Even before historian Joseph Ellis became a best-selling author, he was famous for his vivid lectures. In his popular courses at

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问题     Even before historian Joseph Ellis became a best-selling author, he was famous for his vivid lectures. In his popular courses at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, he would often make classroom discussion lively by describing his own combat experience in Vietnam. But as Ellis’s reputation grew — his books on the Founding Fathers have won both the prestigious National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize — the history professor began to entertain local and national reporters with his memories of war. Last year, after The Boston Globe carried accounts of Ellis’s experience in the Vietnam war, someone who knew the truth about Ellis dropped a dime (揭发). Last week The Boston Globe revealed that Ellis, famous for explaining the nation’s history, had some explaining to do about his own past.
    "Even in the best of lives, mistakes are made," said a wretched Ellis. It turned out that while the distinguished historian had served in the Army, he’d spent his war years not in the jungles of Southeast Asia, but teaching history at West Point. He’d also overstated his role in the antiwar movement and even his high-school athletic records. His admission shocked colleagues, fellow historians and students who wondered why someone so accomplished would beautify his past. But it seems that success and truthfulness don’t always go hand in hand. Even among the distinguished achievers, security experts say, one in ten is deceiving — indulging in everything from empty boasting to more serious offenses such as plagiarism (剽窃), fictionalizing military records, making up false academic certificates or worse. "And, oddly, prominent people who beautify the past often do so once they’re famous", says Ernest Brod of Kroll Associates, which has conducted thousands of background checks. Says Brod: "It’s not like they use these lies to climb the ladder."
    Then what makes them do it? Psychologists say some people succeed, at least in part, because they are uniquely adjusted to the expectations of others. And no matter how well-known, those people can be haunted by a sense of their own shortcomings. "From outside, these people look anything but fragile," says Dennis Shulman, a New York psychoanalyst. "But inside, they feel hollow, empty."
What is said about Ellis in the first paragraph?

选项 A、He was more famous when he taught at Mount Holyoke College.
B、He has told both students and reporters about his own experience of war.
C、His book on the Vietnam War has won two important prizes.
D、He has written a best-seller for a newspaper — The Boston Globe.

答案B

解析 根据题干中的first paragraph将答案出处定位到原文首段。该段第二、三句提到,Ellis在曼荷莲学院描述他自己在越南的战争经历使课堂讨论气氛活跃,名声逐渐扩大后他开始向地方和全国报刊的记者讲述他的战争经历,B)“他向学生和记者都讲述了他的战争经历”与此相符,故答案为B)。由首段前三句可知,Ellis在成为畅销书作家之前就已经很有名,成为畅销书作家之后更有名,故A)不正确。由首段第三句可知,Ellis获得两个重要奖项的书是关于美国的开国者,而非C)中所说的越战。D)属于张冠李戴。
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