常春藤解析英語 41 The True Story of Darren Shan 向達倫的真實冒險

The True Story of Darren Shan 向達倫的真實冒險

by Kevin Lustig

Over the past several years, a British author has written a series of books that have captivated readers around the world. It's an author whose books involve adventure, terrifying enemies, and heroic young characters with special powers. No, it's not J. K. Rowling. As millions of fans across the globe already know, the author is Darren Shan.

Darren Shan is the pseudonym for Darren O'Shaughnessy. Originally born in London in 1972, O'Shaughnessy has lived most of his life in Ireland. He began writing stories, comics, and books during childhood. Starting at the age of 26, he published two books for adults. At the same time, O'Shaughnessy wrote a children's book, Cirque du Freak, which included frightening creatures like vampires and werewolves. Though children's writing was not his focus, this book was his biggest success. O'Shaughnessy began to work on sequels to Cirque du Freak featuring a boy named Darren Shan. This extremely popular series, The Saga of Darren Shan, now encompasses a total of 12 books, which have been translated into 29 languages and sold in 36 countries.

Recently in Taipei, Darren O'Shaughnessy spoke about his experiences as a writer. Because his books are often bloody, they can be intense. However, O'Shaughnessy says that carnage is not the point of his stories. While readers won't really see their friends killed by terrifying monsters, everyone encounters death sooner or later. "It's important for children to examine . . . these issues," O'Shaughnessy says. "If you explore ideas of death and loss in fiction, it makes it easier to deal with loss when it happens to you in real life." Through their frightening adventures, O'Shaughnessy's characters teach readers lessons about coping with and recovering from the trials of real life.

As for readers who may want to be writers someday, O'Shaughnessy suggests that they write as much as possible. According to O'Shaughnessy, writing is hard work, but the most important thing is to keep writing the best stories that you can. With over 10 million books sold worldwide, it's fair to say that this popular author knows what he's talking about.

1. What is NOT true about the name Darren Shan?

(A) It is the pen name of Darren O'Shaughnessy.

(B) It is the title of Darren O'Shaughnessy's first book.

(C) It is the name of the main character of some horror books.

(D) It is in the title of a series of horror books.

2. Darren Shan's books are often scary in order to

______.

(A) help readers deal with death

(B) terrify the books' readers

(C) sell the highest number of books he can

(D) be as realistic as possible

3. Darren O'Shaughnessy says that writers have to _____ to be successful.

(A) sell over 10 million books

(B) write horror stories

(C) try to write just like him

(D) constantly work very hard

4. Which of the following is true about Darren O'Shaughnessy's books?

(A) They have sold fewer than 10 million copies.

(B) They have been printed in 23 languages.

(C) They have included only 12 different characters.

(D) They have been sold in 36 different countries.

單字小鋪

1. adventure n. 冒險

adventurous a. 愛冒險的

2. pseudonym n. 筆名

= pen name

3. comic n. 漫畫

= comic book

4. publish vt. 出版

5. frightening a. 令人害怕的

6. vampire n. 吸血鬼

7. werewolf n. 狼人

8. sequel n. 續(xù)集(與 to 并用)

9. bloody a. 血腥的

10. carnage n. 大屠殺，殺戮

11. issue n. 議題

12. realistic a. 寫實的

13. constantly adv. 持續(xù)不斷地

詞組小鋪

1. a series of...　　一系列的∕一連串的……

2. a total of...　　總共……

3. sooner or later　　遲早

4. deal with...　　處理∕應付……

= cope with...

精解字詞詞組

1. captivate vt. 使著迷

be captivated by/with...　　著迷于……

= be fascinated by...

例: I was captivated by the beautiful girl's smile.

(我為那美麗女孩的笑容深深著迷。)

2. terrifying a. 令人害怕的

terrified a. 感到害怕的

be terrified of...　　害怕……

= be scared of...

= be frightened of...

= be afraid of...

例: My mother is terrified of cockroaches.

(我媽媽很怕蟑螂。)

3. work on...　　著手∕從事……

例: Hal can't go to the party since he has to work on his homework.

(哈爾不能參加派對，因為他必須寫功課。)

4. encompass vt. 包含

例: The UK encompasses Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

(英國包含了大不列顛與北愛爾蘭。)

5. be translated into...　　被翻譯成……(語言)

例: The book's sales went up after it was translated into Chinese.

(這本書翻譯成中文后，銷售量大增。)

6. intense a. 強烈的，極端的

intense heat　　酷熱

比較:

intensive a. 密集的;加強的

intensive training　　密集訓練

intensive care (unit)　　加護病房

例: During the war, there was a lot of intense fighting.

(戰(zhàn)爭期間有很多激烈的戰(zhàn)役。)

例: After the accident, Gary was in intensive care for a long time.

(意外發(fā)生后，蓋瑞待在加護病房很長一段時間。)

7. encounter vt. 遭遇

例: After encountering many setbacks, Sandy became sort of pessimistic.

(在遭遇多次挫折后，珊蒂變得有點悲觀。)

8. recover from...　　從……恢復∕復原

例: I recovered from my cold quickly and went back to school.

(我很快就從感冒中復原，回學校上課。)

9. trial n. 考驗;磨練

be on trial　　受審判

例: Lisa didn't seem sorry even when she was on trial for murder.

