Passage 2
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
Charles Dickens was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, England. He was the second of eight children. His father always had problems with money. When Charles was 12 years old, his father went to prison because he was in debt. Charles had to leave school to help his family. He got a job in a dirty, old factory. Charles Dickens never forgot his difficult childhood. Many of his stories and books were about poor people and their problems.
(78)Later, Charles went back to school for two more years. He left school when he was 15 years old to become a newspaper reporter. In 1836, he began to write The Pickwick Papers. It was published as a series and was a huge success. By age 24, Dickens was a prominent writer in both Great Britain and the United States.
Many people bought his books, but they also paid to hear him read his stories aloud. Because there was no radio or television, people liked to hear famous writers read in public. Dickens read his works like he was acting in a play. He went on very successful reading tours and earned a lot of money.
Dickens was meticulous (过分注意琐事的）. Everything had to be just right. When he worked at home, everything had to be in its place. He worked at a desk by a window that always had a vase (花瓶) of flowers and the same ornaments (装饰物) on it. (79)He wrote 2, 000 words a day and he required complete quiet while he wrote. He divided his page into three parts, and on each side he had notes in difficult colors. The main writing was in middle, the story notes were in the right margin, and the chapter notes were in the left margin.
He also cared a lot about his appearance.
