During a judging period for a recent short story contest, I started thinking a lot about dialogue tags. Because in many submissions characters didn’t “say” a thing. They shouted, they inquired, they assumed. Some characters screamed while others murmured. But no one “said” anything. And I started wondering why.
Why do we tell beginner writers to avoid creative dialogue tags in the first place? Why do we insist that characters should stick to “said,” “asked,” and the occasional “sighed?” And, if the advice is so of-repeated, why are writers still unable to resist the siren call of weep, scream, snap, or laugh?
The more I thought about it, the more I understood the temptation. We’re always encouraged to use strong, actionable verbs in our prose. Why walk when you can skip or wander? Why cry when you can sob or weep? Why wouldn’t we reach for exciting verbs instead of mild-boring dull-blah said? Why couldn’t each verb be a tiny sparkling gem in its own right?
The problem, I think, is that every jewel needs a setting to become something more than the sum of its parts. Without something to provide structure, a collection of the world’s most glorious diamonds would still only amount to a heap of rocks.
And a dialogue tag should never, ever be the diamond in any given sentence.
Dialogue is your diamond, friends. When we read your work, your dialogue should be so bright, so sparkling, so lifelike, so wonderfully realistic that our brains “hear” each line instead of merely reading it. We don’t need to be told a character is shouting — we can sense it in the way they spit out words, clench fists, or storm from the room.
A dialogue tag is a mere signpost along the narrative journey, gently indicating who said what. It’s part of a story’s experience, but it’s not part of the story itself, nor should it be treated as such. Dialogue tags are similar to lighting in a Broadway play: without it, the audience would have no idea what was going on, but it usually strives to shine without calling too much attention to itself.
What’s more, readers may not initially imagine a particular line being “sobbed.” When we reach the end of a sentence and find out our leading lady has actually sobbed instead of whispered, it pulls us right out of the story. We pause. We reread the line. We adjust our understanding and begin again. But that wonderful momentum when we’re fully immersed in the scene, holding our breath to find out what our heroine says next, is lost.
Creating a successful work of fiction is about giving the reader all the materials they need to build your fictional world in their mind and not a scrap more. Readers need believable dialogue. They need voices so compelling that they pop right off the page and into our ears. And if you’ve created dynamic characters who speak words we can really hear, you will never need to tell us how something was said.
Senior Editor
1. According to the Senior Editor, the beginner writers are tempted to ______.| A．replace a dull “said” with exciting verbs |
| B．omit what the character said in a dialogue |
| C．resist the warning against strong emotions |
| D．overuse the word “said” in their submissions |
| A．glorious diamonds | B．heaps of rocks |
| C．tiny, sparkling gems | D．Broadway play lighting |
| A．Dialogue tags are said to be the most important aspect of storytelling. |
| B．Without dialogue tags, readers have to reread to adjust understanding. |
| C．Creative dialogue tags may interrupt readers’ wonderful reading flow. |
| D．Effective dialogue tags should describe characters’ emotions directly. |
| A．good works of fiction give as many materials as possible |
| B．readers cannot imagine a line without the dialogue tags |
| C．what was said should be prioritized over how it was said |
| D．writers should choose powerful words for dialogue tags |
相似题推荐
I’m no literary Luddite (反对新技术的人). I bought an iPad with my first paycheck from my first full-time job after graduating from college. But after two years of reading occasionally on the device, I gave it away to my brother. It just wasn’t the right reading experience for me.
Technology lovers choose e-readers over books because e-readers are more convenient. They’re right. It is objectively easier to carry a 7oz (盎司) tablet with thousands and thousands of books at your fingertips than it is to carry five books in your bag, which is exactly what I did on vacation.
But I don’t read for convenience. I read to learn more about the world and myself. I have made friends by seeing a book cover in a cafe and noticing that it was the same title that I was reading. I can trace my life by the books that have been my companions. When I open an old book and come across my previously scribbled notes — shaky ones when I’ve been reading on the subway, covered in sand if I read it at the beach, next to a train ticket if I was traveling — I am able to add an extra level of personal depth and experience to the story I am about to reread. It’s just not enough to simply consuming the story, which is what e-readers are great for.
When I read paper books, I hold onto them for long periods of time. I just purchased a new bookshelf specially for my “to be read” pile. Once in a while, I go through the process of deciding which books to donate, but usually the idea of parting with a book feels like giving away a part of my soul.
