READING COMPREHENSION

Questions 1-10

£ £ £ Alice Walker makes her living by writing, and her poems short stories, and novels
have won many awards and fellowships for her. She was born in Eatonton, Georgia. She
went to public schools there, and then to Spelman College in Atlanta before coming to
New York to attend Sarah Lawrence College, from which she graduated in 1966. For a
time she lived in Jackson, Mississippi with her lawyer husband and small daughter.
About Langston Hughes, American Poet, her first book for children, she says ,"After my
first meeting with Langston Hughes I vowed I would write a boot about him for
children someday. Why? Became I, at twenty-two, knew next to nothing of his work,
and he didn't scold me; he just gave me a stack of his book. And he was kind to me; I
will always be grateful that in his absolute warmth and generosity he fulfilled my
deepest dream (and need) of what a poet should be.

£ £  "To me he is not dead at all. Hardly a day goes by that I don't think of him or speak
of him. Once, just before he died, when he was sick with the flu, I took him a sack full
of oranges. The joy I felt in giving that simple gift is undiminished by time. He said he
liked oranges, too."

1. What is the main topic of the passage?
(A) Alice Walker's reflections on Langston Hughes
(B) The influence of Alice Walker on the writing of Langston Hughes
(C) Langston Hughes' book about Alice Walker
(D) A comparison of the childhoods of Alice Walker and Langston Hughes

2. In the passage, Alice Walker is described as
(A) a research fellow at Spelman College
(B) a professor at Sarah Lawrence College
(C) a prize-winning writer of£ prose and poetry
(D) an author of£ plays for children

3. Before attending college, Alice Walker went to school in
(A) Atlanta, Georgia
(B) Eatonton, Georgia
(C) Jackson, Mississippi
(D) Lawrence, Massachusetts

4. The word "vowed" in line 7 is closest in meaning to which of the following?
(A) Confided
(B) Believed
(C) Denied
(D) Promised

5. It can be inferred from the passage that Alice Walker was twenty-two years old when
(A) she moved to Jackson, Mississippi
(B) she moved to New York
(C) she first met Langston Hughes
(D) Langston Hughes died

6. It can be inferred from lines 9-11 that Alice Walker's first impressions of£ Langston
Hughes were derived mostly from
(A) talking with his friends
(B) reading his autobiography
(C) studying his poetry
(D) meeting him

7. The word "dream" in line 11 is closest in meaning to
(A) nightmare
(B) expectation
(C) sleep
(D) misconception

8. what does Alice Walker imply when she says Langston Hughes "is not dead at all"
(Line 12)?
(A) Langston Hughes believed in eternal life.
(B) She had not been informed of Langston Hughes' death.
(C) For her, Langston Hughes had never really existed.
(D) Langston Hughes is still present in her thoughts.