When talking with young Swedish students, Mo Yan
showed respect for Chinese authors that he learned writing from, particularly
Shen Congwen, who was twice nominated（提名）for the
Nobel Prize.
“Lu Xun, Lao She, Mao Dun and Shen Congwen, they are
more qualified（有資格的）for the Nobel Prize than me,” he said,.
Among the writers he learned from, he said he especially felt close to Shen
Congwen, as they have similar life experiences.
Both of them left school early and did not get formal
education. Shen quit after high school and Mo only finished the fifth grade.
They both joined the army after school. “ We both learned from the book of
life,” said Mo.
The themes of their writing are also similar. Both
writers have their hometown as the theme and root of their writings. Shen’works
are mostly about his hometown, Xiangxi, and most of Mo’s stories are set in his
hometown, Gaomi, in Shandong Province.
Mo said he also learned from Shen how to deal with
characters in a fiction. Unlike most Chinese writers, Shen has a humanistic（人文主義的） touch towards all of his characters. Said Mo, “In his
works, there are no particularly bad person or good person. Even gangsters（匪徒） and thieves have their humane（仁慈的）side,” he said.
“I try to use the same approach in my writing. It
shows the ability of a novelist when he treats all the characters as humans,”
he said.
Mo said he also learned Lu Xun’s depth and Lao She’s
humor. “They are all my teachers, and I am the student,” he said. “I feel
ashamed from my heart that teachers did not get the prize, but the student got
it.”
1.Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the
similarity between Mo Yan and Shen Congwen?
A．Writing
themes B．Sense of
humor
C．Life
experiences D．Approaches in
writing
2.By saying “We both learned from the book of life”,
what did Mo Yan mean?
A．They both
love reading throughout their life.
B．They both
earned their living by writing books.
C．They both got
nutrition（營養(yǎng)）from life.
D．They both
experienced many difficulties.
3.According to Mo Yan, Shen Congwen was special in the
way _________.
A．he described
bad persons B．he created
characters
C．he made
sentences D．he told
stories
4.From what Mo Yan said in the last paragraph, we can
learn that ________.
A．he is a
modest person B．he feels shy
C．Lu Xun’s depth influenced his early life D．he thinks he
doesn’t deserve the prize
