Best Short Story Collections Everyone Should Read
If you are on the lookout for great storytelling but don’t want to commit to a full-length novel, then short story collections are the answer. Here we have gathered four of the best short stories and collections, from all sorts of backgrounds and sources, to help you grow your“To Be Read”pile.
Runaway by Alice Munro
This award-winning collection features eight stories by the Canadian author Alice Munro. With straightforward and accessible prose(散文)，Munro tells stories of women and their relationships——with strong themes of love, friendship, and motherhood, among others. The idea of running away is another theme found throughout these stories.
The Complete Stories by Flannel O’Connor
Published in 1972,The Complete Stories actually won the National Book Award that same year. This collection includes 31 stories, twelve of which had never been included in any of O’Connor’s previous collections. They are told from the perspective of characters from the American South, as they deal with social issues like racism, gender roles, and more.
The Refugees by Vied Thanh Nguyen
From Thanh Nguyen comes this Pulitzer Prize winning collection of eight short stories that are all about Vietnamese refugees(难民)who have moved to the US. However,instead of describing the hardships of their trips, Nguyen focuses on the lives they’ve established in their new country. Each story demonstrates a unique immigrant experience as characters move between cultures, countries, relationships, memories, and emotions.
Flowers for Alger-non by Daniel Keys
This classic short story is about the journals of Charlie Gordon, a cleaner with an IQ of 68. Charlie’s luck changes when he is selected for an experiment that purports to turn him into a genius——but everything that goes up must come down in the end.Flowers for Alger-non won the Hugo Award in 1960 for its groundbreaking presentation. Heartbreaking and rich with subtle poignancy,it is likely to remain a staple for centuries to come.
1. Whose collection should you choose if you are interested in the topic on racial discrimination?| A．Alice Munro. | B．Flannery O’Connor. |
| C．Daniel Keys. | D．Vied Thanh Nguyen. |
| A．Its eight stories share the same characters. |
| B．It focuses on women and their relationships. |
| C．It is about the Vietnamese immigrants’ lives in the US. |
| D．It mainly describes the hardships of Vietnamese refugees’ trips. |
| A．They consist of eight stories. |
| B．They have won certain award. |
| C．They are told from an immigrant’s perspective. |
| D．They demonstrate the hardships of Canadian authors. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Buying books on the Internet is a great way to save time and money. Online bookstores offer new books and used books that can save you lots of money. They are far better compared to traditional bookstores as they offer much broader kinds of books. Another advantage of shopping online is that you can also read the book reviews as well as readers’ reviews to get an idea whether the book is worth buying. Online bookstores offer great discounts (折扣) to regular customers, which is a big attraction for book lovers.
For book lovers, the most important thing is to get books on time. Therefore, you need to find a reliable (可靠的) online bookstore that will be able to provide fast deliveries (送货).
Here are some tips to use when choosing an online bookstore. Some online bookstores are popular for fiction books; some are for nonfiction books or novels, etc. Understanding their specialization will help you get the right kind of books in time. Check whether you will be buying the books from a thirdparty seller or directly from the website. Although the website could be reputable (声誉好的), thirdparty sellers advertised on their site may not have a good reputation. Never jump at stores that offer super cheap prices, as books sold at such low prices could be in very bad condition.
Most of the popular online bookstores offer useful tools. One tool is a wish list tool on its website. You can update (更新) the list of books you wish to buy in the future. The bookstore will know what you want and will email you immediately when the book of your choice is available.
1. Why do you think online bookstores are much better than traditional ones?| A．Because online bookstores offer readers the latest books. |
| B．Because online bookstores offer readers more kinds of books to choose from. |
| C．Because online bookstores offer readers the lowest prices. |
| D．Because online bookstores offer readers more about their favorite authors. |
| A．By comparing service. |
| B．By asking for discounts. |
| C．By reading online review. |
| D．By asking booksellers for advice. |
| A．The speed of deliveries. |
| B．The author of books. |
| C．The prices of books. |
| D．The condition of books. |
| A．learn about the number of the books |
| B．get to know more reliable booksellers |
| C．pay for their books more quickly |
| D．buy their favorite books in time |
【推荐2】
Reading books provides you with new knowledge.
One of the real benefits of reading books is that the information in it can be accessed over and over again.
These are just some of the wonderful benefits of reading books. Why don’t you drop by the bookstore or library and pick a book up? If you can’t even go outside, you can download free e-books on line and read them on your computer.
| A．Reading books keeps your mind absent. |
| B．You can improve your memory by reading. |
| C．Reading keeps your mind in good condition. |
| D．Everyone can benefit a lot from reading books. |
| E．That way, you can see how advantageous reading can be for yourself. |
| F．For example, reading a cookbook allows you to review the procedures whenever you need to. |
| G．Whenever you read something, you learn information that you otherwise wouldn’t have known. |
【推荐3】A serious attack on the fantasy story for children comes from those who do not wish children to be frightened,” writes C.S. Lewis in an essay named Three Ways of Writing for Children. Those who say that children must not be frightened mean two things. Firstly, they mean that we mustn’t do anything likely to give children fears, and secondly, they want to keep out of their minds that they are born into a world of death, violence, wounds, good and evil (邪恶). C.S. Lewis says he agrees with the first reason, but not the second.