Physical books may not be the most efficient medium, but they are the most meaningful. So keep your Kindle, by all means. But I’ll be happy hoarding with my library.
1. Why did the author give his iPad to his brother?2. What can the author get when he sees his notes in an old book?
3. Please decide which part of the following statement is false, then underline it and explain why.
● The author loves physical books and he usually gives them away when he finishes reading them.
4. What is your favourite book? And why? (about 40 words)
【推荐2】Like a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been dull. E-books, however, are causing heartache. Libraries know they need digital wares, but many publishers are too cautious about piracy(盗版)and lost sales to co-operate. Among the big six, only Random House and Harper Collins license e-books with most libraries.
Publishers are wise to be nervous. Owners of E-readers are exactly the customers they need: book-lovers with money. If these people switch to borrowing c-books instead of buying them, what then? Electronic borrowing is awfully convenient. Unlike printed hooks, which must be checked out and returned to a physical library miles from where you live, book files can be downloaded at home. The tiles disappear from the device when they are due.
E-lending is not simple, however. There are lots of different and often incompatible(不兼容的)e-book formats, devices and licenses. Most libraries use a company called OverDrive, which secures rights from publishers and provides E-books and audio files in every format. Yet publishers and libraries are worried by OverDrive's global market dominance, as the company can control fees and conditions. Publishers were annoyed when OverDrive cooperated with Amazon, the world's biggest online bookseller, last year. Owners of Amazon's Kindle E-reader who want to borrow E-books from libraries are now redirected to Amazon's website, where they must use their Amazon accounts to secure a loan.
According to Pew, an opinion researcher, library users are perfect for market for Amazon. Late last year Amazon Introduced its Kindle Owners' Lending Library, which lets its best customers borrow free one of thousands of popular books each month.
Library supporters argue that book borrowers are also book buyers and that libraries are vital spaces for readers to discover new work. Many were cheered by a recent Pew survey, which found that more than half of Americans with library-cards say they prefer to buy their e-books.
1. It can be inferred from paragraph I that .| A．libraries and publishers face the same problem of e-books' piracy |
| B．libraries are eager to keep strong relationship with publishers |
| C．most publishers are hesitant to cooperate with libraries |
| D．several big publishers have sold E-books to libraries |
| A．Book sales may drop sharply because of convenient electronic borrowing. |
| B．There are lots of different and incompatible E-book formats available. |
| C．There is no time limit for the book files downloaded on the device. |
| D．E-books must be checked out and returned to libraries regularly. |
| A．It has the privilege to offer readers various brands of E-readers. |
| B．It distributes E-books and audio files to publishers. |
| C．Its market control threatens publishers and libraries. |
| D．It devotes itself to improving conditions of e-book market. |
| A．E-books can be lent at libraries as many times as you like |
| B．OverDrive distributes E-books and audio files to publishers |
| C．over half of Americans are borrowing E-books from libraries |
| D．Amazon is adopting measures to win more customers |
| A．The Hopeful Future of Publishing Business |
| B．Libraries and E-books |
| C．The Dull Relationship between Libraries and Publishers |
| D．The Close Cooperation between OverDrive and Amazon |
【推荐3】Criticism is judgment. A critic is a judge. A judge must study and think about the material presented to him, accept it, correct it or reject it after thinking over what he has read, watched or heard.
Another word for criticism is appreciation. When I criticize or appreciate some object or another, I look for its good points and bad points. In reading any printed or written matter, I always have a pencil in hand and put any comments in the book or on a separate paper. In other words, I always talk back to the writer.
That sort of critical reading might well be called creative reading because I am thinking along with the author, asking him questions, seeing whether he answers the questions and how well he answers them. I mark the good passages to store them in my memory and ask myself about every other part and about the complete piece of writing; where, how and why could or should I improve upon it?
You might think that doing what I suggested is work. Yes, it is, but the work is a pleasure because I can feel my brain expanding, my emotion reacting and my way of living change.
Reading exercises is a great influence on a person. If pictures, still or moving, accompany the reading, the memory will retain the material for a long time.
Just as evil books can corrupt, so also can good books gradually work a change on a corrupt person.
Let's get back to the beneficial effects of thinking while reading. It helps us to enlarge our minds. We understand more about the universe, its people and many of its wonders. We learn to think and observe in new ways. We certainly do get a feeling for the language we are reading. All good writers in any language have been readers who read critically and continuously.
