Question

Doris Lessing is a great writer. She was born in Persia (now Iran) on October 22, 1919. Both of her parents were British. In 1925, hoping to get rich through corn farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Though they worked hard, they did not get what they had expected there.

Lessing has described her childhood as an uneven(不平坦的)mix of some pleasure and much pain. Her mother was very strict with her. Doris was first sent to a convent (女修道院) school, and later sent to an all-girls high school in the capital city. However, she soon dropped out from the school. At that time she was thirteen, and it was the end of her formal education.

But like other women writers from South Africa who did not graduate from high school, Lessing made herself into a self-educated writer. Recently she said that unhappy childhood seemed to produce fiction writers. After she left school, Doris took great pleasure in books she got for herself and benefited a lot from them.

In 1937 Doris moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and had two children. A few years later, she was attracted by a group of Communists and later she also became a member of the group.

In 1949, Lessing moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.

In her fifty years of being a professional writer, Doris has written a lot of books.

In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography(自传). It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political view. Ironically(具有讽刺意义地), she is welcomed now as a writer praised for the very topics for which she was forced to leave 40 years ago.

67. Lessing's family moved to Southern Rhodesia in the hope of ________ .

A. fleeing political persecution(迫害) B. getting a little freedom

C. making themselves rich by farming D. growing corn there

68. According to Lessing, her childhood ________ .

A. was unhappy for her mother's too much strictness

B. was happy to be in a convent school

C. was filled with pleasure as a high school student

D. seemd to be more painful than pleased

69. In Doris' opinion, unhappy childhood ________ .

A. can help a person become a fiction writer

B. can help people teach themselves

C. can help a person take interest in music

D. can help a person find new pleasure outside school

70. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Lessing's first novel was published in 1949.

B. Lessing was a professional writer from 1949 to 1989.

C. In 1995 Harvard University honored her for her great achievements.

D. In 1995 she paid a visit to South Africa to promote the sales of her autobiography.

Answer 1

CDAB