Good evening. I have come to Jerusalem today as a novelist, which is to say as a professional
spinner of lies.
Today, however, I have no intention of lying. I will try to be as honest as I can. There are only a few days in the year when I do not engage in telling lies, and today happens to be one of them.
So let me tell you the truth. In Japan a fair number of people advised me not to come here to accept the Jerusalem Prize. Some even warned me they would instigate a boycott of my books if I came. The reason for this, of course, was the fierce fighting that was raging in Gaza.
Finally, however, after careful consideration, I made up my mind to come here. One reason for my decision was that all too many people advised me not to do it. Perhaps, like many other novelists, I tend to do the exact opposite of what I am told. If people are telling me-- and especially if they are warning me-- “Don’t go there,” “Don’t do that,” I tend to want to “go there” and “do that”. It’s in my nature, you might say, as a novelist. Novelists are a special breed. They cannot genuinely trust anything they have not seen with their own eyes or touched with their own hands.
And that is why I am here. I chose to come here rather than stay away. I chose to see for myself rather than not to see. I chose to speak to you rather than to say nothing.
Please do allow me to deliver a message, one very personal message. It is something that I always keep in mind while I am writing fiction. I have never gone so far as to write it on a piece of paper and paste it to the wall: rather, it is carved into the wall of my mind, and it goes something like this:
“Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg.”
I have only one reason to write novels, and that is to bring the dignity of the individual soul to the surface and shine a light upon it. The purpose of a story is to sound an alarm, to keep a light trained on the System in order to prevent it from tangling our souls in its web and demeaning them. I truly believe it is the novelist’s job to keep trying to clarify the uniqueness of each individual soul by writing stories--stories of life and death, stories of love, stories that make people cry and quake with fear and shake with laughter. This is why we go on, day after day, concocting fictions with utter seriousness.
46．What made the writer decide to come to Jerusalem?
A．He wanted to accept the Jerusalem Prize.
B．A fair number of people advised him to.
C．too many people advised me not to do it and he chose to some here rather than stay away.
D．He wanted to write novels in Jerusalem.
47．From the passage, we can know the writer is man who_____________
A．is afraid of others’ opinions.
B．braves to express his opinions.
C．trusts anything others talk.
D．hates anything and writes to the pubic.
48．Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A．the purpose of writing for the writer is to bring the dignity of the individual soul to the
surface and shine a light upon it.
B．Novelists hardly trust anything they have not seen with their own eyes or touched with
their own hands.
C．The writer’s writing stories just wanted to make people cry and quake with fear and shake
with laughter.
D．The writer comes from Japan and chose to speak to the public.
49．What did the writer mean by saying : “I always stand on the edge of the egg?”
A．He thought he was so weak.
B．He wanted to be an egg.
C．He didn’t like the wall.
D．He wanted to fight with the strong society for his dream.
50．Where does this passage come from?
A．a speech from awarding meeting
B．a discussion from a novelist
C．a debate from Japanese
D．a warning from a meeting