1. According to the writer, creative reading is ________.| A．raising questions and answering them for the author |
| B．reading and giving comments on the materials one has read |
| C．thinking in the same line with the author |
| D．storing up facts in one's memory |
| A．asks what he does not understand |
| B．talks back to the author |
| C．understand the background on which the works are based |
| D．looks for the good and bad points of the material he has read |
| A．following one's thought closely | B．accepting |
| C．considering | D．agreeing |
| A．understand more about their surrounding than others. |
| B．have a thorough insight to the problem in life. |
| C．have the feeling of the language they read. |
| D．have read extensively(广泛地) and critically |
【推荐1】The woods are turning orange. Drifts of dry leaves are growing on forest floors and flying into street corners. From a distance, it is beautiful. But the air is still warm and summery. This turning and leaf fall is not the usual gradual preparation for winter in temperate zones (温带) but a stress response by trees trying to preserve water. We are now in a false autumn, caused by heat and drought. And it feels wrong.
There is, therefore, something deeply disturbing about such a graphic alteration of familiar rhythms. Droughts are not unknown to the UK, of course, and too many parts of the world are certainly familiar with far more severe versions. But increasingly they are occurring in the context of a climate emergency, and record-breaking heat. And the beauty of a false autumn, specifically, has an emotional effect, a deep weirdness, something mysteriously suggestive of evil or danger.
Cultures across the world contain ceremonies for the propitiation (宽恕) of the weather; a sense of responsibility for the natural world- and the belief that it will punish us if we fail it—is as old as humanity. One of the reasons why the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1798 poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is so effective is the directness with which it links the shooting of an albatross (信天翁)—the destruction of innocent wildlife—to a terrible change in the weather: no rain, just burning, death-dealing sun. We may not understand the mechanism, but at an instinctual (本能的) level it feels right.
And in a similar way it has not really been a surprise to hear that birds are struggling. In London, young swifts (雨燕) were seen falling out of the sky. Fewer—and too early—nuts and berries mean some animals will not live through this winter. Older trees, with their longer roots, will hopefully survive, but young trees may not—all that promises further warming. There will always be a degree of uncertainty about the causes of specific weather events, but we cannot deny that we have not taken care of the albatross. Now we must hope we are doing enough to make sure that these fearful golden days can be an autumn of autumns.
1. According to the passage, what is a disturbing sign of “a false autumn”?| A．Tree leaves are turning orange and fall gradually in winter. |
| B．Birds are struggling to fall out of the sky in London. |
| C．People worldwide are careless of droughts and heat in the UK. |
| D．Nuts and berries ripen earlier but yield less than before. |
| A．Because people across the world sympathize with the albatross. |
| B．Because it directly links destruction of wildlife to extreme weather. |
| C．Because we are certain about how the weather shifts instinctually. |
| D．Because he is an established Romantic poet curious about nature. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Concerned. | C．Humorous. | D．Ironic (讽刺的). |
【推荐2】The number of devices you can talk to is multiplying—first it was your phone, then your car, and now you can boss around your appliances. Children are likely to grow up thinking everything is sentient, or at least interactive: One app developer told The Washington Post that after interacting with Amazon’s Alexa, his kid started talking to coasters. But even without chatty gadgets, research suggests that under certain circumstances, people anthropomorphize everyday products.
We personify things because we’re lonely. In one experiment, people who reported feeling isolated were more likely than others to give free will and consciousness to various devices. In turn, feeling attached to objects can reduce loneliness. When college students were reminded of a time they’d been excluded socially, they made up by lying about their number of friends on social networks—unless they were first given tasks that caused them to interact with their phone as if it had human qualities. The phone apparently stood in for real friends.
When we personify products, they become harder to cast off. After being asked to evaluate their car's personality, people were less likely to say they intended to replace it soon. And anthropomorphizing objects is associated with a tendency to accumulate.
So how do people assign characteristics to an object? In part, we rely on looks. On humans, wide faces are associated with dominance. Similarly, people rated cars, clocks, and watches with wide faces as more dominant-looking than narrow-faced ones, and preferred them—especially in competitive situations. An analysis of car sales in Germany found that cars with grilles(格栅) that were upturned like smiles and headlights that were slanted（倾斜的）like narrowed eyes sold best. The purchasers saw these features as increasing a car’s friendliness and aggressiveness, respectively. It’s little wonder so many companies use mascots（吉祥物）to bring brands to life. An analysis of 1,151 brand characters found symbols that were human or humanlike to be common.
