1 . The following are recommended picks from NPR staff and trusted critics.
Good Night, Irene
by Luis Alberto
It’s historical fiction based on Luis Alberto’s mother, who served as a Red Cross volunteer in World War Ⅱ. These so-called Donut Dollies made doughnuts and served coffee in a truck, providing comfort to the soldiers. They also drove to the front lines during the battle. This novel is a comedy featuring characters that present friendship and courage in tough circumstances.
Homestead
by Melinda Moustakis
Homestead is a tale of what it was like to be brave enough to build a life and survive in rough Alaska. Melinda also excellently captures the complexities around a moment in American history that is reduced to a line or two in schoolbooks. The characters in Homestead are escaping troubled pasts tied to forces out of their control.
The Great Escape
by Saket Soni
The Great Escape begins in 2006, when Soni, a labor organizer, receives a midnight phone call from a Mississippi number. The caller is one of 500 foreign workers who paid $20,000 to a firm that promised green cards if they would help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. But the green cards were a lie. There’s a daring midnight escape of the men from camp, then a march to Washington, D.C.
The Porcelain Moon
by Janie Chang
Set against World War I in France, it tells the story of two women, who break general expectations and restrictions to find their love and lives. Camille, raised outside Paris in poverty, and Pauline, who works for her uncle at his Paris shop, are trying to avoid an arranged marriage. It’s a richly researched historical fiction book.
1. What’s the novel by Melinda about?| A．How people managed life in Alaska. | B．What volunteers did for brave soldiers. |
| C．What foreigners did for a green card. | D．How two women broke from tradition. |
| A．Supply food to the soldiers at war. | B．Move to Alaska to start a new life. |
| C．Remove their generational restriction. | D．Help rebuild after a hurricane strike. |
| A．They are about lives in the wild. | B．They are set in the two World Wars. |
| C．They deal with courage in face of lies. | D．They reveal the power of friendship. |
1. What does John think of Amy’s poetry?
| A．It is very classic. | B．It is very romantic. | C．It is very unique. |
| A．On Monday. | B．On Tuesday. | C．On Thursday. |
| A．Love. | B．Nature. | C．Friendship. |
| A．Edgar Allen Poe’s. | B．Emily Dickinson’s. | C．Maya Angelou’s. |
China’s online literature industry is making an increasing impact overseas with some even
Overseas readers of Chinese web novels exceeded(超过) 150 million in 2022, mainly Generation Z born between 1996 and 2010. Among 15 major
In June, Wang Xiang,
Last year, 16 Chinese online works of literature were included in the British Library’s Chinese collection for the first time, all of which were first published on digital reading platform Qidian
4 . The books written and published in the 1920s remain on the “best ever” lists. Here are 4 books that everyone should read.
The Great Gatsby
The themes in the novel reflect the sudden change in the character of America itself, and in some ways it’s among the first major modern novels produced in this country. The novel also makes a new and powerful concept clear at the time: The American Dream, the idea that self-made men and women could make themselves into anything in this country.
A Farewell to Arms
The story is one of a love affair interrupted and dogged by events beyond the lovers’ control, and a central theme is the pointless struggle of life — that we spend so much energy and time on things that finally don’t matter. Hemingway masterfully combines a realistic description of war with some abstract literary techniques, which is one reason why this book endures as a classic.
Ulysses
When people make lists of the most difficult novels, Ulysses is almost certainly on them. The one thing almost everyone knows about Ulysses is that it employs “stream of consciousness”, a literary technique that seeks to show the inner monologue of a person. James Joyce wasn’t the first writer to use this technique, but he was the first writer to attempt it on the scale as he did.
Mrs. Dalloway
It takes place on a single day in the life of the main character, and it employs a dense and tricky stream-of-consciousness technique, roaming (漫游) around to other characters and point of view. Mrs. Dalloway is concerned with using these techniques to make the characters clear and definite. The use of stream of consciousness is deliberately disorienting in the way it skips through time.
