Part one: First Major Novels
If Dickens had remained the author of Pickwick, Oliver Twist, and The Old Curiosity Shop, he might have gained lasting fame only as an author of cheerful comedy．But Dombey and Son, published in 1846 and continued till 1848, is a realistic novel of human life in a society which had taken more or less its modern form．The novel is a study of the influence of the values of a business society on the members of the Dombey family．
Part two: ___________
In 1851 Dickens was struck by the death of his father and one of his daughters within 2 weeks．Partly in response to these losses, he created a series of works which have come to be called his “dark” novels and which rank among the greatest success of the art of fiction．
Part three: Later Works
In 1859 Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, a historical novel of the French Revolution, which is read today most often as a school text．It is a fine picture of the historical period and a moving tale of a surprisingly modern hero．Besides publishing this novel in the lately founded All the Year Round, Dickens also published 17 articles, which appeared as a book later．
Dickens’s next novel, Great Expectations (1860～1861), tells the story of a young man’s moral(道德的) development in the course of his life-from childhood in the provinces to gentleman’s role in London．Not based on his own life like David Copperfield, Great Expectations belongs to the type of fiction called, in German, Bildungsroman (the novel of a man’s education or formation by experience)．
56．Which of the following Dickens’ novel shows a clear change of style?
A．David Copperfield B．Pickwick C．Dombey and Son D．Oliver Twist
57．The best title for Part two might be _______．
A．Unexpected deaths B．Dark novels C．Great losses D．The art of fiction
58．According to the passage, A Tale of Two Cities _______．
A．is about the Industry Revolution B．can be found in most of the textbooks
C．is better than his “dark” novels D．is probably published in a new magazine
59．In Great Expectation, Dickens writes about _______．
A．the growth of a man B．how to become a gentleman
C．his own life experience D．a man’s school education