Question

Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because her thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely----a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “Creative voice.”

“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”

Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection.

Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?

A. She had seven brothers.     B. She felt herself a nobody.

C. She was too shy to go to school.

D. She did not have any good teachers.

The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to _____.

   A. work for a school magazine        B. run away from her family

   C. make a lot of friends              D. develop her writing style

According to Cisneros, what played the decisive role in her success?

   A. Her early years in college.           B. Her training in the Workshop.

   C. Her feeling of being different.        D. Her childhood experience.

What do we learn about The House on Mango Street?

   A. It is quite popular among students.

   B. It is the only book ever written by Cisneros.

   C. It wasn’t success as it was written in Spanish.

   D. It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine.

Answer 1

【小題1】B

【小題2】D

【小題3】C

【小題4】A

解析:

本篇文章為我們介紹了一個人物—— 有一個害羞的小女孩成為知名作家的故事，著重描述了她獨特寫作風格形成的原因 。

【小題1】事實細節題。由第一段的第三句話“感到害羞，不重要，她躲到書本中”可知應選”nobody” “不重要的人，小人物”從文中第一段的第二句提到她有6個哥哥，可刪除A  由文中第二段第一句可知D 項不正確。

【小題2】事實細節題。由第二段最后兩句“在大學的文學社，她感到孤獨……這種與別人不同的認知幫助她找到了她的‘獨創聲音’即寫作風格”可推知D項正確。

【小題3】事實細節題。由第三段第一句她所說的“直到我認識到我真的與眾不同我的寫作才獲得聲音”可得知C 項正確。

【小題4】事實細節題。由第四段第二句“……has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level（這本書從高中到大學的課上都被使用）”可知A項正確。由最后一段可知B 項中的"only”不正確。C項是邏輯錯誤。由最后一段的前兩句可知D 項不正確。