Question

Charles Dickens was born in 1812. His father was a clerk and wasn’t paid much, so the family lived in an old, poor house. Then Mr. Dickens lost his job and went deep into debt(債).

One day, the police showed up and asked Mr. Dickens if he could pay his debts. When Mr. Dickens said he didn’t have enough money, one policeman answered that he had to go to debtor’s prison.

With no one to support them, Mrs. Dickens and the children, except Charles, moved into prison with their father. Even though Charles was only 12 years old, he got a job in a dirty, black shoe polish factory working 12 hour days.

When Mr. Dickens received some money from a relative, he paid his debts and got out of prison. He then got a job as a court reporter.

Charles went back to school. Charles studied hard and learned quickly. He also studied people, paying attention to what they did and why they did it.

After two years, he got a job as a reporter at England’s Houses of Parliament and he found it attractive.

Then one day Dickens decided to be imaginative, and he wrote a story of his own. Every character seemed to be a little like someone he had known. Finally one evening he dropped off his story, under the penname Boz, at The Monthly Magazine office.

A month later Dickens was shouting joyfully, “They printed my story! I’m an author!”

The magazine wanted more and more stories by Boz. Soon Dickens was writing stories about children working in factories, families living in debtor’s prison and poor people being hungry. He made the stories fun to read in high hopes that people would do something about the things that were wrong.

1.Charles Dickens was born in a poor family, wasn’t he?

2.Why was Mr. Dickens sent to debtor’s prison one day?

3.Who helped Mr. Dickens pay the debts and get out of prison?

4.What did Charles Dickens think of his job as a reporter at England’s Houses of Parliament?

5.What were Charles Dickens’ stories about?

They were____________, families living in debtor’s prison and poor people being hungry.

6.What kind of person do you think Charles Dickens was? Give your reasons.

_______________because_____________.

Answer 1