It is simple enough to say that since books have classes — fiction, biography, poetry — we should separate them and take from each what it is right and what should give us. Yet few people ask from books what can give us. Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, of poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconception when we read, that would be an admirable beginning. Do not dictate to your author; try to become him. Be his fellow-worker and accomplice. If you hang back, and reserve and criticize at first, you are preventing yourself from getting the fullest possible value from what you read. But if you open your mind as widely as possible, then signs and hints of almost imperceptible fineness, from the twist and turn of the first sentences, will bring you into the presence of a human being unlike any other. Steep yourself in this, acquaint yourself with this, and soon you will find that your author is giving you, or attempting to give you, something far more definite. The 32 chapters of a novel — if we consider how to read a novel first — are an attempt to make something as formed and controlled as a building: but words are more impalpable than bricks; reading is a longer and more complicated process than seeing. Perhaps the quickest way to understand the elements of what a novelist is doing is not to read, but to write; to make your own experiment with the dangers and difficulties of words. Recall, then, some event that has left a distinct impression on you — how at the corner of the street, perhaps, you passed two people talking. A tree shock; an electric light danced; the tone of the talk was comic, but also tragic; a whole vision, an entire conception, seemed contained in that moment. But when you attempt to reconstruct it in words, you will find that it breaks into a thousand conflicting impressions. Some must be subdued; others emphasized; in the process you will lose, probably, all grasp upon the emotion itself. Then turn from your blurred and littered pages to the opening pages of some great novelist — Defoe, Jane Austen, Hardy. Now you will be better able to appreciate their mastery. It is not merely that we are in the presence of a different person — Defoe, Jane Austen, or Thomas Hardy — but that we are living in a different world. Here, in Robinson Crusoe, we are trudging a plain high road; one thing happens after another; the fact and the order of the fact is enough. But if the open air and adventure mean everything to Defoe, they mean nothing to Jane Austen. Here is the drawing-room, and people talking, and by the many mirrors of their talk revealing their characters. And if, when we have accustomed ourselves to the drawing-room and its reflections, we turn to Hardy, we are once more spun around. The moors are round us and the stars are above our heads. The other side of the mind is now exposed — the dark side that comes uppermost in solitude, not the light side that shows in company. Our relations are not towards people, but towards Nature and destiny. Yet different as these worlds are, each is consistent with itself. The maker of each is careful to observe the laws of his own perspective, and however great a strain they may put upon, they will never confuse us, as lesser writers so frequently do, by introducing two different kinds of reality into the same book. Thus to go from one great novelist to another — from Jane Austen to Hardy, from Peacock to Trollope, from Scott to Meredith — is to be wrenched and uprooted; to be thrown this way and then that. To read a novel is a difficult and complex art. You must be capable not only of great fineness of perception, but of great boldness of imagination if you are going to make use of all that the novelist — the great artist

When we begin to read a book, ______.

A．we are eager to know the result of the book

B．we have formed some ideas beforehand

C．we have some prejudice against the author

D．we are doubtful about the facts to be shown

Which of the following is NOT the preconception the writer mentioned in the passage?

A．Not many people ask from the books they are reading what books can give them.

B．Most readers ask too much from the writers with no idea of the actual situation of the different writers.

C．They think poetry should be written based on an imaginative topic.

D．Readers should take an attitude of admiration to the authors.

“Be his fellow-worker and accomplice“ in Paragraph 1 means to______.

A．try to help him if the author of a book commits a crime

B．try to make the reader himself in the position of the author

C．try to learn the author’s writing skills and the other skills

D．do best to be the author’s friend and follow his model

In Paragraph 2, the author mentioned Defoe, Jane Austen and Hardy to show______ .

A．their mastery of writing novels

B．her admiration for them

C．they had different writing styles to reveal the world

D．her understanding about their works

From the passage we learn that______.

A．Jane Austen always described the characters’ living room in her novels

B．Hardy tried to reveal the relationship between Nature and destiny

C．Defoe reflected the dark side of society

D．great writers sometimes confuse their readers

Actually, much of what was being presented on the stage at that time was______and experimental. positive negative sensitive innovative

They believe that businesses have to find new ______and take advantage of every selling technique that might lead people to buy. managers salespersons investors customers

Many modern TV viewers complain about______that have constantly interrupted and destroyed their viewing the programs. criminals finals financials commercials

I told him that he might get into the boss’s______if he could accomplish a few things for the good of the company. reference confidence competence persistence

The growth of their economy is______, not in reality. Many of their statistics are false. in figures in fact in the red in form

The Chairman seldom talked much at these meetings, but his gestures and noises spoke forums values volumes horrors

Apart from its impact on commercial and industrial structures and procedures, the rapid development of the global communications system is apparently ______ barriers between peoples at a pace neither governments nor international agencies can hope to control. setting up triggering off breaking up breaking down

The officer is gallant in his behavior toward his young secretary. brave pertinent obedient courtly

Grocery prices were boosted again last month. attacked stabilized fixed raised

The outcry against the government’s policies will subside only if a compromise is reached in the assembly. die down succeed proceed dislodge

Double Eagle II, the first transatlantic balloon, was greeted by avid crowds in France. eager surging creative vigorous

Mary McCarthy’s satires are couched in a prose that has a classic precision. fused prefaced standardized expressed

Cactus plants have spines that prevent animals from nibbling them. ruining reaching climbing gnawing

As a general rule, September is the worst month of the year for hurricanes in the Gulf. Normally On rare occasions Invariably Sometimes

I always think of books with unutterable feelings, being deeply indebted to them, as I am, for the warmth they have brought me. preferred mixed profound dissatisfied

With the change of red lights, there are long queues of vehicles that wait while a few people who walk across the zebra. wait...walk waiting...walking waiting... walk wait... walking

Catching sight of her old friend Brown, Mary moved for him to come over and sit in a seat next to her. signed swayed twisted signaled

Martha has made up her mind to buy her favorite furniture, disregard how much money she would pay. no matter how much it costs no matter how much does it cost no matter how it costs no matter how does it cost

Having the highest marks in her class, a scholarship was offered her by the Department. she was offered a scholarship by the Department a scholarship was offered to her by the Department the Department has a scholarship to offer her the Department offered her a scholarship

Lack government support, they had to approach sponsors, organizers, and musicians on their own — at first, she claims, in her country. Lacks Lacked Lacking A lack of

When we begin to read a book, ______.

Which of the following is NOT the preconception the writer mentioned in the passage?

“Be his fellow-worker and accomplice“ in Paragraph 1 means to______.

Why did the writer compare reading a thick book to a building?

The word “ impalpable“ (in Paragraph 1) means______.

According to the passage, the process of writing is______.

In Paragraph 2, the author mentioned Defoe, Jane Austen and Hardy to show______ .

From the passage we learn that______.

The writer says, “To read a novel is a difficult and complex art,“ which of the following arts does the author want to stress here?

When you read a novel, you need to have all the following qualities except______.