1 .

A．He enjoyed reading the novel.	B．He hasn’t started reading the novel yet.
C．He doubts the woman will like the novel	D．He will lend the woman the novel

2 .

With short story writer and novelist Della Galton

Q What’s the best way to keep track of your characters in a novel? Amanda Rose, via email A I’m not sure what the best way is, but here are some of the methods I use. Most of my records are on paper. I have a huge folder, and in it are the following: * Character sheets – one A4 sheet for each character with all their details: name; age; address; physical description; personality type… * Dialogue records – an extra page where I note their favorite words and dialogues. * Photographs – I use photos cut from magazines for inspirations as to what they look like.    I’m also a big fan of spreadsheets. I create one that has the name, date of birth and age of my characters at any given time in the novel – or novels if it’s a series. This is particularly helpful for controlling timelines, as I only need to change one date and the rest are set up to update automatically.    I also use a spreadsheet for keeping track of the plot so I know what happens to each character in each chapter. I create the spreadsheet before I start and fill it in as I go. It’s for tracking not plotting, but it could be used for that if you plotted what happens in each chapter.    Hope this helps, Amanda.

Q Should I use single quotes or double quotes for dialogue? Tania Yeatman, Wimborne A It doesn’t matter! Usually it’s a matter of house style, so if you are aiming at a specific publication, check to see what their style is for publication and copy that. If you don’t know the house style then the important thing is to be consistent. The same applies to quotes from interviewees and experts in your articles.    “I saw Anne at writing group,” Milly said.    “And she came rushing up to me and told me she’d done it at last. She’s got an agent!” Sometimes there may be a quote within a quote. It can be single quotes within double quotes or the other way around. But don’t mix the two styles within the story to avoid confusion. Q ______________________________ Grace Louise

1. ________ are most useful for controlling timelines of the story.

A．Character sheets	B．Dialogue records
C．Photographs	D．Spreadsheets

2. The appropriate example in the box should be __________.

A．‘I saw Anne at writing group,’ Milly said. ‘And she came rushing up to me and cried, “I’ve done it at last. I’ve got an agent!”’

B．“I saw Anne at writing group,” Milly said. “And she came rushing up to me and cried, ‘I’ve done it at last. I’ve got an agent!”

C．‘I saw Anne at writing group,’ Milly said. “And she came rushing up to me and cried, ‘I’ve done it at last. I’ve got an agent!’”

D．“I saw Anne at writing group,” Milly said. ‘And she came rushing up to me and cried, ‘I’ve done it at last. I’ve got an agent!’

3. Which of the following questions is most likely to be asked by Grace Louise, who is dreaming of becoming a novelist?

A．When and where will your next novel be published?

B．What should I write about to win the writing competition?

C．Do you have any tips for overcoming the writer’s block?

D．Can you give us a lecture on choosing the right topics?

3 .

	Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View- Return of the Jedi To mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Return of the Jedi, this selection sees 40 scenes from the movie recreated through the eyes of a supporting character, from robots to Mon Mothma. So, among the 40 writers and artists contributing, we have Olivie Blake giving a glimpse into the mind of Emperor Palpatine, Mary Kenney telling the story of Wicket the Ewok’s dream of a quiet day on the forest moon of Endor and Charlie Jane Anders looking into that terrifying open mouth in the desert of Tatooine.
	Creation Node by Stephen Baxter Stephen Baxter is the author of one of my all-time favourite moments in a sci-fi novel: the oceans close over the top of Everest in Flood. I think of his drowned Earth relatively often - it is an image burned into my brain. His latest book sounds equally interesting and I’ll definitely be giving it a read. Set in 2255, it follows the discovery of an object called Planet Nine, which a woman named Salma spots from her spaceship. It’s not a planet, or the “ninth” of anything; it was briefly believed to be a black hole, but then it sends a message that there is something waiting on its surface. Meanwhile, a quasar(类星体)has appeared and is heating up the solar system. Lots to deal with, then.
	Starter Villain by John Scalzi This is the sort of sci-fi novel that needs to be described as a joke, I feel. It’s set on Earth today and sees divorced substitute teacher Charlie inherit his long-lost late uncle Jake’s business. Unfortunately for Charlie, he also inherits his uncle’s enemies. We are also promised intelligent, talking spy cats and unionised dolphins - what’s not to like?
	Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang I loved Zhang’s first novel, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, set in the 19th-century Old West. I highly, highly recommend it: Zhang is a phenomenal writer. Her second book moves the action to the near future, where food crops are disappearing and a smog is spreading. Hoping to escape her troubled reality, a chef takes a job in a mountaintop settlement for the global elite (精英) and discovers plans to reshape the world.
	Edge of Here by Kelechi Okafor What a treat this sounds: a short story collection to dip into in this busiest of months. Okafor, who is host of the Say Your Mind podcast, sets out to explore contemporary Black womanhood, but sets her stories in a Black Mirror version of the near future. There’s one in which you can experience someone else’s emotions through a chip in your brain, one where you can view bits of a distant relative’s life with help from your DNA.

1. If you want to know the life of a cook, which novel would you choose?

A．Edge of Here by Kelechi Okafor	B．Starter Villain by John Scalzi
C．Creation Node by Stephen Baxter	D．Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang

2. What does the underlined phrase mean in the first paragraph?

A．A non-leading role.

B．A viewer.

C．A director

D．A writing style.

3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．In Fiction 2, the Solar System is getting colder.

B．In Fiction 3, a single teacher inherited his uncle’s business.

