首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Better Known as Mark Twain This remarkable man went to a log-cabin school until he was twelve years old. That was the end of
Better Known as Mark Twain This remarkable man went to a log-cabin school until he was twelve years old. That was the end of
admin
2013-01-22
31
问题
Better Known as Mark Twain
This remarkable man went to a log-cabin school until he was twelve years old. That was the end of his formal education. In spite of this, he became the most famous literary figure of his generation. He received honorary degrees from Oxford University and Yale University. People speak of him as the best known humorous writer of all times. He also brought realism and western local color to American fiction. He made millions of dollars by writing articles, short stories, and books. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain.
Mark Twain was born in a small Missouri village near the Mississippi River in 1835. At that time, Andrew Jackson was the president of the country. Abraham Lincoln was still a young farm laborer in Illinois. The first railroad had been built seven years before. The Industrial Revolution was at hand. The economic collapse of American prosperity, called the Panic of 1837, still lay ahead. This was also the literary period later called the "New England Renaissance".
Mark Twain was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to lire through the first winter. But with his mother’s tender care, he managed to survive. He had been born in a tiny two-room cabin. Eight people lived together there. He had four brothers and sisters. A slave girl lived with them too.
As a boy, Mark Twain caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play practical jokes on all his ’friends and neighbors. The nature of his jokes often led to violence. He hated to go to school, and he constantly ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He was fascinated by that mighty river. He liked to sit on the bank of the river for hours at a time and just gaze at the mysterious islands and passing boats and rafts. He was nearly drowned nine different times. He learned many things about the river during those days. He learned all about its history and the unusual people who rode up and down it. He never forgot those scenes and those people. He later made them part of’ the history of America in his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Mark Twain inherited his genius for humor from his mother. Obviously, he did not inherit it from his father. He once stated that he had never seen a smile on his father’s face. On the other hand, his mother had the rare ability to say humorous things with perfect innocence. This same ability made Mark Twain all extremely humorous public speaker.
After his father’s death in 1847, Mark Twain left school and became a printer’s apprentice. His mother felt that he could make a living and get some education in this way. He worked for the printer as an apprentice for two years. During that time he received only his board and clothes as pay.
By 1853, Mark Twain was tired of Missouri. He got an urge to see the world and started out with empty pockets. He worked as a printer in St. Louis, New York, and Philadelphia. Then, as a result of reading a book, he decided to go to the upper part of the Amazon River. He planned to make a fortune by collecting and selling cocoa. His only problem was money for the trip. That problem was solved in an un usual way. He found a fifty dollar bill on the sidewalk and left for Brazil the next day. He got as far as the Mississippi River and then ran out of money.
Next Mark Twain decided to become a river-boat pilot on the Mississippi. He followed his new profession for fifteen months. He memorized all the turns, shallow spots, and dangerous rocks in the 1200 miles from St. Louis to New Orleans. He learned about the pride and responsibilities of the pilots. He became an excellent pilot. However, his life as a pilot came to a sudden end. The river was closed to navigation at the outbreak of the Civil War. Then he joined the Confederate Army, but shortly after that, his company was disbanded. He did not join the army again.
He followed his brother Orion to Nevada in 1861 and consequently took up his next profession. He became a miner in this frontier region. During this period, he started to write short articles. The publish er of the Enterprise in Virginia City, Nevada, recognized Mark Twain’s ability and offered him a job as an editor with a salary of $ 25 a week. He walked 125 miles over bad roads and rough country to accept the job. It was at this time that he adopted the pen name "Mark Twain".
Later Mark Twain worked in San Francisco for a while and then became a miner again. In his spare time, he wrote a short story called "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." This story made him known all over the country, and he decided to become a full-time writer and lecturer. He went to New York in 1867 and published his first book that year. His next book, Innocents Abroad, was published in 1869. It was a report of his European tour as a Westerner saw it. It was a completely new kind of travel book. It gave him a national reputation.
In 1870, Mark Twain was married to Olivia Langdon in Elmira, New York. It was an extremely successful marriage. They were devoted to each other throughout their lives. His wife Olivia had a strong and lasting influence on his writing. She was always careful to remove all of the bad words. He always accept ed her changes without argument. In the years following his marriage, he wrote the books for which he is most famous: Tom Sawyer in 1876, Huckleberry Finn in 1884, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in 1889.
