【解析】
1. 根据短文第一句“Ernest Hemingway was one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century, known for his simple and direct writing style.”可直接得出答案。
2. 由短文第二句“His Nobel - winning novel, *The Old Man and the Sea*”可知，这本书是一部小说。
3. 从短文第四段“One of the novel's main themes is humans' ability to live in times of great difficulty.”和第五段“The novel also looks at themes such as pride, pain, and the struggle of humans against nature.”可归纳出主题。
4. 根据短文最后一段“It also helped Hemingway win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.”能找到获奖时间。
5. 前文提到海明威认为这是他写过最好的作品，后文说明该书是文学杰作且斩获诸多奖项，可推断出此处应填“he was right”，表明他的自我评价是正确的。
【答案】
1. Simple and direct.
2. A novel.
3. Humans' ability to live in times of great difficulty, pride, pain, and the struggle of humans against nature.
4. In 1954.
5. he was right
【知识点】
细节理解, 主旨归纳, 推理判断
【点评】
本文介绍了美国作家海明威及其代表作《老人与海》，涵盖海明威的写作风格、小说的内容与主题等内容。题目考查学生从文本提取关键信息和合理推理的能力，同时能帮助学生了解经典文学作品的相关知识。
【难度系数】
0.7
