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A trick question: Can you name the only three writers who have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction twice? Faulkner, yes; Updike. And? Hats off if you came up with Booth Tarkington.

And yet his two prize-winners——"The Magnificent Ambersons" and " Alice Adams”, just reissued in one volume by the Library of America—are not even the most commercially successful novels of his extraordinarily successful career. Nine of his books were ranked among the top ten sellers of their year, and the strangely dissimilar The Turmoil and Seventeen were the No. 1 sellers in consecutive(连续的)years. And then there's Penrod, probably the most beloved boys' book since Tom and Huck, though I can't recommend a stroll down that particular memory lane.

There are thirty or so novels, countless short stories and serials, a string of hit plays. And there were countless honors: Tarkington was not only commercial but literary—not just the Pulitzers but in 1933 the gold medal for fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which Edith Wharton and William Dean Howells had won previously. As early as 1922, the Times had placed him twelfth on a list of the twelve greatest contemporary American men.

As for booksellers, in 1921 they voted him the most significant contemporary American writer. Nothing ever changes. How to explain this remarkable career—the quick rise to fame, the unaffected reputation over several decades, and then the pronounced fall into shadowiness? If you read all his fiction, you find a steady although uninspired hand at the helm. Slowly, painstakingly (费力地),Tarkington had taught himself to write reliable prose (散文)and construct appealing fictions ; he was modest—always literate but never showy. You could count on him to catch your interest even if he failed to grasp your imagination or your heart. And he was always a gentleman.

1.What does "Hats off" underlined in Paragraph 1 mean?

A.Show respect. B.Feel nervous.

C.Throw away hats. D.Take off hats.

2.Which book is possibly popular among boys?

A.The Magnificent Ambersons. B.Alice Adams.

C.Penrod. D.Seventeen.

3.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A.Tarkington's works and honors. B.Tarkington's personality.

C.Tarkington's social position. D.Tarkington's achievements.

4.What's the authors attitude to Tarkington?

A.Doubtful. B.Objective.

C.Negative. D.Admiring.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题

少年,再来一题如何?
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