Question

    Author Walter Dean Myers died at the age of 76 after a brief illness. Walter Dean Myers was the author of more than 100 books for children and young adults and received many top awards.

The prolific author was loved for his vivid description of the lives of African American children, and for writing books for young people that covered different subjects. “Myers has written about all those subjects with deep understanding and a hard-won, qualified sense of hope,” said Leonard S. Marcus in 2008.

He was born in 1937 and was adopted by Florence Dean and Herbert after his mother died while giving birth to his younger sister. They loved him very much and his mother read to him from a very young age. Reading pushed him to discover worlds beyond his landscape.

He began writing at an early age. He wrote well in high school and an English teacher recognized this and advised him to keep on writing no matter what happened to him. “It’s what you do,” she said.

He dropped out of high school at 17 and joined the army. After finishing his service, he entered a dark period in his life. Myers began writing at night to pull himself through that miserable time.

In an essay published in The New York Times earlier this year, Myers described how a short story by James Arthur Baldwin helped change his course of life. “I didn’t love the story, but I drew inspiration from it,” he wrote, “for it took place in Harlem, and it was a story concerned with black people like those I knew. By humanizing the people who were like me, Baldwin’s story also humanized me. The story gave me a permission that I didn’t know I needed, the permission to write about my own landscape, my own map.”

“I write books for the troubled boy I once was,” he wrote, “and for the boy who lives within me still.”

1.What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?

A.How popular Myers was.

B.How Myers became successful.

C.What people think of Myers’ books.

D.What makes Myers’ works popular.

2.What does the underlined word “prolific” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A.Optimistc. B.Unfortunate.

C.Productive. D.Humorous.

3.Who discovered Myers’ writing talent?

A.James Arthur Baldwin. B.His mother.

C.Leonard S. Marcus. D.One of his teachers.

4.Why was the short story by James Arthur Baldwin so important to Myers?

A.It helped him survive the dark period.

B.It inspired him to pursue his writing career.

C.He learned many writing techniques from it.

D.The author of the story permitted him to write.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.D

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇人物传记。文章介绍了作家沃尔特·迪安·迈尔斯以及他的作品。

1.段落大意题。根据第二段中The prolific author was loved for his vivid description of the lives of African American children, and for writing books for young people that covered different subjects.“这位多产的作家因其对非裔美国儿童生活的生动描述，以及为不同主题的年轻人写书而深受喜爱。”可知，第二段讲述的是“什么使迈尔斯的作品受欢迎。”故选D。

2.词义猜测题。根据第一段中Walter Dean Myers was the author of more than 100 books for children and young adults and received many top awards.“沃尔特·迪安·迈尔斯是100多本儿童和年轻人读物的作者，并获得了许多最高奖项。”可知，他是一位多产的作家。由此推知划线词的意思是“多产的”。故选C。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段中He wrote well in high school and an English teacher recognized this and advised him to keep on writing no matter what happened to him. “It’s what you do,” she said.“他在高中时写得很好，一位英语老师认识到这一点，建议他无论发生什么事都要坚持写下去。‘这是你的工作，’她说。”由此推知，是他的一位老师发现了Myers的写作天赋。故选D。

4.细节理解题。根据最后一段中In an essay published in The New York Times earlier this year, Myers described how a short story by James Arthur Baldwin helped change his course of life. “I didn’t love the story, but I drew inspiration from it,” he wrote. 今年早些时候，迈尔斯在《纽约时报》上发表了一篇文章，描述了詹姆斯·亚瑟·鲍德温(James Arthur Baldwin)的短篇小说如何改变了他的人生轨迹。“我不喜欢这个故事，但我从中获得了灵感，”他写道。可知，James Arthur Baldwin的短故事对Myers如此重要是因为这激发了他追求自己的写作生涯。故选B。