Herta Müller, the Romanianborn German writer, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature.The award was announced in Stockholm.
Ms Müller, 56, immigrated to Germany from Romania in 1987.She is the first German writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature since Gunter Grass in 1999 and the 13th winner writing in German since the prize was first given in 1901.She is the 12th woman to get the literature prize.
But unlike Doris Leasing and V.S.Naipaul, Ms Müller is relatively unknown outside literary circles in Germany.“I am very surprised and still cannot believe it,” Ms Müller said in a statement in Germany.“I can't say anything more at the moment.”
She has written about 20 books, but just five have been translated into English, including the novels “The Land of Green Plums” and “The Appointment”.
At a news conference at the German Publishers and Booksellers Association in Berlin, where she lives, Ms Müller, wearing all black and sitting on a big chair, appeared overwhelmed by all the cameras in her face.She spoke of the 30 years she spent under a dictatorship, describing “living with fear in the morning that in the evening one would no longer exist”.
When asked what it meant that her name would now be mentioned at the same moment as German greats like Thomas Mann and Heinrich Bll, Ms Müller remained calm.“I am now nothing better and I'm nothing worse,” she said.“My inner thing is writing.That's what I can persist_in,_and if nothing special happens, I will never give up.”
Earlier in the day, at a news conference in Stockholm, Peter Englund,secretary of the Swedish Academy, said Ms Müller was honored for her “very, very special language” and because “she has really a story to tell about...and growing up as a stranger in your own family.”
Which of the following statements about Ms Müller is true?
A.Most of her works have been translated into English. |
B.She immigrated to Germany from Romania when she was 35. |
C.She's the first Romanian writer that has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. |
D.She is the first German writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature in the 21st |
century.
Before getting the Nobel Prize, Ms Müller __________.
A.was famous for her works |
B.lived a poor but happy life |
C.was not wellknown to most people |
D.had enough confidence in winning it |
The underlined words “persist in” in Paragraph 6 mean __________.
A.refuse to do | B.continue to do |
C.stop to do | D.agree to do |
We can learn from the passage that __________.
A.Ms Müller's special language and experience made her get the Nobel Prize |
B.most of Ms Müller's novels are unsuccessful works |
C.Ms Müller felt much better after she won the Nobel Prize |
D.Ms Müller was honored because of her wonderful description about German's |
life