This year the US will honour one of the country's most famous writers — Mark Twain (1835—1910). Most readers know that his real name was Samuel Longhome Clemens, but how many know where the pen name "Mark Twain" came from?
The answer shows Clemens' colourful early life before he became a writer. "Mark Twain" was the cry shouted on a ship when the ship entered a part of a river that was two fathoms (6 feet) deep. "Twain" is an oldfashioned way of saying "two". Twain trained as a ship pilot on the Mississippi river for two years, a time that he wrote about in the humourous Life on the Mississippi (1883).
The famous river would become an important theme in many of his works — who could forget the journey of the Huck and Jim along it in his most famous book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)?
With little education, he had to teach himself how to write stories. Whenever possible, he would go to public libraries. There he spent much time reading and thinking, which greatly helped him with his writing.
On the other hand, his life experiences gave him wonderful material to write about and attract readers. Twain wrote in a style that has been called "local colour" because it shows great knowledge of local people and their customs.
This gift is very clear in the two books for which Twain is still celebrated today. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its follow-up The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which many people call"The Great American Novel" .
The most amazing invention in the book is the voice of Huck himself. Huck did not enjoy schooling. It shows in the way he uses language, in a spoken style. Only a master like Twain could copy the way a
young southern boy talked so well.
Joan Fournier and her daughter stopped at a fast food restaurant in Cornwall for some lunch. However, when her phone rang and she took it out to answer the call, without her knowing it, the money fell out of her pocket.
Later in the evening when they went shopping, Fournier realized the money wasn't there. Thinking someone must have picked up the bill and simply pocketed it, Fournier didn't hold out much hope for getting back the cash. However, she called the restaurant, just in case. Fournier was surprised to discover the $100 had been found just where it had fallen.
Bridget Patterson, a 17-year-old employee of the restaurant, was cleaning up shortly before closing time when she discovered the bill on the floor. Patterson put the money in an envelope, and took a photo of the area where she'd found it and put it under her manager's door with a note of explanation.
Fournier returned to get the money. She was surprised, honestly, that Patterson would go to all that trouble.
For Patterson's part, doing anything but returning the money never crossed her mind. "If it had been the other way around, I'd want someone to do the same thing," she said.
A. Her first thought was to put it in her pocket.
B. Fournier thought she would be getting it back.
C. Moreover, she never expected anything in return.
D. In her pocket, Fournier had her cellphone and a $100 bill.
E. She also brought along a card and a cash gift to express her thanks.
F. After searching everywhere, she decided that maybe it fell out at the restaurant.
G. When Fournier called, she heard the story of how Patterson had turned in the cash she'd found.
Today, it's natural to connect currency with coins or paper notes. However, currency has taken a number of different1throughout history. In many early societies, certain commodities (商品) became a(n) 2method of payment. The Aztecs often used cocoa beans 3trading goods directly. However, commodities have clear 4in this regard. Depending on their size, they can be hard to carry around from place to place. And in many cases, they have a(n) 5shelf life (保存期).
These are some of the reasons why minted (新发明的) currency 6. As far back as 2500 BCE, Egyptians created metal rings they used as7, and actual coins have been around since at least 700 BCE when they were used by a society in what is modern-day Turkey. Paper money didn't8until the Song Dynasty in China. Metallic money in the form of coins9from precious metals such as gold or silver has been commonplace since early civilization.
Other forms of currency that have 10include large round stones in the Pacific Islands, shells in pre-modern America, and measurements of salt.
More recently, 11has enabled a quite different form of payment: electronic currency. Using a telegraph (电报) network, Western Union completed the first 12money transfer (转让) way back in 1871. With the arrival of the computer, it became13for banks to remove money from or credit money to each other's accounts without the difficulty of14moving large sums of cash.
Today, electronic payments and digital money is not only common, but has become the most15money form.
