文章大意:本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了读者理解小说内容的方法。英国著名小说家约瑟夫·康拉德说,他作为作家的目标是“让你听到,让你感受到,最重要的是让你看到。仅此而已,这就是一切。”一个好的短篇小说试图给读者一种实际经历的感觉。它常常会留下一个鲜明的印象,让人在脑海中反复翻来覆去。读完故事后,读者应该有所思考:生活的幽默,它的讽刺,或人类行为的不可预测性。
Joseph Conrad, a famous English novelist, said that his goal as a writer was “to make you hear, to make you feel, and above all, to make you see. That, and no more, is everything”. A good short story tries to give the reader a sense of the actual experience. Often it leaves a single sharp impression to be turned over and over in the mind. After finishing the story, the reader should have something to think about: the humor of life, its ironies (嘲笑), or the unpredictability of human behavior.
In order to read a short story with full understanding, the reader must approach the content on two levels. The first and most obvious level is conveyed through the plot. Plot refers to the sequence of events, to the actions of the characters and the situations in which they are involved. To explain the plot, then, is to tell what happened in the story and to whom. In some short stories, plot is the dominating element. In other short stories, plot plays a very minor role.
In Hemingway’s story, The Old Man and the Sea, however, we must approach the content on another level. The impact of the story comes from the insight it gives us into the needs and desires of youth and old age.
To understand and appreciate the story, the reader must be able to identify its general topic or theme. The next step is to identify the device by which the author comments on this theme. Finally, the reader should be able to explain the insights which the author has given into the theme.
Readers cannot appreciate a short story fully unless they react not only to what has been said but also to how it has been said. They must look for style and structure. Style grows out of the writer’s own personality and can be seen in the choice of words and phrases, the arrangement of sentences, the rhythm and tone. Structure refers to the architecture of the story, the way in which the details are selected and arranged to produce the desired effect.
28. Which is mentioned about a good short story after it is finished reading in the first paragraph?
A.The wise fun life carries. | B.Laughters. |
C.Unexpected attack. | D.Actual experience of life. |
29. The author takes
The Old Man and the Sea to explain that ________.
A.plot is the most important role in understanding a short story fully |
B.readers can understand a story well themselves by reading |
C.we can’t approach the content of a short story on either of the two levels |
D.we can approach the book content on another level other than plot level |
30. Which of the following helps us fully appreciate a short story?
A.The style and structure of a story. |
B.The reader’s own personality. |
C.The arrangement of words and sentences. |
D.The comments the author says about the book. |
31. Joseph Conrad would most probably agree that ________.
A.a good story writer inspires with various techniques |
B.a good story may as well be attached with an audiovisual version |
C.a good story doesn’t relate to feelings of the readers |
D.a good story writer employs pictures or images |