Charlie Chaplin first acted when he was five. He broke into show business because his mother, a music-hall performer, lost her voice during the performance and had to leave the stage, and Charlie went on and sang a well-known song. Halfway through the song, a shower of money poured onto the stage. Charlie stopped singing and told audiences he would pick the money first and then finish the song. The audiences laughed. This was the first of millions of laughs in Charlie Chaplin’s fabulous(神话) career.
Twenty years later the same Chaplin became the greatest and best loved comedian in the world. His dream came true in the world. His dream came true in the end. Chaplin became world-famous and almost a king in the world of the film.
Even people who don’t understand English can enjoy Chaplin’s films because they are mostly silent. The equipment for adding sound to films had not yet been developed. The development of films with sound became a problem for Chaplin, as he was uncertain about making films with dialogues. Instead, he coninued to make films without dialogue, but he added music, which he wrote himself. It isn’t what he says that makes us laugh. His comedy doesn’t depend on words. It depends on little actions which mean the same thing to people the world over.
Chaplin lived most of his life in America and the last years in Switzerland, where he was buried at Christmas 1977, at the age of eighty-eight. There was sadness all over the world at the news of his death.
In his book, Chaplin tells us how to succeed in life. He says, “You have to believe in yourself. That’s the secret.”
【小题1】Chaplin is regarded as king of comedy mainly because______.
| A．lots of people have seen his films |
| B．he could sing and dance well |
| C．he knew how to make people laugh |
| D．he acted out the common human situations best in his comedy |
| A．It isn’t his words but his actions. | B．Neither his words nor actions. |
| C．Either his words or his actions. | D．Not only his words but also his actions. |
| A．he can make all people, men and women, old and young laugh |
| B．he has full trust in himself |
| C．he is always active and hard-working all his life |
| D．though he is always in trouble, he never loses heart |
| A．He was too shy to meet the managers of the theatres. |
| B．People won’t stop laughing until tears run down Chaplin’s face. |
| C．People all over the world can enjoy Chaplin’s films without translation because most of them are silent. |
| D．He wouldn’t like to work at the theatre. |