1 . My favourite book is The Adventure of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Tom lives with his aunt Polly in a quiet street of St. Petersburg, Missouri. He’s a lively and clever young boy, and he finds himself in many exciting adventures. He runs away with his two friends, Huck Finn and Joe, to an island in the middle of the Mississippi River for several days. With Huck he goes looking for treasure, with Becky he gets lost in a cave. And finally, they find a box of gold.

My favourite scene in the book is when everyone thinks Tom is dead. He decides to go to his own funeral. He hides and watches for a time and then suddenly he appears. Everyone is astonished to see him but they’re also pleased to see him alive.

Tom is the hero of the story, but there are other important characters. Huck is an outsider and everyone is afraid of him. Becky is pretty with fair hair, Joe is Tom’s best friend. And Injun Joe is the bad man of the story.

The theme of the story is about children growing up. It describes how strangers are seen in small towns of America. Finally, it talks about freedom, social rules and how people are punished for bad behaviour.

Why do I think The Adventure of Tom Sawyer is a great book? Mark Twain wrote the story in 1876, but it’s still read and loved by people all over the world today. And although it’s only a story, Twain wrote it in the everyday English of the southern states of America in the 19th century, so it sounds very real. Today it’s thought to be one of the greatest books in American literature. Go on—read it! I know you’ll enjoy it, too.

1. Where does Tom run away with his two friends?

A．To a quiet street.	B．To a small town.
C．To an island.	D．To a forest.

2. Who is the bad man in the story?

A．Huck Finn.	B．Injun Joe.
C．Becky.	D．Polly.

3. How did people feel when Tom appeared at his own funeral?

A．They were surprised and happy.

B．They were surprised and sad.

C．They were worried and excited.

D．They were frightened and happy.

4. The writer writes the article to ________.

A．ask us to read the book

B．tell us how popular the book is today

C．tell us when Mark Twain wrote the story

D．tell us why the story sounds very real

5. The whole book is mainly about ________.

A．freedom and social rules

B．children’s bad behaviour

C．the growth of young children

D．strangers in American small towns

2 . The play “The Million Pound Bank Note” is based on a short story     1    (write) by Mark Twain, who was brought up in Hannibal, Missouri, and is best known     2     his novels, such as The Adventure of Tom Sawyer and The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. The story happened in     3     summer of 1903, and Henry Adams, an     4     (America) businessman had some bad luck to be carried out to sea by a strong wind. However, he was     5     (spot) and rescued at sea luckily by a Britain ship and landed in London, where he found himself without money, friends     6     a job. But he had to earn his living, which could account for (解释...的原因) his     7     (appear). One day when he was wandering on the pavement and didn’t know     8     to do, he heard somebody     9     (call) him. Then he was led to two brothers     10     made a bet and gave him an envelope with a large sum of money in it .