Passage One
Charles Dickens was born at Portsea on 7 February 1812 and named Charles John Huffham. When he was eleven his father was sent to prison for debt. As there was nowhere else for them to go, his mother and seven brothers and sisters joined their father in prison. Charles was lucky. A kindly relative found him work in a factory.
It is hard for us to imagine how the young boy must have felt about these events. It is perhaps difficult to understand the social significance attached to such things in those days. For Charles, it was total shame. The experience of these months (his father was released fairly soon) must have caused him great pain all his life. John Forster, his closest friend and biographer, tells us that he never told anyone else about it, except his wife.
This experience might help to explain the upsetting emotional insecurity and restlessness which friends perceived behind the magnetizing eyes, the lively characters and, later, the extremely successful author. It might also go someway to explaining Dickens's burning sympathy for the poor and socially oppressed, which is one of the typical features of his work.
When he was fifteen， Charles began work in a lawyer's office in London. He must have found the nature of the work slow and uninteresting for, only eighteen months later, he became a newspaper reporter. Very quickly, he won himself a high reputation as a reporter of parliamentary debates. His first publication began to appear in magazines when he was still only twenty-one.
“The rest”， as they say，“is history”. The Pickwick Papers was published in serial form， like all of his novels， over 1836 and 1837. Oliver Twist also appeared in 1837. These were followed by Nicholas Nickleby in the next two years and The Old Curiosity Shop in the two years after that. All were enormous successes.
What is the main purpose of the passage?
本文主要讲了狄更斯童年和青年时期的生活和工作经历，以及这些经历给他的性格和写作特点带来的影响。
For which of the following reasons did Charles Dickens go to work when young?
根据第一段“As there was nowhere else for them to go, his mother and seven brothers and sisters joined their father in prison.”由于家人相继入狱，狄更斯只得在工厂寻求安身之所。
Which of the following might have helped Charles Dickens to grow into a successful author?
根据第三段第一句 “This experience might help to explain the upsetting emotional insecurity and restlessness which friends perceived behind the magnetizing eyes, the lively characters and, later, the extremely successful author.” 可知，成就他作家之路的是这段悲惨的童年时光。
According to the passage, which of the following was the first to help him to win a high reputation?
根据倒数第二段倒数第二句 “Very quickly, he won himself a high reputation as a reporter of parliamentary debates. ” 可知议会辩论记者的职位帮助他臝得了高声誉。
Which of the following was not mentioned in the passage?
本文没有提及狄更斯受教育的事，所以选B。