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  3. Mark Twain: One of America’s Best Known and Best Loved Writers Mark Twain wrote "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in 1884

Mark Twain: One of America’s Best Known and Best Loved Writers Mark Twain wrote "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in 1884

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问题           Mark Twain: One of America’s Best Known and Best Loved Writers
    Mark Twain wrote "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in 1884. Since then, the book has been published in at least 60 languages. Some people say it is the best book ever created by an American writer. American students still read this book. And parents, teachers and literary experts still debate the issues discussed in the book.
    The writer who became Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835.  He grew up in Hannibal, Missouri on the Mississippi River. After his father died in 1847, young Samuel went to work as an assistant to a publisher. 10 years later, he became a pilot on a steamboat that sailed on the Mississippi. He heard the riverboat workers call out the words "mark twain !" that was a measure for the depth of water.
    In 1861, the American Civil War put an end to steamboat traffic on the Mississippi. So Clemens traveled west and became a reporter for newspapers in Nevada and California.
Began to Write
    Later, he wrote funny stories and called himself Mark Twain. Twain became famous for his story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in 1865. It tells about a jumping competition among frogs.
    Twain also traveled a lot and began writing books about his travels. His stories about a trip to Europe and the Middle East were published in "The Innocents Abroad." And his stories about life in the western United States became the book called "Roughing It."
    In 1870, he married Olivia Langdon and moved to Hartford, Connecticut. During the 1880’s, he wrote books for children, such as "The Prince and the Pauper." It tells about a poor boy who trades identities with a member of England’s ruling family. Twain also wrote "Life on the Mississippi." This book describes his days as a steamboat pilot and his return to the river 20 years later.
A Successful Writer and Speaker
    Mark Twain was already a successful writer before he became famous as a public speaker. Over the years, he had invested a lot of money in unsuccessful businesses. In 1893, he found himself deeply in debt. So to earn money, he traveled around the world giving humorous talks. His speeches made people laugh and remember events they had experienced.
    However, his later life was not a happy one. Two of his daughters died. His wife died in 1904 after a long sickness. Some critics think Mark Twain’s later works were more serious because of his sadness. He died of heart failure in 1910.
    Mark Twain was the first writer to use the speech of common Americans in his books. He showed that simple American English could be as fine an instrument for great writing as more complex language. Through his books, he captured American experiences as no other writer had.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
    Many of the stories take place in Hannibal, Missouri. The small wooden house where he lived as a boy still stands there. Next to the house is a wooden fence. It is the kind described in Twain’s book, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," published in 1876.
    In that story, Tom bas been told to paint the fence. He does not want to do it. But he acts as if the job is great fun. He tricks other boys into believing this. His trick is so successful that they agree to pay him money to let them finish his work. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is considered one of the best books about an American boy’s life in the 1800s.
    Tom Sawyer’s good friend is Huckleberry, or "Huck," Finn. Mark Twain tells this boy’s story in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Huck is a poor child, without a mother or home. His father drinks too much alcohol and beats him.
    Huck’s situation bas freed him from the restrictions of society. He explores in the woods and goes fishing. He stays out all night and does not go to school. He smokes tobacco.
    Huck runs away from home. He meets Jim, a black man who has escaped from slavery. They travel together on a raft made of wood clown the Mississippi River.
    Mark Twain started writing "Huckleberry Finn" as a children’s story. But it soon became serious. The story tells about the social evil of slavery, seen through the eyes of an innocent child. Huck’s ideas about people were formed by the white society in which he lived. So, at first, he does not question slavery. Huck knows that important people believe slavery is natural, the law of God. So, he thinks it is his duty to tell Jim’s owners where to find him.
    However, gradually, Huck comes to understand that Jim is a good man. He finds he cannot carry out his plan to tell Jim’s owners where to find him. Instead, be decides to help Jim escape. He decides to do this, even if God punishes him.
    Huck’s moral search is part of Twain’s humor. Huck’s heart leads him to do the right thing, even when everything he has been taught tells him it is wrong. Huck’s nature is good, but he has no idea of it. Twain tells us more through Huck’s voice than Huck himself knows.
    It took Mark Twain longer to write "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" than any of his other books. He started writing in 1876, but put the story away after about two years of work. He returned to it in 1883. It was published the next year.
The Debate on Twain’s Book
    From the beginning, the book "The Adventures of Hackleberry Finn" was hotly debated. Some early critics praised its realism and honesty. But the leading critics of Twain’s time hated it. They objected to the personality of Huck -- a rough, dirty and disobedient(不顺从的)boy.
    They were insulted by Twain’s attacks on the commonly accepted morals and traditions of white society. And they disliked the way Twain used the language of a common, uneducated person to tell the story. No writer had ever done that before.
    The debate over "Huckleberry Finn" reopened in recent years, but for different reasons. The book uses the racist expressions of its time. So some people say reading it is too painful and insulting for black children.
    They know that Twain was really attacking racism. But he attacked indirectly, and with humor. So they feel young people will not understand what he was attempting to do. A few American schools have harmed the book for young children. A few have banned it for all students. Some schools used a version in which all racist words have been removed.
    Other people say young people can understand "Huckleberry Finn" if they study it with a good teacher. They say the book remains one of the best denunciations(谴责)of racism ever written.
    There is no longer any debate about the importance of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in American literature. In 1935, Ernest Hemingway wrote: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ’Huckleberry Finn.’ There was nothing before. And there has been nothing as good since."
In the story of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", Tom does not want to paint the fence so he pays other boys money to do the work.
选项 A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案B
解析
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