Unfortunately, Mark Twain had no business ability at all. He made vast profits from writing and lecturing, but time after time, he lost money in bad investments. He finally lost his entire fortune in the publishing business in 1895. He took the responsibility for all of his debts. He wrote large numbers of stories in order to pay those debts. He made a successful tour around the world. He was finally able to pay. Despite the tremendous effort this had required, he had been able to keep his health. His life had worse tragedies than the financial ones, however. His wife Olivia died in 1904. Three of his children had died previously.
At the age of seventy, his hair was completely white. He decided to buy fourteen white suits and a hundred white neckties. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death in Redding, Connecticut on April 21, 1910.
______ first made Mark Twain known all over the country.
选项
答案
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
解析
马克·吐温开始写作之后,使他一夜成名的第一部作品是The.Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,其中文译名《卡拉维拉斯县驰名的跳蛙》。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/A2I7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
A、He’sgotastomachache.B、He’sgotaheadache.C、Hehaseyetrouble.D、Heisalcoholic.D语义推断题。抓听到关键信息“onlyacoupleofglass
Spaceisadangerousplace,notonlybecauseofmeteors(流星)butalsobecauseofraysfromthesunandotherstars.The【26】again
A、Thebooksweretooexpensivetobuy.B、Heboughtalotofbooksoverthere.C、Thereweremanypeopleatthebooksale.D、There
ImprovingthebalancebetweentheworkingpartofthedayandtherestofitisagoalofagrowingnumberofworkersinrichWe
ImprovingthebalancebetweentheworkingpartofthedayandtherestofitisagoalofagrowingnumberofworkersinrichWe
A、Employerandemployee.B、Interviewerandinterviewee.C、Teacherandstudent.D、Policeofficeranddriver.D预览选项可知,本题考查对话双方的关系。
Scotlandisauniqueplace.IthassomeofthemostbeautifulcitiesinEurope,alivingevidenceofasplendidandproudpast.
RuthSimmonsjoinedGoldmanSachs’sboardasanoutsidedirectorinJanuary2000;ayearlatershebecamepresidentofBrownUni
A、Gunfightsandexplodingcars.B、Depressingstories.C、Intensecharacters.D、Darkbackground.A信息明示题。女士说主流电影里除了枪战和爆炸的汽车以外什么都没有
Avacation-crushingtheoryonhowtoimprovestudentperformanceisgainingtraction:moretimeinclass.It’sastrategysu
随机试题
47岁男性患者,因“咳嗽、发热4天”入院。确诊为“双侧肺炎”。行机械通气。呼吸机参数如下:压力控制模式PSV22cmH2O,PEEL,2cmH2O,FiO10.8,吸气时间50%,呼吸频率30次/分,目前SpO285%,血流动力学稳定,提高血氧饱和度最好的
心肌收缩能力的增强可通过下列哪一途径实现
A.IgAB.sIgAC.IgGD.IgME.IgE天然抗体是
患儿男,8岁,右小腿上端疼痛10天,伴高热,咽痛,食欲缺乏,有膝部扭伤史,体格检查:体温39.2℃,脉搏120次/分,右小腿上端红肿热,膝关节呈30°屈曲位,伸直时疼痛加重,X线片未见明显异常。如果该疾病的急性症状得到控制,抗生素治疗
A.诱发或加重支气管哮喘B.诱发或加重溃疡病C.便秘D.凝血障碍E.锥体外系症状吗啡和阿司匹林均不具有的不良反应是
A、基牙牙冠形态B、基牙牙根形态C、桥体面形态D、桥体龈面形态E、固位体轴面形态对固定义齿固位有影响的是
关于几位美国总统及其历史功绩,下列说法不正确的是()。
下列情形中,导致委托代理关系终止的是()。
每一个恶都有原因,但所有的恶都没有借口。不能因为恶来源于上方,我就有义务恶;不能因为别人都这么恶,我就有资格恶;甚至不能因为有人对自己恶,我就有权利对别人恶。所以,必须谴责每一个具体的恶。如果对生命的尊重必须具体到个位数,那么,对罪恶的谴责也必须具体到个位
为读取的内容进行处理后再输出,需要使用下列哪种流?
最新回复
(
0
)