Question

　　话题链接：It is worth looking at his masterpieces and his experiences in order to understand Mark Twain and his humor．Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clement, who was born on November 30,1835, in the village of Florida, Missouri, and grew up in the town of Hannibal, Missouri．Twain's father died when Twain was 12 years old, he left school 1847, to work as apprentice-printer(学徒印刷工)．Followed printer's trade in Eastern and Middle Western cities, 1853-1854; journeyed down to New Orleans, 1856, intending to make his fortune in Brazil, but abandoned scheme and became Mississippi river-pilot(水手)instead．After a short period as Confederate volunteer, he spent remainder of Civil War years in Nevada and San Francisco, writing humorous newspaper items under pseudonym(笔名)of“Mark Twain”, and establishing himself as popular lecturer．He soon discovered his talent as a humorist and by 1865 his humorous stories were attracting national attention．In 1870, Twain married Olivia Langdon of New York State, and soon settled with her at Hartford, Connecticut．He wrote many books, nearly all well-received．

　　Punning(双关)，facetious(滑稽)，irreverent(不尊敬的)，the American funny man filled the newspapers and lighter periodicals with his material．Each writer had his particular patter, in them the ordinary sensual American had his say, shrewd(精明的)，cynical(愤世嫉俗的)，and sometimes refreshingly vulgar(粗俗)in a country．Mark Twain came up through their ranks．The elements of his humor were all familiar to America before he began to write．

想一想：Shakespeare once wrote,“All the world's a stage．”If life is like theatre, then we are all actors on its stage．Mark Twain plays an important role in American literature and life．What can you learn from his life experience?And what role would like to play in the stage nowadays?

Answer 1

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