The biographer has to dance between two shaky positions with respect to the subject（研究对象）. Too close a relation, and the writer may lose objectivity. Not close enough, and the writer may lack the sympathy necessary to any effort to portray a mind, a soul—the quality of life. Who should write the biography of a family, for example? Because of their closeness to the subject, family members may have special information, but by the same token, they may not have the distance that would allow them to be fair. Similarly, a king's servant might not be the best one to write a biography of that king. But a foreigner might not have the knowledge and sympathy necessary to write the king's biography—not for a readership from within the kingdom, at any rate.
There is no ideal position for such a task. The biographer has to work with the position he or she has in the world, adjusting that position as necessary to deal with the subject. Every position has strengths and weaknesses: to thrive, a writer must try to become aware of these, evaluate them in terms of the subject, and select a position accordingly.
When their subjects are heroes or famous figures, biographies often reveal a democratic motive: they attempt to show that their subjects are only human, no better than anyone else. Other biographies are meant to change us, to invite us to become better than we are. The biographies of Jesus（耶稣）found in the Bible are in this class.
Biographers may claim that their account is the "authentic" one. In advancing this claim, they are helped if the biography is "authorized" by the subject; this presumably allows the biographer special access to private information. "Unauthorized" biographies also have their appeal, however, since they can suggest an independence of mind in the biographer. In book promotions, the "unauthorized" characterization usually suggests the prospect of juicy gossip that the subject had hoped to suppress. A subject might have several biographies, even several "authentic" ones. We sense intuitively that no one is in a position to tell "the" story of a life, perhaps not even the subject, and this has been proved by the history of biography.
1.According to the author, an ideal biographer would be one who _______.
A.knows the subject very well and yet maintains a proper distance from him
B.is close to the subject and knows the techniques of biography writing
C.is independent and knows the techniques of biography writing
D.possesses special private information and is sympathetic toward the subject
2.The author cites the biographies of Jesus in the Bible in order to show that _______.
A.the best biographies are meant to transform their readers
B.biographies are authentic accounts of their subjects' lives
C.the best biographies are those of heroes and famous figures
D.biographies can serve different purposes
3.Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?
A.An authentic biography seldom appeals to its readers.
B.An authentic biography is one authorized by the subject.
C.No one can write a perfect biography.
D.Authorized biographies have a wider readership.
4.An unauthorized biography is likely to attract more readers because _______.
A.it portrays the subject both faithfully and vividly
B.it contains interesting information about the subject's private life
C.it reveals a lot of accurate details unknown to outsiders
D.it usually gives a sympathetic description of the subject's character
5.In this passage, the author focuses on _______.
A.the difficulty of a biographer in finding the proper perspective to do his job
B.the secret of a biographer to win more readers
C.the techniques required of a biographer to write a good biography
D.the characteristics of different kinds of biographies questions
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1.【答案】A。
【解析】推论题。问根据作者的意见，一个理想的传记作家会是什么样的人。文章第一段便指出：“……与研究对象关系过于密切，作家就会失去客观性。与研究对象关系不够密切，作家就会缺乏写传记所需要的那种同情心。”A项说“既非常了解研究对象，又能与之保持一个适当的距离”，这样，就既能保持应有的同情心，又能保持客观性，不失公允。看来理想的传记作家应能准确地把握自己与研究对象之间关系的这个度。B、C、D三项均不合适，因为三者均没有把作家与研究对象之间的关系作为一个参照标准。故答案为A。
2.【答案】D。
【解析】推论题。问作者选择《圣经》中耶稣传记的目的何在。A项说：“最好的传记旨在改变读者。”由于文中并未提到传记的优劣标准，因此该项不合题意。C项说：“最好的传记是关于英雄和名人的传记。”这也牵涉到传记优劣的标准问题。B项说：“传记是被研究对象生活的真实写照。”这句话本身没有错，但不是作者想要说明的。第三段中指出：“当它们的研究对象是英雄或名人时，传记作品常常表现一个平民化的主题：它们试图表明这些英雄或名人只是人，只是—些普普通通的人。另一类传记旨在改变我们，想让我们变得比现在更好。《圣经》中耶稣传记就属于这—类。”这里举出两类传记作品，它们的目的不同。作者的真正用意是想说明D项所包含的内容，即“传记作品是为各种目的服务的”。故答案应为D。
3.【答案】C。
【解析】正误判断题。通过阅读全文，我们可以领会作者的用意：传记写作难。C项“任何人都不会写出十全十美的传记”这种看法比较客观，易于接受，也同作者的基本观点相吻合。故答案为C。
4.【答案】B。
【解析】辨认事实题。问一部未经授权的传记作品可能会吸引更多的读者，原因何在？最后一段第四句话指出：在促进传记销售方面，“未经授权的”传记作品通常暗示人们书中含有他们所期待的、所感兴趣的内幕情况，这些也是研究对象希望掩饰的。B项说”它包含着令人感兴趣的有关传记对象私生活的内容”，这句与上句话内容相吻合，故B为正确答案。
5.【答案】A。
【解析】主旨题。问作者在本文中谈论的主要是什么；综观全文，作者主要介绍了传记作家所面临的选择合适视角的问题。B、C、D项均不是作者在文中主要论述的的内容。唯有A项合乎题意，故为正确答案。
