Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835, in the state of Missouri. When he was four, his family moved to the town of Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal was a port on the Missippi River, and Clemens loved to watch the big steamboats going up and down the river. He said that all the boys in his school had one ambition in life: to work on a steamboat!

    His father died when he was just 12 years old, and Clemens then went to work for a printer to help support his family. He travelled around, and worked in many different cities. But when he was 22, he achieved his ambition—he got a job working on a steamboat. He sailed up and down the wide Missippi River until the American Civil War began.

    He then moved around America, and tried several jobs. He was a soldier, and a silver miner. Then he started working as a writer for a newspaper. It was at that time that he decided to use a pen name for his stories, and he chose the name "Mark Twain".

    The name is interesting. It comes from his days on the steamboats. He used to throw a piece of rope into the river. There was a heavy weight on the end of the rope, and the rope had some marks on it. He used the rope to find how deep the river was. Then he shouted out, "Mark One" or "Mark Twain", meaning "Mark Two". Each mark was about two metres, so when he shouted "Mark Twain", it meant that the river was deep enough for the big boat.

    In 1865 Clemens wrote a story about a jumping frog. The story and the writer became famous. In 1867 he toured Europe. He married when he returned, and lived for most of the rest of his in Harfort, Connecticut. He wrote many books, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which he wrote in 1876. He also gave many lectures, and became a very famous and popular man.

    Once two of his friends decided to write to him, but they had lost his address. So on the envelope they just wrote "Mark Twain, God knows where". Several weeks later, they received a replay from the writer. It just said, "He does!"

    Samuel Clemens died in 1910. He is considered to be one of America's most important writers.

    We're sitting too much and it's dangerous. Most Americans spend more than seven hours sitting every day, and the more you sit, the weaker your body will be. Fortunately, there are simple changes you can make during the day—anywhere, even at the workplace—to improve your health.

    Park a few blocks away from the office each morning and walk to work.

    This allows you to start off your mornings actively and be ready to take on the work. If you take the bus, get off one stop earlier to take some light exercise before 8 a.m.

    Get up and move around the office once every 60~90 minutes.

    When you're busy with work, it's easy to forget the time. Set the alarm to remind you to get up and take a walk around the office. You can use this time to fill up your water bottle or go to the bathroom.

    Ask questions and discuss questions face to face.

    Go to your co-workers' office to discuss questions face to face, rather than send an email every time you have a question. This gives you a good excuse to move.

    Use your lunch break to move around outside.

    So many Americans today work during their lunch break. When possible, take advantage of this time to walk outside and enjoy the nice weather. Fresh air can make you keep a clear mind.

    The Spring Festival is a great festival. It's one of 1 festivals in China. People usually go home to be with their family2 the festival is coming.

    In fact, from Little New Year, people start 3 preparations for the Spring Festival. They want to have 4fresh beginning in the new year. The first thing that people usually do is to clean 5 houses. They believe good cleaning can sweep bad luck away. They also buy food to welcome the festival.

    There is a story about the Spring Festival. A long time ago, a monster called Nian6 people on New Year's Eve. People did not know what to do at first. Finally, they knew Nian was afraid7 red, fire and loud noise. Then they posted red couplets (对联), set off fireworks and played the drums. Later, Nian never came to the village again. Even today, people celebrate the festival in this way.

    During the Spring Festival, people usually visit their family members, friends and wish each other good luck. The traditional ways of 8 the Spring Festival are having a big family dinner on New Year's Eve and watching the Spring Festival Gala. In 2020, the Spring Festival 9 on January 25. Did you10a happy time? Did you do anything special?

The World Earth Day is on April 22nd. Here at Greenpeace, we know how much you want to make a positive(积极的) difference to our world! So, read on to find out how to protect our earth. 

What else can you do to make the world better? You can visit the website or scan the QR code to know more.