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.

Question

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.

Which statement from the passage is most likely an exaggeration?

• 1. It's impossible to think of great literature without thinking of Mark Twain.

• 2. "Mark Twain" is a riverboat term meaning "two fathoms deep."

3. Twain. published more than 20 novels and short stories.

• 4. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are considered by many critics to be his best works.

Answer 1

The most likely exaggeration in the passage is statement 1: "It's impossible to think of great literature without thinking of Mark Twain." While Mark Twain is indeed a highly regarded and influential American author, it is not accurate to say that thinking of great literature is impossible without thinking of him.