4.
阅读理解
Tomorrow is Garfield's birthday. He first
appeared in a comic strip on June 19, 1978. Garfield is well—known all over the
world. Lots of Garfield books have been translated into 26 languages. Garfield
products are sold in 69 countries.
Jim Davis is Garfield's creator. Jim was
born on July 28, 1945 in Indiana. He grew up on a farm where his dad raised
cows. Jim and his brother Dave helped with the farm work. They had 25 cats. They
always made sure there was plenty of food for the cats in the room.
As a boy, Jim was in poor health. When he
had to spend time resting, he drew pictures. He added words to his pictures to
make them funny.
After college Jim worked a few years at an
advertising company. In 1969, he got a job to help a cartoonist. Jim noticed
that there were many comic strips about dogs but few about cats. He thought
that was strange since the world is full of cat lovers.
He remembered the 25 farm cats he grew up
with. They gave him ideas for a cat comic strip. In the comic strip, Garfield
became the central character in daily difficult experiences with Jon, his
owner, and other characters. He is lazy, funny and hungry.
Jim Davis has received many awards for his
work. Twice he was given the Best Humour Strip Cartoonist of the Year Award. He
has won four Emmys (艾美奖) and other honours.