Personifying products and brands can backfire, however. When a coffee maker was anthropomorphized in an ad (“I am Aroma” versus just “Aroma”)，consumers felt betrayed by increases in its price. Now that speech-enabled coffee makers are on the market, maybe the machines can sweet-talk their way back into consumers, hearts.
1. The word “anthropomorphize”（in paragraph 1) most probably means_________.| A．think highly of something | B．find a better way to rate something |
| C．see something as humans | D．use something as often as possible |
| A．they were not lonely |
| B．the phone had human qualities |
| C．they needed real friends |
| D．the phone was not always necessary |
| A．show that friendliness is better received than aggressiveness |
| B．highlight that a symbol looking like a smile appeals more to people |
| C．explain why so many companies use mascots to promote their brands |
| D．illustrate that people will judge something according to its appearance |
| A．Consumers should know more about a product before it is on the market. |
| B．Products with a mascot are more likely to win consumers' hearts. |
| C．Increases in a produces price may be accepted with a good ad. |
| D．The personification of a product may not always work. |
【推荐3】Discoveries in science and technology are thought by “untaught minds” to come in blinding flashes or as the result of dramatic accidents. Sir Alexander Fleming did not, as legend would have it, look at the mold (霉) on a piece of cheese and get the idea for penicillin there and then. He experimented with antibacterial substances for nine years before he made his discovery. Inventions and innovations almost always come out of tough trial and error. Innovation is like soccer; even the best players miss the goal and have their shots blocked much more frequently than they score.
The point is that the players who score most are the ones who take most shots at the goal—and so it goes with innovation in any field of activity. The prime difference between innovation and others is one of approach. Everybody gets ideas, but innovators work consciously on theirs, and they follow them through until they prove practicable or otherwise. What ordinary people see as fanciful abstractions, professional innovators see as solid possibilities.
“Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that there’s no particular goodness in doing things the way they have always been done.” Wrote Rudolph Flesch, a language authority. This accounts for our reaction to seemingly simple innovations like plastic garbage bags and suitcases on wheels that make life more convenient: “How come nobody thought of that before?”
The creative approach begins with the proposal that nothing be as it appears. Innovators will not accept that there is only one way to do anything. Faced with getting from A to B, the average person will automatically set out on the best-known and apparently simplest route. The innovator will search for alternate courses, which may prove easier in the long run and are sure to be more interesting and challenging even if they lead to dead ends. Highly creative individuals really do march to a different drummer.
1. “Untaught mind” in the first paragraph refers to __________.| A．an individual who often comes up with new ideas by accident |
| B．a person who has had no education |
| C．a citizen of a society that restricts personal creativity |
| D．a person ignorant of the hard work involved in experimentation |
| A．The way they present their findings. | B．The intelligence they possess. |
| C．The way they deal with problems. | D．The variety of ideas they have. |
| A．devoted to the progress of science |
| B．diligent in pursuing their goals |
| C．concerned about the advance of society |
| D．unwilling to follow common ways of doing things |
| A．What Are So Special about Creative Individuals |
| B．The Relation Between Creation and Diligence |
| C．Discoveries and Innovation |
| D．To Be a Creative Expert in the Study of Human Creativity |
FOUR BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ | |
 | Cruel Beautiful World Written by Caroline Leavitt At age 16, Lucy is a lonely orphan living with older sister Charlotte and devoted aunt Iris in Waltham, Massachusetts. On the last day of school, she runs away with her 30-year-old teacher, William, and settles in a hillside cottage in rural Pennsylvania, near his new teaching job. Though Lucy feels increasingly isolated, William won't allow her any outlet. Leavitt draws upon a real-life crime that involved a girl she knew in high school. She tells her story from multiple viewpoints, building tension and sympathy for Lucy and Charlotte as tragedy swallows them. |
 | By Gaslight Written by Steven Price Price, an award-winning Canadian poet, achieves an extraordinary achievement of Dickensian storytelling in his weighty second novel. His hero is William Pinkerton, son of the founder of the legendary detective agency, who finds clues in his late father's safe to the case of William Shade. This mythic thief had disturbed and upset his father. William tracks a Shade accomplice (共犯), Charlotte Reckitt, to London, only to find she's been found dead in the Thames. Price ably arranges dozens of interlinking plotlines as he spans three continents and several decades, from American Civil War battlefields to Scotland Yard at the end of the 19th Century. |
