单选题 I was born in Tuckahoe, Talbot Country, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves knows as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember having ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvesting, springtime, or falltime. A lack of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages, I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquires of my master concerning it. He considered all such inquires on the part of a slave improper and impertinent. The nearest estimate I can give makes me now between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age. I come to this, from hearing my master say, some time during 1835. I was about sventeen years old. My mother was named Harriet Bailey. She was the daughter of Isaac and Betsey Bailey, both colored, and quite dark. My mother was of a darker complexion than either my grandmother or grandfather.
My father was a white man. The opinion was also whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion, I know nothing; the means of knowing was withheld from me. My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant--before I knew her as my mother. It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age. Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the care of an older woman, too old for field labor. For what this separation is done, I do not know, unless it was to hinder the development of the child's affection towards its mother.

单选题 The author did not know exactly when he was born because

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】本题是一道细节题。文章第一段第二句告诉了我们为什么作者一直无法得知自己真实年龄的原因：“I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it" 他不清楚自己确切的年龄是因为没有任何真实的书面记载(authentic record)。因此可以得知选项B是符合原文意思的。其他三个选项在原文中并没有提及。

单选题 In the mid-nineteenth century, slaves often

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】本题是一道推断题。作者在文章第一段告诉我们，几乎没有一个奴隶知道自己确切的年龄。因此，正如该段第五句指出(They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvesting, springtime，or falltime)，奴隶们基本上是用播种、收获、春季、秋季等季节作为生日的标志。由此可以推断，选项A是符合原文意思的。选项B中提到的奴隶们不在乎他们的真实年龄是缺少事实根据的。该段第六句接着指出：“A lack of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood”(作者无从得知有关自己身世的一些信息，自己的生活也因此缺少快乐，甚至是在童年时期)。由此可以推断并不是奴隶自己不在乎，也不是忘记自己的生日，而是无从得知；因此选项B和C 是不确切的。而D项中的假装不知道彼此的生日在原文中没有提到，因此是不正确的。

单选题 According the passage, when the author was very young his mother

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】本题是一道细节题。文章第一段最后两句告诉我们作者的祖父母都是黑人，而他母亲的肤色比祖母或者祖父都要深(My mother was of a darker complexion than either my grandmother or grandfather)。由此我们首先可以排除选项B。第二段第三句指出在作者知道她是他母亲前他就和母亲分离了(My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant —before I knew her as my mother)。接下去这几句为我们的推理提供了强有力的事实依据：“It is a common custom，in the part of Maryland…to part children from their mothers at a very early age．Frequently，before the child has reached its twelfth month，its mother is taken from it， and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off...”在马里兰州的奴隶中流传这样一个习俗：孩子在很小的时候就会从母亲身边被带走；通常在孩子还没有满周岁时母亲就会被带到一个很远的农场干活。因为作者的母亲也是马里兰州的奴隶，由此我们也可以推断当他很小的时候母亲不是逃跑了，而是被送去其他地方干活。因此可以排除选项A，只有选项D才是最佳答案。选项C在文中没有提及。

单选题 The author was most probably raised

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】本题是一道推断题。文章第二段倒数第二和第三句指出：“It is a common custom， in the part of Maryland…and the child is placed under the care of an older woman，too old for field labor”(通常在马里兰州，奴隶的孩子在不满周岁时就从母亲身边被带走，交给丧失劳动能力的老年妇女看管)。由此可以推断出作者最有可能是有老年的女奴抚养的，故选项B是最为确切的答案。其他三个选项均缺少原文的事实依据，故应排除。