Question

    Ernest Gaines, the son of sharecroppers (佃农), was born in January 15, 1933 on the River Lake Plantation near the small village of Oscar, Louisiana. He attended school for kids more than five months out of the year. But that was more education than his family before him had received. He would say later in life that his ear for the stories of his elders was developed as he wrote letters for adults who couldn’t read or write.

In the late 1940’s, at the age of 15, his family moved to the northern California where he could do something that had been forbidden in the South: visit a library. Ernest later attended San Francisco State University. Then he returned to Louisiana in 1963, inspired by James Meredith’s bid to enroll in the then-all-white University of Mississippi. He took it as a sign that the South was changing and that he could be part of that change. “As I’ve said many times before, the two greatest moves I’ve made were on the day I left Louisiana in 1948, and on the day I came back to Louisiana in 1963,” he said.

Less than 10 years later, in 1971, he published the novel that brought him attention, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman which told the story of a black woman born as a slave who lives long enough to witness the civil rights era. Ernest would later say that the fictional Jane was modeled after his disabled great-aunt, Augustine Jefferson, who could not walk, but was strong enough to raise a family. Another novel, A Gathering of Old Men, published in 1983, was made into a movie in 1987. He won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1993 for his novel A Lesson Before Dying. A number of his stories and essays were gathered in the 2005 collection Mozart and Leadbelly.

His permanent residence in Louisiana was a house that he and his wife built on land that was once part of River Lake Plantation. Ernest talked about his home, “If Auntie could sit here with me, or my stepfather who took me away from here, or my uncle George, who used to take me to those old beat-up bars in Baton Rouge — if I could, I’d just buy him a good glass of Gentleman Jack, and we could sit here and talk. Oh, I wish I could do that.”

1.How did Ernest benefit from writing letters for adults?

A.It inspired great love for writing in him.

B.It made him enter the university successfully.

C.It laid the foundation for his writing of his elders.

D.It promoted his communication with his families.

2.What can we know about Ernest from paragraph 2?

A.Ernest got the freedom of education in California.

B.Ernest’s departure and return influenced his life a lot.

C.James helped him apply to University of Mississippi.

D.Ernest’s experience in the South affected him greatly.

3.In which novel can you know about Ernest’s auntie?

A.Mozart and Leadbelly. B.A Lesson Before Dying.

C.A Gathering of Old Men. D.The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

4.What does Ernest convey in his words in the last paragraph?

A.He misses his relatives. B.He hopes to leave again.

C.He cherishes his childhood. D.He loves drinking and chatting.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了佃农的儿子Ernest Gaines怎样受到教育，并通过给成人写信奠定写作基础，后出版小说的经过。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段He would say later in life that his ear for the stories of his elders was developed as he wrote letters for adults who couldn’t read or write.可知，到晚年时，他会说，因为他帮不会读写的成年人写信，所以他对长辈的故事有了深入的了解。由此可以看出，Ernest帮成年人写信为他给长辈写作奠定了基础。故选C。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段his family moved to the northern California where he could do something that had been forbidden in the South: visit a library可知，他们家搬到北加利福利亚，在那里他能去图书馆，这是在南方他不可以做的；根据第二段He took it as a sign that the South was changing and that he could be part of that change.可知，他把它当作一个标志，这是指南方正在改变，而且他是改变的一部分。由此可以看出，Ernest的离开和回来对他的生活有很大影响。故选B。

3.细节理解题。根据第二段The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman which told the story of a black woman born as a slave who lives long enough to witness the civil rights era. Ernest would later say that the fictional Jane was modeled after his disabled great-aunt, Augustine Jefferson,可知，The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman讲述的了一个出生即为奴隶的黑人妇女的故事，她见证了民权时代。Ernest后来说，这个虚构的Jane是以他残疾的伟大的阿姨Augustine Jefferson为原型的。因此，在The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman这本小说里，你可以了解Ernest的阿姨。故选D。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段“If Auntie could sit here with me, or my stepfather who took me away from here, or my uncle George, who used to take me to those old beat-up bars in Baton Rouge — if I could, I’d just buy him a good glass of Gentleman Jack, and we could sit here and talk. Oh, I wish I could do that.”可知，如果阿姨可以跟我坐在这里，或者带我离开家的继父，又或者是过去常常带我去旧式酒吧的叔叔乔治叔叔。如果我可以的话，我会给他买一杯杰克绅士，我们可以坐在这儿聊天。我希望我可以那样做。从这些可以看出，作者想念他的亲戚了。故选A。