Question

O. Henry, a famous American writer of short stories, was born in North Carolina in 1862. O. Henry was a pen name. His real name was William Sydney Porter. When he was a young boy, he did not go to school for long because of being born in a poor family, but he tried to teach himself everything he needed to know.

When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas. There he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank. But he got himself into some trouble. Some money went missing from the bank. O. Henry was believed to have stolen it, so he was sent to prison(监狱). During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and went on writing.

He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because almost all of them finished with a sudden change. This made the readers surprised.

1.O. Henry was sent to prison because __________.

A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper.

B. People thought he had stolen money from the bank.

C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners.

D. he broke the law (法律) by not using his own name

2.Which of the following is true?

A. O. Henry was from a rich family

B. O. Henry was in school for a long time.

C. O. Henry learned everything he needed by himself.

D. O. Henry liked writing stories when he was a little boy.

3. O. Henry got most materials for his stories from ________.

A. his happy life as a boy

B. New York and the poor of the city

C. the newspaper

D. his life in prison

4.People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because ________.

A. they had surprising endings

B. they were easy to understand

C. they showed love for the poor

D. they were about New York

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：短文大意：本文介绍了著名的美国短篇小说家欧.亨利。欧.亨利于1862年出生于加利福尼亚北部，小时候因为家里穷没钱上学，他自学了所有需要的知识。长大后他尝试了很多不同的工作，在报社、在银行，后来进了监狱，在监狱的三年学会了写小说，他的小说素材大部分来自纽约和那里的穷人，小说结尾情节有大的转变，令读者喜爱。

1.B细节理解题。根据短文第二段描述Some money went missing from the bank. O. Henry was believed to have stolen it, so he was sent to prison(监狱).可知是因为在银行工作时少了钱，大家认为是他偷的而被送进监狱的，故选B。

2.C细节理解题。根据短文第一段描述When he was a young boy, he did not go to school for long because of being born in a poor family, but he tried to teach himself everything he needed to know.可知小时候穷因为穷没钱上学，但他自学了所需要的所有知识，故选C。

3.B细节理解题。根据短文第三段描述He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there.可知他的写作素材大部分来自纽约和那儿的穷人，故选B。

4.A推理判断题。根据短文第三段描述People liked his stories, because almost all of them finished with a sudden change. This made the readers surprised.可知人们喜欢他的故事是因为他的故事结尾有一个突然的变化，让读者感到惊讶，故选A。

考点：考查人物传记类短文阅读。