新世纪研究生公共英语Ayoungboy039sambition1.pptVIP

Unit One A Young Boy’s Ambition Mark Twain Background information about the author Mark Twain: pseudonym(pen name) of Samuel Langhorne Clemens From 1857 to 1861, he worked as a licensed Mississippi river-boat pilot. “Mark Twain” was adopted from the call “Mark twain!”(meaning by the bark of two fathoms) used when sounding river shallows. mark 是“测标”，twain为“两英寻（合12英尺）”，“测标两英寻”说明仍是安全水位。 Mark Twain was born in Florida in 1835. After his father’s death in 1847, he was apprenticed to a printer. His book, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches”(1867,卡拉维拉斯县驰名的跳蛙 ), marked the beginning of Twain’s literary career. He then set out a world tour, traveling in France and Italy. Twain recorded his experiences in The Innocent Abroad(1869). The work, which gained him wide popularity, poked fun at both American and European prejudices and manners.(“ 幽默只是花絮”，“为幽默而幽默是不能经久的”，他的幽默滑稽出自严肃的创作目的。这期间他讽喻的社会现象有： 种族歧视、新闻界的乌烟瘴气、投机心理以及社会道德的错位与虚伪) Throughout his life, Twain frequently returned to travel writing, many of his finest novels dealt with journeys and escapes into freedom. At the age of 75, he died in Connecticut on April 21,1910. Twain’s masterpieces The Adventures of Tom Sawyer(1876) 汤姆·索亚历险记 The Prince and the Pauper(1881) 王子与贫儿 Life on the Mississippi(1883) 密西西比河上 Huckleberry Finn(1884) 哈克贝里·费恩历险记 Life on the Mississippi 「密西西比河上的生活」(Life? on? the? Mississippi)，one of Mark Twain’s masterpieces, 寫的一半是他自己在河上的經歷，一半是這條名河的歷史，是密西西比河的史詩，無論以文學而言，或以歷史而言，都是一部不朽之作。 Language Points permanent, lasting, durable, enduring: last for a long time or for ever permanent: lasting for ever and never changing. eg:He burst into cry as soon as he got the ~ U.S. citizenship. lasting: similar to permanent. Continuing for a long time but not everlasting. eg: John has a ~ interest in art. durable: keeping a state or quality for a long time, not easy to be destroyed. eg: These shoes are ~. I have worn them for five years. enduring: stronger in degree than permanent and la