单选题 Honore de Balzac, the famous writer, was a man of many accomplishments (才能). In his own opinion, one of his main accomplishments was his outstanding ability as a student of handwriting. He had spent much time on this subject, and he often told his friends that he could accurately (准确的) describe a person's character from a sample of that person's handwriting.
One day, a woman friend brought him a sample of a boy's handwriting. She said that she wanted to know what Balzac thought of the boy's character.
Balzac studied the handwriting carefully for a few minutes. Then he looked at the woman strangely. The woman, however, told him that the boy was no relative of hers and that he could tell her the truth.
"Good!" said Balzac, "Then let me speak frankly (坦率地)."
He then went on to say that he thought the boy was a careless and lazy person. He added that the boy should be watched carefully, otherwise, he would grow up to bring disgrace (耻辱) upon his family.
"Isn't that strange?" said the woman, smiling. "Because this happens to be a page from your own copybook, which you yourself used when you were a boy./

单选题 Balzac was famous______.
A. because of his own opinion
B. for his excellent literature (文学) works
C. because of his handwriting
D. for his character
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。根据文章第一句话Honore de Balzac;the famous writer,was a man of many accomplishments.“著名作家奥诺雷·德·巴尔扎克有许多才能”可知他是一位著名作家,故选[B] “他以他优秀的文学作品而出名”。
单选题 The woman came with a sample of a boy's handwriting ______.
A. to ask for Balzac's advice
B. to ask what the boy's character was
C. to ask Balzac to tell her the truth
D. to test Balzac's ability as a student of handwriting
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。根据第一段得知巴尔扎克自认为他的主要才能是书法,尤其是他能根据书法描述一个人的品质。所以这位女性朋友拿着书法样品找他,是想测试巴尔扎克对书法的鉴别能力。
单选题 Balzac drew a conclusion______.
A. after he made a careful study B. carelessly
C. correctly D. with disgrace
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。虽然巴尔扎克得出的结论不免让人吃惊,但根据第三段第一句话Balzac studied the handwriting carefully for a few minutes.“巴尔扎克仔细地将这幅书法研究了几分钟”可知他确实进行了仔细鉴别。
单选题 At the end we know that Balzac______.
A. was careless and lazy
B. was watched carefully in his childhood
C. brought disgrace upon his family
D. couldn't write well enough when he was young
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。根据全文可推断,巴尔扎克后来字迹变化极大,连他自己都认不出当年的“杰作”了,因为他小时候也许写得太不好了。