I used to think of myself as a fairly open person, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and the Australian and South African book, my literature collection consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I hardly ever read anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.
So, at the start of 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing. As I was unlikely to find publications from nearly 200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop, I decided to ask the planet’s readers for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.
The response was amazing. Before I knew it, people all over the planet were getting in touch with ideas and offers of help. Some posted me books from their home countries. Others did hours of research on my behalf. In addition, several writers sent me unpublished translations of their novels, giving me a rare opportunity to read works otherwise unavailable to the 62% of the British who only speak English. Even so, selecting books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 percent of literary works published in the UK and Ireland, getting English versions (版本)of stories was difficult.
But the effort was worth it. I found I was visiting the mental space of the storytellers. These stories not only opened my mind to the real life in other places, but opened my heart to the way people there might feel.
And that in turn changed my thinking. Through reading the stories shared with me by bookish strangers around the globe, I realised I was not alone, but part of a network that spread all over the planet.
【小题1】Which of the following might be found on the blog A Year of Reading the World?A．Lists of English version books.B．Research on English literature.C．Unfinished novels by British writers.D．Comments on English literature.【小题2】Why was it hard for the author to select the right books to read? A．The author had a busy schedule.B．The author was only interested in a few topics.C．The author could only read books written in English.D．Most books remended are not available in local bookshops.【小题3】The author is probably from .A．AmericaB．the UKC．AustraliaD．Canada【小题4】Which of the following words can best describe the author’s experience?A．fast and effortlessB．challenging but rewardingC．hopeless but beneficialD．meaningful but fruitlessA
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(答案→)A
解析：文章介绍自己很难挑选出适当的书是因为作者只能阅读英文的书籍，因此创立了博客A Year of Reading the World 为了找到英文版本的书，得到了全世界人们的帮助，虽然有点困难，作者觉得还是有回报的。
【小题1】细节题：从文章第二段的句子：I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.可知在博客A Year of Reading the World 可以发现英文版本的书，选A
【小题2】细节题：从文章第一段的句子：Worse still, I hardly ever read anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.可知作者很难挑选出适当的书读是因为作者只能阅读英文的书籍，选C
【小题3】推理题：从文章第三段的句子：giving me a rare opportunity to read works otherwise unavailable to the 62% of the British who only speak English.可以推断出作者是来自英国的，选B
【小题4】推理题：从文章第三段的句子：Even so, selecting books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 percent of literary works published in the UK and Ireland, getting English versions (版本)of stories was difficult.和第四段的句子：But the effort was worth it.可知作者的经历是有挑战的但是是有回报的。选B