國中英語基測出現過 these 的考題。

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) is one of the greatest French writers. He is famous for his great book À la Recherche du Temps Perdu, which means “remembering the past.”

In this book, Proust writes many stories of rich but unhappy people. These rich people think they should be well liked or loved. When they learn that they are not as popular as they think, they feel sad and try hard to be important in the eyes of others. That is why they always feel troubled and can never really enjoy their lives.

In contrast to the lives of those people in his book, the last fifteen years of Proust’s life shows one can still find joy in hard times. During those years, he was very sick and had to stay in bed most of the time. But in his sickroom he found most joy in writing À la Recherche du Temps Perdu and ended up being a great writer because of the book.

1.
What can we learn about Proust from this reading?
He often wrote about how people get stronger in hard times.
He started writing À la Recherche du Temps Perdu when he was fifteen.
He got a lot of pleasure from writing in his later life.
He became poor and sick because of writing.
2.
Which is said about the rich people in Proust’s book?
They are rich enough to have their stories written.
They are sick and stay in bed most of the time.
They try to forget their past.
They try to get what they do not have.
3.
What does In contrast to mean?
Worse than.
Ahead of.
Important to.
Different from.