阅读理解

    Hans Christian Andersen is a Danish writer famous for his fairy tales, many of which depict (描述) characters who gain happiness in life after suffering and conflict.

    Andersen's father was a poor shoemaker and his mother worked as a washerwoman. As a child he was highly emotional, suffering all kinds of fears and shame because of his unmanly interests. Encouraged by his parents, he composed his own fairy tales and arranged puppet (木偶) theater shows. At the age of 14, Andersen moved to Copenhagen to start a career as a singer—he had a beautiful voice. He succeeded in becoming associated with Royal Theater, but he had to leave it when his voice began to change. When casually referred to as a poet, he changed his plans and began to write plays, all of which were refused.

    In 1822, Jonas Collin, the director of the Royal Theater, gave Andersen a grant to enter the grammar school at Slagelse. In 1827, Andersen gained admission to Copenhagen University, where he completed his education. In 1828 he wrote a shot story on travel, a fantastic tale in the style of the German Romantic writer, E. T. A. Hofmann. He traveled widely in Europe and remained a passionate traveler all his life.

    As a novelist, Andersen made his breakthrough with The Improvisatore. The story described a poor boy's integration (融合) into society, an Ugly Duckling theme of self-discovery. The book gained international success and remains the most widely read of all his works.

    In his early collections, Andersen returned to the stories that he had heard as a child, but gradually he started to create his own tales. Most of Andersen's works were original. Only 12 of his 156 known fairy stories drew on folktales.

    The ugliness of the hero or heroine in his stories often conceals (隐藏) great beauty，which is revealed (揭示) after misfortune. Some of Andersen's tales reveal a positive belief in the victory of the good, among them, The Snow Queen and The Ugly Duckling, and some end unhappily, like the Little Match Girl. In The Little Mermaid the author expressed a longing for the ordinary life that he had never had. Andersen never married, and he died in his home in Rolighed in 1875.

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    On the second Sunday in May is Mother's Day. American children of all ages give their mothers something special. It is the day children, young and old, try to show their love to mothers.

    England was the first country to set a day to mothers. In the United States, Mother's Day became an official(正式的) holiday in 1910.An American girl, Anna, asked their governor(州长) to set a festival for mothers that they love. And they set the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and a year later all the other states celebrated it.

    On Mother's Day morning some American children serve their mothers breakfast in bed. Other children will give their mothers presents which they made themselves or bought in stores. Adults give their mothers red carnations(康乃馨), the official Mother's Day flower. If their mothers left the world they may bring white carnations to their grave sites (墓地). This is the busiest day of the year for American restaurants. On this special day, family members do not want Mom to cook dinner!