John Grisham was born on February 2, 1955 , in Jonesboro , Arkansas , in the USA . His father was a construction worker and moved his family all around the southern states of America , stopping wherever he could find work. Eventually they settled in Mississippi . Graduating from law school in 1981, Grisham practiced law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation ( 訴訟 ). In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.

　　One day at the Dessoto County courthouse, Grisham heard the horrifying testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim. He decided to write a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her attackers. He proceeded to get up every morning at 5 a .m. to work on the novel, called A Time to Kill , which was published in 1988. Grisham's next novel, The Firm , was one of the biggest hits of 1991, spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. Grisham was then able to give up law and concentrate on writing. Grisham lives with his wife and two children, dividing their time between their Victorian home on a 67-acre farm in Mississippi and a 204-acre plantation near Charlottesville , Virginia .

　　When he's not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes, including mission trips with his church group. As a child he dreamt of becoming a professional baseball player, and now serves as the local Little League commissioner. He has built six ball fields on his property and hosts children from 26 Little League teams.

　　1. John Grisham is ______ at present.

　　A. a writer B. a lawyer

　　C. a professional baseball player D. a congressman

　　2. What inspired Grisham to write his first novel?

　　A. A case of murder. B. A case of rape.

　　C. His father's experience. D. His life on the farm.

　　3. The story of the novel A Time to Kill would probably focus on ______.

　　A. how the girl was attacked B. the circumstances of the rape

　　C. how the girl's father took revenge D. how the case of rape was settled

　　4. Which of the following is NOT true of the novel The Firm ?

　　A. It was popular at the time of publication.

　　B. It earned Grisham great fame.

　　C. It brought Grisham wealth.

　　D. It was carried by The New York Times as a series.

　　5. It can be inferred from the passage that Grisham has built ball fields on his property ______.

　　A. to achieve his life's goal as a professional baseball player

　　B. to coach children in baseball

　　C. to see his childhood dream being realized in the children

　　D. to provide facilities of baseball training

　　約翰·格雷斯?jié)h姆一九五五年二月二日出生于美國阿肯色州的瓊斯伯勒。他父親是一名建筑工人，帶著他全家輾轉(zhuǎn)于美國南部各州，在哪里能夠找到工作，他們?nèi)揖驮谀睦锿Ａ簟Ｗ詈�，他們定居在密西西比州。一九八一年從法學(xué)院畢業(yè)后，格雷斯?jié)h姆在南阿旺社區(qū)從事了將近十年的法律工作，主要從事刑事辯護(hù)和個(gè)人傷害訴訟業(yè)務(wù)。一九八三年，他當(dāng)選為密西西比州眾議院議員，一直任職到一九九○年。

　　有一天，格雷斯?jié)h姆在德索圖縣法院耳聞目睹了一名十二歲的強(qiáng)奸受害者令人震驚的證詞。他決定寫一部小說，以探討受害者的父親如果謀殺了強(qiáng)奸她的罪犯將會(huì)怎樣。他開始每天早晨五點(diǎn)起床寫作，小說名為《謀殺時(shí)刻》，于一九八八年出版。格雷斯?jié)h姆隨后出版的小說《公司》成為一九九一年最暢銷的小說之一，連續(xù)四十七周名列《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》最暢銷書籍排行榜。后來，格雷斯?jié)h姆能夠放棄法律工作而專門寫作了。格雷斯?jié)h姆與他的妻子和兩個(gè)孩子住在一起，他們有時(shí)到他們位于密西西比州一個(gè)具有維多利亞時(shí)代風(fēng)格的住宅休閑——位于一個(gè)占地六十七英畝的農(nóng)場里，有時(shí)他們又到弗吉尼亞州夏洛茨維爾附近的一個(gè)占地二百零四英畝的種植園散心。

　　格雷斯?jié)h姆不寫作時(shí)便投身于慈善事業(yè)，包括與其教會(huì)群體參加傳道旅行。他孩提時(shí)候的夢想是成為一名職業(yè)棒球選手，如今，他是地方棒球小聯(lián)盟的專員。他在自己的地產(chǎn)上建造了六個(gè)棒球場地，供二十六支小棒球聯(lián)盟的孩子們訓(xùn)練。

　　參考答案 ： 1 . A 2 . B 3 . D 4 . D 5 . C

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