四、阅读理解
Mark Twain,as we all know,was a world-famous writer. He was best known for having created the characters Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. But in his lifetime,Twain was almost as famous as a public speaker as he was a writer.
In 1866,Twain was an unknown reporter. He wrote travel articles for newspapers and hadn't published any major work. Later that year,Twain travelled to Hawaii. While he was on the island,he wrote about his adventures(冒险)for newspapers in California. His writings drew public interest. After he got back,Twain was invited to give a speech about his experiences in Hawaii. His sudden popularity shocked(震惊)him. He wrote about his first speech in his book Roughing It：“I felt so nervous ... I pretended(假装)to be ill.” However,that first speech was a great success.
Hundreds of public speeches across California then followed. They all focused on Twain's adventures in Hawaii. Twain did not read from his writings when he gave a speech. He always had his audience(观众)in mind and carefully prepared for each of his speeches. Twain was not a professional(专业的)speaker,but he tried to entertain(使快乐)his audience. He talked about the customs(风俗)and habits in Hawaii in a funny way. As his curtain fell,Twain jokingly apologized(道歉)for having so many people spend time listening to him. “But I need the money!” he would say. The audience would always give Twain a big round of applause(鼓掌). People loved his humour so much that no matter where he went,he could fill a hall.
After his 1866 speech tour,Twain published The Innocents Abroad,a book about his travels in Europe. Slowly,his fame(名声)grew across the United States.
By 1872,Twain had become tired of doing speech tours. He hoped that he would soon be able to retire(退休)from having to give these speeches. However,his public appearances greatly helped his book sales,so he returned to the stage(舞台)again and again. Twain didn't stop giving speeches until the late 1890s.
(
D
)1. We can learn from the article that before his first speech,Twain felt ______.
A. confident B. excited C. sad D. worried
(
D
)2. According to the article,Twain's speeches were ______.
① funny ② boring ③ long ④ popular
A. ①② B. ②③ C. ③④ D. ①④
(
C
)3. Twain's book The Innocents Abroad is mainly about ______.
A. his first speech B. his travels in Hawaii
C. his travels in Europe D. his speech tours around the US
(
B
)4. Although Twain wanted to retire,he kept giving speeches because ______.
A. he wanted to meet his readers B. he wanted to sell more of his books
C. he wanted to get some ideas for new books D. he could make lots of money through his speeches
Unit 5 Exercise 5 Integrated skills & Study skills