1. Which book shows us the truth of daily life conflicts?| A．Ulysses. | B．Mrs. Dalloway. |
| C．The Great Gatsby. | D．A Farewell to Arms. |
| A．They share the same literary technique. |
| B．They show a new and powerful concept. |
| C．They describe the daily life of the character. |
| D．They are on the list of the most difficult novels. |
| A．In a biography. | B．In a history book. |
| C．In a travel brochure. | D．In a literature magazine. |
Recently, 16 Chinese online novels have entered a
The British Library usually collects works
As the Chinese online literature industry has
China Literature’s international portal Webnovel,
1.诗歌节的目的；
2.诗歌节的各种活动；
3.你的收获或感想。
注意：
1.词数100左右；
2.短文的标题已为你写好。
The School Chinese & English Poetry Festival
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In recent years, Chinese online literature has been recognized increasingly from home and abroad. For example, the British Library
Good Spring Time is one of the
Hearing of the news
“Today, when I heard that the British Library is collecting Chinese online literature, I’m
8 . On a rainy afternoon, maybe one of the following books will keep you company leisurely, allowing you to spend your time alone as well as stepping into a different world.
Don’t Shed Your Tears for Anyone Who Lives on These Streets, by Patricio Pron
In April 1945, Italy, a writer disappeared at a conference and was found dead at another place. Thirty years later, a young man interviewed survivors from the conference, trying to uncover the truth about what happened and its consequences. This novel, by a well-known Argentine writer, explores art, crime and politics.
When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi
At thirty-six, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed (诊断) with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient. This autobiography finds hope and beauty in the face of death as Kalanithi attempts to answer the question “What makes a life worth living?”.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Set in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, the story focuses on honest, highly respected lawyer Atticus Finch who puts his career on the line when he agrees to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of committing a crime.
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story by Bess Kalb
Bess Kalb saved every voicemail from her grandmother Bobby Bell who died at ninety. In this book, Bobby is speaking to Bess once more, in a voice as loving as it ever was in life and brings us several generations of brave women. They include Bobby’s mother, who traveled alone from Belarus to America to survive, and Bess’s mother, who always fought against convention.
1. What type of book is the first novel?| A．Sci-fi. | B．Biography. | C．Detective books. | D．History books. |
| A．To Kill a Mockingbird. |
| B．When Breath Becomes Air. |
| C．Don’t Shed Your Tears for Anyone Who Lives on These Streets. |
| D．Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story. |
| A．Bobby Bell. | B．Bess Kalb. | C．Bess’s mother. | D．Bobby’s mother. |
1. Who is Felix?
| A．The man. |
| B．A character in the woman’s book. |
| C．The woman’s husband. |
| A．A political one. | B．A detective one. | C．A romantic one. |
10 . The Hitchhiker’ s Guide to the Galaxy (HG2G) by Douglas Adams
This is a comedy science-fiction series about a man’s adventures in space. It was initially a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It is extremely funny and inventive, and has a very British sense of humor, whose true meanings foreign readers can hardly make out though it has been translated into French and Italian and so on. But when I read it I feel a strong connection to my home. It was published in paperback by Pan Books, after BBC Publishing had turned down the offer of publishing a novelization, an action they later regretted.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Have you ever read a description of a landscape or countryside that made you feel like you were actually there? For me, this book does exactly that. It is about a young girl who is taken to live in a big house in my hometown and discovers a secret garden.
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
This book takes the form of a series of letters, and follows the story of a young orphan(孤儿), Judy, as she goes to university and discovers a whole world of new experiences. This book always reminds me of my family, especially my mother, because she used to read it to me when I was ill in bed.
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
This was one of my favorite books when I was younger, and for this reason it still strongly reminds me of England and my childhood. It is also set in Yorkshire where I was born and spent my childhood, and follows three children living next to a railway and their adventures.
1. What do we know about HG2G?| A．It was based on true adventures. |
| B．Its language is abstract and inventive. |
| C．Its humor is hard for foreigners to understand. |
| D．It was adapted for radio after being published. |
| A．Daddy-Long-Legs & HG2G. |
| B．The Secret Garden & The Railway Children. |
| C．The Secret Garden & HG2G. |
| D．Daddy Long Legs & The Railway Children. |
| A．They follow children’s adventures. |
| B．They are British countryside series. |
| C．They refer to the author’s childhood. |
| D．They bring memories of home to the author. |
