1 . A book called Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations has been published in the United States since the 1850s. It started with John Bartlett, the owner of a bookstore near Boston, Massachusetts. He selected words, or quotations, from famous people, including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and John Keats for the book.
Geoffrey O’Brien is the current editor of the 170-year-old book. He said it is hard to keep up with so many quotations because of “the speed of events” in modern times. “No matter when we went to press, we would be cutting off in the middle of the story,” he said.
The 19th edition of Bartlett’s just came out. It is the first publication since 2012 and the second under O’Brien. “With the Internet and cable news, you have the constant manufacturing of statements of one kind or another,” O’Brien said. So, he tried to choose quotations that have staying power beyond current news events.
In the early days, the book was mostly made up of quotations from white men. But recently, the book includes words from the singer Beyoncé and the track and field athlete Usain Bolt. It even has thoughts from other languages such as Russian and Navajo, a Native American language.
With so many new quotes, some older ones had to be removed. O’Brien said he was sad to drop comments by John Dryden, one of his favorite poets.
O’Brien also needs to keep the book to about 1,400 pages. So, once very well-known American comedians like Bob Hope and Johnny Carson are not in the latest book. Also gone are quotes from former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and actor Sally Field.
O’Brien said the goal of the book is to be “representative” but not like an encyclopedia (百科全书). Not everyone can get in. He said he was sad to not be able to include a comment from U.S. civil rights activist and politician John Lewis, who died in 2020.
1. What is the main challenge the editor faces?| A．Whether to keep pace with times. | B．What to take into the book. |
| C．How to deal with new statements. | D．How to remove the quotes. |
| A．He included more languages. | B．He reset the goal of the book. |
| C．He kept the pages of the book. | D．He used power-lasting quotes. |
| A．It has evolved as time changes. | B．Famous stories are selected for it. |
| C．The 19th edition is the second publication. | D．Only quotes from white men were included. |
| A．Content of a Famous Book | B．Development of a Quotation Book |
| C．Editors Try to Publish More Books | D．Quotation Book Struggles to Keep up |
