Read a whole book in English? Me?
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. 1.

   In the passage, the author intends to _______.
   

   1. A.
      recommend a few simplified versions of classics
   2. B.
      recommend a few original versions of classics
   3. C.
      tell us how to read an English book from beginning to end
   4. D.
      tell us how to find proper English books to read 
2. 2.

   In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the White Witch is probably _____.
   

   1. A.
      an evil woman with magic power          
   2. B.
      a friendly woman with magic power
   3. C.
      a delightful talking creature               
   4. D.
      a powerful lion
3. 3.

   The underlined word "outwit" in the passage probably means ______.
   

   1. A.
      get rid of                             
   2. B.
      take advantage of  
   3. C.
      beat by being cleverer                   
   4. D.
      make the most of
4. 4.

   Which book deals with history?
   

   1. A.
      The Pearl.                           
   2. B.
      The Old Man and the Sea.   
   3. C.
      A Wrinkle in Time.                    
   4. D.
      The Long Winter.
5. 5.

   A Wrinkle in Time is different from other books mentioned in the passage in that _____.
   

   1. A.
      it is not a science fiction                
   2. B.
      it tells a true story
   3. C.
      it provides some scientific knowledge     
   4. D.
      it tells the battle between justice and evil

The Jungle Book
Lost in the jungles of India as a child and adopted into a family of wolves, Mowgli is brought up on a diet of Jungle Law, loyalty, and fresh meat from the kill. Regular adventures with his friends and enemies in the jungles improve this child’s strength and cleverness and stir every reader’s imagination.
Price: $ 7.79
ISBN-13: 978-1613820742
Average Customer Review: ★★★★☆
A Stolen Life
The first work of its kind—Jaycee Dugard’s personal life story, her own story of being kidnapped (绑架) in 1991. When Jaycee was eleven years old, she was kidnapped from a school bus stop. She was missing for more than eighteen years, and gave birth to two daughters during her imprisonment (监禁).
Price: $ 19.79
ISBN-13: 978-1442344983
Average Customer Review:★★★★★
While We’re Far  Apart
Five-time Christy Award winner Lynn Austin is called as “one of the style’s best historical fiction novelists”. Set in Brooklyn, New York, during World War Ⅰ，while a motherless girl longs for her daddy and a young lady hopes for a second chance at love, this tale explores the uncertainty that stays in people.
Price:$ 6.00
ISBN-10: 0764204971
Average Customer Review:★★★★☆
The Fashion Police
The Fashion Police was in the second place in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition 2010 and nominated (提名) Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010 by The Romance Reviews. It is a strange comedy-mystery, combining murder and with romance.
Price: $ 12.73
ISBN-13: 978-1451555653
Average Customer Review: ★★★☆☆
【小题1】If you are interested in personal life stories, then you can choose the book _________.

The Jungle Book

Lost in the jungles of India as a child and adopted into a family of wolves, Mowgli is brought up on a diet of Jungle Law, loyalty, and fresh meat from the kill. Regular adventures with his friends and enemies in the jungles improve this child’s strength and cleverness and stir every reader’s imagination.

Price: $ 7.79

ISBN-13: 978-1613820742

Average Customer Review: ★★★★☆

A Stolen Life

The first work of its kind—Jaycee Dugard’s personal life story, her own story of being kidnapped (绑架) in 1991. When Jaycee was eleven years old, she was kidnapped from a school bus stop. She was missing for more than eighteen years, and gave birth to two daughters during her imprisonment (监禁).

Price: $ 19.79

ISBN-13: 978-1442344983

Average Customer Review:★★★★★

While We’re Far  Apart

Five-time Christy Award winner Lynn Austin is called as “one of the style’s best historical fiction novelists”. Set in Brooklyn, New York, during World War Ⅰ，while a motherless girl longs for her daddy and a young lady hopes for a second chance at love, this tale explores the uncertainty that stays in people.

Price:$ 6.00

ISBN-10: 0764204971

Average Customer Review:★★★★☆

The Fashion Police

The Fashion Police was in the second place in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition 2010 and nominated (提名) Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010 by The Romance Reviews. It is a strange comedy-mystery, combining murder and with romance.

Price: $ 12.73

ISBN-13: 978-1451555653

Average Customer Review: ★★★☆☆

1.If you are interested in personal life stories, then you can choose the book _________.

2.The ISBN of the book that is most popular among the readers is _______.

3.What makes the book The Fashion Police distinguish itself from others?

