16.Characters in novels don't always do what the writer wants them to do.Sometimes they cause trouble,take on lives of their own,or even work against the writer.It's not just a problem for inexperienced authors:famed children's novelist Roald Dahl said he got the main character in his book Matilda so"wrong"that when he'd finished his first Version,he threw it away and started again.
Of course it's not the characters'fault.The problem lies with the author.Take Stephen King,who admitted that writing working-class characters is more difficult nowadays because his own circumstances have changed."It is definitely harder,"King said."When I wrote Carrie many years ago,I was one step away from physical labour."
This is also true for characters'ages,added King."When you have small children,it is easy to write young characters because you observe them and you have them in your life all the time.But your kids grow up,it's been harder for me to write about this little 12-year-old girl in my new book because my roodels are gone."
For other authors,such as Karen Fowler,there's one quality that can stop a character in its tracks:boredom."I had particular problems with the main character in my historical novel Sister Noon,"she says."She had attitudes about race and religion that seemed appropriate to me for her time and class,but they were not attitudes I liked.Eventually I grew quite bored with her.You can write a book about a character you dislike or a character you disagree with,but I don't think you can write a book about a character who bores you."
According to Neel Mukherjee,it was Adinath,a character in The Lives of Others,who made him work the hardest."I think I struggled because it's difficult to write a character whose most prominent personal feature is weakness,as Adinath's is,without making that feature define him,"Mukherjee says.But a troublesome character is far from an unwelcome guest,he continues,arguing that"when characters work against the author they come alive and become unpredictable".
"That is a fantastic thing to happen,"Mukherjee says."I celebrate it.It is one of the great,lucky gifts given to a writer."
32.What can we infer about Stephen King's book Carrie?C
A.It was his most difficult book to write.
B.It was the first successful novel King wrote.
C.There were few children featured in the story.
D.Some of its main characters were working class.
33.Why did Karen Fowler have trouble writing the main character in her novel Sister Noon?D
A.She disagreed with the character's attitudes.
B.The age difference between the two was too large.
C.She found the character very uninteresting.
D.The historical setting made accuracy difficult.
34.What does Neel Mukherjee think of his difficult-to-write characters?B
A.They are a sign that the story is not realistic.
B.They are often the most interesting.
C.They should be praised by all authors.
D.They need to be researched more thoroughly.
35.In which part of the newspaper would you expect to find the passage?B
A.Careers.
B.Culture.
C.Entertainment.
D.Lifestyle.
分析 本文屬于記敘文閱讀,主要向我們講述了一些作家筆下的小說人物是怎么寫成的,并且向我們介紹了一些有名的作家所遇到的問題
解答 32.C 推理判斷題.由第二段中的"Take Stephen King,who admitted that writing working-class characters is more difficult nowadays because his own circumstances have changed.It is definitely harder.When I wrote Carrie many years ago,I was one step away from physical labour"可知,多年前,他寫作Carrie時,他所處的環(huán)境接近勞動階層.而現(xiàn)在,他的生活環(huán)境發(fā)生變化了,所以對他來說現(xiàn)在描寫勞動階層更難了.由此可推知,Carrie這部小說中,主要人物應(yīng)該有一些勞動階層的人們.故選C
33.D 細節(jié)理解題.由第四段中的"You can write a book about a character you dislike or a character you disagree with,but I don't think you can write a book about a character who bores you"可知,Sister Noon這部小說中的主人公讓作者感到很厭煩,故選D.
34.B 推理判斷題.由倒數(shù)第二段中的"a troublesome character is far from an unwelcome guest …when characters work against the author they come alive and become unpredictable"可知,那些難寫的人物在作家看來,往往是充滿活力,令人不可預(yù)測的,故這樣的人物是非常有趣的,很受作家的歡迎.故選B.
35.B 文章出處題.一些成名作家在寫作時,描寫的人物行為往往并不是按照作家的意愿進行的,有的甚至和作家的意愿相悖.這樣的文章和寫作有關(guān),屬于文化范疇,故選B.
點評 在閱讀時要抓住文章的主題和細節(jié),分析文章結(jié)構(gòu),根據(jù)上下文內(nèi)在聯(lián)系,挖掘文章的深層含義,對于暗含在文章中的人物的行為動機,事件中的因果關(guān)系及作者未言明的傾向、意圖、態(tài)度、觀點等要進行合乎邏輯的判斷、推理、分析,進一步增強理解能力,抓住材料實質(zhì)性的東西.