19．
John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men was originally going to be called Something That Happened．But in May 1936his puppy ate the written manuscript（稿）!This left him with two months work to do over again．Steinbeck got up at dawn every morning to write．After months of intense work，the novel was finished by the second week of August 1936，and sent off to his agent，Elizabeth Otis．
Shortly before it was published，Of Mice and Men was chosen by the"Book-of-the-Month"Club，guaranteeing it a large audience and big sales，Steinbeck found the news"gratifying but also frightening．"The book was a big success； it was published in early February 1937and by mid February had sold 117，000copies．"That's really a lot of books，"said Steinbeck．
As it leapt into the bestseller lists，it made Steinbeck suddenly a author．He was now a pubic person，and there were parties in his honor （in New York）．But his shyness and need for privacy made this difficult for him．When he finally got away for a well-earned holiday in Europe，Steinbeck wrote in a letter："I just need to get away from being John Steinbeck for a little while．"
Of Mice and Men is a story of loneliness，love，and need，a story of homeless and rootless men who have nothing or nobody except each other．Steinbeck expresses that everybody gets lonely and that everybody needs somebody，a friend．Crooks，the black stable hand said it plain and simple，"A guy needs somebody-to be near him．"He complained，"a guy goes nuts （失去理智）if he ain't got nobody．Don't make no difference who the guy is，I tell ya，"he cried，"I tell ya，a guy gets too lonely，an he gets sick．"
George's taking care of Lennie and the dream of the farm are attempts to break the pattern of loneliness that is part of the human condition．Similarly，Lennie's desire to pet soft things comes from his need to feel safe and secure，to touch something that gives him that feeling of not being alone in the world．For Lennie，the dream of the farm means that security．
Steinbeck reinforces （加強(qiáng)）the theme of loneliness in subtle and not so subtle ways．Near the farm，for example，is the town of Soledad．The town's name，not accidentally，means"solitude"or"alone．"Also，the others'reactions to George and Lennie traveling together reinforces that，in Steinbeck's world，traveling with someone else is unusual．
60．How long has Of Mice and Men been published after it was finished？C
A．For two months．
B．For three months
C．For about six months．
D．For about a year．
61．The underlined word"gratifying"in the second paragraph probably meansC．
A．indifferent
B．disgusting
C．delighting
D．ridiculous
62．What cat we learn from the third paragraph？B
A．Attending all kinds of parties was Steinbeck's favorite．
B．In order to find private time，Seinbeck went to Europe．
C．Steinbeck lost himself after he gained the honor in New York．
D．Steinbeck was difficult to get along with because of his shyness．
63．How did Lennie remove his loneliness？D
A．By taking care of his friend．
B．By taking about his dream．
C．By working hard make money．
D．By touching something soft．