He goes on to remark, “Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least hear of brave fighters and heroic courage. By limiting your child to perfect and nice stories of child life in which nothing alarming ever happens, they would fail to face fears and hardships.” “It would be nice,” he continues, “ if no little boy in bed ever hears a frightening sound. But if he is to be frightened, I think St. George, or any bright hero in armor, is a better comfort than the idea of the police.”
Bruno Bettelheim, a well-known child psychologist, also points out that fantasy stories provide children with a valuable education about good and evil. He believes that all children have many personal fantasies filled with fears and fantasy stories comfort them and offer solutions. Happy endings tell them that solutions and hope are real and model the kind of happy life children want to find.
A good fantasy suggests rather than teaches possible answers to life. It’s believed that reading fantasies quickens the ability to get and put ideas from books to reality. It’s what good literature does — it makes life larger.
1. According to the first paragraph, C.S. Lewis thinks that______.| A．children shouldn’t read any fantasy story because it is bad |
| B．adults shouldn’t do things that may frighten their children |
| C．death and badness should be kept out of children’s minds |
| D．writing a fantasy story is the best way of writing for children |
| A．He is a policeman in real life. |
| B．He is a murderer caught by the police. |
| C．He is a brave man in a fantasy novel. |
| D．He is a frightening person in a story. |
| A．Because it encourages children to have a lot of fantasies. |
| B．Because it helps children overcome fears and find solutions. |
| C．Because it teaches children to write their own fantasy stories. |
| D．Because it gives children a happy memory when they grow up. |
| A．good literature can give readers more valuable stories |
| B．fantasies can improve one’s ability to solve problems |
| C．personal fantasies can help children get away from danger |
| D．most children can understand what fantasy literature is |
To test how much dreams can help learning, Robert Stickgold had some students play a shape-fitting game called Tetris (饿罗斯方块) for a few hours and then go to sleep. Soon they were dreaming of falling Tetris shapes. Interestingly, the worst Tetris players had the most Tetris dreams and improved their game the most. Similar tests have shown the same results for all kinds of skills.
As we dream, many important tasks are getting done. The brain decides what to keep and what to forget. It is connecting new experiences to older learning. In fact, the brain is learning all night long.
Another important task of dreams may be to help us deal with emotions(情绪). At night, emotions are in the driver's seat. People who have had an upsetting experience often dream about it afterward. Often the dream event changes somehow--another way the brain tries to make the memory less upset. So if your best friend moves away, you might dream that you're the one who's moving. In fact, dreams have a proven power to improve mood, and people who dream about what's bothering them usually feel better sooner than those who don't.
Everybody dreams for a couple of hours every night--in the course of your life, you'll spend about 25 years asleep and 6 years dreaming. There's probably no single answer to the question why we dream, but there doesn't have to be. One dream might help you remember your math facts, while another might lead to a new invention, or give you a fun, crazy story to tell your friends. It's all in a night's work for our busy, mysterious brains.
1. Robert Stickgold's test shows that________.
| A．games are useful for memory |
| B．tasks can only be settled through dreams |
| C．players stop learning in dreams |
| D．dreams can help improve skills |
| A．dreams can get rid of sufferings |
| B．only drivers can deal with emotions |
| C．one may be less upset after a dream |
| D．dreams can copy what one experienced |
| A．Dreaming does harm to one's mood. |
| B．Dreaming affects the quality of sleep. |
| C．It's not so important to know the cause of dreaming. |
| D．It's hard to find out the secrets of dreaming. |
| A．Dreams and memories. | B．The patterns of dreams. |
| C．Dreams and emotions. | D．The benefits of dreams. |
【推荐2】With Halloween just around the corner, today we will explore the world of ghosts in this program. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary says the word “ghost” goes back a thousand years to the “earliest recorded evidence of the language”. The first meaning of “ghost” was “the seat of life or intelligence”. And it still has that meaning in some expression.
However, today, the word “ghost” usually means the soul of a dead person. This meaning is based on the idea that a person’s spirit and body are separate. The spirit can continue existing long after the body has died.
During Halloween, kids dressed as ghosts are common sights. The costume is very simple: just throw on a white cloth that covers you from head to foot. But do not expect to win any costume competitions! You would not have a ghost of a chance. People use this expression to mean that something is very unlikely to happen.
