《雙城記》的英文開頭是：
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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 comparison only.
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這段話翻譯成中文是：
那是最美好的時代，那是最糟糕的時代;那是睿智的年月，那是蒙昧的年月;那是信心百倍的時期，那是疑慮重重的時期;那是陽光普照的季節，那是黑暗籠罩的季節;那是充滿希望的春天，那是讓人絕望的冬天;我們面前無所不有，我們面前一無所有;我們大家都在直升天堂，我們大家都在直下地獄——簡而言之，那個時代和當今這個時代是如此相似，因而一些吵嚷不休的權威們也堅持認為，不管它是好是壞，都只能用「最……」來評價它。