Mark Twain，an American writer, published more than 30 books, hundreds of
short stories and essays and gave lectures around the world throughout his career.
Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. Thou
gh he had little school education, he became the most famous writer of his time
. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Cl
emens, but he is better known all over the world as MarkTwain, his penname.
Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not
expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother's tender care,
he managed to survive. As a boy, he causedmuch trouble for his parents. He use
d to play jokes on all of his friends and neighbors. He didn't like to go to sc
hool, and he constantly ran away from home. He always went in the direction of
the nearby Mississippi. He was nearly drowned nine times. After his father's d
eath in 1847, Mark twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him wit
h food and clothing. Then, he worked as a river-boat pilot (领航
员)and later joinedthe army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During t
his period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full-time
writer.
In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books
including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him fam
ous, and brought him a great fortune. Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts
in bad investments（投资） and he had to write
large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died and then on
e of their childrenpassed away.At the age of 70, his hair was completely white.
He bought many white suits and neckties. Hewore nothing but white from head to
foot until his death on April 21, 1910.
小题1: When Mark Twain was a little baby, .
A．his mother thought he would die
B．he was as active as other boys
C．he was not strong enough
D．he was always in hospital小题2: In his childhood, .
A．Mark Twain learned a lot at school
B．Mark Twain often went swimming with other boys
C．Mark Twain often played games with other boys
D．Mark Twain’s mother often worried about his safety小题3: In order to make a living, Mark Twain .
A．often ran away from home.
B．first worked for a printer.
C．wrote stories in the beginning.
D．joined the army after he worked in a mine.小题4: In the later years of his life, Mark Twain .
A．continued writing until his death.
B．wrote many stories and earned a lot of money.
C．must have been very sad because he lost his wife and one of his children.
D．lent too much money to others.
