Ralph Ellison’s novel, “Invisible Man”, was published in nineteen fifty-two. Ellison was at once called a major new writer. The book won the National Book Award, a high and rare honor for a first novel.
    Since then millions of copies have been printed. The book is still used in many universities and other schools. One professor said that he has used the book in his teaching for twenty-five years. He said that each time he returns to “Invisible Man” he finds new ideas in it.
    After “Invisible Man” was published, Ralph Ellison taught at a number of universities. He retired from New York University in nineteen eighty .While he was alive, he published only two other books .They were books of criticism（批判）and essays（随笔）, called “Shadow and Act” and “Going to the Territory”.
    Ralph Ellison died in nineteen ninety-four, at the age of eighty. After his death, a book of his stories, “Flying Home”, was published. Shortly before his death, Ellison had told someone that his second novel was almost finished. He had worked on the novel for forty years without finishing it.
    Parts of the book had appeared in magazines during the nineteen sixties and seventies. Ellison had to rewrite the novel after a large part of it was burned in a fire at his home in nineteen sixty-seven. The novel was said to be two thousand pages long. Finally, his friend John Callahan put the book together after Ellison died. The novel was published in nineteen ninety-nine. It was called “Juneteenth”.
    Since “Invisible Man” was published, many American writers have said how much Ellison influenced them.
    In nineteen ninety, another black writer, Charies Johnson, was given the National Book Award. In receiving the prize, Johnson thanked Ralph Ellison for leading the way for black writers. Ellison was present at the ceremony. He thanked Johnson. Then he expressed his belief that black writers should not be influenced only by other black writers. He said:
“You do not write out of your skin. You write out of your ideas and the quality of your mind.”

61．We can see from the passage ,when Ellison’s first novel appeared ,he was in his_______ .
A．twenties B．thirties C．forties D．fifties

62．Which of the following statements about “Invisible Man” may NOT be right?
A．It was written when Ellison was a professor in New York University.
B．It is Ellison’s first novel.
C．It is still used in many universities now.
D．It is so successful that it wins itself a place in American literature.

63. How many books did Ellison publish when he was alive?

A. 1      B. 2      C. 3      D.4

64．According to the passage, “Juneteenth” _____.
A．is written by John Callahan
B．is Ellison’s second novel
C．was published in Ellison’s seventies
D．was published 10 years after his death

65．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Ellison was a great white writer.
B．“Flying Home” is one of Ellison’s novels.
C．It took half of Ellison’s life time to write “Juneteenth”.
D．Ellison didn’t live to see the publication of “Shadow and Act” and          “Going to the Territory”.

Born in 1949, Diana Nyad took an early interest in swimming as a sport and was a Florida State High School swimming champion（冠军）. Like many young trainers, she had Olympic dreams, but a serious illness prevented her from competing in the Games. The disappointment didn’t stop her from going forward. Instead, she became interested in marathon swimming.
For ten years Nyad devoted herself to becoming one of the world’s best long-distance swimmers. In 1970, she swam a ten-mile marathon in Lake Ontario, setting the women’s record for the course. In 1972 she set another record by swimming 102.5 miles from an island in the Bahamas to the coast of Florida. Then she broke a third record when swimming around Manhattan Island in 1975.
Nyad attempted to swim the distance between Florida and Cuba in 1978. Though the span(跨度) of water is less than 100 miles wide, it is rough and dangerous. After battling(与---作战) the water for two days, she had to give up for the sake of her own health and safety. Even so, she impressed the world with her courage and strong desire to succeed. It did not matter that her swim came up short; she believed she had touched the other shore.
When Nyad ended her career as a swimmer, she continued to try new things---travelling the world as a reporter, writing books and giving public speeches about her life. Diana Nyad works to inspire others, just as she did when she swam the waters of the world.
【小题1】What was Nyad’s early interest?
【小题2】When did Nyad set the record for a ten-mile marathon swimming?
【小题3】According to the passage, how many times did Nyad join the long-distance swimming?
【小题4】What did Nyad do after she finished swimming?
【小题5】What can we learn from the passage?