It's impossible to think of great literature without thinking of Mark Twain. Many people consider him the best of all American authors. Twain has been more widely read than any American author of his time-except, perhaps, Melville and Poe.
Twain was born in Missouri in 1835. His real name was Samuel Clemens. He changed it when he worked as an apprentice to a pilot on a
Mississippi steamboat. "Mark Twain" is a riverboat term meaning "two fathoms deep." In the 1860s during the Civil War, Twain moved to Nevada,
then California, where he worked as a newspaperman. His writing soon became extremely popular, and he eventually published more than 20
novels and short stories. His humorous stories of small-town life. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, are considered by many critics to be his best
works.
Shortly after he became well known, Twain married Olivia Langdon. They had a rather unhappy marriage since his wife did not always
approve of what he wrote. In 1894, he suffered a complete financial failure. After that, his writing was often filled with despair--so much so, that
Twain ordered that some things not be published until after his death. He died famous, but alone and in debt, in 1910.
Which conclusion is valid, based on the passage?
1. Mark Twain was the greatest American author of the 19th century.
2. Twain's marriage caused his financial failure.
3. Fame did not make Twain's life a happy one.
4. Mark Twain's later works were never published.