  We study the Cu and O spectral density of states and the optical conductivity
of CuO_2 planes using an effective generalized one-band Hubbard model derived
from the extended three-band Hubbard model. We solve exactly a square cluster
of 10 unit cells and average the results over all possible boundary conditions,
what leads to smooth functions of frequency. Upon doping, the Fermi energy
jumps to Zhang-Rice states which are connected to the rest of the valence band
(in contrast to an isolated new band in the middle of the gap). The transfer of
spectral weight depends on the parameters of the original three-band model not
only through the one-band effective parameters but also through the relevant
matrix elements. We discuss the evolution of the gap upon doping. The optical
conductivity of the doped system shows a mid-infrared peak due to intraband
transitions, a pseudogap and a high frequency part related to interband
transitions. Its shape and integrated weight up to a given frequency (including
the Drude weight) agree qualitatively with experiments in the cuprates for low
to moderate doping levels, but significant deviations exist for doping $x>0.3$.
