up in Missouri on the Mississippi River. Before he was 13, he had fallen into the river for nine times. Luckily, he was always saved. At the age of 18, he ran away from home. For a time, he worked as a sailor and a newspaper reporter.

　　Mark Twain started writing a children's story called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1876. Its theme is to do with the freedom of humans. However, he didn't question the slavery (奴隶制度) in the book and never thought of giving freedom to slaves. This behaviour has been talked about many times by later reviewers.

　　Mark Twain liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time. One day he was going to a small town. One of his friends said that there were a lot of mosquitoes (蚊子) in the town and told him that he'd better not go there. Mark Twain waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter. The mosquitoes are very clever. They aren't relations of mine. Why will they come to visit me？"

　　Mark Twain's works have influenced many writers. They are great treasures of American literature. "There was nothing before. And there has been nothing as good since，" said a famous writer.

　　Section_ⅠWarming Up & Reading - Pre­reading

　　[原文呈现]

　　A MASTER OF NONVERBAL HUMOUR

　　As Victor Hugo once said①，"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face"， and up to now② nobody has been able to do this better than Charlie Chaplin. He brightened③ the lives of Americans and British through two world wars and the hard years in between④. He made people laugh at a time when they felt depressed⑤， so they could feel more content with⑥ their lives.

Not that Charlie's own life was easy! He was born in a poor family in 1889. His parents were both poor music hall performers⑦. You may find it astonishing⑧ that Charlie was taught to sing as soon as he could speak and dance as soon as he could walk. Such training was common in acting families at this time, especially when the family income was often uncertain. Unfortunately⑨ his father died，\s\up1(10(10)leaving the family even worse off⑪， so Charlie spent his childhood looking after his sick mother and his brother. By his teens⑫， Charlie