C．In Fiction 4, the author described events in the remote arca.

D．In Fiction 5, you can experience black life through brain chips.

4 . The Adventures of Tom Sawyer changed the course of children’s literature in the United States as well as of American literature generally, presenting the first deeply-felt description of boyhood. Mark Twain published the novel in 1876, which centered on a smart naughty young boy living in a town along the Mississippi River. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer marked the further development of Mark Twain realism.

An orphan, Tom Sawyer lived with his Aunt Polly and half brother, Sid, in St. Petersburg, Missouri; the fictional town was based on Hannibal, Missouri. The first few chapters highlighted Tom’s troubled tendencies. He angered his aunt by eating jam, and then he got in a fight with another boy. As punishment for his various misdeeds, Aunt Polly ordered him to whitewash the fence. However, Tom managed to convince other children that whitewashing was fun, and they ended up giving him various items for a turn at the fence. Later in the book Tom went to the cemetery with Huckleberry Finn, a wanderer whose father was a heavy drinker. They came across three grave robbers, including Injun Joe and Dr. Robinson. The two men got into a fight, and Injun Joe murdered the doctor. Although Tom and Huckleberry promised never to tell anyone what they had seen, Tom eventually charged the escaped Indian Joc.

At one point, Tom, Huckleberry, and a third boy decided to run away from home and became pirates (海盗). While on an island in the Mississippi River, they discovered that people thought they had died. The three dramatically reappeared during their funeral services. Tom and Huckleberry then decided to look for buried treasure in an abandoned house. The boys were forced to hide when Injun Joe and a partner arrived to bury their own treasure there. However, the two men then came across a gold storage in the house and decided to hide it elsewhere. One night Huck followed them, hoping to find the gold. When he overheard their plan to attack the Widow Douglas, Huck got help, and the crime was prevented. Tom later went on a picnic with his classmates. While exploring a cave, they became lost, and Tom later realized that the gold was likely to be in the cave, and he and Huckleberry discovered it.

1. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．The story outlines the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

B．The story describes Mark Twain’s childhood.

C．The story tells the story of Huckleberry.

D．This passage comments on Mark Twain’s novels.

2. What is the underlined part of the second paragraph trying to illustrate?

A．Tom’s helpfulness.

B．Tom’s honesty.

C．Tom’s friendliness.

D．Tom’s naughtiness.

3. What’s the correct order of the happenings in the third story?
a. Huck followed those two.
b. Then Tom and Huckleberry found gold.
c. Tom and Huckleberry decided to search for buried treasure.
d. Tom, Huckleberry and another boy ran away from home.

A．a-c-b-d

B．d-c-a-b

C．b-a-d-c

D．c-b-a-d

4. In the author’s eyes, what kind of novel is the Adventures of Tom Sawyer?

A．An interesting adventure novel.	B．The most humorous story of children.
C．The greatest works of children’s literature.	D．The most popular historical novel.

10 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. certainly          B. previously       C. survived     D. categorize   E. version     F. confirming G. specializing   H. count            I. posed          J. overstated   K. manuscripts

Rare copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio sold for almost $10 million Wednesday, becoming the most expensive work of literature ever to appear at auction, according to Christie’s.

The collection of 36 plays, published shortly after the playwright’s death, is one of only five complete copies still in private hands, the auction house said.

The First Folio is considered among the most important collections of literature in the English language. It contains 18 works that had not     1     appeared in print, and would otherwise have been lost to history, including “Macbeth” and “Twelfth Night.”

Published in 1623 by the actors John Heminge and Henry Condell, friends of the English playwright, the book is formally titled “Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies,” based on the three genres the pair used to     2     the plays.

The     3     sold on Wednesday was the first complete copy to appear at auction since one went for $6.1 million in 2001. It was put up for sale by Mills College in Oakland, California, which had kept the item in its collection since 1977.

After a six-minute bidding battle between three telephone buyers, the item was purchased by book dealer and antiquarian Stephan Loewentheil for $9.98 million. In a phone interview following the sale, he described Shakespeare’s original folios as the “holy grail of books.”

“(The First Folio) is the greatest work in the English language,     4     the greatest work of theater, so it’s something that anyone who loves intellectualism has to consider a divine object,” said Loewentheil, who owns stores     5     in rare books and photography in New York and Maryland.

In a press statement, head of books and     6     at Christie’s, Margaret Ford, said it was “befitting” that Shakespeare’s work now holds the auction world record “given its tremendous significance and influence around the globe.”

Although around 750 copies of the First Folio were produced, just 235 are known to have     7     to the present day. Of these, only 56 are considered to be complete, with almost all of them now held by institutions in the US and UK, according to Christie’s, whose sale catalog said the item’s “extraordinary rarity ... cannot be     8    .”

Believing that the copies in private hands might “never to come to market again,” Loewentheil said that there may not be “too many more chances left” to obtain a copy.

The book came in a binding dating back to the early 19th century. It was sold alongside a letter by Shakespeare scholar Edmond Malone from 1809     9     its authenticity.

The final sale price exceeded the auction house’s estimates, which had predicted top bids of $4 million to $6 million. A number of other items at Wednesday’s sale sold for seven-figure sums — including a Ming dynasty carpet that went under the hammer for over $1.7 million — providing further evidence that the top end of the auction market is weathering some the challenges     10     by the pandemic.

“For the great objects that really matter, the markets for art, literature and photographs have remained very strong,” Loewentheil said.