The sight might even make you turn pale as a ghost. This is used when people lose color in their face. Sometimes this happens when a person is scared. But a bad cold and flu can also turn you as pale as a ghost.
“Ghost” can also be a verb. In the 1880s the term ghost meant a person who works in secret for another person. Ghostwriters produce speeches for politicians. They also produce books for authors who want to tell their life stories but are not professional writers.
And sometimes ghostwriters are involved in a series of books, like the children’s stories based on the teenage detective Nancy Drew. The stories began in 1930. The author given credit was Carolyn Keene. But she was not even real! Ghostwriters did all the work.
Another expression using “ghost” as a verb is simply to ghost. This does not mean to die. It means to leave a place or event without saying “goodbye” to anyone. You can ghost from your job. You can ghost from a party. You can even ghost from a relationship. This is when you stop communicating with someone because you are simply no longer interested in them.
1. The basic meaning of the word “ghost” nowadays is ________.| A．the secret of another person | B．the color of one’s face |
| C．the spirit of a dead person | D．the origin of intelligence |
| A．without doubt you won’t lose the match | B．the match is unlikely to happen |
| C．it’s impossible for you to win the match | D．you are too scared to win the match |
| A．Kids dressed in a white cloth like ghosts can win a costume competition. |
| B．A bad cold can turn people as pale as a ghost because they fear illness. |
| C．It was Carolyn Keene who ghost wrote the children’s stories. |
| D．A person devoted to his job is unlikely to ghost from his job. |
| A．a Halloween poster | B．a radio program |
| C．a culture magazine | D．a newspaper advertisement |
【推荐3】In a series of studies, researchers found highly trained dogs may be more successful than untrained pets in independently solving newly-presented problems.
Researchers have discovered that one of the factors underlying this process may be persistence (坚持). It involves reinforcement, the principle that behaviors that are rewarded become stronger and more frequent. The other side of this is extinction, which refers to the fact that behaviors that are not rewarded grow weaker and become less likely to appear. When extinction sets in, the animal will simply quit before the problem is solved. It is possible that highly trained dogs have learned to persist and thus have developed resistance to extinction, which would make them better problem solvers.
In this recent study, the researchers looked at 26 adult dogs divided into two groups, “trained dogs” and “pet dogs”. There were two tasks that the dogs were tested on. One was a social learning task where the dog had to learn to look directly into the experimenter’s eyes. Every time the dog stared at the experimenter’s face, they received a treat (reinforcement). Once the dogs were performing this task, the extinction stage began, and the staring behavior was no longer rewarded in order to see how persistent the newly learned behavior was.
The second task focused on problem-solving. It involved a flat disk that had bone-shaped plastic bones. The dogs had to learn to remove the plastic bones to obtain the treat hiding under each one. After the series of rewarded trials, the extinction stage began, and no more reinforcements were provided for removing the bones.
In the social learning task, the trained dogs gazed at the experimenters more than the pet dogs during extinction. While in the problem-solving task, the trained dogs picked up a larger number of bones during extinction. In other words, for dogs who had been trained, their newly learned behaviors persisted longer and were stronger than the behaviors of the pet dogs who received no training in any area.
1. How does the author introduce the topic?| A．By stating a fact. | B．By raising a doubt. |
| C．By making an assumption. | D．By presenting a conclusion. |
| A．Chaining a dog up while walking it every day. |
| B．Giving a goat some grass every time it stands up. |
| C．Putting a fish back into the pool every time it jumps out. |
| D．Yelling at a cat every time it fails to catch a mouse. |
| A．Their newly learned behaviors last longer. |
| B．They can grow stronger than untrained dogs. |
| C．They are more likely to live longer. |
| D．They are better at helping their friends. |
| A．How researchers carry out animal experiments |
| B．Why trained dogs don’t give up easily |
| C．Why persistent dogs make better pets |
| D．How to pick out a suitable pet dog |
【推荐1】Absolutely Unputdownable Books You Have to Read
Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes
If you don’t enjoy thrillers or sci-fi and stories about dragon-riding detectives, if you’re longing for something emotional, slow and gentle, this beautiful little book by Francoise Sagan is just what you need. Strongly recommended by psychological doctors, it’s a pleasant exception among traditional romance novels: you’ll find all of the advantages of high-quality literature here. And yes, it’s a real page-turner.
Orphans of the Sky
Robert A. Heinlein
A giant generation ship is sailing without guidance through the depths of the universe. Its passengers have long forgotten the outside world and believed in a pre-technological culture marked by superstition (迷信). This novel has brought Heinlein wide recognition, and will grasp you tight and won’t let you go for months (or even years) afterward. Are we, the digital generation, different from the passengers of that imaginary spaceship?
95 Pounds of Hope
Anna Gavalda
Adapted from the author’s own experience, this story is about the main things in life: choices we make, the power of love and devotion. The story of a thirteen-year-old boy who one day has to gather all his strength and courage and take a step towards adulthood proves once again that dreams do come true. After all, no matter how many pounds we have, we’re all trying not to lose hope.
