名人小传 第3期

A

Christopher Columbus discovered the New World on the 12th of October，1492. He had spent eighteen years planning for the voyage(航行) which he made across the great ocean. He had talked and argued(争论) with sailors(海员)， scholars(学者)，princes(王子)and kings. He said：“By sailing west across the great ocean I am sure I can reach the lands that have never been visited by Europeans.” But few people believed him and he was laughed at. Finally the Spanish King and Queen， who were intrested in finding a sea route(路线) to India，offered(提供) him ships and men so that he could carry out his plan. He crossed the ocean and discovered the New World. He believed these lands to be parts of India.

B

Albert Einstein， a world famous scientist， was born in Germany in 1879. When he was a child，he liked to ask questions. His parents encouraged his interest in science. They managed to send him to technical schools(技校). After graduation， he began making money by working as a teacher and a government clerk(政府职员). Then he continued his studies at a university with the money he saved. He devoted(献身) himself to research and studies and finally he founded theory of relativity(相对论). In 1921 he won the Nobel Prize in physics.

When Hitler came into power(掌权) in Germany，Einstein was attacked(受迫害) and everything he had was taken away. Finally he left Germany and went to the United States. He spent the rest of his life there and died in 1955.

C

Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was not only a great writer but also a famous humorist(幽默家)。

Mark Twain was born in a small village near the Mississippi River in 1835. He had to leave school at twelve. For ten years he worked in print shops(印刷厂)in many cities. Later he tried various jobs of being miner(当矿工)，reporter(记者) and businessman(商人). During the period, he started to write short articles and stories. One of them was The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country（《加拉维拉亚的跳蛙》），which made him known all over the country. His next book Innocent Abroad（《傻子出国记》）gave him a national reputation（荣誉）. In the following years he wrote many famous novels like Tom Sawyer （《汤姆索亚》），The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn （《哈克•贝利芬历险记》）， etc. He died in 1910.

D

Charles Dickens, a great novelist of the 19th century, was born in a poor family in 1812. When he was only ten, his father was taken to prison for debt(债务)，and young Charles had to pay the debt.

Dickens was interested in literature(文学) when he was young. At the age of 24，he published(出版) his first work The Pickwick Papers and at once he became the most popular novelist of that day. The best known among his writings are David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities. Many of his books were translated into many languages and were well received by people.

Charles Dickens died in 1870.