There are some topics that readers never grow bored with, and the search for a suitable partner（伴侣） is one of them. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, first published in 1813, tells the story of five young women, all of whom are looking for a husband. In order to fully understand the novel, the readers must know that at the time when Jane Austen was writing, if a family was not rich, the daughters needed to marry well in order to live a comfortable, independent life. That is the reason why Mrs Bennet, the mother of the five girls, is so eager to have her daughters married.
The heroine of the story is Elizabeth Bennet, and as in all good romantic novels, she and Darcy, the man she finally marries, remain separate until the very end of the story. The wealthy Darcy is a proud, unsociable man, and when Elizabeth hears that he has insulted both her and her family, she dislikes him very much. Poor Darcy then falls head over heels in love with Elizabeth, and has to work terribly hard to persuade her to change her mind about him. He succeeds of course, and they live happily ever after.
Set at the turn of the 19th century, the novel is still attractive to modern readers. It has become one of the most popular novels and receives great attention from literary scholars（学者）.Modern interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramatic（戏剧的）and a lot of novels and stories modeling after Austen’s memorable characters or themes. To date, the book has sold some 20 million copies worldwide.
Jane Austen is rightly famous for her style. Her sentences have a wonderful rhythm（韵律）, and she makes such clever, true comments about people. It is not surprising that Pride and Prejudice has lasted.
56. In the 19th century, a poor girl in Britain was often encouraged to .
A. master the skills of writing B. marry the one she loved
C. obey her parents D. change her life by marrying rich
57. The underlined word “insulted” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to .
A. treated warmly B. paid no attention to
C. had mercy on D. said something rude about
58. What do we know about Elizabeth and Darcy?
A. They’ve experienced ups and downs but get married in the end.
B. They both come from poor families and wish to marry rich.
C. They get separated from each other shortly after being married.
D. Darcy falls over and gets hurt but Elizabeth still loves him.
59. According to the passage, Pride and Prejudice _________.
A. was first published in 1813 and sold 20 million copies soon
B. tells a sad love story which moves generations of readers
C. inspired many other novels and many plays have been produced based on it.
D. is set at the turn of the 19th century and not well received worldwide