20．
John Boyne is best known for his hugely successful novel，The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas．Now he has taken on the First World War，a similarly important historical event．Boyne's novel，Stay Where You Are and Then Leave is the story of Alfie Summerfield，a boy whose father is swept up in the excitement of the outbreak of the war and joins the army．Alfie's dad writes to his wife and son from the benches（戰(zhàn)壕），but after a couple of years the letters stop coming．
According to Alfie's mum，that's because dad is"on a secret mission for the government"．Alfie，however，suspects she might be lying and sets out to uncover the truth．At first he doesn't get far in discovering the mystery．Times are hard：his mum works as a nurse but can't make ends meet，so Alfie starts missing school to help out，earning money as a shoeshine boy at King's Cross Station in London．Then he has an amazing stroke of luck：one of his customers is an army doctor whose papers are blown away by the wind．Alfie helps to gather them，and in the process，discovers the true whereabouts of his father．
I'd been enjoying the story up to this point．Alfie is an easy character to like，and the relationship with his troubled mum is well-written．The other people in Alfie's wodd-his loving dad，his slighfly crazy granny have depth，too．However，from that moment at King's Cross，there's an increasingly fairytale-like feel to things，even though the story of Alfie's search to find his shell-shocked dad and bring him home is grounded in detail．There are more coincidences and the ending is fairytale，too．
There are other problems too．Early on，we are told that Alfie had often heard Prime Minister Asquith's name on the radio，which would have been difficult in 1914as the BBC only started broadcasting in 1922．And yet my final judgment on this book is positive．Stay Where You Are and Then Leave has its faults，but all in all it is a good，solid，engaging read．
28．The writer of this passage mainly wants toD．
A．compare two novels
B．introduce John Boyne
C．tell a moving story
D．review a new book
29．Where does Alfie most probably find his father？A．
A．In a hospital．
B．In a trench．
C．Near his schoo1．
D．At King's Cross Station．
30．According to Paragraph 3，the main problem with the book isC．
A．Alfie is all easy character to like
B．Alfie's granny is slightly crazy
C．the later part sounds unreal
D．the story is grounded in detail
31．Which of the following would the writer of the passage most probably agree with？D
A．The two novels by John Boyne are equally successful．
B．Generally speaking，Alfie has a happy childhood．
C．The book has too many problems to be recommended for reading．
D．Mile couldn't have heard about the war on the radio during his childhood．
