The famous film director Ang Lee recalls his father’s disappointment with him when he was young. 18 a small child, he would pick up a broom and pretend to be playing guitar for the entertainment of family guests.
答案：(D) As
As 在這裡表示「作為/當……的時候」（As a small child＝當他還是小孩的時候）；Since（自從/因為）、For（因為）、To（不能這樣單獨接名詞開頭）都不合。
看到 As 只想到「因為」或「當……的時候」，而這兩個意思後面都要接完整子句；一發現空格後面接的是 a small child 這個名詞，就把 As 排掉了。其實 as 也能當介系詞，後面直接接名詞。
先看四個選項的共同點：Since、For、As 都是既能當連接詞、又能當介系詞的短詞，可見這一格考的是「後面接的是名詞還是子句」。先數句子成分：空格後面是 a small child（名詞片語），逗號之後才是完整的主要子句 he would pick up a broom and pretend to be playing guitar。所以空格要的是一個能直接接名詞的字，不是連接詞。劍橋詞典的 as 條目把 as ＋ 名詞列為介系詞用法，意思是「以……的身分」，收的例句正好就是 As a child, Miriam had lived in India.（她小時候在印度住過）。本句的 As a small child 就是這個用法，還原成完整子句是 When he was a small child。後面的 would pick up 表示「以前總是……」，正是回憶童年習慣的口吻，與「還是個小孩子的時候」互相支持。
Since：當「自從」時後面接的是時間起點（since 1990、since childhood），a small child 是人不是時間點；當「因為」時要接完整子句。For：當「因為」時是連接詞，要接子句；當介系詞時是「為了、給」，For a small child 會變成「對一個小孩來說」，與後面「他會拿起掃把假裝彈吉他」接不起來。To：後面接名詞時表示方向或對象，接不出「當他還小的時候」這個意思。
as a child（在還是孩子的時候）、work as a waiter（當服務生）、regard A as B（把 A 視為 B）、pick up（拿起、順道學會）、pretend to V（假裝……）、be disappointed with sb（對某人失望）。
Experts say that creativity by definition means going against the tradition and breaking the rules. To be creative, you must dare 16, and courageously express your own outlook and 17 what makes you unique. But does our society encourage children to break the rules? I'm afraid the answer is no.
The famous film director Ang Lee recalls his father's disappointment with him when he was young. 18 a small child, he would pick up a broom and pretend to be playing guitar for the entertainment of family guests. Then, when he was studying film in college, he would exhaust himself just for a performance tour. His father, 19 always hoped that he would get a PhD and become a professor, 20 with a scoff: "What is all this nonsense?!"
But it later turned out that it was exactly his courage to "rebel" and to express his own ideas that marks his films with distinct creativity.