A SIMPLIFIED ALPHABET(This article, written during the autumn of 1899, was aboutthe last writing done by Mark Twain on any impersonal subject.)I have had a kindly feeling, a friendly feeling, a cousinlyfeeling toward Simplified Spelling, from the beginning of themovement three years ago, but nothing more inflamed than that.It seemed to me to merely propose to substitute one inadequacyfor another; a sort of patching and plugging poor old dentalrelics with cement and gold and porcelain paste; what was reallyneeded was a new set of teeth. That is to say, a new ALPHABET.The heart of our trouble is with our foolish alphabet. It...　

1872FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE STORKSby Hans Christian AndersenON the last house in a little village the storks had built a nest,and the mother stork sat in it with her four young ones, who stretchedout their necks and pointed their black beaks, which had not yetturned red like those of the parent birds. A little way off, on theedge of the roof, stood the father stork, quite upright and stiff; notliking to be quite idle, he drew up one leg, and stood on the other,so still that it seemed almost as if he were carved in wood. "Itmust look very grand," thought he, "for my wife to have a sentryguarding her nest. They do not know that I am her husband; they will...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENA STORYby Hans Christian AndersenIN the garden all the apple-trees were in blossom. They hadhastened to bring forth flowers before they got green leaves, and inthe yard all the ducklings walked up and down, and the cat too: itbasked in the sun and licked the sunshine from its own paws. Andwhen one looked at the fields, how beautifully the corn stood andhow green it shone, without comparison! and there was a twittering anda fluttering of all the little birds, as if the day were a greatfestival; and so it was, for it was Sunday. All the bells were...　

THE WITCH [28][28] From the Russian.Once upon a time there was a peasant whose wife died, leaving himwith two childrentwinsa boy and a girl. For some years thepoor man lived on alone with the children, caring for them asbest he could; but everything in the house seemed to go wrongwithout a woman to look after it, and at last he made up his mindto marry again, feeling that a wife would bring peace and orderto his household and take care of his motherless children. So hemarried, and in the following years several children were born tohim; but peace and order did not come to the household. For thestep-mother was very cruel to the twins, and beat them, and...　

THE COMPARISON OF ALCIBIADES WITH CORIOLANUSby Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenHAVING described all their actions that seem to deservecommemoration, their military ones, we may say, incline the balancevery decidedly upon neither side. They both, in pretty equalmeasure, displayed on numerous occasions the daring and courage of thesoldier, and the skill and foresight of the general; unless, indeed,the fact that Alcibiades was victorious and successful in manycontests both by sea and land, ought to gain him the title of a morecomplete commander. That so long as they remained and held command...　

A MOONLIGHT FABLEThere was once a little man whose mother made him a beautiful suitof clothes. It was green and gold and woven so that I cannotdescribe how delicate and fine it was, and there was a tie oforange fluffiness that tied up under his chin. And the buttonsin their newness shone like stars. He was proud and pleased by hissuit beyond measure, and stood before the long looking-glass whenfirst he put it on, so astonished and delighted with it that hecould hardly turn himself away.He wanted to wear it everywhere and show it to all sorts ofpeople. He thought over all the places he had ever visited and allthe scenes he had ever heard described, and tried to imagine what...　

MOGARZEA AND HIS SONThere was once a little boy, whose father and mother, when theywere dying, left him to the care of a guardian. But the guardianwhom they chose turned out to be a wicked man, and spent all themoney, so the boy determined to go away and strike out a path forhimself.So one day he set off, and walked and walked through woods andmeadows till when evening came he was very tired, and did notknow where to sleep. He climbed a hill and looked about him tosee if there was no light shining from a window. At first allseemed dark, but at length he noticed a tiny spark far, far off,and, plucking up his spirits, he at once went in search of it.The night was nearly half over before he　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENHOLGER DANSKEby Hans Christian AndersenIN Denmark there stands an old castle named Kronenburg, close bythe Sound of Elsinore, where large ships, both English, Russian, andPrussian, pass by hundreds every day. And they salute the old castlewith cannons, "Boom, boom," which is as if they said, "Good-day."And the cannons of the old castle answer "Boom," which means "Manythanks." In winter no ships sail by, for the whole Sound is coveredwith ice as far as the Swedish coast, and has quite the appearanceof a high-road. The Danish and the Swedish flags wave, and Danes and...　

中间段落 叙述信函的主题。必要时可以分成数段展开议论。●叙述事情我们被告知……We are told that...我们从青木先生那儿了解到……We understand from Mr. Aoki that...我们察觉到……We observed that...We found out that...We discovered that...我们希望提醒贵方注意……We would like to call your attention to... *用于必须说出很严重的事情时。我们想利用这次的机会就……事提醒您。May we take this occasion to remind you that... *有礼貌但语气严厉。用于欠款到期不还等情况时。May we take this opportunity to remind you that...●转达希望我们希望您能……We hope that you will...我们希望收到……We hope to receive...我对……很感兴趣。We are interested in... *适用于索取资料时。...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE FLAXby Hans Christian AndersenTHE flax was in full bloom; it had pretty little blue flowers asdelicate as the wings of a moth, or even more so. The sun shone, andthe showers watered it; and this was just as good for the flax as itis for little children to be washed and then kissed by their mother.They look much prettier for it, and so did the flax."People say that I look exceedingly well," said the flax, "andthat I am so fine and long that I shall make a beautiful piece oflinen. How fortunate I am; it makes me so happy, it is such a pleasant...　

THE MASTER CAT; OR, PUSS IN BOOTSTHERE was a miller who left no more estate to the threesons he had than his mill, his ass, and his cat. Thepartition was soon made. Neither scrivener nor attorneywas sent for. They would soon have eaten up all the poorpatrimony. The eldest had the mill, the second the ass,and the youngest nothing but the cat. The poor youngfellow was quite comfortless at having so poor a lot."My brothers," said he, "may get their livinghandsomely enough by joining their stocks together; but formy part, when I have eaten up my cat, and made me amuff of his skin, I must die of hunger."The Cat, who heard all this, but made as if he did not,...　

Preface To The First Volume.Diligence and accuracy are the only merits which anhistorical writer may ascribe to himself; if any merit, indeed,can be assumed from the performance of an indispensable duty. Imay therefore be allowed to say, that I have carefully examinedall the original materials that could illustrate the subjectwhich I had undertaken to treat. Should I ever complete theextensive design which has been sketched out in the Preface, Imight perhaps conclude it with a critical account of the authorsconsulted during the progress of the whole work; and however suchan attempt might incur the censure of ostentation, I am persuaded...