"WhenIlookbackonmychildhoodIwonderhowIsurvivedatall．Itwasofcourseamiserablechildhood．Thehappychildhoodishardlyworthyourwhile．"WorsethantheordinarymiserablechildhoodisthemiserableIrishchildhood

　　"WhenIlookbackonmychildhoodIwonderhowIsurvivedatall．Itwasofcourseamiserablechildhood．Thehappychildhoodishardlyworthyourwhile．"WorsethantheordinarymiserablechildhoodisthemiserableIrishchildhood．AndworseyetisthemiserableIrishCatholicchildhood．"ThatwasFrankMcCourtreadingtheopeninglinesofhisbookAngela'sAshesreleasedinnineteenninety-six．

　　ThisIrishAmericanauthorbestknownforthePulitzerPrize-winningautobiographyAngela'sAshesthatrecordedhispoorupbringingdiedofcanceronSundayTheNewYorkTimesreported．Hewas78．

　　BorninNewYorkCityhewastheeldestofsevenchildrenborntoIrishimmigrantparents．Angela'sAsheswasamemoirthatcapturedanirresponsibledrunkardfatherwithagiftforstory-telling．WhennotdrunkhisfatherwasabsentturninghisbackonafamilysopoorMcCourtwrotethattheywerereducedtoburningthefurnitureintheirrentedhuttokeepwarm．Hismotherstruggledtoraisehermanychildrenafterhisfatherleftthefamily．

　　AlreadystrugglingwhentheGreatDepressionhitthefamilymovedbacktoLimerickwheretheyslippedeverdeeperintopovertyinthe 1930s．

　　ThreeofMcCourt'ssiblingsdiedofdiseasesworsenedbyhungerandthewretchednessoftheirsurroundings．McCourthimselfalmostdiedoftyphoid（伤寒的）feveras achild．

　　InAngela'sAsheshewroteofhungerahomefloodedwithrainwaterandtheunbearablehumiliationofseekinghandoutsfromcharitiesintheIrishcity．Buthetoldthestoryinawaythatisexpressivewarmandlight-hearted．

　　FrankMcCourtleftIrelandattheageofnineteentoreturntoNewYorkCitywherehewasborn．Heearnedadegreein-Englisheducationandtaughtcreativewritingfornearlythirtyyears．Afterretiringinnineteeneighty-sevenhedecidedtowriteabouthischildhood．"Angela'sAshes"becameahugesuccessandbroughtMcCourta1997PulitzerPrizetheNationalBookCriticsCircleAwardandotherhonors．Millionsofcopiesofthebookweresoldworldwideanditwasadaptedintoa1999moviestarringEmilyWatsonandRobertCarlyle．

　　小题1:What'sthetextmainlyabout?A．AbriefintroductiontoFrankMcCourtandoneofhisworks．B．AliteraryreviewonFrankMcCourt'sbookAngela