 | The Invisibility Cloak Written by Ge Fei Beijing-based Ge Fei (pen name for Liu Yong) won the 2015 Mao Dun Literature Prize for fiction “describing the changing spirit of Chinese society” over the past century. The Invisibility Cloak, his first English publication, revolves around Cui, a divorced man who creates customized hi-fi speakers for Beijing's newly wealthy and a few intellectuals. Beijing's rapid expansion has left Cui longing for an invisible life away from the city. His chance comes when he agrees to build a world-class sound system for a gangster (匪徒). Ge Fei's nice work, translated from the Chinese by Canaan Morse, should find many fans. |
 | Messy Written by Tim Harford The temptation to be neat and tidy may be powerful, but “we would be better served by embracing a degree of mess,” Harford argues. His defense of the creative potential of the imperfect, random, vague, difficult, diverse and even dirty is refreshing. Reaching into the arts, politics, business, science and technology, Harford makes an appealing case for opening up to disorder and luck. |
| A．Caroline Leavitt. | B．Steven Price. |
| C．Ge Fei. | D．Tim Harford. |
| A．Cruel Beautiful World | B．By Gaslight |
| C．The Invisibility Cloak | D．Messy |
| A．buy newly-published books at a discount |
| B．market latest books to friends and family |
| C．know what books are worthwhile to read |
| D．understand the current trend in literature |
【推荐2】An Excerpt from The Mexican
—by Jack London
A mysterious youth came to the America—based Mexican Revolutionary Committee, requesting for its admission.
Nobody knew his history. The first day he drifted into their busy rooms, they all suspected him of being a spy of the Diaz regime(迪亚兹政权), which had been carrying out the dictatorial rule since 1876.
Boy as he was, he announced that he was Felipe Rivera, and he wished to work for the revolution. The revolutionists looked at each other with doubt in their eyes. And what made revolutionists the most confused was Rivera’s whereabouts—he always came back with his arms or legs seriously injured, dressed in ragged clothes. So what had he been doing recently? Everyone in the Revolutionary Committee started to take precautions against him.
The situation changed totally when the Committee was in bad need of funds. Much to their surprise, such a slender boy should have successively brought them batches of gold and silver coins. Then came the most urgent situation where 5, 000 dollars were needed to buy guns for those revolutionists on standby on the border between the US and the Mexico. Rivera stood out and made a promise that he would give them 5,000 dollars within three weeks.
So, how could he get so much money within such a short period of time?
Rivera was determined to help his people at the cost of his life. He fought against stronger and tougher boxers in the ring to make money for his people. One day he was engaged in a very tough fight against a champion boxer, Danny. Rivera didn’t match Danny in height, weight, or skills. And he was not half as popular. However, “The winner takes all!” And Rivera stubbornly asked for all—all he had on his mind was making the money for his people.
The fight was going on and on. The whole stadium was cheering for Danny; there were few on Rivera’s side. However, Rivera survived one blow after another; his excellent defence was frightening.
Danny rushed, forcing Rivera to give him a clinch. Was it a trick? Rivera thought to himself.
Yes, it was. But Rivera was smart enough to avoid it. He backed and circled away.
He pretended to clinch with Danny’s next rush. Instead, at the last instant, just as their bodies should have come together, Rivera went quickly back. He had fooled him!
While Rivera was dancing away, Danny kept challenging him openly. Having run after him for two rounds, Danny found the boy not even daring to come near him. He started to throw all caution to the winds. Rivera was struck again and again. He took blows by the dozen—just to avoid the deadly clinch.
In the seventeenth round, Rivera, hit heavily, bent down. His hands dropped helplessly. Danny thought it was his chance—the boy was at his mercy. He decided to strike the deadly blow. But before he could do that, Rivera caught him off his guard and hit him in the mouth. Danny went down. When he rose, Rivera gave him another blow on the neck and jaw. He repeated this three times.
Danny did not rise again. The audience shouted for him to stand up. But the miracle did not happen.
“Count!” Rivera cried to the referee. When the count was finished, Danny, gathered up by his assistants, was carried to his corner.
“Who wins?” Rivera demanded.
Unwillingly, the referee caught his gloved hand and held it high up.