A Certain Smile
Francoise Sagan
If you’re seeking a pleasant read, try this short story by Daniel Keyes. He’ll show you how a person feels going from a simple cleaner at a bakery, whose IQ is less than 60, to a genius and the most intelligent person on the planet. In a situation like this, is it possible to overcome your fears and cope with loneliness? Keyes offers his answer to this question.
1. What kind of book is Orphans of the Sky?| A．A science fiction. | B．A historical novel. |
| C．A detective story. | D．A fairy tale. |
| A．It is not suitable for adult readers. | B．It is about a boy serving in army. |
| C．It is based loosely on a true story. | D．It brought its author great fame. |
| A．Flowers for Algernon | B．Orphans of the Sky |
| C．95 Pounds of Hope | D．A Certain Smile |
【推荐2】I was delighted to receive a copy of Marie Curie and her Daughters by Shelley Emling through my letter-box a few weeks ago.
Actually science has never really been my “thing”. At school I really struggled with physics and chemistry and was much happier in English Language or History classes. My mind is not structured enough to understand how science works, I’m a bit of a daydreamer and prefer using my imagination rather than learning facts, figures and formulae(公式). Of course I knew who Marie Curie was, her great achievements, her contribution to science, to medical advances and influence on the world, but other than that, I really had very little idea about her life.
Shelley Emling has based this book on Marie Curie’s relationship with her two daughters, Irene and Eve. The book begins after the early death of Pierre Curie, when Marie is left to carry on the work that they started as a couple and to bring up her two small daughters alone. Emling has concentrated her book on the communication between Marie and her daughters. She was not an overly-protective mother, nor did she hesitate to spend time away from her daughters, yet this did not weaken their relationship. Marie was a caring and loving mother, who encouraged her daughters to become individuals, to achieve what they wanted to.
Marie Curie and her husband made the decision not to profit from their discoveries. It was because of this that Marie had to depend on donations to carry out her work, and that she had to carry out tours of the States.
I was very impressed by Emling’s writing style — she has told the story of three extraordinary women who were way ahead of their time in an interesting and very readable manner.
1. What is the writer good at?| A．Physics and chemistry. |
| B．Facts, figures and formulae. |
| C．English and History. |
| D．Daydreaming. |
| A．She makes a pet of them like babies. |
| B．She avoids staying away from them. |
| C．She encourages them to build their own characters. |
| D．She wants to be involved in every area of their life. |
| A．Because she meant to make herself a famous person. |
| B．Because she wished to introduce the medical advances to people in the U. S. A. |
| C．Because she needed money to bring up her two small daughters by herself. |
| D．Because she decided to continue her work without money made from discoveries. |
| A．the connection between Marie Curie and her daughters |
| B．the contributions Marie Curie made to the world |
| C．the research work of Marie Curie and her husband |
| D．the decision made by Marie Curie and her husband |
【推荐3】Every year, the librarians of the American Library Association (ALA) gather together to choose the winners of the John Newbery Medal. Let’s take a look at some of the prize-winners.
New Kid by Jerry Craft has become the first graphic novel (漫画小说) to ever win the Newbery Medal. The book features the story of middle school student Jordan Banks, who struggles not only with being the new kid at a private school in the Bronx, but also with being an African American student in the midst of a mostly white class. In his novel, Craft addresses important issues of race and class through lively visuals and a likable character.
Hello, Universe follows the story of Virgil, a Filipino-American boy who feels out of place with his family. In order to work up the courage to talk to Valencia, who he loves secretly, he asked for help from his friend Kaori. However, Virgil encounters Chet, a boy who has repeatedly bullied him in the past, on the way to Kaori’s house. Chet traps Virgil in a well. As the characters set out to find Virgil, their stories merge as they find and begin to learn about each other.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon is fantasy novel set in a country which has a yearly practice of sacrificing a baby to an evil witch named Xan. However, the witch, who is actually quite kind and gentle, rescues the babies and gives them to families on the other side of the forest, all the while feeding the little ones with starlight on her journey. However, one day, the witch accidentally feeds a baby girl, Luna, moonlight which gives the girl unusual powers.
1. What do we know about Virgil in Hello, Universe?| A．He is caught in a well. |
| B．He is brave enough to talk to Valencia. |
| C．He was treated well by Chet in the past. |
| D．He feels comfortable with his father and mother. |
| A．It is based on a real story. |
| B．The witch actually wants to harm people. |
| C．Luna gains unusual powers from starlight. |
| D．A baby must be offered to the witch every year. |
| A．They are non-fiction. |
| B．They are graphic novels. |
| C．They win the John Newbery Medal. |
| D．They deal with the problem of race and class. |
