1 . One of the most famous literary challenges in history was when Dr. Seuss received a challenge from his publisher that he could only use 50 words to write an entire book. That’s all well and good, but it’s a tough challenge, to be sure. However, Ernest Vincent Wright would no doubt turn up his nose, as he challenged himself to pen an entire 50,000-word novel without once using the letter “e”.

Wright managed to pull it off. The final product was Gadsby, which is about a man named, well, Gadsby, who tries to save his city with the help of a youth group. It took Wright nearly six months to complete the work, and in his introduction pages he mentioned the challenges along the way.

One of the biggest challenges was replacing pronouns, since it’s tough to write a sentence, let alone a novel, without words like “he” or “she” or “her” and so forth. Additionally, he was forced to find ways to work around using past tense words that typically end in “-ed”, which, as you might imagine, is more than a little tricky.

Still, Wright did manage to come up with 50,110 words and a full story without any cheats, making it one of the most successful lipograms (避讳某字之文) in the history of writing. Wright self-published the book in 1939 and it was read primarily by people who tried to find any cheats, so convinced were they that Wright simply must have used the letter.

The entire novel is available online to read for free, as it entered the public domain in 1968. It’s a good thing, too, as the storehouse that contained the majority of the copies burned down, destroying enough of the books that it has since become a rare book collector’s prize, with copies being valued at thousands of dollars.

At the end of the day, of course, it remains a truly great achievement. After all, “e” is the most commonly used letter in English, with more than 11 percent of all words in the Oxford dictionary containing at least one “e”.

1. What did Wright challenge himself to write?

A．An entire book with 50 words.

B．A 50,000-word book in six months.

C．A 50,000-word book without the letter “e”.

D．An entire book including “e” 50,000 times.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．The difficulties Wright faced.

B．The plot of Wright’s final product.

C．The popularity of Wright’s final product.

D．The smart ways Wright used to replace pronouns.

3. What can we infer about the readers of Gadsby?

A．They considered the book a great success.

B．They expected the book to be available online.

C．They wondered what lipograms mean.

D．They doubted if Wright really made it.

4. Why do Wright’s book copies become valuable?

A．Due to their rarity.

B．Because Wright won a big prize.

C．Because they had a really long history.

D．Due to book collectors’ recommendation.

2 . Do you find yourself checking social media sites as soon as you wake up? Do you answer e-mails on your phone while surfing the Web? Actually, we've lived a life in which we're all connected, all the time. Whether or not this is a good thing is the subject of Hamlet's BlackBerry, a non-fiction book by William Powers based on an essay he penned.

Early in the work, Powers questions the way we use devices, but certainly he doesn't criticize it. He does, however, recognize the downside of constantly being overstimulated—or what he calls the “problem of connectedness”. Among the things disturbed by the problem, Powers says, are the ways in which people are connected and deal with each other. “Constantly switching among people on social media platforms, texts and all the new ways of connecting all day, we never have a sustained connection.” His intention of writing Hamlet's BlackBerry is to help teach people how to connect more wisely. Powers looked to the past, where he found several precedents(先例)for both the current information age and the anxiety that has come with it.

One major figure Powers examines actually developed his own strategies for dealing with overstimulation. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet is informed his father is murdered by his uncle and too shocked by the news to think calmly, so he pulls out his “tables” from the pocket, an object Powers describes as a so rt of original electronic planner. In the Elizabethan age, tables were a kind of new device designed to help people bring order to their lives despite massive news. You could write notes during the day and wipe(擦掉) them away at night.

But how do we deal with the same problem? Powers has one suggestion that's child's play: just disconnect. His family, for example, takes an “Internet Rest Day” every weekend. “We don't have smart phones. Therefore we can't check our inboxes and do Web surfing that day. We really enter another zone and it's wonderful. Even when we're connected to the Internet again, we feel benefits of having been disconnected days before,” he says. “It's just about that simple word—balance.”

1. What can be influenced by overstimulation according to Powers?

A．Thoughts.

B．Health.

C．Productivity.

D．Relationships.

2. What can we infer about the people in the Elizabethan age?

A．They advocated an orderly life.	B．They could handle information overload.
C．They regarded tables as a necessity.	D．They improved technology to make plans.

