2015年高中英语阅读理解 第三部分 名人故事(三)练习

第三部分名人故事（三）

11. Mark Twain, Welcome American Humorist

马克•吐温—受欢迎的美国幽默作家

马克·吐温，真名塞姆·朗赫恩·克列门斯（Samuel Langhorne Clemens），是美国的幽默大师、小说家、作家，亦是著名演说家。短篇小说《百万英磅》、《竞选州长》和长篇《哈克贝里·芬历险记》、《汤姆·索亚历险记》最为人们所称道。海伦·凯勒曾言：“我喜欢马克吐温——谁会不喜欢他呢？即使是上帝，亦会钟爱他，赋予其智慧，并于其心灵里绘画出一道爱与信仰的彩虹。”威廉·福克纳称马克·吐温为“第一位真正的美国作家，我们都是继承他而来”。

One of the best known American writers is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, whose pen name is Mark Twain. Born in 1855, Twain grew up in the Mississippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri. As did many other boys of his day, Twain dreamed of traveling on riverboats and of someday becoming a riverboat pilot. Twain used his memories of the life of a river town in his two most famous books, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

As a young man Twain held many jobs. He was a printer, a gold miner, and for a time, he was a riverboat pilot. During his pilot days, he adopted the name Mark Twain. This was a term used by the boatmen to mean that the water measured two fathoms, or twelve feet, which was deep enough for safe passage.

Finally Twain became a successful writer. He traveled a great deal, writing and speaking, and became very popular both in the United States and in Europe.

Twain's style of writing was simple and direct. Among the things he wrote about were superstitious people and people who were easily fooled. He used his unusual gift for humor to write about many things of importance.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Samuel Langhorne Clemens ______

A. was as famous as Mark Twain.

B. is better known than Mark Twain.

C. grew up in the Mississippi River town of Hannibal with Mark Twain as his friend.

D. was used by Mark Twain as his pen name.

A. a term to indicate Mark Twain.

B. a depth at which boats can safely pass.

C. was used by boatmen to measure the depth of water.

D. considered to be deep enough for pilots to swim across the river.

5. Twain’s style of writing is ______

A. humorous

B. simple

C. direct

D. all of the above. (DDBBD)

12. Charles Dickens, One of the Greatest English Writers

查尔斯•狄更斯—英国最伟大的作家之一

查尔斯·狄更斯，是英国文学史上唯一可与莎士比亚媲美的伟大作家。1812年2月7日生于朴次茅斯市郊，1870年6月9日卒于罗切斯特附近的盖茨山庄。一生共创作长篇小说13部半，其中多数是近百万言的大部头作品，中篇小说20余部，短篇小说数百篇，以及大量演说词、书信、散文、杂诗。其中，《圣诞颂歌》、《大卫·科波菲尔》、《双城记》最为人们所称道。他多次去欧洲大陆游历、旅居，两次访问美国。

When Charles Dickens was a small boy, he was sent by his parents to work in a boot-blacking factory. His parents had other children and many debts to pay.

Charles's father was put into prison for his debts. The boy tried to raise money enough to get him out but was unsuccessful. At last, the whole family went to live with Charles's father in his room in the Marsalsea prison. This was a common practice and, while the prisoner could not leave the grounds, the families could go in and out freely until the gate was locked at night.

For the rest of his days, Dickens was interested in prisons. Whenever he traveled through strange towns and cities, he went to visit them, as other tourists would visit museums and palaces. Almost every book he wrote has a prison and some prisoners in it.

He had been born in 1812 and had stayed busy at one kind of work or another from the time he was six years of age. He died of a sudden stroke in 1870. He provided the world with its clearest picture of the texture of English life during the 1800's, one without which readers would never know the sounds, smells, and tastes of those long-ago days.