安徒生为丹麦着名作家,自幼便富想像力。十一岁时,父亲因病去世,母亲染上酗酒习惯,他被迫辍学去当织工和裁缝学徒。1819年,安徒生开始写作,他阅读大量名家如哥德、拜伦的作品,学习创作诗篇和剧本,并于1822年发表作品《尝试集》(Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave),但未获剧院採用。
1829年,安徒生首度以《阿马格岛漫游记》(A journey on foot from Holmens Canal to the east point of Amager)一尝成功滋味。该书首刷便销售一空,安徒生从此脱离贫穷的阴影。同年四月,他的喜剧〈在尼古拉耶夫塔上的爱情〉(Love in Nicolai Tower)于皇家歌剧院上演。真正让安徒生成名的作品,则是1835年出版的小说《即兴诗人》(The Improvisatore),甫一出版即被译为德、英两种语言,使他成为享誉国际的作家。可惜在这之后的作品销售量不尽理想,1837年,长篇小说《不过是个提琴手》(Only a Fiddler)问世,安徒生才又重获文坛认同。
The Gift of Magi 圣诞礼物 Chapter One Only One Dollar and Eighty-Seven Cents 一元八角七分 Chapter Two A Christmas Present 圣诞礼物 Chapter Three The Big Surprise 最大的惊喜
The Fir Tree 枞树 Chapter Four The Tree in the Forest 森林里的树 Chapter Five A Very Sad Life 悲惨的生活
图书序言
This series of Let’s Enjoy Masterpieces are a special reading comprehension booster program, devised to improve reading comprehension for beginners whose command of English is not satisfactory, or who are elementary, middle, and high school students. With this program, you can enjoy reading masterpieces in English with fun and efficiency.
This carefully planned program is composed of 5 levels, from the beginner level of 350 words to the intermediate and advanced levels of 1,000 words. With this program’s level-by-level system, you are able to read famous texts in English and to savor the true pleasure of the world’s language.
The program is well conceived, composed of reader-friendly explanations of English expressions and grammar, quizzes to help the student learn vocabulary and understand the meaning of the texts, and fabulous illustrations that adorn every page. In addition, with our “Guide to Listening,” not only is reading comprehension enhanced but also listening comprehension skills are highlighted.
In the audio recording of the book, texts are vividly read by professional American actors. The texts are rewritten, according to the levels of the readers by an expert editorial staff of native speakers, on the basis of standard American English with the ministry of education recommended vocabulary. Therefore, it will be of great help even for all the students that want to learn English.