Today we tell about Louisa May Alcott. She wrote one of America’s best loved children’s books.

In 1868, an American publisher asked Louisa May Alcott to write a book for girls. At first, she was not sure if she wanted to do it. She said she didn’t like girls.

However, she decided to write the book finally. She told about her experiences growing up in the northeast of the United States. The book was quite interesting. Little Women became one of the most popular children’s books in American literature. It was published (出版）in more than 50 languages.

Alcott was born in Pennsylvania in 1832. The Alcotts did not have much money. She tried teaching, sewing(缝纫) and taking care of children. She did not like any of these jobs.

At the age of 16, she wrote her first book, Flower Fables. Her stories were exciting, but unreal. She sold them to newspapers and magazines for money.

The first volume (卷) of Little Women came out in 1868. It made Alcott famous and get a lot of money. She continued writing other popular books for young people. These books included An Old-Fashioned Girl, Little Men and Eight Cousins.

Alcott wrote many exciting stories about love. But she was single (独身的) all her life. She continued to help her family during the last years of her life.

1.Alcott grew up in the ______ of the US.

A. southeast        B. northwest        C. northeast         D. southwest

2.“One of America’s best loved children’s books” refers to (指的是) the book____.

A. Little Women              B. Flower Fables  

C. An Old-Fashioned Girl      D. Eight Cousins

3.The first paragraph tells us that the article is about ______.

   A. a famous children’s book    B. a famous writer

   C. how a book came out         D. why a book is so loved

4.Alcott wrote her first book in ______.  A. 1832  B. 1848  C. 1850  D. 1868

5.From the article, we can learn ______.

   A. Alcott was born into a rich family

B. Alcott had a happy childhood

 C. Alcott didn’t live with her family

D. Alcott never married all her life

I have two cats named Mars and Venus．Get it? My niece，Beth，thought of the names. They are so cute．Mars is bigger and Venus has long curly, fur．

They are such great company! They are curious(好奇)about everything except for the cat window seat．My two furry friends have visited almost every place in the house.

Until I got Mars and Venus 1 was having terrible problems with insomnia．1 would go to bed at midnight and lie there until 4 or sometimes even 5 in the morning．I was walking around during the nighttime，and couldn′t seem to find a way to get to sleep．After one night of galloping from one end often house to the other, Mars and Venus moved in and when I go to bed，they do，too．

At midnight．I lie down in my warm bed, Mars finds his place on the pillow next to me and  then Venus curls up so that she is touching Mars．They sleep all through the night…and guess what．SO do I!I fall asleep almost immediately．

    Now with two little balls of fur next to me，I sleep beautifully．

任务一：下列4个单词在短文中是划线词，请选择与其意思相符的英文释义。

1．Company        2．Furry         3．Insomnia        4.pillow           

  A．covered with fur            B．something you put your head on when sleeping

  C．friend you spend time with  D．inability to sleep

任务二：根据短文内容回答问题。

5．Where don′t the cats like to go?

6．Why is the writer able to sleep well at night?

任务三：把下面句子译成汉语。

7．Until I got Mars and Venus 1 was having terrible problems with insomnia.