Question

Last year, the most-read children' s books at least in UK were almost all fantasy novels. But why is this the case? What. exactly does fantasy offer to young readers？

What' s important to point out here is that fantasy writing has come to be considered as belonging to popular culture, and is therefore generally regarded as being of lower quality than realism.

This idea was formed in me during childhood by my mother, who believed that fantasy was "rubbish". She was always trying to persuade my two brothers to let go of their dog-eared copies of American author David Eddings' books and read something "proper".

I had also met some people who were against reading fantasy. While living in Finland, where I joined a book club, I was told at my first meeting that the club didn't read "genre" books, which meant that realism was in", but everything else including fantasy was " When it comes to the subject of children, discussions about which books are "better" for them often focus on the fantasy and realism debate, causing Professor John Stephens to write that: one of the more curious sides to the criticism of children's literature is the strong wish to separate fantasy and realism into competing types, and to state that children prefer one or the other, or "progress" from fantasy to realism or vice versa（反之亦然).

A quick survey of the big children's publishing trends over the past ten years confirms that fantasy is as popular as ever in the children' s book scene. From the 450 million copies of Harry Potter books sold over this period to the more recent Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, it would seem that children are as enthusiastic about fantasy as ever before and rather than "progressing" out of fantasy, the popularity of fantasy in the young adult market would suggest just the opposite.

1.What was the author's mother's attitude towards fantasy?

A. Uncaring. B. Cautious.

C. Unfavorable. D. Enthusiastic.

2.The book club the author joined in Finland ________

A. didn't have a realistic aim

B. was always full of people in and out

C. had a tense atmosphere in most cases

D. was not acceptive of various literature styles

3.According to Professor John Stephens, the critics of children's literature

A. want to separate children into different groups.

B. want to divide fantasy and realism into separate groups

C. aim to get children to progress from fantasy to realism

D. wish to explore the difference between fantasy and realism

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Fantasy books are and continue to be popular among children.

B. Realism books are the bestsellers of the present time.

C. Young readers are moving away from fantasy .

D. Fantasy books are better than realism ones.

Answer 1