单选题 O. Henry was the pen name of American writer Sydney Porter, whose stories are famous for their surprise endings, to the point that such an ending is often mentioned as an "O. Henry ending". He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy, he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know.
When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in bank. When some money was discovered missing from bank, O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison, he learned to write short stories.
Porter"s most productive writing period started in 1902, when he moved to New York City to be near his publishers. While living there, he wrote 381 short stories. He wrote a story a week for over a year for the New York World Sunday Magazine. His language style and the plot twists were admired by his readers.
He was called the American answer to Guy de Maupassant in France. Both writers wrote unexpected endings, but O. Henry"s stories were much more playful and they cheer you up. Most of O. Henry"s stories are set in his own time, the early years of the 20th century, and his many stories deal for the most part with ordinary people in New York: clerks, policemen, and waitresses.
单选题 What is the typical feature of an "O. Henry ending"?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“‘欧·亨利式结局’的典型特征是什么?”由文章第一段第一句“O. Henry was the pen name of American writer Sydney Porter, whose stories are famous for their surprise endings, to the point that such an ending is often mentioned as an "O. Henry ending".”可知,“欧·亨利式结局”的典型特征“surprise endings”,即是出人意料的。故A正确。
单选题 What did O. Henry do as a child?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“欧·亨利还是孩子时做了什么?”由文章第一段最后两句“As a young boy, he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know.”可知,欧·亨利还是孩子时没有上学,而是自学。故C正确。
单选题 Why does the author mention Guy de Maupassant in the text?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题干意为“作者为什么在文中提到莫泊桑?”由文章最后一段可推测出,作者提到莫泊桑是把这两人进行对比。故B正确。