Disease, poverty, hate, love-Charles Dickens' stories opened his readers' eyes to the most important themes of his age．Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens' legacy （遗产） was far greater than just great literature．
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer's birthday．To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world．Let's take a look at two of them．
A while Christmas
Dickens is described as the man who invented Christmas -not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive （喜庆的） season today．
In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt．The mittee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day - unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone, but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off．
Many people believe that Dickens' popular depictions（描绘） of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to e．In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas,but also painted a picture of glowing warmth-“home enjoyments, affections and hopes．
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote, Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas．
Dickensian poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian （the period during British Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901） London．
He helped popularize the term red tape to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy （官僚作风） in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society．
Dickensian has now bee a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty．In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas, of Britain, she did not use words like terrible or horrific, but rather described it as life mirroring the times of Dickens．
【小题1】What is the main idea of the article?A．Charles Dickens' impact on the world．B．An introduction to Charles Dickens' classic novels．C．Charles Dickens' amazing characters．D．Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world．【小题2】Why is Dickens called the man who invented Christmas?A．Because he created the religious festival.B．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations．C．Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas．D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas．【小题3】According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to .A．rules or procedures that are required to acplish a taskB．a situation in which poor members of society are hurtC．conflict between people in power and weaker peopleD．pointlessly time-consuming official procedures【小题4】What can we infer from the passage?A．Dickens is still popular today in Britain．B．everyone takes at least three days off at Christmas．C．Dickens invented ChristmasD．Dickens gave the modern world six things．A
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(答案→)A
解析：文章介绍了狄更斯对现代社会的两个重要影响。
【小题1】主旨题：从第二段第二句：To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world.为纪念这个日子，BBC作家亚历克斯·哈德逊列举了狄更斯带给现代世界的六件事，可知主要讲的是狄更斯对整个世界的影响，故选A。
【小题2】细节题：由第五段“he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth – “home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.”他不仅提出了圣诞节雪的想法，还描绘出一幅温暖发光的图画“家庭中的生活、感情和希望”以及第六段“Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”狄更斯可以说一手创造了现代圣诞节。故选B。
【小题3】推断题：由倒数第二段“He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy (官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.”可知red tape的意思是官方办事时的繁文缛节，故选D。
【小题4】推断题：由Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy（遗产） was far greater that just “great-literature”两百年过去了，他的故事仍在世界范围内意义深远，证明了狄更斯的遗产不仅仅只是伟大文学而已.故选A。