Finnegan’s Wake is a book so hard to understand that no one can truly say they “get it”. People can’t even agree on where the book is set or who the characters are.

Gerry Fialka is from Venice, California. He has hosted a book club dedicated (专用的) to Finnegan’s Wake since 1995. Between 10 and 30 people would show up to monthly meetings at a local library to read two pages of the book and discuss their opinions. At last, they slowed down and just read one page per meeting. They spent the next 28 years going through the book just one time. Although some members left and others joined the group over the years, Fialka and some of the members still meet up every month, only now they do it through Zoom.

Interestingly, Fialka’s book group took more to finish Finnegan’s Wake than James Joyce took to write the thing. Sadly, the author died shortly after publishing it, so he never had time to explain his writings, or at least give some clues (提示), so it’s up to the readers to decipher the puzzles of the book.

Gerry Fialka’s reading group read the last page of Joyce’s 628-page book in October, but that only marked the end of their first read-through, not the end of the book club. And they don’t plan on moving on to another book either. “We didn’t end,” Fialka said. “There is no next book. We’re only reading one book. Forever.”

1.Which word can describe Finnegan’s Wake?

A Short.

B Boring.

C Difficult.

D Interesting.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第一段可知，《芬尼根守灵夜》是一本以难度著称的书，关于这本书的背景设定和角色身份甚至读者之间都无法达成一致意见。故选C。

2.How often did the club members meet?

A Once a year.

B Once a month.

C Once a week.

D Every day.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第二段第三句“Between 10 and 30 people would show up to monthly meetings”和最后一句“Fialka and some of the members still meet up every month”可知，俱乐部成员每个月聚一次一起读这本书。故选B。

3.What does the underlined word “decipher” mean?

A Give up.

B Deal with.

C Work out.

D Take off.

解析：选C。C 词义猜测题。根据划线部分前面的“so he never had time to explain his writings, or at least give some clues”可知，作者在该书出版后不久就去世了，所以他从来没有时间解释自己的作品，或者至少给出一些线索。因此，解读这一文学谜团完全取决于读者。故选C。

4.What will the book club do next?

A Stop meeting each other.

B Explain Finnegan’s Wake to others.

C Find another book to read.

D Continue reading the same book.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据最后一段的“And they don’t plan on moving on to another book either.”和“We’re only reading one book.”可知，他们也不打算接下来读另一本书，他们只读这一本书。故选D。

5.In which part of a magazine can we read the passage?

A Science Study.

B Talented People.

C Book World.

D English Square.

解析：选C。C 推理判断题。本文主要讲了美国加利福尼亚州威尼斯市一个读书俱乐部花了28年时间读完一本书，是与书籍相关的版块内容。故选C。