TEXT K First read the questions. 60. Which of the following statements is true according to the text? A. James Michener enjoyed donating, because he had no offspring. B. James Michener set a good example for other philanthropists, for he was imaginative and had his unique style C. Shortly before his death, he revealed a hidden regret that he would rather have all the money he had donated back. D. His largest donation went to the Texas center for writers, because he was a successful writer himself while many others struggled on their way. Now go though Text K quickly to answer question 45. A Joyful philanthropist In his long writing life, James Michener aimed to donate at least 90 percent of what he earned from his 43 novels. He seems to have more than made his goal; at his death, in October, 1997, his assets were estimated at least less than US 10 million. He had given away US 117 million. Michener makes a good example for other philanthropists, not just in how much he gave, but in his style of giving. The writer worked hard at doing good, following up his donation to see how the money was used. He gave to things for which he had a passion, and he had a lot of fun in doing so. Michener was 90 when he died. He was on Fortune magazines list of Americas top 25 philanthropists —— the only writer in a crowd of tycoons. Asked, shortly before his death, whether he ever wished he had his millions back, he said sure, so that he could have the pleasure of giving then away again. Too often, says Nelson Aldrich, editor of The American Benefactor, a magazine about philanthropists, the rich give without much imagination. "They give to the college they went to, and the hospital where theyll die, "Aldrich says." And most of the rich are stingy; few give even as much as 10 percent, the traditional tithe. They hold on the myth of not dipping into capital." Michener did, in fact, give to his college —— US7.2 million to Swarthmore, in Pennsylvania. He called it a repayment for the US 2,000 basketball scholarship they gave him in 1925. As he wrote to the college president, in 1969,"Coming as I did from a family with no income at all, and with no prospects whatever, college was the narrow door that led from darkness into light." His will leaves almost everything to Swarthmore, including future royalties from his books. (He had no family to leave his money to; although he was married three times, he had no children. His third wife, Mari Sabusawa Michener, died in 1994.) Michener always described himself as a foundling, born in New York City and raised by Mable Michener, a Quaker widow, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She lived, he said, by taking in other peoples children and other peoples laundry. For his last 15 years, Michener lived modestly in Austin, Texas, where he had moved to write the 1,000-page saga Texas. Each of his big bestsellers, including Texas, Hawaii and Covenant, made about US 5 million. And there were 20 of them. Whats more, he still collected royalties from the musical and movie South Pacific, which was inspired by his first book, Tales of the South Pacific, written when he was 40. Frail from kidney disease in his last years, Michener was pretty much confined to a declining chair in a small study, simply decorated. There were few personal possessions besides some photos of himself and his last wife, and an unframed, faded poster of Tahiti. A source of pleasure and company in those years was the Texas Center for writers. His largest gist, totaling US 64.2 million, went to the University of Texas, with US 18 million going to found and support the writers center. He got a lot back, he said —— "You meet bright people, you can consult with anybody there, and there are 23 libraries on campus." Every year Michener would meet with the 10 incoming students, one by one, and he went out with them every fall to the Salt Lick barbecue restaurant. He often ate at the college cafeteria, center director James Magnuson recall. He enjoy their barbecue chicken special. His gift to the Texas Center included hundreds of modern American paintings worth a total of US31 million. His US 25 million collection of Japanese prints had already been donated to Honolulus city art gallery. (He lived there for seven years while writing Hawaii, the 1959 book that set the pattern for his later, exhaustively researched bestseller.) His next largest gift was 11.5 million to two museums and the library in his hometown of Doylestown. Micheners smaller gift also reveal a lot about where his affections lay. And they reveal that it was a very good thing to have James Michener working in your vicinity. While researching Alaska, for example, he lived in a log cabin near the tiny Sheldon Jackson College in Stika (student population: 233) He used the campus library and set and talked to students in the cafeteria. After he left he gave the college US 750,000 for scholarship. After living in Houston to write Space, he endowed a college scholarship fund for children of NASA employees pursuing careers in science or engineering. Since 1982, 73 scholarships have been given out. After wring Centennial, on the setting of the West, Michener donates US50,000 to help pay for the Nebraska National Trails Museum. The University of Miami, where Michener did his research for Caribbean, got US1 million for a writing program for graduate students, especially those from the islands. Similarly, after Michener finishing Poland, Michener established a US400,000 fund to support young Polish writers. Michener considered himself a professional writer, not an author;" author" stuck him as a pretentious term. Like his writing, his philanthropy was intended to educate; thus his support of colleges, libraries and museums. Michener was generous to writers whose books were very difficult from his. For example, he endowed a US30,000-a-year fellowship at the University of Houston named for Donald Barthelme, a nobly surreal and sophisticated fiction writer. Michener endowed eight fellowships a year for graduates of the University of Iowa Writers Workshop, where the books produced tend to be slimmer, subtler and moodier than the typical Michener. The money was to support the young poets and novelists for a year while they struggled to get published. Frank Conroy, workshop director, remembers, "It wasnt just a case of, heres a some money, go and do good." He was a man who knew it was not easy to do good. You have to think, and think hard, to do good." Finally, Michener gave generously to the one kind of writer he would never be-an impoverished one. The Authors League Fund, the charitable arm of the Authors Guild and the Dramatists Guild, received US1.2 million over 10 years from Michener to help authors who were old and sick, without income or health insurance. Two months before he died, Michener wrote a note to Herbert Mitgang, director of the Fund. As Mitgang unfolded the letter, he discovered a cheque for US 125,000 for the fund. Writing that cheque and tucking it into the envelope must have been a satisfying gesture, and fun.
60. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
A) James Michener enjoyed donating, because he had no offspring.
B) James Michener set a good example for other philanthropists, for he was imaginative and had his unique style
C) Shortly before his death, he revealed a hidden regret that he would rather have all the money he had donated back.
D) His largest donation went to the Texas center for writers, because he was a successful writer himself while many others struggled on their way.
60. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
A) James Michener enjoyed donating, because he had no offspring.
B) James Michener set a good example for other philanthropists, for he was imaginative and had his unique style
C) Shortly before his death, he revealed a hidden regret that he would rather have all the money he had donated back.
D) His largest donation went to the Texas center for writers, because he was a successful writer himself while many others struggled on their way.