Allthewisdomoftheages,allthestoriesthathavedelightedmankindforcenturies,areeasilyandcheaplyavailabletoallofuswithinthecoversofbooks—butwemustknowhowtoavailourselvesofthistreasureandhowtogetthemostfromit.Themostunfortunatepeopleintheworldarethosewhohaveneverdiscoveredhowsatisfyingitistoreadgoodbooks.Iammostinterestedinpeople,inmeetingthemandfindingoutaboutthem.SomeofthemostremarkablepeopleI’’vemetexistedonlyinawriter’’simagination,thenonthepagesofhisbook,andthen,again,inmyimagination.I’’vefoundinbooksnewfriends,newsocieties,newworlds.IfIaminterestedinpeople,othersareinterestednotsomuchinwhoasinhow.Whointhebookincludeseverybodyfromscience-fictionsupermantwohundredcenturiesinthefutureallthewaybacktothefirstfiguresinhistory;HowcoverseverythingfromtheingeniousexplanationsofSherlockHolmestothediscoveriesofscienceandwaysofteachingmannerstochildren.Readingisapleasureofthemind,whichmeansthatitisalittlelikeasport:youreagernessandknowledgeandquicknessmakeyouagoodreader.Readingisfun,notbecausethewriteristellingyousomething,butbecauseitmakesyourmindwork.Yourownimaginationworksalongwiththeauthor’’sorevengoesbeyondhis.Yourexperience,comparedwithhis,bringsyoutothesameordifferentconclusions,andyourideasdevelopasyouunderstandhis.Everybookstandsbyitself,likeaone-familyhouse,butbooksinalibraryarelikehousesinacity.Althoughtheyareseparate,togethertheyalladduptosomething;theyareconnectedwitheachotherandwithothercities.Thesameideas,orrelatedones,turnupindifferentplaces;thehumanproblemsthatrepeatthemselvesinliferepeatthemselvesinliterature,butwithdifferentsolutionsaccordingtodifferentwritingsatdifferenttimes.Booksinfluenceeachother;theylinkthepast,thepresentandthefutureandhavetheirowngenerations,likefamilies.Whereveryoustartreadingyouconnectyourselfwithoneofthefamiliesofideas,and,inthelongrun,younotonlyfindoutabouttheworldandthepeopleinit,youfindoutaboutyourself,too.Readingcanonlybefunifyouexpectittobe.Ifyouconcentrateonbookssomebodytellsyou,you"ought"toread,youprobablywon’’thavefun.Butifyouputdownabookyoudon’’tlikeandtryanothertillyoufindonethatmeanssomethingtoyou,andthenrelaxwithit,youwillalmostcertainlyhaveagoodtime—andifyoubecome,asaresultofreading,better,wiser,kinder,ormoregentle,youwon’’thavesufferedduringtheprocess.Intheauthor’’sopinion,whoarethemostunfortunatepeopleintheworld A: Thosewhoarenotinterestedinpeople. B: Thoseremarkablepeopletheauthorhavemet. C: Thosewhohaveneverfoundthepleasuresofreading. D: Thosewhohavedelightedmankindforcenturies.