A
John Steinbeck was a great American writer. He was born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902. His mother, a teacher, fostered (培养) Steinbeck's love of reading and the written word. During the summers he worked on nearby farms, which gave him the impression of the California countryside and its people. He studied at Salinas High School between 1915 and 1919. At the age of 18, he studied biology at Stanford University but he left in 1925 without finishing his degree.
Among other things, Steinbeck wrote about the hard lives of workers. During his early years of writing, Steinbeck did many jobs. When Steinbeck was 27, his first novel was published. Over his lifetime he wrote a lot of fiction and nonfiction. Of Mice and Men (1937) became Steinbeck's first success. His novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, brought him even greater success. A year later he won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel. It is also for this novel that he is best remembered. Many of his books have been adapted (改编) for films and the theatre.
Steinbeck was first married in 1930 to Carol Henning. The marriage ended in divorce (离婚) in 1942. In 1943 Steinbeck moved to New York City where he lived for the rest of his life. He married the singer Gwyndolyn Conger in 1943 and had two sons, Thom, born in 1944, and John born in 1946. They were divorced in 1948 and two years later he married his third wife, Elaine Scott.
In 1962 Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (文学). And in 1964 President Lyndon B Johnson presented him with the United States Medal of Freedom.
He died of a heart attack in New York on December 20, 1968.
语篇解读：本文介绍美国作家Steinbeck传奇的一生。
1．What does the passage mainly talk about?
A．Steinbeck's life. B．Steinbeck's dream.
C．Steinbeck's novels. D．Steinbeck's success.
解析：选A 主旨大意题。本文简要叙述了Steinbeck的一生，包括他的成长，他的作品以及婚姻生活等等。
2．All the following are true EXCEPT that ________.
A．Steinbeck divorced two times during his life
B．Steinbeck began to write novels before he was 27
C．Steinbeck was concerned about the lives of workers
D．Steinbeck lived in New York when he was little
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“In 1943 Steinbeck moved to New York City where he lived for the rest of his life.”可知，Steinbeck搬到纽约生活的时候已经四十多岁了。
3．At the age of 60 Steinbeck got ________.
A．the United States Medal
B．his biology degree
C．the Pulitzer Prize
D．the Nobel Prize
解析：选D 细节理解题。从第一段内容可知Steinbeck出生于1902年，60岁时应是1962年；再根据倒数第二段中的“In 1962 Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.”可知答案。