The Jungle Book
Lost in the jungles of India as a child and adopted into a family of wolves, Mowgli is brought up on a diet of Jungle Law, loyalty, and fresh meat from the kill. Regular adventures with his friends and enemies in the jungles improve this child’s strength and cleverness and stir every reader’s imagination.
Price: $ 7.79
ISBN-13: 978-1613820742
Average Customer Review: ★★★★☆
A Stolen Life
The first work of its kind—Jaycee Dugard’s personal life story, her own story of being kidnapped (绑架) in 1991. When Jaycee was eleven years old, she was kidnapped from a school bus stop. She was missing for more than eighteen years, and gave birth to two daughters during her imprisonment (监禁).
Price: $ 19.79
ISBN-13: 978-1442344983
Average Customer Review:★★★★★
While We’re Far  Apart
Five-time Christy Award winner Lynn Austin is called as “one of the style’s best historical fiction novelists”. Set in Brooklyn, New York, during World War Ⅰ，while a motherless girl longs for her daddy and a young lady hopes for a second chance at love, this tale explores the uncertainty that stays in people.
Price:$ 6.00
ISBN-10: 0764204971
Average Customer Review:★★★★☆
The Fashion Police
The Fashion Police was in the second place in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition 2010 and nominated (提名) Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010 by The Romance Reviews. It is a strange comedy-mystery, combining murder and with romance.
Price: $ 12.73
ISBN-13: 978-1451555653
Average Customer Review: ★★★☆☆

1. 1.

   If you are interested in personal life stories, then you can choose the book _________.

   1. A.
      A Stolen Life
   2. B.
      The Jungle Book
   3. C.
      The Fashion Police
   4. D.
      While We’re Far Apart
2. 2.

   The ISBN of the book that is most popular among the readers is _______.

   1. A.
      ISBN-13: 978-1613820742
   2. B.
      ISBN-13: 978-1442344983
   3. C.
      ISBN-10: 0764204971
   4. D.
      ISBN-13: 978-1451555653
3. 3.

   What makes the book The Fashion Police distinguish itself from others?

   1. A.
      It wins the award Christy Award five times.
   2. B.
      It is a great book on violence and family education.
   3. C.
      It is nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010.
   4. D.
      It has many elements borrowed from stories of true policemen.

Doris Lessing, a novelist whose books have swept across continents and reflects her concern about the social and political issues of her time, won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. The award comes with about $1.6 million.

    Ms Lessing never finished high school and largely educated herself through reading. She has written dozens of books of fiction, as well as plays, nonfiction and two volumes of autobiography. She is the 11^th woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

    Ms. Lessing was born Doris May Tayler in 1919 in what is now Iran. Her father was a bank clerk, and her mother was trained as a nurse. Attracted by the promise of farming riches, the family moved to Zimbabwe, where Ms. Lessing had what she has called a painful childhood.

She left home when she was 15, and in 1937 she moved to Salisbury in southern Rhodelsia, where she took jobs as a telephone operator and nursemaid. She married at 19 and had two children. A few years later, feeling as if she were put in prison, she abandoned her family. She later married Gottfried Lessing, and they had a son.

    When Mr. Lessing and her marriage broke up, she and her young son, Peter, moved to London, where she began her writing career. Her first novel, The Grass Is Singing was published in Britain in 1949. Ms Lessing’s strongest influence may be that she inspired a generation of feminists（女权主义者）with her breakthrough novel, The Golden Notebook. The book was published in 1962, which wrote about  the story of Anna Wulf, a woman who wanted to live freely and was, in some ways, Ms. Lessing’s secondary personality. She wrote about the inner lives of women and rejected the opinion that they should abandon their lives to marriage and children.

1. Ms. Lessing’s family moved from Iran to Zimbabwe because__________.

A．farming could make them become well off

B．her laid-off parents could find jobs

C．she could receive a better education

D．she could have a chance to take up writing

2. It can be learned from the passage that ________.

A．Doris Lessing is Ms. Lessing’s pen name.

B．Doris May Tayler is the name of Ms.Lessing’s birth place

C．Anna Wulf is Ms. Lessing’s name used before

D．Doris May Tayler is Ms. Lessing’s once used name

3. Which of the following statements is true?

A．Ms. Lessing is the 11^th person to win the Nobel Prize Literature.

B．Ms. Lessing got down to writing after graduation from high school.

C．Ms. Lessing married three times and has three children

D．Ms. Lessing disapproves of women abandoning their life to their marriage.

4. We can know from the text that _________.

A．Ms. Lessing’s writing career took off in her twenties

B．The Golden Notebook was about Ms. Lessing’s broken marriage life

C．Ms. Lessing’s books are involved in social and political issues of her time

D．The failure of Ms. Lessing’s marriage was due to her devotion to career.