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A

One of the most popular literary figures in American literature is a woman who spent almost half of her long life in China， a country on a continent thousands of miles from the United States. In her lifetime she got this countrys most honored literary award， the Pulitzer Prize， and also the most prestigious （有聲望的） form of literary recognition in the world， the Nobel Prize for literature.

Pearl Buck was almost a household word throughout much of her lifetime because of her literary output， which consisted of some eighty-five published works， including several dozen novels， six collections of short stories， fourteen books for children， and more than a dozen works of non-fiction.

When she was eighty years old， some twenty-five books were awaiting publication. Many of those books were set in China， the land in which she spent so much of her life. Her books and her life served as a bridge between the cultures of the East and the West.

Her background （背景） as the product of those two cultures made her into an unusually interesting and versatile （多才多藝的） human being. As we examine the life of Pearl Buck， we cannot help but realize that we are in fact meeting three different people： a wife and mother， an internationally famous writer， and a humanitarian （人道主義者）. One cannot really get to know Pearl Buck without learning about each of the three. Though honored in her lifetime with the William Dean Howell Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in addition to the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize， Pearl Buck as a total human being， not only a famous author， is a fascinating subject of study.

1. What is the authors main purpose of writing the passage？

A. To introduce Pearl Buck to readers.

B. To show Pearl Bucks views on Chinese literature.

C. To offer information about the works of Pearl Buck.

D. To discuss Pearl Bucks influence on the cultures of the East and the West.

2. Pearl Buck is known as a writer of ___ .

a. novels b. childrens books

c. short stories d. poems e. non-fiction

A. a； b； c； d B. a； b； d； e

C. b； c； d； e D. a； b； c； e

3. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 suggest about Pearl Buck？

A. She was well known.

B. She was a poor woman.

C. She used to be a housewife.

D. She was good at housework.

4. Why is Pearl Buck regarded as an unusual woman in American literature？

A. She published half of her books abroad.

B. She achieved her first success very late in life.

C. She wrote extensively about a very different culture.

D. She won more awards than any other woman of her time.

B

About ten men in every hundred suffer from color blindness in some way. Women are luckier； only about one in two hundred is affected in this matter. Perhaps， after all， it is safer to be driven by a woman！

There are different forms of color blindness. In some cases a man may not be able to see deep red. He may think that red， orange and yellow are all shadows of green. Sometimes a person cannot tell the difference between blue and green. In rare cases an unlucky man may see everything in shades of green—a strange world indeed.

Color blindness in human beings is a strange thing to explain. In a single eye there are millions of very small things called “cones”. These help us to see in a bright light and to tell the difference between colors. There are also millions of “rods”， but these are used for seeing when it is near dark. They show us shape but no color.

Some insects have favorite colors. Mosquitoes prefer blue to yellow. A red light will not attract insects， but a blue lamp will. In a similar way human beings also have favorite colors. Yet we are lucky. With the aid of the cones in our eyes we can see many beautiful colors by day， and with the aid of the rods we can see shapes at night. One day we may even learn more about the invisible （看不見的） colors around us.

5. Why is it safer to be driven by women according to Paragraph 1？

A. They are more careful.

B. They are fonder of driving.

C. Fewer of them are color-blind.

D. More of them are quicker in thinking.

6. Which of the following is TRUE about the color-blind？

A. None of them can see deep red.

B. All of them see everything in shades of green.

C. Not all of them have the same problem in recognizing color.

D. None of them can tell the difference between blue and green.

7. According to the passage， with the help of the “cones”， we can ___ .

A. tell different shapes B. see in a weak light

C. see colors when its dark D. tell orange from yellow

8. What is the passage mainly about？

A. Color blindness.

B. Color and its surprising effects.

C. Women being luckier than men.

D. Danger caused by color blindness.