything about it except that it was about a tiger and the tiger had �chair-like teeth� - a good enough expression. At eleven, when the war of 1914-18 broke out, I wrote a poem which was printed in the local newspaper, as was another, two years later, on the death of Kitchener. From time to time, when I was a bit older, I wrote bad and usually unfinished �nature poems�. I also, about twice, attempted a short story which was a failure. That was the total of the would-be serious work that I actually set down on paper during all those years.
58.What can be inferred about the writer?
A.He was least favoured in his family.
B.He had much difficulty in talking with others.
C.He had an unhappy childhood for lack of care.
D.His loneliness resulted in his interest in writing.

I got stuck in the choices between C and D. Could anyone help me out?

Plus: I wrote my first poem at the age of four or five, my mother taking it down to dictation.
Could you explain the sentence:My mother taking it down to dictation?

Thanks

[Eric Thompson]

Dear Jason Lulu, Answer D is best because it mentions his writing, which appears to be his life's occupation and the main topic of the quoted passage. The part about his mother and dictation probably refers to the fact that, at 4 or 5 years old, he couldn't write and needed his mother's help in writing it down on paper. That is what 'dictation' is. Secretaries at offices normally 'take dictation' for their bosses. But it sounds a bit awkward to say 'take it down to dictation'. However, no other preposition sounds just write to me, but as sounds best. OK?