Notes on the text课文注释
1 bring… to a conclusion，作“使……结束”讲。
2 bring about，造成，导致。
3 and so on，等等，诸如此类。
4 do sometimes conspire中，do为助动词，对谓语动词起强调作用。
5 while on a walking tour…,
while后面省略了主谓结构he was。在表示时间、地点、条件、让步等的状语从句中，从句的主语如与主句的主语相同，常省略从句的主语和谓语。
6 pour scorn on…，作“讥笑……”讲。
7 point out，指出，提请注意。
8 be acquainted with，已知道。
9 needless to say，不用说，当然。
10 become of，结果如何，发生了……情况。
参考译文
我们不再像以往那样轻易相信别人了。在19世纪，小说家常在小说结尾处给读者准备一系列巧合——大部分是牵强附会，极不可能的。当时的读者却愉快地接受这样一些事实：一个低贱的女佣实际上是主人公的母亲；主人公一位长期失散的兄弟，大家都以为死了，实际上一直活着，并且正在策划暗算主人公；如此等等。现代读者会觉得这种天真的结局完全无法接受。不过，在现实生活中，有时确实会出现一些巧合。这些巧合除了19世纪小说家外谁也不会相信。
当我是个孩子的时候，我祖父给我讲了一位德国出租汽车司机弗朗兹·巴斯曼如何找到了据信已在20年前死去的兄弟的事。一次，他与妻子徒步旅行。途中，停下来与一个工人交谈，接着他们继续往前走去。巴斯曼夫人说那工人与她丈夫相貌很像，甚至猜测他可能就是她丈夫的兄弟。弗朗兹对此不屑一顾，指出他兄弟已经在战争中阵亡了。尽管巴斯曼夫人熟知这个情况，但她仍然认为自己的想法仍有百万分之一的可能性。几天后，她派了一个男孩去问那人是否叫汉斯·巴斯曼。不出巴斯曼夫人所料，那人的名字真是汉斯·巴斯曼，他确实是弗朗兹失散了多年的兄弟。兄弟俩团聚之时，汉斯说明了他活下来的经过。战争即将结束时，他负伤被送进医院，并与部队失去联系。医院遭到轰炸，汉斯步行回到了西德。与此同时，他所在的部队被击溃，他的所有档案材料全部毁于战火。汉斯重返故里，但他的家已被炸毁，左邻右舍谁也不知原住户的下落。汉斯以为全家人都在空袭中遇难，于是便在距此50英里外的一座村子里定居下来，直至当日。
Multiple choice questions多项选择题
Choose the correct answers to the following questions.
Comprehension理解
1 What would a modern reader find totally unacceptable in a novel today?
a．Having for a hero a man once presumed dead.
b．The happiness a hero might feel on being reunited with his mother.
c．Any character being so wicked as to plot against the hero.
d．Two brothers, each presuming the other long since dead, meeting again by chance.
2 When Mrs. Bussman suggested that the workman might be Franz's brother ______ .
a．she was told for the first time that Hans had been killed
b．Franz objected to the idea of being associated with a workman .
c．Franz was so sure his brother was dead he did not take her seriously
d．they were both too shy to ask the workman if this was so themselves
3 What did Hans Bussman do immediately after the war was over?
a．He went to hospital to have his wounds attended to.
b．He deserted his unit and walked back to his home town.
c．He inquired after his family's whereabouts but found no trace of them.
d．He settled in a village near his home, hoping his family would find him.