3. What does Powers think of the “Internet Rest Day”?

A．It is a symbol of balance.	B．It lightens the family atmosphere.
C．It has a lasting influence.	D．It is seemingly difficult to follow.

4. Where is the text most likely taken from?

A．An introduction to a book.	B．An article about the Web's impacts.
C．A report on digitization.	D．A review of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

3 . Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2024

The Novel Fair is an annual competition initiated by the Irish Writers Centre (IWC). Described by The Irish Times as “A Dragons’ Cave for writers”, each year the Fair aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents.

The Prize

The twelve winners will have the opportunity to present the summary of their novel directly to industry professionals. Leading publishers and agents will be invited by the IWC to meet these writers in person or through a series of online meetings. To get fully prepared for the meeting with publishers and agents, the winners will receive a place in a workshop on “How to Promote Your Novel”, two weeks in advance. Also, applicants who are longlisted (初选) but do not make it to the shortlist of twelve will have their works evaluated and criticized by the judging panel.

How to Enter

Entry fee for application is £55 (Members of IWC can enter for a discounted fee of £45). This competition only accepts manuscripts (原稿) for novels. Applicants are required to send a summary within 300 words and up to five chapters of their novel, which should be 10,000 words (+/-10％). Manuscripts should be submitted online. There is a limit of one entry per applicant.

Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world. Before entering the competition, please ensure that you have read the Novel Fair Terms & Conditions 2024 very carefully as the Fair is open to only novelists who have never published work previously. If you have any questions about the application process, please email novelfair@irishwriterscentre.ie.

1. What’s the purpose of the Fair?

A．To advertise local stories.

B．To encourage literary reading.

C．To serve as a platform for writers.

D．To arouse enthusiasm for writing.

2. What can the workshop help the winners do?

A．Deal with the judging panel.

B．Improve their writing skills.

C．Learn about publishing process.

D．Present their novels attractively.

3. Which of the following meets the requirement of the Fair?

A．A summary of 200 words.

B．A novel published in 2023.

C．A paper manuscript by post.

D．A submission of seven chapters.

6 .

Red Sorghum	Mo Yan (Author), George Backman (Narrator), Howard Goldblatt (translator) The acclaimed novel of love and resistance during late 1930s China by Mo Yan, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature. Spanning three generations, this novel of family and myth is told through a series of flashbacks that describe events of shocking horror set against a landscape of gemlike beauty, as the Chinese battle both Japanese invaders and each other in the turbulent (动荡的) 1930s.
--------------------------------------------------------------Product details--------------------------------------------------------------

Listening Length                                 15 hours and 25 minutes
Audible.com Release Date                    December 09, 2013
Publisher                                               Audible Studios
Program Type                                        Audiobook
Version                                               Unabridged
Language                                               English
Top reviews from the United States
jklm                    It was interesting and vivid, but not…

This is a ‘history’ of a family recalling various exploits of family members. I liked the realism but the jumping about backwards and forwards from decade to decade makes me confused.

There is a distinct lack of ideals or kindness, but it did lead me to reflect on the charm that gang leaders can have. So it was interesting and vivid, but not a page turner or a pleasant read.

K.N.R.                    A New Classic

War cannot destroy all. This family stretches three generations and the bonds are as strong as the sorghum, though perhaps suffering from storms. His style of writing is very pretty, sometimes too much and sometimes just perfect. The novel switches lawlessly back and forth. The use of third-person always enables the writing to adjust to different scenes with ease. The only bad part is the end. Mo Yan tries too hard to force a feeling of filial (孝顺的) devotion and ancestral respect on the reader. Otherwise it is an exciting, intense book with violence, horror, and shooting. An extraordinary achievement.

1. What do we know about Red Sorghum?

A．It is a non-fiction for those who lived in late 1930s China.

B．George Backman is one of the authors.

C．The novel gives us the story in order of time.

D．It tells the history of three generations struggling during the war-torn time.

2. Which aspect does K.N.R. feel pity for?

A．He/She can’t understand where the novel was heading.

B．The book can only be listened.

C．The author tried hard to show blind respect to parents and ancestors.

D．The war that Chinese people were faces with was too harsh.

3. You are most likely to read this on ______.

A．travel website

B．short video website

C．shopping website

D．news website

7 . 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.

2. What can we learn about The Girl Who Drank the Moon?

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.

3. What do the three books have in common?

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.