Yes, you．Believe it or not, that may be easier than you think．Not all classics are too difficult or complicated．So you’re not limited to the simplified versions．And the easier books are not all for children．
Books in their original versions may send you to the dictionary．And you might not understand everything you read．But reading one from cover to cover will give you a real sense of accomplishment(成就)．
The key is to find the right books．Let’s take a look at these．
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C．S．Lewis)
Stepping into an old wardrobe, four English schoolchildren find themselves in the magical world of Narnia．On this delightful land, they find friends among the many talking creatures．
The children soon discover, however, that Narnia is ruled by the White Witch．Edmund, one of the children, falls under her power．Who can free Narnia? Only Aslan, the great and noble lion．He alone knows the Deeper Magic．But the children themselves must help fight the battle against the White Witch and those who serve her．
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman, hasn’t caught any fish in more than 80 days．Sailing far out from land, the old man hooks an enormous fish．That begins an agonizing three day battle．First he struggles against the great fish．Then he must fight off the sharks that circle the little boat and threaten to eat his fish．Exhausted and bleeding, the old man arrives back at shore．But his fish, his beautiful fish．．．
Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for this superb story of strength and courage, of victory and regret．
A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine Lingle)
Meg’s father, a U．S．government scientist, has been missing for many months．He had been experimenting with time travel when he mysteriously disappeared．
Now Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin will try to rescue him．But first they must outwit the forces of evil they encounter(遇到) on their journey through time and space．Can they find Meg’s father before it’s too late?
This novel is more than just a science fiction adventure．It’s an exploration of the nature of our universe．
The Pearl (John Steinbeck)
One day Kino, a poor Mexican pearl diver, finds a magnificent pearl．With it he dreams of buying a better life, new clothes and schooling for his son．Instead, it brings only evil．His wife pleads with him to get rid of it．“No,”says Kino．“I will have my chance．I am a man．”But when he kills a man who is trying to steal the pearl, Kino and his wife must run for their lives．
This tale of dreams, justice and the power of greed is told simply and beautifully．
The Long Winter (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
It’s winter, 1880－1881, on America’s northern prairies．Mr．and Mrs．Ingalls and their four girls stay near the kitchen stove to keep warm．Heavy snowstorms cut them off even from neighbors．With the trains stopped, no supplies can reach the town．Food and fuel are running out．Day after day the girls must grind wheat for bread and twist hay to burn．At times they nearly lose the battle to keep their spirits up．
This story provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of early American settlers．
(1)
In the passage, the author intends to ________．
[ ]
A．
recommend a few simplified versions of classics
B．
recommend a few original versions of classics
C．
tell us how to read an English book from beginning to end
D．
tell us how to find proper English books to read
(2)
In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the White Witch is probably ________．
[ ]
A．
an evil woman with magic power
B．
a friendly woman with magic power
C．
a delightful talking creature
D．
a powerful lion
(3)
The underlined word”outwit”in the passage probably means ________．
[ ]
A．
get rid of
B．
take advantage of
C．
beat by being cleverer
D．
make the most of
(4)
Which book deals with history?
[ ]
A．
The Pearl．
B．
The Old Man and the Sea．
C．
A Wrinkle in Time．
D．
The Long Winter．
(5)
A Wrinkle in Time is different from other books mentioned in the passage in that ________．
My father made a deal with me that he would match whatever I could come up with to buy my fir st car．From the time I wa s a saver．My allowance, back in tho se day s, wa s twenty five cent s a week．I grew up on a farm near a small town called Ventura．In tho se day s the area wa s mo stly agricultural．The climate wa s and still i s a s clo se to perfect a s you could get．I earned some of my money picking one crop or another．When I wa s about ten, a school friend' s family owned walnut orchard s(果园)and it wa s harve st time．She told me we could earn five dollar s for every bag of walnut s we picked．I certainly learned about picking walnut s that day．Not surprisingly, that wa s my fir st and la st time a s a walnut picker．
In 1960 my grandmother pa s sed away．She left me 100 share s of AT＆T．One hundred share s of stock don't seem like much today but back then tho se share s paid me＄240 per year in dividend s(利息)．That wa s huge for a kid my age．
By the time I wa s seventeen．I had saved up ＄ 1, 300 and I knew exactly that I wanted．Ithink my father wa s somewhat suri sed when I announced I had saved up ＄ 1, 300 and wa s ready to buy my new car．I'll never forget the evening my father said, “Let' s go see about that car”．I wa s so excited．
My father could have ea sily ju st given me the car but he alway s in si sted that hi s children work for what they got．Thi s wa s not a bad thing．I learned self-reliance．Self-reliance i s equal to freedom．Now that I think about it I need to be thanking my father．
(1)
Which one of the following s didn't belong to the saving of ＄1, 300?
[ ]
A．
Weekly allowance．
B．
Her earning s by picking crop s．
C．
Share s left by grandma．
D．
Money earned from selling share s．
(2)
The underlined part in the second paragraph probably meant ________．
[ ]
A．
she didn't have the chance of picking walnut s
B．
enough money had been earned for her car
C．
the work wa s too hard for children like her
D．
she had no time to do that again for some rea son
(3)
We can know from the pa s sage the author got her car at the age of ________．
[ ]
A．
16
B．
17
C．
18
D．
19
(4)
The purpo se of the author' s father doing like that wa s to ________．
