《双城记》（A Tale of Two Cities）是查尔斯·狄更斯（Charles Dickens）的一部经典长篇小说。以下是一些书中的经典文段及其中英文对照：
英文原文：
```
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of
```
中文翻译：
```
这是最好的时代，也是最坏的时代，这是智慧的时代，也是愚蠢的时代，这是信仰的时期，也是怀疑的时期，这是光明的季节，也是黑暗的季节，这是希望之春，也是绝望之冬，我们面前拥有一切，我们也一无所有，我们全都在走向天堂，我们也全都在走向相反的方向——简而言之，那个时期与现在的时期如此相似，以至于它一些最吵闹的权威们坚持要以最绝对的方式接受它，无论它是好是坏。
```
以上文段出自《双城记》的开篇，是小说中非常著名的一段描述，用对比强烈的方式展现了故事背景的时代特征