Herta Muller was born in August 1953 in the traditionally German—speaking Nabat region of Romania．

After studying literature between l 973 and l 976，Muller was fired from her first job after refusing to work for Ceausescu’s（齐奥塞斯库）secret police．It was at this time that she decided to devote her life to literature，but she refused to publish her first book Niederungen（Nadirs）in Romania because of attempts by the authorities to censor（审查）it．The manuscript，describing vividly the boring life under Ceausescu’s rule，was taken secretly into West Germany，where it was published in 1984，with Germany’s Spiegel magazine pronouncing her a “discovery”．After being refused permission to move to West Germany in l 985，she was finally allowed to leave in 1987after her sharp criticism of her native country’s rule earned her death threats from the secret police．

The Berlin International Literature Festival described her work as being focused on the non-conformist（不墨守成规者）life in the smallest unit of the dictatorial（独裁的）state，as well as observations from her childhood and village life anti family．

The novel Reisende auf einem Bein （Travelling On One Leg） describes the difficulties of settling anew in foreign surroundings. Alongside other novels about the Ceausescu rule like Herztier （Land of Green Plums） and Heute waer ich mir lidbernicht begegnet （The Appointment）, she has also written a series of political essays.

Besides the prize for her first book, she has received the European Literary Prize "Aristeion",

the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Kieist Prize, and the Kafka Prize. Now she has added the 2009 Nobel Literature Prize to her glories.

1. When did Herta Muller decide to focus on writing?

A. Between 1973 and 1976. ~            B. When she was fired from her first job.

C. When she published her first book.     D. After she moved to west Germany.

2. Which of the following statements is not true?

A. Her first book was not published in Romania.

B. Her first application for moving to west Germany was refused.

C. Her novel Herztier describes the difficulties of beginning a new life abroad.

D. She wrote many novels and political essays.

3. How many awards has she got so far according to the text?

A. 4             B. 6              C. 5               D. 7

4. What do you think of Herta Muller according to Paragraph 2?

A. Critical        B. Flexible         C. Fearful          D. Optimistic

5. The best title of the text is

A. Herta Muller’s fleeing life.

B. Herta Muller’s literature works.

C. Herta Muiler’s honours.

D. Nobel Literature Prize winner-Herta Muller.

Uncle Tom gave little Vicki Black a birthday gift one week before her birthday. He told her not to open it until her birthday. She knew her mother wouldn’t tolerate any disrespect to the kind man who helped them out after Vicki’s father passed away; besides, Vicki didn’t want Uncle Tom to get angry. But little Vicky didn’t want to just hold it and guess what was in it. After all, she looked forward to his coming to show her interesting things, like how to turn an old sock into a doll.
All the day, Vicki couldn’t stop thinking about the gift while her teacher was giving a lecture. Vicki sat still in her seat, drawing paper dolls inside the box. When school was done, she raced home. Walking into the room, again, she shook the present, but she heard nothing. Holding her breath, she opened the box and looked inside. Seconds later, she cried. When Mrs. Black saw the box, she said angrily, “Didn’t I tell you to leave it alone?” Vicki sobbed and said, “Mommy, you don’t understand.”
“Don’t cry to me. You have missed everything now, just because you couldn’t wait,” Mrs. Black accused. “What will Uncle Tom think now?”
“Uncle Tom gave me nothing,” Vicki cried and handed the empty box to her mother. “He played a trick on me.”
Mrs. Black said doubtfully, “Uncle Tom is not like that. You must have dropped it.”
Vicki kept crying. Only a rapid knock on the door made the house quiet. It was Uncle Tom. He looked at the empty box. “You have already done it? I told you to wait for your birthday.”
“You didn’t give me a gift.” Fresh tears filled her eyes.
“I try to give you something. I know your birthday is a special day. I tell myself to give you something valuable to last your whole life. I think hard and get the idea to give you an important lesson. If you open it on birthday, I see you learn. Then I will make a big party to celebrate. Maybe next year you listen and then you will understand the gift better.
Vicki’s cheeks flushed（脸红）.
【小题1】
【小题2】

【小题3】

【小题4】

Every morning at eleven, a bright new car drove through the central park in New York．Inside the car  36   a driver and his boss, a well-known millionaire（百万富翁）.
Each morning the millionaire   37    a poorly-dressed man   38  on a park bench(长凳)．The man always sat  39    staring at the hotel in which the rich man lived．One day the millionaire was so  40   in the man that he asked his driver to stop the car and he  41   to the bench．He said to the poor man, “Excuse me,  42    I just have to know why you sit staring at my hotel every morning.” “Sir, ”said the poor man, “I’m a failure．I have no job, no family and no 43   ．I sleep on this bench and every night I dream that  44   day I will sleep in this hotel.” The rich man had  45 ．He said to the poor man, “Tonight your dream will come  46 . I’ll 47    for the best room in that hotel for you for   48   .” The millionaire smiled and felt 49    of himself.
A few days  50    , the millionaire went by the poor man’s room to ask him how he 51     himself．To his great  52    , he found that the poor man had moved out of the hotel, back to his park bench．When the millionaire asked why, the man said, “You see, when I’m 53    here sleeping on the bench．I always dream I’m up there in the hotel．It’s a wonderful dream．But when I was up there in the hotel, I dreamed I was  54   here on this cold bench．It was  55    dream and I could not get any sleep at all.”