—Yes. And I think he's a great writer.

your coat. It's very cold outside.

    Chrissy had only been in heaven for a few days. She was a (n)1angel there. Even though she was the newest angel, Chrissy had been given a very important task. She was in charge of the2. Every Monday and every Thursday, she had to be3that the clouds get together and spread their raindrops all over the world. Every living thing on the4needed rain. Trees needed rain to grow5and strong. Grass needed rain to6green. All the animals had to have water to7and to take baths in. And of course flowers needed rain to look lovely and smell wonderful. So making the rain come was a very important8! But no one had told Chrissy how to make it rain, and she didn't know what to do at all.

    Chrissy asked one of the old angels if he could9her. "The angel that had the job before you used to tell sad stories to the clouds, and that made them cry," said the old one. But Chrissy was a very10little angel and she didn't know any sad stories. So she didn't think that would work.

—Yes, they're 30 dollars.

    The village of Hengly was going to have the Bean Olympics. It was a competition to see which kind of bean would grow the fastest and the tallest. Everybody was excited. They couldn't wait to show their best plants.

    Cassie knew clearly which bean she would choose for the competition, for her family had planted a special "family bean" .It was a flat bean that her great-grandparents had brought from Sicily. Her grandmother planted the beans every year and served them at many meals. Cassie was sure they would be unbeatable beans.

    However, the plan did not work out that way. Although Cassie's bean plants looked healthy with beautiful purple flowers, they did not grow as fast or climb as high as any of her neighbours. These people chose beans from seed(种子)shops. Their beans had wonderful names like "Rocket "or" Top Crop". One type was even named "King's Bean". That was the bean Ivan planted, and his plants climbed almost to the top of the fence. Cassie's plants were just near the middle of the fence.

    On the day of the competition, Cassie was disappointed that her beans were in last place. Ivan laughed at her beans and said she could win a prize for the slowest, shortest bean.

    The organizer, Mr Williams, handed out medals for the fastest-growing and the tallest bean plants." Now there remains only one final test, and it is just as important: the taste test."

    Mr Williams cooked the beans from each competitor and chose five experienced villagers as judges(裁判).

    Cassie was nervous. Would her family beans lose another time？

    After the judges tasted the beans, Mr Williams counted the results.

     "We have a winner, "Mr Williams announced." The judges all agree that Cassie's beans are the winner."

    Cassie grinned at this unexpected result. Many of her neighbours, even Ivan asked for her seeds. They were all in favour of the good-tasting beans even though they didn't grow fast or very tall.

    This year the US will honour(纪念)one of the country's most famous writers-Mark Twain(1835-1910).Most readers know that his real name was Samuel Langhorne 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 old-fashioned 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 humorous Life on the Mississippi(1883).

    The famous river would become an important theme in many of his works-who could forget the journey of 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.

    The 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 his 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.