Rivera, unattended, walked to his corner, where his assistants had not yet placed his stool. He didn’t care. All he could remember was that he had got the $5,000 he needed. “The winner takes all! ” What mattered to him was that________.
1. The underlined phrase “take precautions against him” in the third paragraph probably means “________”.| A．drive him away to ensure the security of others |
| B．report him to the local police |
| C．lend their helping hand to him in case of injuries |
| D．take measures to avoid potential threats posed by him |
| A．Danny was killed by Rivera after he was given three deadly blows. |
| B．Rivera tried to attack Danny at the very beginning of the boxing match. |
| C．Rivera’s assistants were on Danny’s side and hadn’t expected him to win. |
| D．The referee had been bribed before the match so he didn’t give the fair result. |
| A．he was actually stronger than Danny in the boxing field |
| B．he would be allowed to join the revolutionary army |
| C．his people could use the money he earned to buy weapons |
| D．he was going to fire the assistants who forgot to buy the stool |
①He is aggressive. ②He takes the rival seriously.
③He cares about the revolution. ④He is quite skilled.
⑤He is very cautious. ⑥He lets the audience down.
| A．①②④ | B．①④⑥ | C．②③④ | D．②⑤⑥ |
【推荐3】One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible insect. He lay on his armor-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.
“What’s happened to me?” he thought. It wasn’t a dream. His room, a proper human room although a little too small, lay peacefully between its four familiar walls. A collection of textile samples lay spread out on the table-Samsa was a travelling salesman-and above it there hung a picture that he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame. It showed a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur scarf who sat upright, raising a heavy fur muff(暖手筒)that covered the whole of her lower arm towards the viewer.
Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather. Drops of rain could be heard hitting the window, which made him feel quite sad. “How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all this nonsense,” he thought, but that was something he was unable to do because he was used to sleeping on his right, and in his present state couldn’t get into that position. However hard he threw himself onto his right, he always rolled back to where he was. He must have tried it a hundred times, shut his eyes so that he wouldn’t have to look at the floundering legs, and only stopped when he began to feel a mild, dull pain there that he had never felt before.
He thought, “What a heavy career it is that I’ve chosen! Travelling day in and day out. Doing business like this takes much more effort than doing your own business at home, and on top of that there's the curse of travelling, worries about making train connections, bad and irregular food, contact with different people all the time so that you can never get to know anyone or become friendly with them.” He felt a slight itch up on his belly; pushed himself slowly up on his back towards the headboard so that he could lift his head better; found where the itch was, and saw that it was covered with lots of little white spots which he didn’t know what to make of; and when he tried to feel the place with one of his legs he drew it quickly back because as soon as he
touched it he was overcome by a cold tremble.
He slid back into his former position. “Getting up early all the time,” he thought, “it makes you stupid. You’ve got to get enough sleep. Other travelling salesmen live a life of luxury. For instance, whenever I go back to the guest house during the morning to copy out the contract, these gentlemen are always still sitting there eating their breakfasts. I ought to just try that with my boss; I’d get kicked out on the spot. But who knows, maybe that would be the best thing for me. If I didn’t have my parents to think about I’d have given in my notice a long time ago, I’d have gone up to the boss and told him just what I think, tell him everything I would, let him know just what I feel. He’d fall right off his desk! And it’s a funny sort of business to be sitting up there at your desk, talking down at your inferiors from up there, especially when you have to go right up close because the boss is hard of hearing. Well, there’s still some hope; once I’ve got the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to him-another five or six years I suppose-that’s definitely what I’ll do. That’s when I’ll make the big change. First of all though, I’ve got to get up, my train leaves at five.”
| A．curse | B．disease | C．nightmare | D．fraud |
| A．struggling | B．painful | C．pitiful | D．trembling |
| A．remind the reader that Gregor has already turned into an insect |
| B．stress the disconnection between Gregors’ thoughts and his actual situation |
| C．present important details about what Gregor’s new body looks like |
| D．show that Gregor’s thoughts are focused on the changes to his body |
| A．He is angry. | B．He is eager to please. |
| C．He is depressed. | D．He is diligent. |
| A．Imagination is a dangerous thing. | B．People are fearful of change. |
| C．Dreams become our reality. | D．Man is a slave to work. |
| A．provide a solution to the conflict Gregor faces |
| B．foretell the conflict between Gregor and his boss |
| C．illustrate Gregor’s flexibility and ability to move on |
| D．emphasize Gregor’s extreme sense of duty |
