123. Should people read only those books that deal with real matters?

I do not believe that people should only read books that are about real events, real people, or established facts. Personally, I do not see any logic in this statement whatsoever. There are a multitude of reasons why a person should read a wide range of books.

First, if an author was to write solely about real events and established facts, there would be little room for imagination. Without imagination, it would be difficult to come up with any new ideas, or to progress our thinking. Second, most of history is subjective. If an author takes a certain viewpoint on a "real" event, he/she is bound to miss some of the facts, and there is even a possibility that he/she will get some of the facts wrong. The author must indulge the story, in order to fill in the details that are missing. Most books about real events and real people are part fiction.

If we look at the situation from the perspective of the reader, it is just as grim. If an audience was to only make reference to non-fictional books, there would be little room for the expansion of the mind. Many authors who write fiction do so in order to introduce new thoughts and ideas to the reader. These new ideas allow us to come up with innovative views of our own, and through this process, we grow.

As mentioned above, fictional works are an important outlet, allowing us to forget about all of the negative things happening in the world for a little while. There are people who might disagree that this escape is a positive thing. However, I posit that by escaping from the "real world" for a few hours, we are able to deal with it more efficiently and happily when we return. Because of this, reading fiction is a great way to relax.

Fictional works are very important to society, and the individual. They allow us to think of new, exciting ideas, as well as give us an excellent, peaceful way to relax. There is nothing I would rather do on a free evening than unwind and read a good, fictional novel.

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123. 人们应该只读那些描写真人真事的书籍吗？

我不认为人们只应该阅读关于真事、真人或已得到验证事实的书籍。就本人而言，我觉得这种说法没有任何逻辑。有很多理由可以说明为什么一个人阅读书籍应该范围广泛。

如果一位作者仅仅就真事和已得到验证的事实进行写作，就没有留下多少想象的空间。没有想象的话，就很难得出任何新的观点，或者是推进我们的思维。其次，大部分的历史都是主观的。如果作者对真实的事件带有某种看法，他必定会遗漏事实的某些部分，甚至还有可能会曲解事实的某些部分。为了填补所有遗漏的细节，这位作者就必须编些故事。大多数关于真人真事的书籍都是部分虚构的。

如果我们从读者的角度来看待这种情况，问题同样很严峻。如果一个读者仅仅阅读非虚构的图书，思维扩展的空间就会很小。许多写虚构小说的作者这样做，就是为了把新的想法和观点带给读者。这些新的观点使我们能够获得我们自己创新的见解，而通过这一过程，我们得到了成长。

如上所述，虚构作品是一种让我们暂时忘记世界上发生的所有不好事情的重要途径。有人或许不同意这种逃避是积极的。然而，我认为，借助这几个小时从“现实世界”的逃离，当我们回来的时候，就能够更加有效、更加愉快地去应对它。因此，读虚构作品是一种放松的好方法。

虚构作品对社会、对个人来说都是非常重要的。它们让我们的想法新奇又令人振奋，而且给我们提供了一种极佳的平和的方式去放松。在一个闲暇的夜晚松弛一下，阅读一本好的虚构小说，没有什么比这更让我惬意的了。

Word List

• whatsoever ［hwa:tsəuˈevə］ adv. 任何地
• expansion ［ikˈspænʃən］ n. 扩展
• solely ［ˈsəuli］ adv. 仅仅
• innovative ［ˈinəˌveitiv］ adj. 创新的
• imagination ［iˌmædʒəˈneiʃən］ n. 想象
• outlet ［ˈautˌlet］ n. 途径
• viewpoint ［ˈvju:ˌpɔint］ n. 观点
• posit ［ˈpa:zit］ v. 认为，假定
• indulge ［inˈdʌldʒ］ v. 迁就
• peaceful ［ˈpi:sfəl］ adj. 平和的
• grim ［grim］ adj. 严峻的
• unwind ［ʌnˈwaind］ v. 松弛，放松