E
No matter how long your life is, you will, at best, be able to read only a few books of all that Have been written, and he few you do read should include the best. It is to be expected that the selections will change over time. Yet there is a surprising uniformity(一致)in the lists which represent the best choices of any period.
What are the signs by which we may recognize a great book? The four I will mention may not be all there are, but they are the ones I’ve found most useful in explaining my choices over the years.
Great books are probably the most widely read. They are not bet sellers for a year or two. But they are long lasting ones. Gone With the Wind has had relatively few readers compared to the plays of Shakespeare or Don Quixote. It would be reasonable to estimate that Homer Iliad(《伊利亚特》)has been read by at least 25,000,000 people in the last 3000 years.
Great books are popular, not pedantic(书生气的).They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. Whether they are philosophy or science, or history or poetry, they treat of human, not academic problems. They are written for men, not professors. To read a textbook for advanced students, you have to read an elementary textbook first. But the great books can be considered elementary in the sense that they treat the elements of any subject matter. They are not related to one another as a series of textbooks, graded in difficulty or in the technicality of the problems with which they deal.
Great books are always contemporary, the most readable and instructive.
Great books deal with the persistently unsolved problems of human life. There are genuine mysteries in the world that mark the limits of human knowing and thinking. Great minds acknowledge mysteries honestly. Wisdom ins strengthened, not destroyed, by understanding its limitations.
72.Which is NOT the standard in the following when evaluating a great book?
A.Although not a best seller, it must be the most widely read.
B.It can be read without much relevant knowledge.
C.Great books are never out of date.
D.Great books will not disappoint you.
73.According to the author, Gone With the Wind is .
A.sure to enjoy a large number of readers in the long run
B.disliked by readers who like Shakespeare
C.not a great book because of the few readers
D.read more often than Don Quixote
74.After reading the passage, we can infer that .
A.different periods have different lists of great books because there are many books for people to choose from
B.if you don’t read an elementary textbook, you may have difficulty in understanding in understanding an advanced one
C.Homer Iliad must be a best seller when it came out
D.great books often deal with unsolved problems of human life for the writers have confidence in settling them
75.The best title for this passage is .
A.Great Books in Your Life B.Great Books in Your Specialty
C.How to Find a Great Book D.What Is a Great Book