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Text A Books（第1页）

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—fromSesameaureII）

JohnRuskin

[1]Butperhapsyouwillsaythatitisbecausethelivialkofthingsthatarepassing，andareofimmediateioyou，thatyoudesiretohearthem。Nay;thatotbeso，forthelivihemselvestellyouaboutpassingmattersmuchbetteriingsthanintheircarelesstalk。YetIadmitthatthismotivedoesinfluenceyou，sofarasyoupreferthoserapidaingstoslowandenduringwritings—books，properlysocalled。Forallbooksaredivisibleintotwoclasses，thebooksofthehour，andthebooksofalltime。Markthisdistin—itisnotoneofqualityonly。Itishebadbookthatdoesnotlast，andthegoododoes。Itisadistinofspecies。Therearegoodbooksforthehoodonesforalltime;badbooksforthehour，andbadonesforalltime。Imustdefiwokindsbefofarther。

[2]Thegoodbookofthehour，then，—Idohebadones，—issimplytheusefulorpleasanttalkofsomepersonwhomyouototherwiseversewith，printedforyou。Veryusefuloften，tellingyouwhatyouoknow;verypleasantoften，asasensiblefriealkwouldbe。Thesebrightatsood-humoredandwittydissofquestioheticstintheformofnovel;firmfag，bytherealageheeventsofpassinghistory;—allthesebooksofthehour，multiplyingamoionbeeneral，areapeculiarpossessioage:weoughttobeehankfulforthem，airelyashamedofourselvesifwemakenogooduseofthem。Butwemaketheworstpossibleuseifweallowthemtousurptheplaceoftruebooks:for，strictlyspeakibooksatall，butmerelylettersorneersingoodprint。Ourfrieermaybedelightful，oro-day:whetherworthkeepingornot，istobesidered。Theneermaybeentirelyproperatbreakfasttime，butassuredlyitisnforallday。So，thoughboundupihelivesyousopleasantanatoftheinns，androads，ayearatsuchaplace，orwhichtellsyouthatamusingstivesyoutherealcesofsudsuts，howevervaluableforoalreferebe，intherealseheword，a“book”atall，nor，intherealseobe“read”。

[3]Abookisessentiallynotatalkingthing，butawrittenthing;awithaviewofmereuni，butofpermahebookoftalkisprintedosauthorotspeaktothousaonce;ifhecould，hewould—thevolumeismeremultipliofhisvoinottalktoyourfriendinIndia;ifyoucould，youwould;youwriteiismereceofvoice。Butabookiswritten，nottomultiplythevoicemerely，nottocarryitmerely，buttoperpetuateit。Theauthorhassomethingtosaywhichheperceivestobetrueanduseful，orhelpfullybeautiful。Sofarasheknows，saidit;sofarasheknows，nooneelsesayit。Heisboundtosayit，dmelodiouslyifhemay;clearlyatallevents。Inthesumofhislifehefindsthistobethething，roupofthings，maohim;—this，thepieceoftrueknowledge，ht，whichhisshareofsuhhaspermittedhimtoseize。Hewouldfaidraveitonrock，ifhecould;saying，“Thisisthebestofme;fortherest，Iate，anddrank，a，loved，andhated，likeanother;mylifeor，andisnot;butthisIsawahis，ifanythihyourmemory。”Thatishis“writing;”itis，inhissmallhumanhateverdegreeoftrueinspirationisinhim，hisins，orscripture。Thatisa“Book”。

[4]Perhapsyouthinknobookswereeversowritten?

[5]But，again，Iaskyou，doyouatallbelieveiy，oratallinkindness，ordoyouthinkthereisneverayorbenevolenwisepeople?Noneofus，Ihope，aresounhappyastothieverbitofawiseman’sworkisholyalydobitishisbookorhispieceofart。Itismixedalwayswithevilfragments—ill-do，affectedwork。Butifyhtly，youwilleasilydiscoverthetruebits，ahebook。

[6]Nowbooksofthiskieniheirgreatestmereaders，greatstatesmehiheseareallatyourdlifeisshort。Youhaveheardasmuchbefore;yethaveyoumeasuredahisshortlifeanditspossibilities?Doyouknow，ifyoureadthis，thatyouotreadthat—thatwhatyouloseto-dayyouotgainto-morrow?Willyougoandgossipwithyourhousemaid，oryourstable-boy，whenyoumaytalkwithqueensandkings;orflatteryourselfthatitiswithanyworthyessofyourownclaimstorespect，thatyoujostlewiththehungryandoncrowdforentreehere，ahere，whehiseternalcourtisopentoyou，withitssociety，wideastheworld，multitudinousasitsdays，thedthemighty，ofeverypladtime?Intothatyoumayenteralways;inthatyoumaytakefellowshipandrankagtoyourwish;fromthat，o，youeverbeoutcastbutbyyourownfault;byyouraristopanionshipthere，yourowocracywillbeassuredlytested，aiveswithwhichyoustrivetotakehighplathesocietyoftheliving，measured，astoallthetruthaareiheplaceyoudesiretotakeinthispanyoftheDead。

AfterYouRead

KnowledgeFocus

1。Pairwork:Discussthefollowiionswithyourpartner。

1）Doyouagreewiththesayingthatwhenthelivialkofthingsthatarepassing，theyareofimmediateioyou?Whyorwhynot?

2）Whatareysaboutthemotivesthatinflueudetowardbooksmehetext?

3）HowdidJohnRuskihebooksintotwotypes?

4）Whydidtheauthorsay“wemaketheworstpossibleuseifweallowthebooksofthehourtousurptheplaceoftruebooks”?

5）Doyouagreethat“abookisessentiallynotatalkingthing”?Whyorwhynot?

6）Summarizethefeaturesandsighebooksofthehour”。

7）Summarizethefeaturesandsighebooksofalltime”。

8）Whichtypeofbooksisclosertotheesseofbooksasawhtotheauthor?Whatarethereasons?

2。Solowork:Decidewhetherthefollowirue（T）orfalse（F）agtotheknowledgeyoulearellwhy。

____1）Thelivihemselvestellyouaboutpassingmattersmuchbetterihaings。

____2）Onlygoodbooksaredivisibleagtothecriteriaoftheauthor。

____3）Thegoodbookofthehourissimplytheusefulorpleasanttalktosomepersonwhomyouversewith。

____4）weoughttobethankfulforandmakegooduseofthebooksofthehour，andthatisen。

____5）Strictlyspeaking，thebooksofthehourarenotbooksatall，butmerelylettersorneersingoodprint。

____6）Abookisessentiallynotatalkingthing，butawrittenthing。

____7）Thebookoftalkisprintedosauthorotspeaktothousaonce。

____8）Wisemen’sworkswillneverbemixedwithevilfragments—ill-do，affectedwork。

____9）Lifeisshort，soweshouldimeonthebooksofthehour。

____10）Theauthorhassomethingtosaywhichheperceivestobetrueanduseful，orhelpfullybeautiful。

LanguageFocus

1。Fillintheblankswiththefollowingwordsyouhavelearhetext。