Mark Twain is someone Americans are taught to love. Older relatives, English teachers and the media always praise him. But when you actually take the time to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, you find that his work is more wonderful than you could ever imagine.

    The novel describes a young boy named Tom Sawyer growing up in a small town along the Mississippi River. He explores the countryside on a riverboat with his friends, falls in love with girls, starts secret clubs and searches for treasure. Twain's idea of childhood is magical – a time of imagination, wonder and, of course, adventure.

    More importantly, through the eyes of Tom Sawyer, Twain cleverly makes fun of US culture. For example, Tom hates going to church, and Twain uses scenes of Tom there to mock religion and its old traditions.

    Twain's writing is full of these kinds of critical (批判的) points about culture and politics. That's why he is so loved in the US – he wasn't afraid to state his opinions, and he did so clearly.

    He also believed strongly in women's right to vote in elections and gave a famous speech on the subject, called "Votes for Women", in 1901.

    "Tom was a great hero once more – the pet of the old, the envy of the young," Twain writes in Tom Sawyer. But he could just as well be describing himself.

    Last December it was very cold and it snowed a lot. One Saturday, John was playing on the hill near his house with some friends. Suddenly, he fell over and hurt his leg. His friends ran to tell his mother. His mother and brother took him to the hospital.

    The doctor said John had to stay in hospital for four to five weeks. John liked the doctors and the other children in the hospital because they were very friendly. At first he was happy because he didn't have to go to school. He laughed at all of his friends. They had to do a lot of homework. He enjoyed listening to music and watching his favourite television programmes all day.

    But soon the Christmas holidays started. John was still in hospital. He was tired of watching television and listening to his CDs and he wanted to go home. "This is ▲" he thought. He felt sad so he started to cry.

    But then a man came to his room with a bag of presents and a Christmas tree. John knew him from the television. He was a famous sports star who was visiting all the sick (生病的) children. And the man was not the only person who came that day. All the students from John's class came to visit him. And his maths teacher brought him his "favourite" present — some maths homework!

    Mr. Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea."

    "OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.

    Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.

    The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more."

    The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?"

    "Burnt yesterday evening."

    One day, I walked into a stranger as he walked by me. "Oh, excuse me." I said. He replied with a smile and said, "Please excuse me, too. I wasn't watching out for you." We apologized(道歉) and went our own ways.

    Later that day, when I was cooking, my daughter was standing too close to me. When I turned to reach for some milk, I nearly knocked her over. "Move out of the way." I shouted. She walked away sadly. But I didn't feel like I had to apologize to her.

    While I was in bed that evening, my husband said to me, "Dealing with a stranger, you were polite, but with a daughter you love, you were unkind. Your daughter brought you some flowers that she picked herself this afternoon. You'll find them in the kitchen by the door. Have you seen the tears in her eyes?"

    I quietly went and knelt down by my daughter's bed. "Honey, I am so sorry." I said, "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" She said, "I found them by the tree. I picked them because they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like them especially the blue ones." I tearfully replied, "Sweetie, I'm really sorry for the way I acted today. I shouldn't have shouted at you." "It's okay. I love you anyway." she said as she kissed me on my cheek.

    If we can be polite to strangers, why can't we be kind to the ones we love?

    Mrs. Brown lives in a small village. Her husband is dead. She has a son but no daughters. His name is John and he is twenty-five. After John finishes college (大学), he gets work in a big city, New York, and he lives there. It's quite a long way from his mother's home, and she is not happy about it. But John says, "There is no good work for me in this small village, Mother, and I can get a lot of money in New York. Then I can give much to you. "

    One day Mrs. Brown is very angry. She takes a train to her son's house in New York. Then she says to him. "John, why do you never call me?"

    "But mother," John laughs (笑) and says, "You don't have a telephone."

    "No," she says, "I haven't, but you have one."

    Mr. Brown got up late this morning. He was going to be late for work. It was raining hard and the streets were wet. He drove so fast that he didn't see the red lights. He couldn't stop his car and hit a car. An old man got out of the car and called out angrily, "What are you doing? How can you drive so fast?"

    "I'm sorry, sir," said Mr. Brown, "l didn't see the lights turn red." "Then he brought out a bottle of wine (酒)and gave it to the old man.

    It's cold today, sir," said Mr. Brown. "Please drink a little, and then you'll get warm."

    The old man drank some wine and became happy. He asked, "I'm feeling much better now. Why don't you drink any?"

     "I can't drink anything now, sir," answered Mr. Brown" I'm waiting for the policeman. Only drunkards(酒鬼)cause accidents, you know!"