单选题 Here's the thing about being a brand name: What people want most from you is a kind of comforting predictability. Variations on a theme, sure, but when we pop open a can of Coke, it had bloody well better taste like Coke. And so it is with Anna Quindlen, who's as close to a brand name as a writer can be. Her twinkling {{U}}aphorisms{{/U}}, her gentle homespun humor, her mulling over what might be termed White People Problems: this is what her fans expect from her. And this is what she serves to them in generous portions in Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. Quindlen's latest collection of essays deals with crossing the Rubicon from late middle age to early old age. Each chapter muses on a different aspect of the way her life (and, by inference, ours) has changed as she moves from her 50s toward her 60s. With headings like "Faith", "Expectations" and "Mirror, Mirror", Quindlen leads us to examine what we already know—and makes us feel good for being so clever as to know it.
News flash: Solitude can be wonderful. Our girlfriends are incredibly important to us. Society has an unacceptable view of women's bodies. Fear is the great enemy. Having stuff is not that important. Even though our butts have fallen, most of us would not want to be 20 again. Life is unpredictable—or, as Quindlen puts it, in lines that could easily be sewn into one of the samplers she loves: "I thought I had a handle on my future. But the future, it turns out, is not a tote bag." Huh. I've also heard that life is like a box of chocolates. But in any case, Quindlen's readers don't love her for giving them news. They love her for being the person they'd like to have a cup of coffee with. So would I. Just don't drown it in cream and sugar.
Do I sound a little churlish? I suppose I am. I was with her through the '80s and early '90s, when Quindlen was one of the first, and certainly the best, to write about family and balance outside the confines of women's magazines. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning columns for the New York Times, she showed that domestic issues were worthy of serious examination, and she was a bold yet nuanced voice on topics ranging from spousal abuse to abortion. She can still be wryly funny, as when she tells us, in a chapter called "Push"—a perfect title for both having kids and today's helicopter parenting—that "keeping up with the Joneses turned into keeping up with the Joneses' kids."

单选题 What is the main idea of this article?

A. Quindlen's way of life.
B. How Quindlen becomes a brand writer.
C. Book review of Quindlen's latest collection of essays Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake.
D. Quindlen's books make people feel satisfied with their life.

单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Readers love Quindlen because they can talk about life with her.
B. Quindlen is the first to write about family and balance outside the confines of women's magazines.
C. Quindlen has won a Pulitzer Prize.
D. Quindlen is a serious writer without any homespun humor.

单选题 Why does Quindlen become a brand name?

A. She is good at marketing her books.
B. Her books offer readers comforting predictability.
C. She is a Pulitzer Prize winner.
D. She is a prolific writer.

单选题 What does Quindlen write about?

A. Philosophy of life, family and balance outside the confines of women's magazines.
B. Her idea of being old.
C. Her ways of life from 50 to 60.
D. Unpredictable life.

单选题 What is the meaning of the word "aphorism" in Paragraph 1?

A. Maxim.
B. Nonsense.
C. Belief.
D. Faith.