Question

Why we still need to read Dickens

Walk into any bookstore, and you can hardly avoid “bumping into” Charles Dickens. Many of Dickens’ works still sell well today.1.

As someone who teaches Dickens, the question of why we still read him is often on my mind. 2. One day nearly 10 years ago, however, when I was giving a lecture, I was telling the students that for Victorian readers, Dickens’s writing was a “tune-in-next-week” type of thing that generated crazes. 3. “But why should we still read this stuff?” the student asked. The answer I gave was only acceptable, “Because he teacher you how to think,” I said.

The question annoyed me for years, for years, and for years I told myself answers, but never with complete satisfaction. We read Dickens because he is not just a man of his own times, but also a man for our times. We read Dickens because we can learn from experiences of his characters almost as easily as we can learn from our own experiences.

4. But these are not exactly the reason why I read Dickens. My search for an answer continued until one day a text message came from a student of mine. “We still read Dickens’s novels,” she wrote, “because they tell us why we are what we are.” Simple as it was, that’s the explanation I had sought for years.

Dickens shines a light on who we are during the best of times and wrote of times. 5. If you have time, go to pick up one of his many novels, read it and enjoy what it has to tell you about yourself.

A.Then a hand shot up.

B.I know that wasn’t really the reason.

C.And they are placed on outstanding shelves.

D.That question was never more troubling.

E.That’s why we still need to read him today.

F.I already know who it is I’ll meet in those novels.

G.These are all wonderful reasons to read Dickens.

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.G

5.E

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。本文对为什么我们今天依然要阅读狄更斯著作的原因进行了分析。

1.根据上文Walk into any bookstore, and you can hardly avoid “bumping into” Charles Dickens. Many of Dickens’ works still sell well today. 可知，走进任何一家书店，你都难免会“偶遇”查尔斯•狄更斯(Charles Dickens)。狄更斯的许多作品至今仍很畅销。选项承接上文。故C选项“它们被放在很显眼的书架上”切题。故选C。

2.根据前文As someone who teaches Dickens， the question of why we still read him is often on my mind. 可知，作为一个教授狄更斯文学作品的人来说，我一直在想，为什么我们还要读他的作品。选项承接上文。故D选项“这个问题再麻烦不过了”切题。故选D。

3.根据下文“But why should we still read this stuff?” the student asked.可知，但我们为什么还要读这些东西呢?学生问。所以选项表示有一个学生举手提问。故 A选项“有一个学生举手提问。”切题。故选A。

4.根据上文We read Dickens because he is not just a man of his own times, but also a man for our times. We read Dickens because we can learn from experiences of his characters almost as easily as we can learn from our own experiences. 可知，我们读狄更斯，因为他不仅是他自己时代的人，也是我们时代的人。我们读狄更斯是因为我们可以从他笔下人物的经历中学习，就像我们可以从自己的经历中学习一样容易。所以选项对上文总结。故G选项“这些是阅读狄更斯著作的极好的原因。”切题。故选G。

5.根据上文Dickens shines a light on who we are during the best of times and wrote of times. 可知，狄更斯揭示了我们在最美好的时代里是什么样的人。所以选项是对上文的总结。故E选项“那就是为什么我们今天依然要阅读狄更斯著作的原因。”切题。选E。