Passage 3
Just hours before Sunday papers with the last drawings of the Peanuts characters began hitting newsstands, the man who created the world's most popular comic strip died in his sleep at his Santa Rosa, California home.
Charles Schulz, “Sparky” to those who knew him, was diagnosed with colon cancer in November. And ever since, get-well wishes and tributes have been pouring in. Mail reached 500 pieces a day at his Santa Rosa studio. And other cartoonists expressed their feelings through their own comic characters.
Mike Luckovich is an editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He's a fan of editorial cartooning, although one time he asked me, “Mike, why do you do those mean cartoons?” because his strip was always so gentle and so sweet.” The mini-plots of the Peanuts gang were as profound as they were funny.
Paige Braddock works for Schulz Creative Associates. “He's an observer of how people interact and what people's insecurities are and somehow he manages to capture that, in this simple, elegantly-designed art form. You know, in 20 words, or less.”
The insecure and anxious Charlie Brown may well have been a reflection of the other side of Schulz's own personality.
Gaye Lebaron is a columnist for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “…and in a way, he's Everyman. And I think that's what the appeal has been. He has characteristics shared by everybody.”
The Peanuts kids had a universal appeal. The strip appeared in 2,500 papers in 76 countries.
Daryl King read the last strip early Sunday in a Washington, D.C. coffee shop. “It's like the end of an era. You grow up with Peanuts, you expect it's always going to be there.”
For San Francisco school psychologist Wes Cedros, the Peanuts kids became more interesting with time. “As I grew older, I could identify with all the themes that were running through.”
It was the animated characters of the Peanuts television specials that Los Angeles ecommerce fashion worker Pat remembers. “There was this sort of sad undertone to it, that just really hit; it hit that soft spot.”
Schulz was the 1978 International Cartoonist of the Year and twice won cartooning's highest honor, the Reuben Award. Last week he spoke about the art of cartoon with Santa Rosa radio station, KSRO. “I'm just pleased that somehow I've been able to kind of point out to some people that comic strip art is an art.”
There will be returns. But Schulz and his family decided long ago that after he stopped, no one else would ever draw the strip he drew for nearly 50 years.
Who is now writing the Peanuts comic strip?
由本文最后一段的最后一句可知，在《史努比》的画家查尔斯·舒尔茨去世之后，再也没有人继续创作这项作品。故正确答案为B。
How did editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich describe Charles Schulz's comic strip?
由题干可定位至文章第三段，通过本段的描述，可以知道迈克·卢科维奇认为查尔斯的四格漫画（comic strip）很温柔甜美，《史努比》里面的情节又有趣又深刻，皆为褒奖。故正确答案为D。
Why was Schulz's comic strip so popular?
文章第六段解释了为何查尔斯的漫画如此受欢迎：由于漫画中的人物仿佛是生活中的每个普通人，他身上展现的不安和焦虑正是每个人都会经历的，大家都能感同身受。故正确答案为C。
The reason why the e-commerce fashion worker, Pat, liked the Peanuts television program was that ________.
根据题目定位至文章第十段。电商时尚工作者帕特对电视动画片印象深刻，因 为她觉得动画片的基调伤感，击中了她内心的柔软，推测她应当为动画片人物感到悲伤。 故正确答案为A。
According to the article, what is cartooning's highest award?
由文章倒数第二段第一句可知，漫画的最高荣誉奖项是鲁本奖（the Reuben Award），查尔斯两次获得该奖项。故正确答案为B。