(就算涉嫌謀殺受審，莉薩看起來還是毫無悔意。)

10. someday adv. 將來有一天(用于未來式)

one day　　(過去)某日(用于過去式);將來有一天(= someday，用于未來式)

例: If you persevere, you will get somewhere someday/one day.

(如果你努力不懈，總有一天你會有所成就。)

例: I met a handsome lifeguard at the beach one day last summer.

(去年夏季的某日，我在海邊認識一位英俊的救生員。)

11. It's fair to say + that 子句　　說……是公道的

例: It's fair to say that Al is the smartest boy in school since he gets the best grades.

(說艾爾是全校最聰明的學生一點也不為過，因為他的成績最好。)

文法一點靈

...O'Shaughnessy suggests that they (should) write as much as possible.

注意:

suggest 作『建議』時，為意志動詞，其后的 that 子句中須使用助動詞 should，但 should 可予以省略，而直接接原形動詞。意志動詞計有下列五大類：

建議：suggest, recommend, advise, urge, propose。

要求：ask, desire, demand, require, request。

命令：order, command。

規(guī)定：rule, regulate, stipulate, prescribe。

主張：insist, advocate, maintain。

例: As your lawyer, I advise that you (should) turn yourself in to the police.

(身為你的律師，我建議你向警方自首。)

中文翻譯&標準答案

過去幾年來，有位英國作家撰寫了一系列書籍，擄獲全球讀者的心。他的作品中有冒險、可怕的敵人，及擁有魔法的英雄少年。不，他不是 J. K. 羅琳。全球數百萬書迷對這個名字已不陌生，他就是向達倫。

向達倫是達倫.歐沙納西的筆名。歐沙納西于 1972 年出生于倫敦，但大部分時間在愛爾蘭度過。他在童年期間便開始創(chuàng)作故事、漫畫與書籍。從二十六歲開始，他出版了兩本以成人為讀者群的書籍。同時，他也寫了一本叫作《怪奇馬戲團》的童書，內容包含了吸血鬼、狼人等恐怖生物。雖然童書并非他寫作的重心，這本書卻成了他最暢銷的一本。歐沙納西開始著手寫《怪奇馬戲團》的續(xù)集，故事主角即是一位叫向達倫的男孩。極受歡迎的《向達倫大冒險》系列共有十二集，已譯成二十九種語言，在三十六個國家銷售。

最近達倫.歐沙納西來到臺北暢談身為作家的經驗。因為他的書通常很血腥，因此充滿緊張氣氛。然而，歐沙納西說殺戮并非他作品的重點。雖然讀者不會看到自己的朋友被可怕的怪獸殺死，但每個人遲早都要面對死亡。歐沙納西說：『對孩子而言，檢視……這些議題是很重要的。如果你在小說中探索關于死亡與失去的概念，當它發(fā)生在真實生活中時，就比較容易處理了。』透過這些令人戰(zhàn)栗的冒險，歐沙納西的角色教導讀者如何應付生命中的考驗，并從中復原。

至于有朝一日想成為作家的人，歐沙納西建議他們盡可能地寫作。根據他的說法，寫作是件苦差事，但最重要的是持續(xù)寫出你最棒的故事。身為全球一千多萬本銷量的暢銷作家，向達倫所言必定不假。

1. 關于向達倫這個名字下列何者為非?

(A) 是達倫.歐沙納西的筆名。

(B) 是達倫.歐沙納西第一本書的書名。

(C) 是某些恐怖小說的男主角名。

(D) 包含在一系列恐怖小說的書名中。

題解: 根據本文第二段，向達倫是達倫.歐沙納西的筆名，也是《怪奇馬戲團》續(xù)集中男主角的名字，《向達倫大冒險》(The Saga of Darren Shan)系列書籍也包含了向達倫這個名字，僅 (B) 非正確敘述，故選之。

2. 向達倫的書通常都很恐怖，這是為了 _____。

(A) 幫助讀者處理死亡這件事

(B) 嚇壞這些書的讀者

(C) 盡可能賣出越多書

(D) 盡可能真實

題解: 根據第三段，年輕讀者若能在小說中學習關于死亡與失去的概念，當它發(fā)生在真實生活中時，就比較容易處理了，可知應選 (A)。

3. 達倫.歐沙納西說作者必須 _____ 才能成功。

(A) 賣超過一千萬本書。

(B) 寫恐怖小說

(C) 設法寫得像他一樣

(D) 持續(xù)努力創(chuàng)作

題解: 根據第四段，歐沙納西建議想成為作家的人盡可能寫作，并說寫作是件苦差事，得不斷努力，故選 (D)。

4. 關于達倫.歐沙納西的書，下列何者為真?

(A) 它們的銷售量沒有超過一千萬本。

(B) 它們以二十三種語言出版。

(C) 它們只包含十二個不同的角色。

(D) 它們在三十六個國家銷售。

題解: 根據第二段，《向達倫大冒險》系列共有十二集，已譯成二十九種語言，在三十六個國家銷售，且第四段提到向達倫創(chuàng)下全球一千多萬本書籍的銷售量，得知僅 (D) 為正確敘述。

標準答案: 1. (B)　2. (A)　3. (D)　4. (D)